Kitty heard Dan go downstairs the next morning just as she was finishing dressing, and her heart thumped painfully, for she knew he was going to confess. When confessions had to be made Dan always made them as quickly as possible so as to get them off his mind. Kitty hurriedly finished her dressing, and followed him with some vague idea in her mind of helping him.
But when they got down there was no one else about, and before they had seen any one to whom to confess, Mrs. Pike burst into the dining-room where they stood, miserably enough, waiting.
"Kitty, Dan, do either of you know where your father is? I want him to come to Anna. She is so unwell, and in some extraordinary way has burnt her hands dreadfully. Oh dear! oh dear! what troubles do come upon me.
I suppose it was foolish of me to leave her last night to put herself to bed when she was so tired. I might have known she would tumble over the lamp, or do something equally careless. It was kind of you, Kitty, to attend to her burns for her, poor child, but you should have come and called me." There were tears in Aunt Pike"s eyes as she turned to thank her niece. "You--she--Anna need not have been afraid. I did not know I was so harsh with her that she was afraid to--" and poor Aunt Pike broke off, quite overcome. The shock of finding Anna feverish and ill, and with her hands bandaged, had upset her greatly.
Dan, sincerely touched and conscience-stricken, stepped forward.
"Aunt Pike," he began, "I--"
But Kitty with a look and a sign checked him. "Wait," she whispered.
"I think you had better wait, or you may make things worse for Anna."
Dan looked distressed. "I don"t think I shall," he answered testily, as Aunt Pike went out of the room. "I hate mystery. Why can"t we speak out and have it over? I am going to, Kitty."
"I want you to, as much as you do," she answered in a troubled voice, "but we have to think of Anna. She did so much for us last night, and-- well, I believe if we were to tell Aunt Pike all about it now, it would hurt her more than ever, because she would think Anna had been deceiving her; and Anna did not mean to, she only meant to be kind to us."
So Dan, though most unwillingly, had to agree. It annoyed him, and hurt his dignity, and offended his sense of honour to have to let Anna bear the weight of his misdoing; but he still hoped that when he could see Anna she might consent to his making a full confession. Here, though, he was again doomed to disappointment, for Anna only turned to him pleadingly. "Don"t say anything about it," she cried. "O Dan, don"t!
If mother was to know now she would be more angry than ever, and she would never trust me again, or forgive either of us."
So Dan, out of his grat.i.tude to her, had to give in; and there the matter rested for the time at least. But it had brought about two important changes--it cured Dan, and all of them, for some time, of their love of reading in bed; and it made them more tolerant in their feelings towards Anna.
Christmas, since that last one their mother had spent with them, had never been a festive or a happy season in Dr. Trenire"s house. To the doctor it was too full of sad memories for him to be able to make it gay or cheerful for his children, and the children did not know how to set about making it so for themselves, while Aunt Pike had no ideas on the subject beyond sending and receiving a few cards, giving Anna a half-sovereign to put in the savings bank, and ordering a rather more elaborate dinner on Christmas Day.
Kitty, Dan, and Betty this year felt a real yearning for a Christmas such as they had read of, and discussed all manner of impossible plans, but there it all ended. Dr. Trenire gave them a book each, and they sat around the schoolroom fire reading them and munching the sweets they had clubbed together to buy, and that was all the festivity they had that year.
It was a damp, mild season, unseasonable and depressing, pleasant neither for going out nor for staying indoors; and Dan, who had less than five weeks" holidays, and had already had one of them spoilt by the weather, grumbled loudly, fully convinced that he had every reason to do so.
But with January came a change to high, cold winds, which dried up the mud, and, having done that much service, departed, to be followed by days of glorious sunshine. Just about the middle of the month Mrs.
Pike had to go away for a week or two to visit her sister in Yorkshire, and with this circ.u.mstance, and the lovely weather combined, the children"s spirits rose. Dan had but a fortnight"s holiday left, it is true, but they meant to enjoy every possible minute of that fortnight, and to begin with they decided on an expedition to Helbarrow Tors, one of their most beloved of picnic places. Anna had never seen that wonderful spot, and Anna, who did not accompany her mother on her Yorkshire visit, was to be introduced to all its beauties on the very day after her mother"s departure.
As though knowing what was expected of it, the day broke most promisingly. Of course it was not really light until about eight o"clock--in fact, they got up and had their breakfast by gaslight, for they really could not stay in bed late with such prospects as they had before them; but already the weather signs were good, and Jabez was most encouraging.
"I"ll back a mist like that there," he said, "agin anything for turning out a fine day. You mark my words now, Miss Kitty; and I"ll go right along and get that there donkey and cart for fear anybody else should be put in the mind to "ave a little egscursion too, and get un furst."
f.a.n.n.y was as amiable as Jabez. When Kitty went out to the kitchen to see about their food for the day she found her with a row of baskets on the table before her, and Dan sitting on the corner of it superintending her doings.
"There, Miss Kitty," she exclaimed, "that"s the salt I"ve just put in, so don"t anybody say I forgot it, and don"t anybody go unpacking it any"ow or it"ll be upset; and we don"t want no bad luck, do we?"
Kitty looked at the baskets joyfully.
"I"ve put in what I calls a good allowance for six. Do "ee think that"ll be enough?" asked f.a.n.n.y anxiously, "or shall I put in a bit more cake, and a pasty or two extra? P"r"aps I"d better."
"Perhaps you had," said Kitty thoughtfully. "You see, we have the whole day, and one does get hungry out of doors, and there is never a shop anywhere near--and if there is, we never have any money to spend in it."
Even while she was speaking f.a.n.n.y was stowing the extra pasties and cake into the basket. "Now, Master Dan, remember that"s the basket you"m to carry," pointing to a large square one with the cover securely fastened down. "There"s nothing to eat in it, but it"s the "eaviest, "cause it"s got the milk in it, and a bottle of methylated spirits and the little stove in case you can"t get no sticks nor no fire."
"O f.a.n.n.y, you _are_ cruel," sighed Dan. "I really don"t know," with a very good imitation of a catch in his voice, "how you can say to me the nasty things you do."
"Ah!" said f.a.n.n.y, with a knowing shake of her head. "I may be cruel, and I have my failings, but I can read you through and through, Master Dan, same as if you was a printed book. You take my word for that."
"X rays aren"t in it," cried Dan. "Eyes of a hawk, and a heart of stone. What a combination!"
"That there littlest basket," went on f.a.n.n.y, turning to Kitty, "is for Master Tony; and you must see that Master Dan don"t get hold of it, and let his little brother wear hisself out carrying the "eavy one."
"f.a.n.n.y, what do you take me for?"
"I take "ee for what you are," said f.a.n.n.y calmly--"an anointed young limb, and as artful as you are high."
"Wait till I have gone back to school," said Dan wistfully, "then every cruel and unjust thing you have said and thought of me will come back to you, and "Too late, ah, too late," you will moan as you sob yourself ill; "and I loved that boy better than any one in the whole wide world!""
Which had enough of truth in it to make f.a.n.n.y quite cross, or seem to be.
"Master Tony"s basket has got some lunch in it for you all to eat on your way. There"s a little pasty each, and some biscuits. I did put in a big one for Master Dan, but I"ve more"n half a mind to take it out again, seeing as he"s be"aving so, sitting on the table and swinging his legs. I s"pose those are the manners they learns him to school!"
Dan chuckled. "I wish they did," he said. "No, it"s only you who let me behave myself as I like, f.a.n.n.y. No one else in the wide world is so kind to me. O f.a.n.n.y, I wish you were coming with us."
"So do I," cried Kitty. "Wouldn"t it be fun!" And f.a.n.n.y, quite mollified, did not remove Dan"s big pasty.
The door opened and Jabez came in. "I"ve got the moke," he said; "he"s in the yard; and I"ve put a few carrots in the cart for "ee to "tice un along with, for if that there creetur haven"t made up his mind a"ready not to see Helbarrow Tor this day--well, I"m a Dutchman, and whatever my failings I ain"t that yet."
"The only enticing he"ll get from me will be with the whip," said Dan with great scorn, "so you can take out the carrots again." But Jabez shook his head wisely.
"They won"t take up much room," he said. "I"ll put "em in the nose-bag, and if you don"t need "em on the way, you can give "em to the creetur when he gets there, by way of encouraging un another time. Now, are you all ready, miss? It"s best for "ee to start before he falls asleep again, for they"m always poor-tempered if they"m woke up, and then they"m obstinater than ever."
The five of them could not all get into the cart at once, at least not with any comfort, so they always, on these excursions, took it in turn to ride and tie; and Dan, who did not crave for the glory of driving Mokus through the street, walked on with Betty, leaving the others to follow.
It was certainly cold when first they started; the air was fresh and biting, with a touch of frost in it, and the sun had not yet come out.
Anna shivered beneath her fur-lined cloak, and Tony, thrusting his hands deep down in his pockets, snuggled down between Kitty and Anna, and felt very glad for once that he was not allowed an outside seat.
But by degrees the sun shone through the misty grayness, bathing the road before them, and lighting up the bare hedges on either side until it really seemed that spring had come, that the fresh morning air was certainly full of the scent of primroses and violets, and the sweet earthy smell of moss. The birds evidently thought so too, for they came fluttering and flying from all manner of cosy hiding-places, and, undaunted by the sight of the brown branches and the leafless twigs, boldly perched themselves on telegraph wires and trees to survey the scene while they made their summer plans.
What more could one want than brown branches if the sun was on them!
And how could one hurry or worry, or do anything but revel quietly in the beauty that lay all about one, and tell oneself there were no gray days to come!
Mokus, for one, evidently felt that this was no occasion for haste, and Kitty did not contradict him. She herself felt that she wanted to linger over every moment, and get the fullest enjoyment out of it all.
Dan, however, had other views, and when, at the foot of Tremellen Hill, they found him and Betty perched on a low bridge awaiting them, he upbraided them plaintively for their waste of time.
"But no girl ever could drive, even a donkey," he said loftily.
"He will find out now that he has met his master. Get up, Betty. Do be quick. I want to reach Helbarrow to-day, and it must be lunch-time already." At which Tony, who was scrambling down from the cart, reached back for his basket.
"I fink I"d better take it wiv me," he said gravely. "If they are going so fast, p"r"aps we shan"t see them any more till we get there."
"I think we needn"t be afraid of that," said Anna sarcastically, "if we don"t walk too fast."
Oh what a day it was! and what a donkey! and what a journey! And oh the time it took! and how they did enjoy it all! When they had walked for about a mile or more, the three sat down to rest and await the carriage folk, of whom they had not caught a glimpse since they walked away and left them. Then by degrees Tony"s luncheon basket a.s.sumed a prominent position in their thoughts and before their eyes. Morning air, particularly in January, is hungry air; and to wait, with the food under your very nose, and not be free to eat it, is not easy.
"I really must go back a little way to see if they are anywhere near,"
said Kitty at last, growing impatient and hungry. Anna and Tony were hungry too, but they were too comfortable and lazy to move, so they leaned luxuriously amongst the dry twigs and leaves and dead gra.s.s in the hedge, and watched Kitty as she walked eagerly back again along the level road they had just travelled. When she reached the brow of the hill she stopped, and the next moment a peal of laughter announced the fact that she had caught sight of the laggards.