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Show - CHAPTER XIVrbara XIV XIViarbara . - iarbara rbara lay on the tbe beich be1ch belch , , her 1rms irms 1rmsed irmsed irmsltd ed under tinder her head , her eyes dreamtip dreamup dream ! up tip into the cloudless blue of the theKit theKit ther Kit sat beside her , . sketching sketchingi sketchinga I a little distance , Giy G'lY GlY ' in a bnefbathing briefbathing brief bnef briefa < a bathing suit was the center of n nchatterIng nchattering afl chattering Iroup group group Jamie Jamle andParrIsh andParrish and ' Ptrnsh ParrIsh twins freckled and bron brown browngypsies bro\\ bro brogypsies brownCTpsles \ \ n gypsies , were building bulldmg a mmlature miniature miniatureCourse miniaturei course urse ' Cbip Chips Chlpi ! : ' and the ParrIshale Parrishale Parnsu ParrIsh ( dale ale were engaged in a friendly friendlysle friendlyIe friendlyle Ie le , , their frisky frIshy feet flinging upers upers up > ers ( rs of sandbarn sandtiara sand sandSarbara Sarbara barn tiara had forgotten Kit flit and the thellren themn theiren thinkingminy lngIany thinkingmany mn iren She lay layery \ery ery sery \ ery still shll , thlnl thinking lng Iany many ! things tblngs Summer " was as overI over ! I $ ' iris 'Was Was their last day at Bay HeatJ Head HeatJorrow Headorrow HeadBorrow orrow they would return to tornhedge tornhedge to"irnhedee toirnhedee " rnhedge rnhedgeII II " IIWhat What then ? "WhenBUmmer "Whensimmer "When When " ! "miner miner BUmmer simmer " StephenI Stephen88Jd Stephensaid Is over , " Uncle Stephen said 88Jd 88Jde saide e thought , with a faint confused confusedan confusedling ling : . , of what that ml might ht mean meaa meaato meantt . . Sheew ? en to the summer is over " She Shew w . . now , that she had tried to hold holdLfayi holdjars holddays jars days , to keep them from paeslng passing : ; ' rapIdly tapidiy passing"P'dly passingPdly paeslngrapIdly passingtapidiy " ' Each Dach of them was pre wrappedlnlets wrappedfilets tanny IUnny sunny pretanny preIUnny presunny dais days da ) s , , gray davs days da s wrapped , whenInd when'Vlnd whenWlnd timets lnlets filets ! of fog , stormy divs ds digs d\ d ' \ s when 'Vlnd Vlnd Wlnd ' Ind blew from the northeast andreakers and , trealers andtrealers $ waivers reakers pounded against ag'1lnst ag1lnst agilnst ' the the.t- the.t re re . the.tmother there . * - mother Another dad ' . mightPpen mightPen day a Something might Pen . . . Weeks ahead pass00 passtoo . , Passing , pass too -00 00 cloudyI cloudya - rapidly , . sunny da days dav 3 ' < 3 , cloudy " I a days lays when blewcould bleweouid the storm wind blew could eouid not hold them They were e . weree e . ' " "llhen llhen \ " hen "en en " " , , , the summer is over , de ele saidW saide Stephen Mephen had said W e remembered remcmbered the day he had It ictiie hadictiie hadIt . , the day da . . "henle whenle le after aftg , her party "hen hen when " Stephen besideWy besidelily h'Id hId ' kissed ber her beside Wy lily Pond uoncun In that ne new " and fright g & frights frightray frightg \ 'It It ' way \ray ray u It aftern was Into late in the after 11 . n . She e , e ale albidden ale , hidden bidden J00 had sat In the hbrary library " "rary rary " al trying"tea tryingtea ing'trite trbingvote by the hangings han6'lngs han6lngs ' , tn trbing ing 'trite trite vote ' " o It difnIttcr n letter to nrucc Druce Bruce , a sad difn difll lffi > that"st thatst thatmust , Ittcr letter ; , a letter to tell lilm hIm that " ' " ' 'list list must " , hetired Shetired stay with uncle Stephen She he In h tired y . , so dreidFullv I1re'IdfuUv I1reIdfuUv dreidrully ' tlrp tirod tired ( } ' The .rhe rhe TheitliInF . InBWllnsf BWllnsf lint itliInF the wlndw wIndon wlndow "ad ad had ( " heen been been,1- been,1 been1 been,1"le , Mng hiog - . . Sloe % "le le " e oad had gOl1 gone to sleep , tired , dreadfully tiredyadfuiiy OIces olces tiredOIces tiredolces readrul1y tired hatl had roused used her Uncle Ste 118 ne Stcvoice . ' , soundingof "olce olce volce , " , the plusb plush plushy } fat soundin sounding ell dL lIrsell . ot of Aunt t mw3 Edith's Ediths Ldlth ' frICD(3 frICD3 friend ( . , l\Irs l Irs Mrs \ Mrshind - She Sho bid had had d U1eant meant to come from frolnllt frolnlltn the th curtalns curtains It wasn t polite politekn listen * en n to knew kn ew noew a conersition com ersition ers'Ition ' when WhlU no noAnd you " "ere ere were " ere there therer n nd r * then wta she had discovered dlsco\ered dlsco ered dtscobered \ that thatK herCOUldn't herconidn't BeachWIlS Beachwas Beach ' . was WIlS taking talking nbout about her herMe COUldn't COUldnt conidn't conidnt n too Come out then She bud had shy and hurt and ashamed , . ! Me IIle ogle Barry Batty \ for Uncle v Stephen " "P110 P110 " " Uncle Unele Monroe eT , she had " heard h d . , bad had radnnnr51 SteIhen Stephen ) 116 " kiss her beside toe tJ1e the toeS Pond . . Susle Ule ! ) had told her gr.md grmd grand . grandand er grandn and her 4 4er At n ' grandmother , a frIend Edits Editss .Edltb's .Edltbs Edltbs s . , had BeachVlQY Beach5Tbody . told Mrs Beach 5Tbody S V\lQY V lQY \ 7 Was 3 : talking tllkIng Mrs , . Beach Beachbed Beachhap BeacliPiKn ( bed hap hapSbe en tellen She Sbe felt lt It her uer duty ty to tellncle tell tellS S fed ncle e Stephen y had " been s \ very ery angry fedangry -angry angry angryangry - angry taST7 but very y p01110 polite Heth2ald HeMine He th2ald th2ald"cry Mine Minery Ctnn HeCtnn e tone "cry cry " ry y llttle little Barbara knew knew.T knewT . , ot of hls his wasand " volcc voice . , that he was wasrtorTT and hurt urt rtorTT stle She had been so sothfor sochi soeh thfor chi Mrsl1- Mrsl1 Mrsl1He 'Irstalk MrsIIe t-11"6 t 11"6 116 . , , Uncle - " Stephen htephen , hearing 'Irs Irs Mrs ' talk . * * - He ne IIe had been kind to her and the children , . so wonderfully wonderfutty gen tie contie gentie and kind Sire She wintcd w'1nted w1nted wanted ' to help hi him hisomehow , somehow himsr - , . Thcre There 'as as was ' " as sr- sr srThcre could shecould do doUncle Dotlllns nothmg nothing sbe she s sbeUncle Uncle Steplien Stephen , at last . , hid h'1d h1d ' rung for forI forHenr forHel1r forHenry Hel1r Henry . . , Mrs Boich DC'lch DClch Beach ' had toad rustled I outof tof au out t of the roomau roomBarbara room roomBarbara Barbara had not meant Uncle Ste Ste- - - Stephen phen to know thatshe tliat that bhe she he liad had overheard overheardthe the conversation comersatlon She waited untIl untilshe she thought he had left the room Then Thenshe Thenslle slle she stepped sh.pped shpped . out from behind the cur curtains curtalns talns tains Uo lie He \ was \ as there , standing besIde besidethe the hearth , his brows drawn down over overhis his angiy anglY angry eves eyes ( > es lie ITe He Ind h'ld hld h'd hd ' looked sorry when \ sorrywhen hen he so saw . w her , sorry and angry anal nn.1 nn1 . hurt andhurt nn.1hurt analhurt andhurt"You \ ' hurt"You . "You You 'You " ' heard ? ' he had asl\ed asl ed asked asled"I asked"I asked"I askedI \ "I I " m sorry . , Uncle Stephen " . "D-n "D D n "D D " - - them " roomingMrs me'lnlngMrs me'tningMrs n . , he lie had said , me'lnlng melnlng me'tning metning ' ' Mrs Beacli Beach and Susie . Monroe .Monroe and andSusie's andSusies andSUSlC'S andSusre's SUSlC'S SUSlCS Susre's Susres ' gossiping gosslpmg grandmother'I'm grandmother 'I'm Im ' ' I'm Im ' so terribly sorry " He had hadlooked hadloohed loohed looked shehad ; so co sorry and angry that she willtalk wIlltan had wanted to help him ' People wIll tan talk nothingyou " . , Undo Uncle Stephen There's Theres ' nothing you cin C'ln Cln ' do " 'theres theres ' I 1 here s one thing , " he bad had said saidShe saidShe saidShe couldtell couldtcll She knew hnew \ what hat he lie meint me'lnt melnt meant ' She Sloe could tcll tell bv by the c expression 1Jresslon expresslon in his eyes A Aweight Aweight weight \ el ht hid h'ld hld ' settled , into her hcr heart lleart If Ifhe Ifhe Ifhe he be-foie be foie befOle l hndn hadn ndn t kissed klssed her the evening be- be be - - . fOle lone in that frightening frlghtentng solt SOl soitofwayshewould t of ssny \ ay she sloe shewould sloewould would h'l\ h'l hl hive h'le loose ' \ e thou thought ht thit th'lt thlt ' he lie meant meantonl meantonly meantonlv only onl to protect her hcr But he had hissed kissed hissedher kissedher kissedher her Slie She knew about being In tome'Barbara love lo\e lo e tome \ 'Barbara- 'Barbara Barbara 'Barbarahe ' Bal Baibara bara- bara barahe - ' he had hnd said srud srudShe saidShe saidShe She hid h'ld hld ' " wanted "anted anted to stop him Think Thinking Thinking 109 ing of or Bruce she had wanted to run runawa runawab runawav awa\ awa awab awaHe \ . He must have seen that shewas she shewas shewas was confused Ho He hid h'ld hld ' not touched touchedher touchedher touchedher touchedher"Wo her her"We "Wo Wo "We We " won't wont ' talk tan about it now , " he hehad hehad hehad had said "When When " 1Ylien the summer ls Is lsOCl IsUncle Isovci O\Cl- O Cl \ - " OClUncle Uncle Stephen had taken tal.en talen . them diem to toBay toBav Bay a Head IIead with Sarih Sar'lh Sarlh Sarah ' and a blown blowncool blowncook blowncook cool cook named Eliva Cliya 1I71l lie Ile hid h'ld hld ' come down downonly downonly downonly only for week ends Barlara Barbara ) was \ vv \ as asAli Ali W * / * , ) f If t tW , ll llfto fto ; { ' i ir r- r r4 rh rf rI rJ - 4 h f I J ( She Knew What the Kisses Meant- Meant MeantShe MeantShe Meant MeantShe - She Knew About Being in Lovegrateful Love Lovegrateful grateful for that Since the e\entng e entng ebening eentngbesIde ebeningbeside eveningbeside \ besIde the lily pond since Mrs Be'lch Belch Be'lchhad Belchhad Beichhad ' had swept out of the library hbrary , it had hadembarrassed hadembarrassed hadembarrassed embarrassed her to be with Uncle UncleStephen UncleStephen UncleStephen Stephen It hurt her to feel that way wayBut wayBut wayBut But she ehe : ; couldn't couldnt ' help it no matter how howluud howhard howhaid luud hard she triedHe triedHe tried triedHe He had load been as kind as e\ e ever eer eser \ er But Buthie Buthis Buthis hie his : ; manner had changed He IIe treate treated treatedher treatedher ! her like lIhe a grown up young lady . , He Hene Henever Henever ne\ ne neer never \ er kissed hIssed her as he did Gay or ortousled ortousled ortousled tousled her hair or ducked her under underthe underthe underthe the waves He never called her Dab Bah Dabble Bahbie Babbie ble bie He called her Barbara now , all allthe allthe allthe the timeShe timeShe time timeShe She : might IDight night have thought that she shehad shehad shehad had Imagined ImaglDed that e\ e evening eenlng \ enlng beside the theIlly thelily thelily Illy lily pond except that , . sometimes , he helooked helooked helooked looked at her in a wistful sort of wayAnd wayAnd way wayAnd . And now it was September 'When When "When "Whenthe "Whenthe Whenthe " 'Whenthe ' the summer is over , " Uncle Stephen Stephenhad Stephenhad Stephenhad had said . , . , . \ 1 , ' Do you know " where here Bruce Is isBabs , Babs ? ' Kit ICIt , , lounging loungmg beside her , . asked"No asked"No asked asked"No "No No " , " she said , turning her head to toavoId toavoid toavoid avoId Kit's Kits ' e eyes eves es She Sloe didn't didnt ' know know.He knowHe . He had not ' inswered 'lnswered lnswered answered the diflicult dlfhcult difficult let- let letter letter let letter - ter she wrote him , the letter which whichtold whichtold whichtold told him that she m1Jst must must stay with Un Uncle Uncle Uncle cle Stephen Her follon following Ing letters lettershad lettershad lettershad had been returned unopened Bruce Brucehad Brucehad Brucehad had disippeared dls'lppeared dlslppeared ' witliout without telling tel1ing her herthat herthat herthat that lie he understood , without a consoling consol consol- consoling consoling - ing word , Bruce " who "ho ho had loved lo\ed lo ed lobed \ her herso herso herso so much . , . . "I I " should think he would write to tous tous tous us , " Kit grumbled "I I " thought he hemeed heliked beliked meed liked us a lot . Remember how he used usedto usedto usedto to take talee us swimming ? ' Barbara nodded , unable to speak speakbecause speakbecause speakbecause because of a lump In tn her throat . , . , . "He He "lIe lIe " was afraid to tell tel1 her how deeply deeplyhe deeplyhe deeplyhe he loved her because she was ttas aB a lIttle lIttlegirl littlegirl littlegirl girl no hl higher her thin th'ln thln ' his heart and he hey hevasnt y " asn t sure that she . knew h.new hnew about nbout be be- being be being . - ing In love . . . . , " " "And And " how loow nice he was when Father Fatherdied Fatherdied Fatherdied died ? ' Kit asked , remembering Hruce Bruce . , Again Birbara B'lrbara Blrbara Barbara ' nodded , , her In"hes Inhes lashes In"heswet lasheswet lasheswet " wet with teirs te'1r te1r ' > \ which hlch Kit could not notsee notsee notsee see . . , . 'the the * ' 1 lhe he flute . knew h.new hnew only one onesong onesong onosong song 'I I ' love you , . pretty gvpsv gypsv g psv girl girlI girlwith girlwith girlwith I with the roses in tn your vour our hair . , . . , ; . , ' " Bibs 'B'1bs B1bs ' ' , , " " Kit said , . after an Interval intervalof of silence'Yec silence ' ? ' ' 'Yec Yec Yes , "This This " is sort of a funny question quesUon I'mgoing I'mgoing ' I'm Im I'mgoing ' going to asl ask , tI " tI"Wh'lt "Whit Whit "Wh'lt Whlt " ' is it . , Kit bit ? " " Kit flushed flushedand flushedand flushedand "Well Well " , I was thinking thinking- thlnhing-tl thlnhing tl thinkingKit - and lo looked ked embarrassed cmbarrassed . " ' 1 ! mean meanwouldnt , wouldll wouldn t It be funny It if you should shouldmarry shouldmarry sliouldmarry marry Uncle Stephen stcphE > n ? ' "What What " put that idea in your held heid he 1d < ? ' . ' Sarah told Ellza liliza llza you are " Kit's Kits Kit'sflush Kit'sflush Kit'sflush Kitsflush ' flush deepened "Of Of " course coure $ I don't dont don'tlIstcn don'tlisten dontlisten ' lIstcn listen to servints serv'lnts servlnts ' ' talk But nut lint Gay any told toldSally toldSally toldSally II " II"You Sally Parnsh Parrish ParrishII "You You " know how Gay is fs , KittI Kit tI " ' "Yes Yes " Yes I know lcnow . , " Kit rollpd rollf'd rollfd rolled ' over on onIlls onhis onHis Ills his side . 'nut nut ' But I was just thlnltl thinking- thinking thinkingwouldn't thinking thinkingwouldn't - wouldn't wouldnt ' It be sort of funn funny . , nahs"Would Babsy Bahs nahs Bahs"Would ' "Would Would " you like It ? ' Barbira Bnrh'lra Bnrhlra Bnrbira ' usl.cd uslcd asked usl.cd"I asked"I asked"I askedI . "I I " think It 1t ' " would ould be swell , " Kital Kit an anCJwered answcred CJwered swered promptly . , "Then Then " we ore c cstay could CtJuld al alstay alswered alSay stay to together "ether ether " . . You have to mnrlJ mariy mnrlJsomebody mariysomebody manjsomebody II " IITO somebody somebody . , T i supposeII suppose ( TO BE Dm CONTINUED 1 ) |