THE PRISONER'S SISTER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 August 1938, Page 10

THE PRISONER'S SISTER

PUBLISHED BY ARRANGEMENT COPYRIGHT

BY

PEARL BELLAIRS

(Author of “Velvet and Steel”)

CHAPTER IX.—(Continued). “Will used to get one from Tom,” said Julie, without thinking. “But he’s too big for me to spank. He’s usually such a sweet child, and then it suddenly seems as though he’s longing to work off steam . . .” She broke off, recollecting to whom she was speaking. Family confidences were the last she wanted to make. “Shouldn’t there be some sort of porch over the front door, so that people can drive straight up to it and come in without getting wet if it’s raising?” she said. “It would rather improve the appearance of the front of the house. It looks to me like a face without a nose at present. Julie smiled in spite of herself. “Write it down,” said Rand. Julie wrote down “one Porch” in the notebook she was carrying with her for the purpose. They went to look at the stables, and decide how many cars would have to be garaged. There were distant sounds of altercation, and cries of: “Don’t Will!” Julie took not notice; and then Dolly came round the side of the stables with a red and angry face. She was silenced by the sight of Rand. Rand went into one of the stables. “Julie, Will’s tormenting the cat!” whispered Dolly. Julie walked back to see what was happening, leaving Rand to continue his investigations alone. Will was in the yard with the cat, and as soon as he saw them coming he picked the cat up by its tail. He was not hurting it much because he was holding the tail well down at the.root, but he wanted everyone to thing that he was. “Will, put that cat down.” Will smiled. “Put it down.” The cat was more indignant than hurt. But Julie made a dart at Will and caught hold of him; he dropped the cat, and turned and kicked Julie’s shins with all his might. She smacked him, and was trying to hold him off when a hand reached round and plucked him away. It was Rand. “Now then —!” said Rand, and he picked Will up and turned him over and began to spank him hard. Will shrieked with fear at receiving such treatment from a stranger; Julie’s reaction was no less violent, and she cried at once. “Stop! Don’t do that! Mr Rand!” The sight of somebody else punishing Will was horrifying. Tom could do it, or she could do it, but Rand —! She tried to hinder him by catching hold of his arm, but he raised his hand for another blow. “Stop! I won’t have it —! Don’t touch him—! How dare you?” She was frantic. Rand dropped Will and turned on her, while Will sheered off, too dumb with fright and surprise to cry. “There seems to be a lot of fight in all of you!” Rand said. “Do you want me to give you a little of what Will’s been having?” Julie drew back. For a moment her heart stood still. His dark face smiled at her . threateningly, and his eyes were bright with • exasperation. However, he straightened himself, relaxed, and said: “Come here, Will!” Will came. “Tell your sister you’re sorry you kicked her.” “I’m sorry I kicked you,” said Will in a subdued voice, sniffing. “See what you can do to behave like a big boy. Only little kids kick and fight their sisters and hurt the cat. Letting out at people about nothing is sheer silly childishness!” "Yes,” said Will, with a sniff. “Come along, then, and let’s see how many hens we’ll need on this establishment!” said Rand, putting his hand on Will’s shoulder. Will sniffed again, and they walked off together. Julie sat down on a wood box, pale and trembling. Her first unreasonable fears at seeing Will ill-treated had gone. She saw that possibly Rand had done him good. But it was none the less intolerable. This interference from a stranger! And there was no telling how far Rand would go. She really had been afraid for a moment! She turned red with wrath at the thought of his threat to herself. As she went into the house she saw him walking through the wilderness of what had once been the vegetable garden, with Will at his side. She had an impulse to call to Will and get him out of the reach of so baneful an influence. But she stifled it and went inside. She felt she could no longer stay in the house while Rand was in it. “Dolly, let’s go for a walk!” she said. Dolly was all eagerness. And when Will came in from the garden Julie called to him too; they put on coats and hats and set off in the crisp winter air, with a packet of sandwiches to eat at lunch time. Meanwhile Will was as quiet as a lamb and looked quite happy. He said nothing about Rand; the nearest he got to mentioning Rand was when he asked: “What shall I call my puppy?” They wandered through the pine woods towards Greyshott. They went down and found the Wagoners Wells. There was ice on the pools, and here and there the frost glittered on the twigs and branches. Julie thought how lovely it would be in the spring. It was over a year since the children had been in the country, and they rambled for miles without tiring of the occupation. It was twilight when they arrived back at Lime Grove. Grove. Julie was hoping that Rand might have left for town. But no; they went in through the

kitchen quarters, and there was Ell in the kitchen cutting caviare sandwiches, with fresh caviare specially sent that day from London. Julie thought it the most ridiculous affectation —a grown man having to have caviare sandwiches wherever he happened to be. And when she saw Ell bring the tray out of the sitting room again with none of the sandwiches touched she thought still worse of the habit. “Mr Ell says as how Mr Rand will be going back to town in the morning,” Mrs Bolton told her. Julie was relieved. She wished he would go before. If he insisted on her having dinner with him that night she made up her mind that she wouldn’t speak a word to him. However, she hoped he might have decided that she was too disagreeable for him to want her company. CHAPTER X. Julie stayed resolutely in the kitchen, hoping to evade Rand altogether before he left for town. After tea they sat down with Mrs Bolton and played Old Maid again, and this time Ell joined in of his own accord. “Let’s play it with forfeits,” said Will. ‘ ' “Oo yes!” cried Dolly. Playing it with forfeits meant that anyone who was left with the Queen of Spades in their hand had to pay a forfeit —which consisted of doing anything ridiculous that Will or Dolly could think of. They had been playing it for some time, and Mrs Bolton had had to shout up the chimney, and Ell had had to balance a spoon on his nose, when Rand walked in. Ell immediately rose to go on with his duties. Julie turned red and stared at her cards. “Go ahead,” said Rand with a smile. “Don’t let me stop you.” Ell sat down again. “We’re playing it with forfeits!” said Dolly, excitedly. “What does that mean?” asked Rand. And in another moment he was sitting down at the table and Dolly was explaining. They began to play again. “Your deal, Miss Moffat!” Rand said once, when she was so occupied with uneasy thought that she failed to follow the game. When she glanced at him involuntarily and met his gaze there was a dancing gleam in it, a slightly wicked smile which gave her an odd sort of shock. She couldn’t explain her sensations . . . Finally she twisted them round into a kind of breathless resentment. Why did he look at her like that?

Mrs Bolton lost and Dolly insisted that she bring out the tin of toffee she had made and give them each a piece. Next time it was Will’s turn to decide what the forfeit should be. He sat for some moments gazing at Mrs Bolton and evidently trying to pluck up the courage to say something. “Well, what do you want?” said Julie. Will had been to a picture theatre a month or two before, and had been very interested by the final close-up of the hero and heroine sealing their compact with a kiss. He had wanted to know why they did it. “Mrs Bolton, kiss Mr Ell!” said Will. “Oh, go on with you! Think of something helse!” said Mrs Bolton, tittering. Mr Ell smiled —Julie had never seen him smile before —and Rand laughed. “Now, Will —!” began Julie. But Rand said: “Kiss his hand, Mrs Bolton. He won’t bite!” , Mrs Bolton kissed Mr Ell’s hand, and Mr Ell thanked her politely. “I didn’t mean—” began Will, who was still obstinately desirous of seeing a real life demonstration of a gentleman kissing a lady properly. However, he had to put up with it, and the game went on. Mrs Bolton and Mr Ell and Julie always sugested nice polite and easy sorts of feats when it came to their turn. But Dolly and Will were more drastic. “Balance a, glass of water on your chin,” said Dolly to Rand. “But I shall get wet!” protested Rand. With the children he lost his commanding manner, and became a most docile individual. Dolly merely tossed her curls and smiled. “Must I really?” said Rand. He appealed to Julie: “Persuade hei - to change her mind!” Julie raised her eyebrows, played with her cards, and said nothing. “I shall remember this!” said Rand. Will got him the glass of water, Rand put his feet against the edge of the table, tilted himself back in his chair and balanced the glass of water with perfect success. The children whooped with applause. Next time Will got rid of all his cards first, Julie was left with the Queen of Spades, and it was Will’s turn to inflict the penalty. “Julie, kiss Mr Rand,” said Will. . Julie turned crimson. “Don’t be silly, Will! Think of something else —!” Ell and Mrs Bolton tried to look as though the suggestion were the most usual one in the world. From Rand’s face one might have thought he hadn’t heard it. “Julie, kiss Ml’ Rand,” said Will, all the more obstinate about it since he saw that she objected. “That’s a silly sort of forfeit!” protested Julie. There was a deadlock. Will looked quite determined. No one came to Julie’s aid. Ell and Mrs Bolton were too diffident. Rand glanced at her with an air of surprise as though it was only to be assumed that she was going to play fair. Julie controlled herself, rose, and moved round the table towards him, not looking at him. “Don’t kiss his hand like Mrs 80l-

ton did. You’ve got to kiss him properly!” said the intolerable child. Rand sat without moving. “Like that?” said Julie calmly. She bent and kissed Rand’s forehead, without undue haste or apparent confusion. He said: “Thank you, Miss Moffat,” in a sedate voice. But when she returned to her place her face burned and her inward confusion was tremendous as she sat there with her eyes lowered, and Dolly dealt out the cards. For a moment she had been near to him, she could still feel the touch of her lips against his brow, her hair had brushed against his — something about the mere fact of it had disturbed her profoundly. The whole incident was embarrassing and exasperating to a degree! She felt she would never forgive him for this either. He could have helped her to get out of it —laughed it off, and told Will to think of something else. Why hadn't he? When she at last ventured to glance at him he appeared to be intent on the game—but there was a tell-tale smile twitching at her lips. He was amused, no doubt, at having made her look silly. (To be Continued).