The Treasure of Netherstrand

Chapter 36

It was chilly at the edge of the bluff. There was a sprinkle of rain and a cool breeze that tossed the girl's hair away from her face. But Gracie didn't think about the cold or the damp.

A flood of passionate tears had come, and she had cried until she was almost breathless. But it hadn't helped her much. Now, she stood and stared out at nothing in a hopeless way. She was so trapped in despair that she didn't hear the quiet footsteps which were approaching her.

For a moment, Arthur paused and looked at his sister. She looked almost like a statue with her wispy blonde hair, her porcelain skin, and her perfectly white gown. For a child, she was as beautiful as a painting. At last, he stepped closer to the sad girl.

"What are you looking at, Grace?" he asked quietly.

The girl gave a slight start and lifted her wide eyes toward him. She felt her heart fluttering in fear. For an awkward moment, she stared at him without saying a word. At last she took a breath and dropped her gaze to the ground in timidity. "I...I am afraid I was not looking at anything," she stammered at last. "I was only thinking to myself."

"And what were you thinking about?" her brother asked. There was a sweetness in his tone. She glanced and saw a look of gentle kindness in his deep blue eyes. For a moment, it stilled the raging storm in Grace's heart. What was that look? Was it fondness? Devotion? Love? She felt an instant of relief, a flicker of hope. Then his question came back to her mind, and the faint tint of color which had brightened her cheeks faded again.

I cannot tell him what I was thinking! she thought in dread. Oh, I cannot! If I tell him all that Auntie said and how it made me feel, he will think I am being horribly rebellious! Then again, what did it matter? She was sure he already thought that she was a dreadful, ill-mannered child. He had believed everything her aunt had said at the breakfast table even though it hadn't been true.

Fighting with her miserable fears, she wrapped her arms around her chilled body and looked away again. New tears were starting to trickle down her cheeks, and she couldn't stop them. It was all she could do to keep from bursting into sobs.

A feeling of protective love grew in Arthur's heart as he saw her struggling against fear and sorrow. Couldn't he take her in his arms as he had done when she was only four? Couldn't he heal her pain with a smile?

"Dearest sister, what is the matter?" he asked tenderly. "You needn't be afraid, Gracie. Tell me all about it."

The girl looked into his eyes once again, surprised and drawn by his comforting tone. She hadn't heard him speak that way since she had been a tiny child. The sound of her name in his voice was like sweet music to her ears, and the look on his face was like medicine. Suddenly, every chain holding her back broke apart. With a flood of tears, she let go of her timidity and threw herself into her brother's arms.

"Arthur!" she wept. "You must think me so stupid and horrible! I'm sorry! Sometimes I feel afraid that I am! But it feels as if I am always doing everything wrong! If I speak, I say the wrong thing. And if I keep quiet, Auntie scolds me and tells me that I should have said more! Now I don't know what to do!"

Her brother's arms tightened around her, clasping her so closely to his heart that she could hear it drumming with a mixture of sorrow and hope.

"Poor little sister," he said. "How could I think any ill of you? You have been as quiet and gentle as a dove all this time."

"But did I not disappoint you? And did I not annoy you, Arthur?" the child sobbed.

"Of course not! My only disappointment was in realizing how long we had been apart and how little I knew you. That was my fault, Gracie. I should have come back to you long ago. I should have given all my time to showing you how dearly I love you!"