The Witch of Blackbird Pond / Ведьма с пруда Черных Дроздов. 10-11 классы
Шрифт:
Meanwhile, Rachel Wood set a mug, a spoon and a simple wooden plate for Kit. “Tell us, Katherine, how you came so far. Did your grandfather come with you?” she asked.
“My grandfather died four months ago,” Kit explained.
“Oh, you poor child! All alone there on that island! Who came with you, then?”
“I came alone.”
“Oh, poor child!” her aunt cried. “Well, you’re safe here. Have some corn bread, my dear. It was baked yesterday, and there is butter.”
Kit was thirsty and lifted the mug, but then put it down again. “Is that water?” she asked politely.
“Of course. Fresh from the spring.”
Water for breakfast! But the bread was delicious. While Kit was eating, Rachel Wood was looking at her young face. Her eyes filled with tears. “You look so like my sister.”
Matthew Wood had not sat down at the table with the others. What did this kind woman find in that grave silent man? Was he so handsome? Uncle Matthew had said nothing, but Kit understood that he had been watching her very carefully. Now he put on a leather jacket and prepared to leave. “I will be working in the south meadow till sundown,” he told his wife.
At the open door, however, he stopped and looked at Kit’s baggage. “What is all this?” he asked coldly.
“Oh,” said Kit. “Those are my trunks.”
“Yours? Seven trunks? What can be in them?”
“Well, my clothes and some things of Grandfather’s.”
“Seven trunks of clothes, all the way from Barbados, just for a visit?”
The room became suddenly cold and quiet. “I have not come for a visit, sir,” Kit managed to answer. “I have come to stay with you.”
Rachel gasped. Matthew Wood closed the door and came back to the table. “Then why did you not write to us first?” he asked.
“I was afraid that you might not ask me to come, and I had to come,” Kit said.
“We wouldn’t have said no,” said her uncle. “But a step like this should not be taken thoughtlessly.”
“Matthew,” protested Rachel timidly, “we are the only family she has. Let us talk about it later. Now Katherine is tired, and your work is waiting for you.”
Matthew Wood took a chair and sat down heavily. “The work will have to wait,” he said. “It is best that we clear this matter now. How did you get on the ship all alone?”
“There was a ship in the harbor and they said it was from Connecticut. I should have sent a letter, I know, but it might have been months before another ship came. So instead of writing I decided to come myself.”
“You mean that, just on an impulse, you left your home and sailed almost across the world?”
“No, it was not an impulse. I really had no home to leave.”
“And what about your grandfather’s estate? As I know he was a wealthy man.”
“He was wealthy, once. But then he was ill for a long time and couldn’t manage the plantation. He left everything to an overseer who sold the whole crop and then disappeared. So after Grandfather died, there were just debts everywhere. I paid all of them. The land had to be sold, and the house and the slaves, and all the furniture from England. There wasn’t anything left.”
“Humph!” said Uncle Matthew.
There was an awkward silence. Then her aunt put an arm on Kit’s shoulder. “Poor Katherine! It must have been terrible for you! You were absolutely right to come to us. Wasn’t she, Mathew?” said Aunt Rachel.
“Yes,” her husband agreed. “She was right, I suppose, since we are her only relatives.”
At the door he turned again. “Your grandfather was a King’s man, I believe?”
“He was a Royalist, sir. Here in America aren’t you the subjects of King James?”
Without answering, Matthew Wood left the room.
Chapter Four
As the door shut behind him, the atmosphere in the room became friendly again. Rachel began to wrap the bread in a clean napkin. “I must take this to Widow Brown,” she said, “She’s still too weak to cook for herself. I’ll be back very soon.”
“Soon!” exclaimed Judith when her mother was gone. “She’ll have to make the fire, cook porridge and tidy the whole cabin for that lady.”
“Judith,” Mercy said gently. “You know what the Bible tells us about caring for the poor and the widows. And anyway, we should start the work that is waiting right here.”
But Judith did not move. She was looking at Kit’s trunks. “Did you say that every trunk is full of beautiful dresses? When are you going to open them?” she asked.
“Well, I can open them now, if you like. You have the same things too, don’t you?” said Kit.
Mercy laughed. “We don’t! We can’t even imagine! But I don’t know if we should open them now,” she said doubtfully. “There is so much work that we need to do. Father says the Lord doesn’t like laziness. But then, the Lord doesn’t send us a new cousin every day. Perhaps He would forgive us for a little joy…”
Kit opened the first trunk. “Here are the gloves,” she said. “Please, you must take them.”
“What a beautiful dress with ribbons and bows!” cried Judith excitedly. “Our minister preached against such things, and Father won’t let us make one.”
“Try it on,” suggested Kit. Judith quickly put the silk dress on and looked at herself in a small mirror. Truly, in this dress Judith was gorgeous. “If only William could see me in this!” she sighed. “Just wait till I walk into Church in this on Sunday morning. They won’t hear a word of the sermon!”
Kit laughed. “Well, it is yours, Judith. You can take it. Now, which one will be best for Mercy?”
“Please, I do not need such things,” Mercy laughed. “I don’t even go to Church very often.”
But Judith saw a light blue woolen shawl. “This would be perfect for Mercy,” she cried.
Kit put the shawl on Mercy’s shoulders.
“Oh, Kit, how lovely! I never felt anything so soft!” Joy and protest struggled in Mercy’s face.
“Girls! What is going on here?” Rachel Wood had come back and stood now looking at her daughters. “Judith, you look gorgeous!”