Down Jasper Lane (Amherst Island Trilogy Book 1) by Hewitt Kate

Author:Hewitt, Kate [Hewitt, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Saga, Family
Publisher: Lost Lake Books
Published: 2011-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

NINE

It took Louisa a while to ‘find her feet’ as Dyle said, learning everyone’s names (Ruthie and Sarah kept switching names, trying to confuse her) and getting used to island ways.

Ellen tried to help her as much as she could, although she soon realized that she did Louisa no favors by treating her differently.

“She’s a bit snooty, isn’t she?” Caro said one evening as they were washing up the supper dishes. She pumped water into the pail, the rusty squeaking of the pump keeping them from being overheard by Rose.

“She’s been ill,” Ellen said, and Caro simply looked at her.

“So? She acts like a princess, excusing herself after supper without so much as taking in her plate! And when we asked her if she wanted to come berry picking, she looked as if we were telling her to scrub the outhouse! I don’t like her.”

Ellen looked at Caro’s mutinous face, her sturdy ten-year-old body, still with a childish chubbiness, in a stance of stubborn dislike, and sighed. “Louisa is from a wealthy family, it’s true,” she said, “and she’s an only child. This is all very strange for her.”

“What I want to know,” Caro asked, “is why she wanted to come?”

Ellen shook her head. “I honestly don’t know.” She hadn’t really asked Louisa if she was enjoying being here, for she didn’t think she wanted to hear the answer. Louisa kept herself apart from everyone most of the time, often not leaving her bedroom until ten o’clock in the morning, when everyone else had been up for hours. Ellen had taken to making a breakfast plate up for her and putting it aside until Louisa saw fit to greet the world.

The rest of Louisa’s days were spent in pursuits worthy only of an invalid: resting on the porch or in the front parlor (she was the only one who really went in there), or occasionally taking a walk with Ellen into Stella for a sarsaparilla at the general store.

Despite Louisa’s discomfort with this new world, Ellen still found time to enjoy all her old island pursuits. She took the children for walks, Patch frisking by her heels, and then found a rock or grassy meadow to sit in while she sketched the many delights of the island in full summer: Andrew, now two and a half, running through a field as the grass tickled his face; the fat, red raspberries fairly dripping from brambles; the tumbled stones of an old barn overlooking the placid bay. All these and more went into her sketchbooks, which Ellen showed no one, save Lucas.

Their friendship began to deepen unexpectedly over the summer, fed by the letters they’d exchanged over the winter. Now Ellen found she trusted Lucas’ quiet, thoughtful replies and enjoyed his soothing, steady presence. If, when at the Lyman farm, she found her gaze wandering for a familiar, solitary figure, she did not admit it even to herself. At nearly seventeen, Jed was too busy for childish pursuits such as berry picking or woodland walks.

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