Land of Dreams by Joan Lowery Nixon

Author:Joan Lowery Nixon [Nixon, Joan Lowery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82751-7
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2013-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

KRISTIN was still angry as she finished washing the dishes. She hung the damp towels over a rack to dry, then slipped out the kitchen door, striding down the path to the lake. The sky was still light, a silvered blue that shimmered over long, bright evenings.

She walked down to the shore, hugging her arms and thinking how unfair her father had been. She wanted to read the book Sigrid had brought her! She had a right to!

A twig snapped in the forest behind Kristin, startling her. As a branch scraped softly against another branch, she whirled around, her heart pounding, and demanded, “Who’s there?”

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” Johan said as he pushed aside a tree limb and stepped out of the woods. He pulled a fishing pole free, examining it carefully.

“Fishing in the woods?” Kristin could hear the remnants of fear still in her voice and she tried to cover it with a joke. “Have the bass and muskie taken to the trees?”

“They may have, because I’ve been fishing along the west shore and haven’t been able to find them.” Johan gave a wave of one hand toward the promontory behind him, adding, “I didn’t want to get my feet wet, so I cut across the land. This cove is a pretty good place to fish.”

“Do you come here often?”

“Often enough,” he said. “So do a couple of my friends. I know this is your father’s land, but we’ve used this spot for years. I hope he doesn’t mind.”

Kristin, remembering her dip in the pool, turned warm from the top of her head to her toes. There was no question about it—she had lost her right to enjoy cooling off in the lake. She had no rights—not even the right to read a book about something as innocent as a country’s government. A woman had no rights at all.

“Johan,” Kristin blurted out, “that Methodist singing school you told me about … I want to go.”

He raised his head, surprised. “When we talked about it, I thought you were teasing.”

“I was then … a little, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t go. You said they meet every Wednesday evening, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” The word was drawn out, reluctant.

“Then take me to the singing school. Please?”

“Kristin, I told you our pastor doesn’t approve.”

“What does that matter? The Methodists aren’t going to harm us.” When Johan didn’t answer immediately, she said in challenge, “Are you afraid of what will happen if we should get caught?”

Johan hesitated for just an instant before he replied, “You’re not afraid of anything, are you, Kristin?”

When Kristin didn’t answer, Johan asked, “What will your parents say?”

“I won’t ask them,” she answered, and wished the sudden uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach would go away. “I’ll just tell them that I’m going for a ride with you.”

“All right, Kristin,” Johan said. “If you really want to go, I’ll come for you around six-thirty.”

As he walked off, following the path around the lake, Kristin heard him mumble, “There’s nothing wrong with singing.

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