The Secret of Sentinel Rock by Judith Silverthorne

Author:Judith Silverthorne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: grandmother, Timeslip, settlement fiction, ancestors, girls, pioneer society
ISBN: 9781550508833
Publisher: Coteau Books

Chapter ­Seven

“Young lady, where have you been? You were gone for hours,” Kate demanded, when she caught sight of Emily sneaking into the kitchen. “And just look at you – you’re soaked.”

“I sort of lost track of the time,” said Emily, staring at her soggy sneakers and jeans. “I was visiting with Emma.”

“What else were you doing?” Her mother placed her hands on her hips. “Both Gerald Ferguson and Mrs. Barkley say they saw you cross the pasture and go to the rocks. But then they said you just disappeared, and for the longest time.”

Emily looked at her mother through the hair that had fallen over her eyes and saw her mouth tighten. “Well…uh…I was with Emma. But I guess they just didn’t see us,” she suggested, thoughts tumbling through her head at record speed. Of course, they couldn’t have seen her or Emma. But her mother would never believe her if she told the entire truth. How was she going to ­explain?

“No, they definitely did not see anyone with you, Emily Marie,” said her mother with a stern look on her face. “Mr. Ferguson was out in the west field where he had a good view of the spot, too.”

Oh, oh, thought Emily. Now what could she ­say?

“Gerald Ferguson phoned to tell me he’d be picking us up for town at one o’clock. Then he mentioned seeing you, and how you disappeared. I didn’t know what to think.”

“I did meet Emma,” Emily insisted. At least that part was true. “Then I – I guess we were imagining what it must have been like in the old days. You know, when the pioneers first came here,” she said, hoping her mother would fall for her story. It was partially true. “We were pretending to look for berries and things.”

“You’re not going to try and tell me some silly story about time travelling again, are you?”

Emily shook her head. There was no way she was going to tell her mother anything about her experiences with Emma. She’d never ­under­stand in a hundred years. At the thought of a hundred years, Emily could feel a bubble of laughter rising. She swallowed hard. She must think of something else. She dropped her head to her chest, still struggling to keep in the laughter. Tears of mirth and anxiety formed in her ­eyes.

That’s when she glanced down at her hands and saw the purple stains on her fingers. In an instant her threatened laughter died. She clamped her hands into tight fists. Oh, no! How was she going to explain about her hands? Was her mouth discoloured too? She kept her head down, letting her hair fall over her face again. Silently she prayed her mother wouldn’t ­notice.

For the moment, Kate was busy explaining how Mrs. Barkley had called right after Gerald Ferguson. She’d seen almost the same thing as he had, and neither one of them had met any new family, although they had heard someone was supposed to be buying the McGuillivray ­place.

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