Read Online Emily's Dream by Jacqueline Pearce - Free Book Online
Authors: Jacqueline Pearce
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away from the house, the weight fell away.In its place was a rising sense of marvel and pride at what she had done yesterdayâshe had stood up to both Mr. Piddington and Dede. Johnnyâs step, too, seemed to lighten the farther away they rode.
Finally, the houses and fields gave way to bushes and trees, and Johnny slowed, dropping his head now and again to nose the underbrush at the edge of the road. When he found a spot that seemed to satisfy him he parted the bushes with his head and took Emily through to a new trail. Emily felt a thrill of excitement as they left the road and the trees closed in behind them. The trees welcomed her into their midst. The branches brushed away all the lingering dust of what other people expected her to be. The forest embraced the pure Emily.
âWhoa, boy.â Emily called Johnny to a halt as sudden inspiration filled her. She dropped off the horse and stood beside him in the tight space of the narrow trail. Then, she bent and undid the saddle girth strap. She lifted off the cumbersome sidesaddle and placed it carefully out of sightin the bushes beside the trail, marking the spot in her mind. Then stepping up onto a handy tree stump to gain some height, she pulled herself up to Johnnyâs bare back and sprawled across him on her stomach.
âJust a minute, Johnny,â she crooned softly as she swung her right leg over his back and shifted up to a sitting position. She hadnât managed it as smoothly as the butcher and the baker boys did, but she was up and riding cross-saddle. If Dede could see her like this, with her skirts hiked up and her stockings showing, she would be appalled.
âCome on, Johnny!â Emily called.
Johnny picked his way along the trail, which began to climb, and Emily adjusted herself to the new way of sitting. Suddenly the trees opened up. Johnny trotted out into a clearing at the top of a hill. Emily bounced on his back, her whole body facing forward. A new sense of freedom filled her.
At the crest of the hill, a twisted wind-blown arbutus tree gestured at the wide sky and the ocean beyond. Emily swung her legoff Johnnyâs back and slid to the ground. She loosened his bridle so he could nibble on the grass. Then she stood by the tree and drank in the view of sky and sea. It filled her up. She felt as if she were expandingâ growing as huge as the sky. She loved this placeâthis whole wild West Coast. It was her home, perhaps even more than the Carr house was. But she knew now that she had the courage to leave itânot forever, just for a while. She, Emily, could do it. She could go and study art. She could learn what she needed to know to become a real artist and to paint the places that she loved.
 19Â
Looking Ahead
In the weeks that followed, the Piddingtons left, summer arrived and Dick began to prepare to head to school back East. Again and again Emily tried to talk to Dede about art school, but Dede would not listen.
âWhat should I do?â Emily asked Dick one night.
âYou could talk to Mr. Lawson,â Dick suggested. âHe is our legal guardian. He could give permission and make arrangements.â
Emily thought about Dickâs suggestion. The next week she walked into town to the lawyerâs office. Mr. Lawson looked up at her from behind a huge dark wood desk. He had a wide loose face with bushy gray eyebrows above round wire-rimmed eyeglasses and wild gray whiskers sprouting from his cheeks. He pushed down his glasses to look at her. His small eyes were shrewd but not unkind.
âWhat can I do for you, Emily?â he asked.
Emily had given the question of art school some thought. The best schools were in England and France, but these places were far away. There was a school in California, which was just two days to the south by boat.
âI would like to go away to study art,â Emily told Mr. Lawson. âThere is an art school in San Francisco. Could I go there,
Finally, the houses and fields gave way to bushes and trees, and Johnny slowed, dropping his head now and again to nose the underbrush at the edge of the road. When he found a spot that seemed to satisfy him he parted the bushes with his head and took Emily through to a new trail. Emily felt a thrill of excitement as they left the road and the trees closed in behind them. The trees welcomed her into their midst. The branches brushed away all the lingering dust of what other people expected her to be. The forest embraced the pure Emily.
âWhoa, boy.â Emily called Johnny to a halt as sudden inspiration filled her. She dropped off the horse and stood beside him in the tight space of the narrow trail. Then, she bent and undid the saddle girth strap. She lifted off the cumbersome sidesaddle and placed it carefully out of sightin the bushes beside the trail, marking the spot in her mind. Then stepping up onto a handy tree stump to gain some height, she pulled herself up to Johnnyâs bare back and sprawled across him on her stomach.
âJust a minute, Johnny,â she crooned softly as she swung her right leg over his back and shifted up to a sitting position. She hadnât managed it as smoothly as the butcher and the baker boys did, but she was up and riding cross-saddle. If Dede could see her like this, with her skirts hiked up and her stockings showing, she would be appalled.
âCome on, Johnny!â Emily called.
Johnny picked his way along the trail, which began to climb, and Emily adjusted herself to the new way of sitting. Suddenly the trees opened up. Johnny trotted out into a clearing at the top of a hill. Emily bounced on his back, her whole body facing forward. A new sense of freedom filled her.
At the crest of the hill, a twisted wind-blown arbutus tree gestured at the wide sky and the ocean beyond. Emily swung her legoff Johnnyâs back and slid to the ground. She loosened his bridle so he could nibble on the grass. Then she stood by the tree and drank in the view of sky and sea. It filled her up. She felt as if she were expandingâ growing as huge as the sky. She loved this placeâthis whole wild West Coast. It was her home, perhaps even more than the Carr house was. But she knew now that she had the courage to leave itânot forever, just for a while. She, Emily, could do it. She could go and study art. She could learn what she needed to know to become a real artist and to paint the places that she loved.
 19Â
Looking Ahead
In the weeks that followed, the Piddingtons left, summer arrived and Dick began to prepare to head to school back East. Again and again Emily tried to talk to Dede about art school, but Dede would not listen.
âWhat should I do?â Emily asked Dick one night.
âYou could talk to Mr. Lawson,â Dick suggested. âHe is our legal guardian. He could give permission and make arrangements.â
Emily thought about Dickâs suggestion. The next week she walked into town to the lawyerâs office. Mr. Lawson looked up at her from behind a huge dark wood desk. He had a wide loose face with bushy gray eyebrows above round wire-rimmed eyeglasses and wild gray whiskers sprouting from his cheeks. He pushed down his glasses to look at her. His small eyes were shrewd but not unkind.
âWhat can I do for you, Emily?â he asked.
Emily had given the question of art school some thought. The best schools were in England and France, but these places were far away. There was a school in California, which was just two days to the south by boat.
âI would like to go away to study art,â Emily told Mr. Lawson. âThere is an art school in San Francisco. Could I go there,
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