Read Online Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz - Free Book Online
Authors: Laura Amy Schlitz
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wasn’t it, Parsefall?”
Parsefall raised his eyes and said curtly, “Yes.”
“Didn’t it strike you as uncommon, that a young lady like that should take the trouble to arrange a treat for you?”
“Oh, yes, sir, it was uncommon,” Lizzie Rose said warmly. “There’s not many a young lady as would be so kind. We had strawberry jam,” she added, and smiled at the constable, who smiled back.
“What did Miss Wintermute say to you?”
Lizzie Rose paused, remembering. “She told us her name. And she said she’d seen one of our shows in the park, only we didn’t remember her. We meet so many children when we do the shows. But Miss Wintermute remembered us and asked us to take tea with her. I think she was lonely.”
“Lonely.” The constable exchanged glances with the sergeant. “Lonely enough to run away from home?”
Lizzie Rose looked startled. “Run away from home? Oh, no, sir!”
“Did either of you invite her to come here?”
Lizzie Rose shook her head. “No, sir.” She raised one hand, indicating the room around her. “She was a young lady, sir. It wouldn’t have done; it wouldn’t, indeed.”
“Did she say anything —
anything
— about coming here to visit you?”
“No, sir.”
The constable sighed and tried again. “Did she mention any friends — any plans she had — any places she liked to go?” Lizzie Rose went on shaking her head.
“Did she say or do anything out of the common?”
Lizzie Rose thought. “She gave us presents,” she said. She appealed to the policemen. “Let me show you.”
She let go of Parsefall’s fingers and went back into her bedroom. A moment later she emerged with a handful of tissue paper.
“She gave us each a little packet to take home,” she explained. “We each had an orange, a whole one, and a paper cone full of sweets. And she gave me ribbons.” She lifted a coil of ribbon and let the mingled colors fall in spirals. “Green and blue and white — all the best colors for my hair. She’d only seen me once, but she remembered. She gave Parsefall presents, too, didn’t she, Parse?”
Parsefall assented glumly. “Wooden animals,” he said resentfully. “’S’if I woz a baby.”
Lizzie Rose frowned at him. “Hush. Her brothers are dead. She can’t know what boys like.”
For the first time, Parsefall spoke to the constable. “Did she run away?”
The constable said shortly, “May have done. Housemaid went into her room early this morning to tend the fires. The young lady was gone. We’ve checked the houses around the square. No one’s seen her. We wondered if she might have come here.” He looked around the room as if he expected to find Clara crouching behind an armchair. “The servant girl said she was very interested in the puppets. Stagestruck, she said.”
Parsefall lifted his chin. “She liked my skeleton act.” His voice was shaky, but his lips curled in a smirk. “Laughed herself into fits she did. She wasn’t much like a young lady then.”
Lizzie Rose shook her head so hard that her plaits swung back and forth. “All the same, she wouldn’t have run off without telling anyone,” she said firmly. “It would be a cruel thing to do, after her poor mother lost the others. Miss Wintermute would understand that. She wasn’t silly, and she wasn’t a baby. She was twelve.”
“Her mother’s distraught, that’s for certain,” the sergeant observed, “and her father’s no better.” He turned from the constable back to Lizzie Rose. “Are you sure she said nothing that might provide a clue?”
“No, sir. Could she — could she have been kidnapped?”
The two men exchanged glances again. It seemed to Lizzie Rose that they must have asked each other the same question. But the constable answered, “It don’t seem likely. No one broke into the house. The front door was unbolted from the inside. Windows were all secure — and nothing’s missing, though there’s plenty of value in the
Parsefall raised his eyes and said curtly, “Yes.”
“Didn’t it strike you as uncommon, that a young lady like that should take the trouble to arrange a treat for you?”
“Oh, yes, sir, it was uncommon,” Lizzie Rose said warmly. “There’s not many a young lady as would be so kind. We had strawberry jam,” she added, and smiled at the constable, who smiled back.
“What did Miss Wintermute say to you?”
Lizzie Rose paused, remembering. “She told us her name. And she said she’d seen one of our shows in the park, only we didn’t remember her. We meet so many children when we do the shows. But Miss Wintermute remembered us and asked us to take tea with her. I think she was lonely.”
“Lonely.” The constable exchanged glances with the sergeant. “Lonely enough to run away from home?”
Lizzie Rose looked startled. “Run away from home? Oh, no, sir!”
“Did either of you invite her to come here?”
Lizzie Rose shook her head. “No, sir.” She raised one hand, indicating the room around her. “She was a young lady, sir. It wouldn’t have done; it wouldn’t, indeed.”
“Did she say anything —
anything
— about coming here to visit you?”
“No, sir.”
The constable sighed and tried again. “Did she mention any friends — any plans she had — any places she liked to go?” Lizzie Rose went on shaking her head.
“Did she say or do anything out of the common?”
Lizzie Rose thought. “She gave us presents,” she said. She appealed to the policemen. “Let me show you.”
She let go of Parsefall’s fingers and went back into her bedroom. A moment later she emerged with a handful of tissue paper.
“She gave us each a little packet to take home,” she explained. “We each had an orange, a whole one, and a paper cone full of sweets. And she gave me ribbons.” She lifted a coil of ribbon and let the mingled colors fall in spirals. “Green and blue and white — all the best colors for my hair. She’d only seen me once, but she remembered. She gave Parsefall presents, too, didn’t she, Parse?”
Parsefall assented glumly. “Wooden animals,” he said resentfully. “’S’if I woz a baby.”
Lizzie Rose frowned at him. “Hush. Her brothers are dead. She can’t know what boys like.”
For the first time, Parsefall spoke to the constable. “Did she run away?”
The constable said shortly, “May have done. Housemaid went into her room early this morning to tend the fires. The young lady was gone. We’ve checked the houses around the square. No one’s seen her. We wondered if she might have come here.” He looked around the room as if he expected to find Clara crouching behind an armchair. “The servant girl said she was very interested in the puppets. Stagestruck, she said.”
Parsefall lifted his chin. “She liked my skeleton act.” His voice was shaky, but his lips curled in a smirk. “Laughed herself into fits she did. She wasn’t much like a young lady then.”
Lizzie Rose shook her head so hard that her plaits swung back and forth. “All the same, she wouldn’t have run off without telling anyone,” she said firmly. “It would be a cruel thing to do, after her poor mother lost the others. Miss Wintermute would understand that. She wasn’t silly, and she wasn’t a baby. She was twelve.”
“Her mother’s distraught, that’s for certain,” the sergeant observed, “and her father’s no better.” He turned from the constable back to Lizzie Rose. “Are you sure she said nothing that might provide a clue?”
“No, sir. Could she — could she have been kidnapped?”
The two men exchanged glances again. It seemed to Lizzie Rose that they must have asked each other the same question. But the constable answered, “It don’t seem likely. No one broke into the house. The front door was unbolted from the inside. Windows were all secure — and nothing’s missing, though there’s plenty of value in the
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