Read Online Still House Pond by Jan Watson - Free Book Online

hunt, she don’t eat.”
    Lilly’s temper flared. She shook her finger at him. “Listen, I know a bunch about babies. If you don’t feed the mother right, the babies won’t be born healthy.”
    The boy looked at Lilly. His eyes were the the oddest pale blue, like icicles in moonlight.
    â€œIt don’t matter none,” he said. “She’ll whelp curs. We won’t be keeping them.”
    â€œAre they all promised already?” Lilly asked. “Maybe my mother would let me have one.”
    A sharp whistle caused Tern to jerk his head around. “I’ve got to go,” he said.
    Lilly held out the rest of the biscuit. “Would you take this for her?”
    Tern’s hand was warm when it brushed hers.
    â€œGood-bye,” she called as he walked away. “It was nice meeting you.”
    He didn’t answer.
    He isn’t very polite, Lilly thought. They must not teach manners at Hard Knocks School. Actually, she didn’t learn much about deportment at her school either, but her mother knew about such things, and Aunt Alice was a stickler. Lilly was to have private lessons on table manners while she was at Aunt Alice’s house. Aunt Alice had said so in her letter. Lilly couldn’t wait.
    Tern and his dog were almost out of sight. The beagle was nosing the boy’s cupped hand. Lilly could tell she was eating the biscuit. That made her heart feel good, but she was disappointed that Tern had not offered to give her a puppy. She was all but certain her mother would have said yes to it, and if she didn’t, Lilly would have gone to Daddy John. She could talk him into anything.

7
    Manda sat on her bed and buckled her shoes. Her hike up Spare Mountain had had the desired effect on the two-piece wooden soles. They were nicely scuffed. She gathered her skirts in both hands and practiced a few clogging steps.
    â€œYou’re pretty as a picture,” her sister-in-law Cara said, holding a brush aloft. “Sit here at the dresser and let me do your hair.”
    â€œYours looks good,” Manda said. “I like it piled on top of your head like that.”
    Cara tucked a flyaway strand of plain brown hair behind her ear. “I’d give anything for a head of hair like yours, so thick and shiny.” She expertly braided one thick plait, starting at the crown of Manda’s head. “And such a pretty gold color. Hand me that comb.” Cara stepped back and tilted her head, looking Manda over. “Perfect. You won’t be able to shake that loose no matter how much you dance.”
    Manda held a silver-backed hand mirror behind her head and peered into the dresser’s looking glass. “I just hope there’s somebody to dance with.”
    â€œIsn’t Gurney going?”
    Manda put the mirror on the dresser. “I meant somebody different. Somebody exciting.”
    â€œSo Gurney Jasper’s not giving you a thrill?” Cara teased.
    Manda opened the dresser drawer and took out a small pot of rouge. She tapped the powder with her forefinger, then rubbed the apples of her cheeks. “Gurney’s boring as yesterday’s news. He’s so predictable. Want some?” she asked, holding out the rouge.
    â€œPredictable can be good.” Cara leaned in behind her, patted color with the tips of two fingers, and glanced at her own reflection. “Gracious, I look like a clown.”
    â€œLet me.” Manda wiped half the color from Cara’s cheeks with a piece of cotton wool before she mixed a bit of rouge with petroleum jelly and applied it to Cara’s lips. “There, now you’ve got a touch of color.”
    â€œHow do you know how to do this?” Cara asked. “I can never get it right. So I usually don’t bother.”
    â€œI read all of Miz Copper’s magazines. They have a wealth of knowledge.”
    â€œYou sound so worldly.”
    Manda picked up the hand mirror and did