Free The Carousel by Rosamunde Pilcher Page A

sensation of peace, of blissful acceptance.
    "What happened then?"
    "Nothing. But it was nice."
    "Sounds a good dream. What brought it to mind?" "I was thinking about Greece. Swimming in Homer's wine-dark seas."
    "All dreams have meaning." "I know."
    "What do you think that one signified?"
    I told him, "I thought perhaps it was about dying."
    But that was before Daniel had come into my life. Now I was wiser, and I knew that the dream was not about dying at all but loving.
     
    When we got back to Holly Cottage, there was no sign of Phoebe. The firelit sitting room was empty, and when I called up the stair, thinking that perhaps she had spent the whole day in her bed, there was no reply.
    But sounds of clashing crockery and opening drawers came from the kitchen. I went down the hall with Daniel behind me to open the door and investigate, only to discover Lily Tonkins engaged in whisking up a bowl of batter.
    "You're back then," she said. She did not look too pleased to see us, and I wondered if she was in one of her cross moods. Lily could get very cross. Not with us in particular but just with the world in general, which included her morose husband, the cheeky girl who worked in the grocer's, and the man in the town hall who dealt with Lily's pension.
    "Where's Phoebe?" I asked.
    Lily did not look up from her task. "Gone down to the water."
    "I hoped she'd stay in bed today."
    "Stay in bed?" Lily set down the bowl with a thump and faced me with her arms akimbo. "Some chance she's had of staying in bed. We've had that little Charlotte Collis here all day, ever since ten o'clock this morning. I'd just taken Miss Shackleton a nice cup of tea and was polishing up the brasses when I heard a ring at the bell. Dratted nuisance, I said to myself, and went to the door, and there she was. And been here ever since."
    "Where's Mrs. Tolliver?"
    "Gone over to Falmouth for some meeting—Save the Children or Save the Church or something. Seems funny to me. I mean, I can understand some people don't like looking after children. There are some that do and some that don't. But she's that little girl's granny. No business to be up and about all the time, playing cards and saving things. Somebody's got to look after the little girl."
    "Where's Mrs. Curnow?"
    "Betty Curnow, she's there all right, up at White Lodge, but she's got her own work to do. Mrs. Tolliver can't be bothered to look after the child, then she should pay some other person to do the job."
    "So what happened?"
    "Well, I let her in, poor little soul, and I said Miss Shackleton was still in bed and you were out, gone for lunch. So she went up the stairs to see Miss Shackleton, and I heard them talking together. Talk, talk, you'd think that child had never had a soul to talk to the way she carries on when she's here. Then she came down, the little girl, and said Miss Shackleton was getting up and getting dressed. And that vexed me because I knew she needed a good rest. So I went up and gave her a hand with her clothes, and then down she came and phoned Betty Curnow and said that we were keeping Charlotte here and giving her lunch. Luckily there was a bit of cold lamb, and I peeled a few potatoes and made a custard, but it's not right Miss Shackleton being landed with the child to take care of, and her with that bad arm and everything." 
    I had never seen Lily so loquacious or upset. She was concerned, and naturally so, for Phoebe. But, as well, she had a kind heart. The Cornish love children, and Lily was no exception. She had decided that Charlotte was being neglected, and all her hackles were well and truly up.
    I said, "I'm sorry. I should have been here to help you."
    Daniel had listened to all this in silence. Now he said, "Where are they?"
    "Went down to the shore to do their drawing. That's what they like to do when they're together, like a pair of old women." She turned from the table and went to the sink to peer out the window. Daniel and I followed her. We saw the empty