Free Anna's Return by Sally Quilford

since their
adventure, her heart flipped uncontrollably. He did not belong to her, just
because they had shared a desperate experience a very long time ago. She wished
him to be happy, and if Mary made him happy, so be it.
    “I shall ask Mama,” said Nicky. “I’m sure she will allow
it.”

 
    Chapter Twelve
     
    “She’s a pretty girl,” said Izzy. “Is she your sweetheart?”
    Teddy looked up startled. He had not heard Izzy come into
the kitchen. He shook his head. “No, this is Anna, my half-sister.”
    “I had no idea you had a sister,” said Izzy.
    “I’ve just made a cup of tea. Would you like some?” asked
Teddy.
    “Your mother would have a fit if she knew you were in the
kitchen. But yes I would like one very much, thank you.” Izzy sat down at the
kitchen table.
    “You can have half of my luncheon meat sandwich if you want.
I haven’t touched it yet. It’s all very well Mother saying I can’t come into
the kitchen, but since she frightens away most of the staff, I don’t have much
choice. Anyway, times are changing, Izzy. The days of spoilt little rich boys,
living off their Trust Fund and unable to fend for themselves have gone. I just
wish Mother would understand that.”
    “You’re going to be quite a man when you grow up, Teddy, do
you know that?”
    He put a cup of tea in front of Izzy and smiled. “I think
I’m quite grown up enough.”
    Izzy laughed indulgently. “Oh, in a couple more years maybe.
So, tell me about Anna.”
    Teddy sat back down in his own seat, and once again offered
half his sandwich to Izzy, which she took gratefully.  “Do you remember me
telling you the other day that I’d done something awful?”
    “Yes. And I said I doubted it.”
    “Well, I did. Because of me, Anna was accused of attempting
to … well to cause me serious harm. Then she ran away and I don’t know where
she is. I just wish I could find her, and tell  her I’m sorry.” Once he had
started to speak, Teddy could not stop himself. He wanted Izzy to know
everything.
    “Slow down, Teddy,” she said, putting her hand over his. He
wished he could hold her hand forever, but she had made it clear she thought
him too young for her. “And tell me everything from the beginning.”
    So that was what Teddy did. He told Izzy all about how Anna
came into their lives, right up to what happened when he climbed the tree. By
the time he finished, he took a deep, cleansing breath.
    “Oh, Teddy, you were only a little boy,” said Izzy. “You’re
being much too hard on yourself. If Anna running away was anyone’s fault, then
I’m sorry to say it was  your mother’s. She must have known Anna would not
really do such a thing.”
    “She wouldn’t do anything like that,” said Teddy,
vehemently. “I used to tell her she was a peach of a girl and she really was.
Only Anna and Mrs. Palmer spoke to me when I was at home. I mean really spoke
to me, like I was somebody.”
    “You are somebody.”
    “You wouldn’t think it, from the way Mother and Father speak
to me. Oh, the old man’s not so bad really. He’s just as frightened of Mother
as everyone else is. But mother only ever spoke to me to scold or to
mollycoddle me.”
    “She loves you very much, Teddy. You can’t criticise her for
that.” If Izzy was anything, she was fair-minded, and always tried to see the
best in people. “Maybe it was genuine fear when you fell out of the tree that
caused her to accuse Anna of causing it.”
    Teddy shook his head. “No, she hardly bothered about my
injuries. Such as they were. I had a bit of a bruise on my head and my leg,
that’s all. My pride took the biggest beating.”
    “Has no one heard from Anna since?”
    “She wrote a letter to Stephens, our old butler, and sent
him a ten shilling note. That was about a month later. We didn’t know it at the
time, but she’d borrowed the money off him. All she said was that she hoped I
was alright and that Mrs. Palmer would understand why she had to run