Free Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady Page B

ofbrown leaves. Snow flecked the trunks of the great forest trees and collected in drifts like white pillows on the branches of the evergreens. Red berries that had not been eaten by the birds sparkled on dogwood branches. If there were any animals here, they were asleep in burrows or hollow logs. All around her the woods were peaceful.
    â€œAnnabelle would like this.” Ellen surprised herself with the thought. The dogwood berries made her think of her cousin. Last winter they had had fun decorating the church for Annabelle’s wedding. When they went to the woods to gather greens and red berries, Annabelle had cried out happily, “Why, the forest is more beautiful in winter than it is in summer.”
    The forest was beautiful, and Ellen was no longer afraid of it. As she trotted along she realized she no longer was fearful at all.
    After a while the quiet was broken by the sound of a dog barking and the thudding of a horse’s hooves on the hard dirt road. Ellen looked over her shoulder and saw a small dog jumping angrily at the heels of a skinny old horse. Paying no attention to the dog the horse plodded along heavily. The steam from his nose looked like the steam from a kettle on the hearth.
    The rider was a man so thin he seemed to be madeof sticks of kindling wrapped in a fluttering coat. His chin rested on a bunch of straw at his throat and a long pointed nose seemed to hold it in place. From each arm hung big woven baskets, limp and empty.
    Ellen slipped behind a pine tree. But the little dog had seen her and ran in circles about her feet barking wildly.
    â€œWhy you hiding there, boy?” the man called out in a thin high voice with a twang at the edges.
    Ellen held her breath.
    â€œAre you a neighbor—or a runaway?” asked the man suspiciously. “You got a gun?”
    â€œI’m not a runaway,” said Ellen, “and I haven’t any gun.”
    â€œThen come out and show yourself.”
    Slowly Ellen stepped out from behind the tree. She could see now that it was not a bundle of straw at his throat. It was a dirty scraggly beard. More straw-colored hair hung down his back in a bushy clump. “What’s that in your hand?” the man seemed to talk through his long nose.
    â€œOnly a loaf of bread.” Ellen held up the blue bundle for the man to see. The dog barked and jumped for it so wildly she had to hold it high above her head to keep it away from him.
    â€œWhere you going?”
    â€œTo Elizabeth-town.”
    â€œTo Elizabeth! Thirteen miles!” He whistled through the space where his two front teeth were missing. “You’ll never make it! And besides it will be dark as pitch before you get to Elizabeth.”
    Ellen stared at him. “Did you say thirteen miles!” she cried. “I thought it was ten! And I’ve walked two or three miles already.”
    â€œIt may be ten miles as a crow flies, but it’s thirteen miles by road from Amboy. You’ve walked about two, I’d say. That leaves eleven more to go.”
    Ellen was too disappointed to say another word. Perhaps the man was wrong.
    â€œWell,” he grunted as he wiped his finger across the end of his nose, “my house is only a half mile from Elizabeth. Get up behind me. I need a helper to hold these baskets.”
    As if he had understood what his master said, the horse turned his head to look at Ellen and snorted disapprovingly through his big loose lips. Ellen jumped back. She had never ridden a horse before.
    â€œStep lively, boy.” The man spoke crossly.
    The horse rolled his eyes and shook the leathery skin that stretched over his ribs. He looked far fromhappy at having another rider, Ellen thought. And the man did not look friendly either. But she never could walk eleven more miles. Since there was nothing else she could do, she’d have to take the ride.
    The farmer slipped his foot from the stirrup and reached down a bony hand to help