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St.Louis to live."
"But Matt was sure! He saidMs was his home!" Alex
THE LONG NIGHT OF WAITING 309
frowned. "He said it over and over, that he had comehome again."
"At first he did," Rick agreed. "But later, you knowthat Matt was not so sure, was he now? You think
aboutthat, shrimp."
Alex was still frowning. At least he was not screamingas Lesley feared he would be. Rick, she was
suddenlyvery proud and a little in awe of Rick. How had heknown how to keep Alex from going into one
of histantrums?
"Matt he did say funny things. An' he was afraid ofcars. Why was he afraid of cars, Rick?"
"Because where he lives they don't have cars."
Alex's surprise was open. "Then how do they go tothe store? An' to Sunday School, an' school, an'
everyplace?"
"They have other ways, Alex. Yes, Matt was afraid ofa lot of things, he knew that this was not his home,
thathe had to go back."
"But I want him he " Alex began to cry, not with the loud screaming Lesley had feared, but in a
way nowwhich made her hurt a little inside as she watched himbutt his head against Rick's shoulder,
making no effortto smear away the tears as they wet his dirty cheeks.
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"Sure you want him," Rick answered. "But Matt he was afraid, he was not very happy here, now was
he, shrimp?"
"With me, he was. We had a lot of fun, we did!"
"But Matt wouldn't go in the house, remember? Remember what happened when the lights went on?"
"Matt ran an' hid. An' Lizzy, she kept telling him an'telling him they had to go back. Maybe if Lizzy hadn't
all the time told him that "
Lesley thought about Lizzy. Matt was little he wasnot more than Alex's age not really, in spite of
whatthe stone said. But Lizzy had been older and quicker tounderstand. It had been Lizzy who had
asked most ofthe questions and then been sick (truly sick to her stom-ach) when Lesley and Rick
answered them. Lizzy hadbeen sure of what had happened then just like she wassure about the
other that the stone must never be
310 Andre Norton
moved, nor that place covered over to trap anybody else.So that nobody would fall through
Fall through into what? Lesley tried to remember allthe bits and pieces Lizzy and Matt had told about
wherethey had been for a hundred and ten years ahundredandten just like the stone said.
She and Rick had found the stone when Alex had runaway. They had often had to hunt Alex like that.
Eversince he learned to open the Safe-tee gate he would go off about once a week or so. It was about
two monthsafter they moved here, before all the new houses hadbeen built and the big apartments at the
end of the street.This was all more like real country then. Now it wasdifferent, spoiled just this one
open place left and that(unless Lizzy was right in thinking she'd stopped it all) would not be open long.
The men had started to clear itoff with the bulldozer the day before yesterday. All theground on that side
was raw and cut up, the trees andbushes had been smashed and dug out.
There had been part of an old orchard there, and abig old lilac bush. Last spring it had been so pretty.
Ofcourse, the apples were all little and hard, and hadworms in them. But it had been pretty and a swell
placeto play. Rick and Jim Bowers had a house up in thebiggest tree. Their sign said "No girls allowed,"
but Les-ley had sneaked up once when they were playing LittleLeague ball and had seen it all.
Then there was the stone. That was kind of scarey.Yet they had kept going to look at it every once in a
while, just to wonder.
Alex had found it first that day he ran away. Therewere a lot of bushes hiding it and tall grass. Lesley felt
her eyes drawn in that direction now. Itwas still there.Though you have to mostly guess about that, only
oneteeny bit of it showed through all those leaves and things.
And when they had found Alex he had been workingwith a piece of stick, scratching at the words
carved therewhich were all filled up with moss and dirt. He had beenso busy and excited he had not tried
to dodge them ashe usually did, instead he wanted to know if those werereal words, and then demanded
that Rick read them tohim.
THE LONG NIGHT OF WAITING 311
Now Lesley's lips silently shaped what was carved there.
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A long night of waiting.
To the Memory of our dear children,
Lizzy and Matthew Mendal,
Who disappeared on this spot
June 23, 1861. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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