4ccd8c655fe61694735ada9eb600d06c by Unknown Read Free Book Online

wanted me. She saw her thoughts like a slithering, knotted mass of tangling spaghetti that she couldn't grab hold of quickly enough to unravel and understand. Did Amber knit? Was Cedar kind? Was he alive?
    Granite, the baddie ... Greenwood ... The horrible men up at the Rock ... relations? So? So what? My mother was one of them and I think poor Questrid is and I'm starting to think dear Aunt Ruby is too.
    "Lunch is ready," called Oriole, coming into the room. "Hello, Copper. My goodness, your needle flies!"
    The bell rang for lunch and everyone came in and sat down at the big table. They ate vegetable soup from wooden bowls with wooden spoons, and fresh bread and cheese cut with a rather blunt old knife.
    Silver was sitting beside Copper's chair, her big eyes following her spoon on its journey to and from Copper's mouth. The dog settled her chin on Copper's knee and sighed. "I think Silver's hungry," said Copper a little nervously. "More than ever. She's going to have puppies," Robin told her. "See how swollen her tummy is? They're due in the next few days, I'd say."
    Copper stroked the dog's head shyly and gazed into Silver's yellow eyes. What a strange dog she was. She hardly ever barked, and when she did it was more like a howl. Her shaggy fur was silver tipped and both rough and silky to touch.
    I would love one of her puppies for my very own, Copper thought.
    After the meal, Uncle Greenwood disappeared downstairs to the Root Room again and Robin went out to feed the birds. Questrid went to the horses, leaving only Oriole and Copper in the kitchen.
    "I'll help you," said Copper.
    "There's really nothing to do," said Oriole.
    "There must be. I'll do anything. Isn't there some brass to polish or something?"
    "Not in this house!" said Oriole, laughing. "You go and sit in the sitting room now, that's the door with the chairs on it. I'll bring you a drink. Go on."
    "But I could help you make the drinks."
    "That's all right, off you go."
    Puzzled, Copper went.
    Am I imagining things, she wondered, or is Oriole eager to get me out of the kitchen?
    Copper was three paces down the hall when she remembered Ralick. Heck! She'd hardly spoken to him all day, and now she'd left him behind.
    For some reason she didn't want to admit to herself, Copper tiptoed back to the kitchen and peeped in.
    Oriole was setting a tray with what appeared to be somebody's lunch. She poured soup into a blue bowl and placed cheese and bread and fruit beside it. Even a mug and a pot of tea.
    Who was it for?
    Copper watched in astonishment as Oriole put the tray into the dumbwaiter, closed the door and pushed a button to send it upward.
    Robin had shown her the dumbwaiter earlier that morning. It was a small lift for carrying food up to the other floors, to save people from having to trudge up and down the narrow spiral stairs.
    But who was she feeding? Not Uncle Greenwood in the Root Room; he had just eaten, and anyway the lift only went up ... so it must be someone upstairs.
    Copper remembered the bird she had seen going into the window at the very top of the house. Hmm, something funny's going on here, she decided, and I'm going to find out what.
    She crept away with only the slightest feeling of guilt, made her way to the door with the carved chairs and sofas on it and found the sitting room.
    As she opened the door a delicate smell of sandalwood and lilac wafted out. Copper hesitated, breathing in the scent, then stepped into the room. It was like walking into a garden. The colors were all earthy brown and green, honey and golden. There was the faintest gentle sound, like wind ruffling the leaves on a mild summer's day, and yet the air was still.
    Copper chose a large, low chair with a high back and wide arms. It was very comfortable, padded with cushions, and when she leaned back and closed her eyes, the chair began to buzz quietly beneath her and move, like shifting sand on a beach, until it was perfectly comfortable.
    Brilliant chair! Copper thought