Emily's Dream by Jacqueline Pearce Read Free Book Online

was nodding her head vigorously as the guests spoke.
    â€œBut what about the forest and the people?” Emily asked.
    â€œOh, we never went into the forest,” said the smaller missionary, sounding shocked at the suggestion. “It was much too dangerous.”
    â€œAnd we had no reason to,” added the other.
    Emily could think of many reasons why she would want to go into the forest–just to see what it was like, for one.
    â€œThe people must have been very grateful to have you bring them the word of God,” Lizzie said.
    â€œI don’t know if grateful is the way I would describe their attitude,” the tallmissionary said. “But I believe we have made some headway in their acceptance of our Lord.”
    Emily turned away to hide her disgust. The missionaries were just as snobby as the Piddingtons. It seemed like they hadn’t bothered to learn anything about the people or the place they had visited.

 14 
Poor Mr. Piddington
    It wasn’t until the missionary ladies were on their way out that Emily had a chance to slip Mr. Piddington’s cigarette case under one of the stuffed chairs. She pushed it back far enough that it couldn’t easily be seen. She doubted that Mr. Piddington had gotten down on his hands and knees to look under the chair already.
    After supper, the Piddingtons had still not returned. It was so pleasant to have the house to themselves again–to be able to relax and not worry about tripping over the Piddingtons or any other guests–that Emily forgot about the case waiting under the drawing room chair.
    Dick had made his way back downstairs. He, Emily and Alice sat reading in the sitting room, while Dede played hymns on the drawing room piano and Lizzie sang along. The music was sober and heavy as it vibrated through the house, but it was also familiar and comforting.
    Feeling in good spirits, Emily put her book down suddenly and ran lightly up the stairs to her room. She came back down, carefully carrying the canary’s cage. She placed it on the small table between her chair and the window and sat back down with her book. Both Alice and Dick looked up and smiled. It had been a while since Emily had brought the bird down to join them. Soon the canary’s whistling voice was joining in with the piano, adding a more cheerful melody to the booming chords.
    It was almost time for bed when Emily heard the carriage pull up in front of the house and the front door open. The memory of the Piddingtons and the cigarette case crashed down on her like a sour piano chord. She’d have to wait until they wereout of the hallway before she could sneak past them and up to bed. She wanted to be far away when Mr. Piddington discovered the case under the chair.
    The next morning it was obvious that the case had not yet been discovered. Mr. Piddington was making plans to head into town to buy more cigarettes as soon as the shops were open. How was Emily going to get him to find the case before he went out?
    â€œMilly!” Alice called. “Are you ready to leave for school?”
    Emily hesitated. It would be perfect if the case could be found while she was away at school. But how was she going to get someone to look for it?
    Emily noticed Dede heading to the sitting room with the feather duster. Perfect. She would be making her way to the drawing room next. Maybe she’d find the case before Mr. Piddington left for the shops. But she’d be dusting the tops of things, not the bottoms. What if she didn’t look under the chairs?
    Emily grabbed her coat from its hook in the hallway outside the drawing room and paused in the drawing room doorway to put it on. Her eyes searched the room, unsure of what she was looking for. Then, she saw it–Dede’s needlework. She glanced down the hall to make sure Dede was still out of sight and ducked into the drawing room. Carefully, she placed Dede’s needlework on the floor as if it had fallen