the countryside. From our house, you could see three other housesâthe Grunveldt place, Emmaâs house up on a slight rise maybe half a mile away, and then in the other direction the Shumacher farm, which at that distance was just a dark cluster of buildings on a hillside. That was it. It was all pastureland and cornfields around here, with a couple of vegetable patches thrown in for variety. If you stopped and listened, you wouldnât hear a blessed thing. Maybe a tractor belching somewhere, or a cow fart.
âWhen I was your age,â she said, âthere were times I thought I would go absolutely mad if something exciting didnât happen to me.â
âYes, indeed!â I said. âLord aâmighty! I know exactly what youâre saying.â
âThe country is peaceful enough,â she said. âHeaven knows there have been times in my life when I missed it terribly. But if itâs all youâve ever seen, it just seems likeâ¦â
âSlow death by roasting?â I suggested. âAbout as much fun as a mouthful of pins?â
Miz Powell laughed. Not a prim, proper laugh with a handkerchief pressed to her mouth, but a good, open hearty chuckle.
âYou do have a way of saying whatâs on your mind, donât you, Haley?â she said.
âYes, maâam,â I said.
âI think we understand each other perfectly,â she said.
By now weâd only just passed Frankieâs house, but my hands were already getting sore. I still wasnât used to walking on those crutches.
âI donât mean to be rude, but I think Iâm going to stop here and turn around,â I said. âThis is about as far as Iâve gone on these things, and I donât want to overdo it.â
âI understand, dear,â she said. âIâll be fine from here.â She stopped. âWhat on earth is that young man doing hanging out of that window?â she asked.
âOh, thatâs just Frankie,â I said. I lifted up one crutch and waved it at him, but he was too busy staring at us to wave back. âHeâs a little touched in the head. He spends all his time spying on people. He doesnât mean any harm, though. He saved my life, actually.â
âIndeed,â said Miz Powell. âI wonder what kind of binoculars heâs using.â
That was a curious statement. What on earth would she know about binoculars? I wondered.
âAnyhow, thank you for tea, Haley, and Iâm sure Iâll be seeing you soon,â said Miz Powell. âDo stop by sometime, when youâre more able to get around.â
âYouâre welcome, maâam,â I said. âI sure will.â
âAnd you can stop calling me maâam,â she said. âMy name is Elizabeth.â
âAll righty,â I said. âElizabeth. Can I ask you something?â
â May I ask you something.â
âMay Iâ¦ask you a question?â I felt shy, suddenly. I was so surprised at myself I forgot to get mad at her for correcting me.
âYes, you may.â
âHow come you talk with an accent?â
âDo I, dear?â She seemed surprised. âOh, no. I tried so hard to stifle it. I didnât want anyone to think I wasâ¦â She trailed off for a minute. âIâve been gone a long time, thatâs all,â she said. âA very long time. My friends in England always teased me because of how American I sounded, but I suppose after almost fifty yearsâ¦oh dear. Iâll have to work on that, now, wonât I?â
âThatâs all right,â I said. âI like it, actually.â I realized, as I said that, that it was trueâI did like it. âI just wondered, because you said you were born here and everything, but you sounded soââ
âPeople can be changed by places, Haley,â she said with a twinkle in her eye. âThat was the reason I left home in the