The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Read Free Book Online Page B

“But this little cottage is all Irish. One of the Irish workmen stayed on at Las Palmeras to become the McCurdys’ gardener, and this was his home.”
    “But why don’t the McCurdy’s live in Palmeras House any more?” Robin asked. “It’s such a beautiful house. I think it’s much nicer than their other one — the one they’re living in, I mean.”
    “That’s another long story, I’m afraid. You see, Mr. McCurdy, the present one, married a young lady whose father happens to be an architect who designs very modern buildings. A few years ago, her father made the plans for a fine modern home, which they built. That was when Palmeras House was boarded up.”
    “But why don’t they let someone else live in it if they don’t want to?” Robin asked. “Are they just going to leave it boarded up that way for ever and ever?”
    “I believe there are plans to make it into a museum someday,” Bridget said. “When the right time comes. But I quite agree that it’s a shame to let it sit alone and empty for so long.”
    “You lived there once, didn’t you?” Robin asked.
    For a moment Bridget looked startled. Then she nodded slowly. “How did you know that?” she asked.
    “Well, yesterday, on the way home from here, I met Gwen McCurdy and she told me that you used to be her nurse. So if the McCurdys moved out of Palmeras House just a few years ago, you must have lived there when you were Gwens nurse.”
    “Oh, I see,” Bridget said. “Yes, I used to live there.”
    Robin sighed. “That must have been wonderful. Didn’t you just love living there? I know I would. Didn’t it make you feel…” She stopped suddenly, feeling embarrassed. Bridget was looking at her with a strange expression.
    “What is it about Palmeras House that you like so much?” Bridget asked.
    Robin looked down at her hands. She didn’t want to talk about it any more. “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s so beautiful, and it looks as if it had always been there and always would be…I don’t know…”
    Bridget leaned over and patted her hand. “I quite understand.” she said. Her manner indicated that the subject was closed. “And so you met Miss Gwendolyn McCurdy. What did you two think of each other?”
    “Oh, she’s very nice,” Robin said. “She took me home on her horse.”
    “Really? She must have liked you, then. Let’s see. Gwendolyn is twelve now. You’re not quite that old are you?”
    “I’m twelve too. I’m just little for my age,” Robin said. “Does Gwendolyn come here to visit you?”
    “She used to come quite often when I first came here to live. But lately — well, she’s quite busy. But Don and Catherine visit me now and then, and Gwen usually comes with them.”
    “Look!” Robin shouted. A large gray and white bird had flown through the open window and, just skimming the strawberries, had come to roost on the back of Bridget’s chair. At first Robin thought it was a wild bird that had blundered in by accident, but she quickly realized it was very much at home. The bird leaned forward and peered meaningfully at the cookie in Bridget’s hand. “Awk,” he announced in a demanding voice.
    Bridget shook her head. “Daniel!” she scolded. “You’re such a beggar. Oh, pardon me, Robin. I’d forgotten you two hadn’t met. This is Daniel — another member of my family. Daniel is a mockingbird.”
    “I know,” Robin said. “That is, I know it’s a mockingbird. But I’ve never been so close to — Oh! Look out!”
    Daniel had accepted a large beakful of cookie, and with a flop of his wings glided to the floor —not two feet from where Damon was awakening with a humped-backed stretch. “Look out! Damon will catch him.”
    But Bridget did nothing at all. “Watch,” she said. Damon finished a white-fanged yawn and leaped lightly to the floor. Robin gasped. It took a moment to realize that Damon was only interested in Daniel’s cookie. Daniel cocked his head at the cat, picked up