登陆注册
4619100000102

第102章 A Mouse NestLINDA DEAREST:(5)

"Peter, you sound like a centipede," said Linda.

"Dear child," said Peter, "when I enter my front door and get to the back on two-inch footing, I positively feel that I have numerous legs, and I ache almost as badly in the fear that Ishall break the two I have, as I should if they were really broken."And then he added a few words on a subject of which he had not before spoken to Linda.

"It was like that in France. When we really got into the heat of things and the work was actually being done, we were not afraid:

we were too busy; we were 'supermen.' The time when we were all legs and arms and head, and all of them were being blown away wholesale was when the shells whined over while we had a rest hour and were trying to sleep, or in the cold, dim dawn when we stumbled out stiff, hungry, and sleepy. It's not the REAL THINGwhen it's really occurring that gets one. It's the devils of imagination tormenting the soul. There is only one thing in this world can happen to me that is really going to be as bad as the things I dream."Linda looked down Lilac Valley, her eyes absently focusing on Katy busily setting supper on a store box in front of the garage.

Then she looked at Peter.

"Mind telling?" she inquired lightly.

Peter looked at her speculatively.

"And would a man be telling his heart's best secret to a kid like you?" he asked.

"Now, I call that downright mean," said Linda. "Haven't you noticed that my braids are up? Don't you see a maturity and a dignity and a general matronliness apparent all over me today?""Matronliness" was too much for Peter. You could have heard his laugh far down the blue valley.

"That's good!" he cried.

"It is," agreed Linda. "It means that my braids are up to stay, so hereafter I'm a real woman."She lingered over the word an instant, glancing whimsically at Peter, a trace of a smile on her lips, then she made her way down a slant declivity and presently returned with an entire flower plant, new to Peter and of unusual beauty.

"And because I am a woman I shall set my seal upon you," she said.

In the buttonhole of his light linen coat she placed a flower of satin face of purest gold, the five petals rounded, but sharply tipped, a heavy mass of silk stamens, pollen dusted in the heart.

She pushed back the left side of his coat and taking one of the rough, hairy leaves of the plant she located it over Peter's heart, her slim, deft fingers patting down the leaf and flattening it out until it lay pasted smooth and tight. As she worked, she smiled at him challengingly. Peter knew he was experiencing a ceremony of some kind, the significance of which he must learn. It was the first time Linda had voluntarily touched him. He breathed lightly and held steady, lest he startle her.

"Lovely enough," he said, "to have come from the hills of the stars. Don't make me wait, Linda; help me to the interpretation.""Buena Mujer," suggested Linda.

"Good woman," translated Peter.

Linda nodded, running a finger down the leaf over his heart.

"Because she sticks close to you," she explained. Then startled by the look in Peter's eyes, she cried in swift change: "Now we are all going to work for a minute. Katy's spreading the lunch.

You take this pail and go to the spring for water and I shall tidy your quarters for you."With the eye of experience Linda glanced over the garage deciding that she must ask for clean sheets for the cot and that the Salvation Army would like the heap of papers. Studying the writing table she heard a faint sound that untrained ears would have missed.

"Ah, ha, Ma wood mouse," said Linda, "nibbling Peter's dr, goods are you?"Her cry a minute later answered the question. She came from the garage upon Katherine O'Donovan rushing to meet her, holding a man's coat at the length of her far-reaching arm.

"I wish you'd look at that pocket. I don't know how long this coat has been hanging there, but there is a nest of field mice in it," she said.

Katy promptly retreated to the improvised dining table, seated herself upon an end of it, and raised both feet straight into the air.

"Small help I'll be getting from you," said Linda laughingly.

She went to the edge of the declivity that cut back to the garage and with a quick movement reversed the coat catching it by the skirts and shaking it vigorously.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 一代媚姬养成史:狂傲毒妻

    一代媚姬养成史:狂傲毒妻

    她贵为皇嫡女,金枝玉叶,但母妃早死,十余年不得见皇上。漫漫皇宫,危机四伏,孤掌难鸣,虽为皇嫡女,却宛如暴风雨中的一叶扁舟,随时被覆没在雨浪中。但随着她的穿越,这一切都来了个惊天大逆袭……
  • 明伦汇编人事典行旅部

    明伦汇编人事典行旅部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 贝多芬传(青少版名著系列)

    贝多芬传(青少版名著系列)

    在《贝多芬传》这本传记里,罗曼·罗兰以极大的热情提醒人们关注那些最不为人注意的伟人特点。贝多芬作为普通人的一面,从来没有像现在这样展示在人们面前;贝多芬一生所展现的英雄主义也从来没有像现在这么雄伟地展示出来,激励着无数的崇拜者。
  • 圣武起源

    圣武起源

    宇内无穷尽,万物无为法,亿万载浑浑岁月,它朝起惊鸿,功成千秋之名,留法万世之基,恢宏忘岁月,它朝新星显,谈笑荡天宇,杯酒诉柔情。
  • 黑帝狂妻之至尊召唤师

    黑帝狂妻之至尊召唤师

    前世,她是世界最耀眼的异能特工组长,一手火系异能出神入化,半本元天诀制霸整个古武界,还是夜家百年一遇的天才人物。奈何树大招风,由于太过优秀,让那些人感到了威胁,最后被联合围攻。所幸,夜无双带着那些想要她死的人一起上路了。重生,她是天夜国的废物公主,寄人篱下,受尽虐待。当她成为了她。说我废物?先天满级灵力瞧瞧。说我不能召唤?极品神兽了解一下。黑帝,元天大陆最强者,暗夜神殿统治者,手一挥,嘴一动,分分钟有百万大军来碾压你,自从被夜无双救了以后,变成了这样:“你在干嘛?”夜无双好奇的看着眼前这个用圣水洗菜,‘魔炎’烧饭的人。“双双,你先等等,饭马上做好了。”某帝撸起袖子又加了把火。“普通的食材经不起你这样尊贵的待遇。”某帝一深思,“走,宝库里拿点东西出来煮了吃。”身边的暗卫一个趔趄:尊敬的黑帝陛下,天材地宝不是这样用的,您这样暴殄天物,良心不会痛吗?……某个月黑风高的夜里,“你松开!”“不!”“还想要你的嘴吗?”“不要了,就想长你身上。”……本文一对一,强强联手,身心干净。
  • 不抱怨的人生

    不抱怨的人生

    当今世界,很多人都在抱怨,抱怨命运的不公,抱怨出身的寒微,抱怨人际关系难处,抱怨自己赚钱少,怨天怨地、怨社会,抱怨冷,抱怨热,怨刮风,怨下雨,怨……如果把我们一天到晚的抱怨整理出来的话。那恐怕要有一火车了。爱抱怨是影响人生的通病之一,抱怨的人并不是不善良,但是绝对不受欢迎。偶尔抱怨一次,还可能是某种情感的宣泄,也无不可,但是习惯性的抱怨而不谋求改变,这就不是聪明的人了。人活于世,挫折失败不可避免,抱怨只会磨灭你的斗志,所以。积极地直面人生,迎接挑战,这样你的人生才会绚丽多彩。
  • 巫师之瓦尔学院

    巫师之瓦尔学院

    在巫师大陆,一百个巫师学徒只有一个能成为巫师。全世界的巫师学徒都在为如何成为巫师绞尽脑汁。而瓦尔学院的巫师学徒是幸福的,因为瓦尔学院最低晋升率都有六分之一。但是,这六分之一后面隐藏了太多太多。
  • 皆付笑谈中之逝水

    皆付笑谈中之逝水

    滚滚长江东逝水,浪花淘尽英雄。是非成败转头空。青山依旧在,几度夕阳红。白发渔樵江渚上,惯看秋月春风。一壶浊酒喜相逢。古今多少事,都付笑谈中。逝水,光阴如水,旧物似水。逝去的不仅只有旧时光,还有旧事物,谓之消亡,引申为“破”,即打破、淘汰之意。何为旧事物?它可以是一个政权、一套制度、一种秩序、一群人等等。既有消亡、打破、淘汰,便有诞生、建立、替代,姑且笼统地称作为“更迭”(这是后话)。更迭是一个过程,在这个过程中少不得会有探索、追寻、尝试,甚至还会有对抗、杀戮和牺牲,直到出现新的平衡这个过程才算完成。在历史的长河中,有着太多这样的更迭。试着从武侠的视角,解读历史轮回中的破与立。
  • 终点的少女

    终点的少女

    所谓女生,就是一种既温柔又敏感、既可爱又绝情的生物啊。在女子高中的入学式上,内部直升的希代子记住了初入校园的奥沢朱里。古里古怪的奥沢朱里长年在海外生活,父亲是著名的摄影师,她开朗大方,用自信当作在青春期对抗世界的武器——这一切都敲进了平凡似尘埃的希代子的心里。“围城”般的吸引之后,两人成为了朋友,也埋下了伤害的种子……东野圭吾、宫部美雪激赞的新生代女作家——柚木麻子纤细而不失力量之作收录出道获奖之作《勿忘我之蓝》在内的四个故事,一部女子图鉴般的短篇小说集,写尽成长之酸甜。然而雪崩时,没有一片雪花是无辜的。
  • 强宠,丫头你往哪逃

    强宠,丫头你往哪逃

    一次好心之举却将她推向命运的转折点她的生命本是平凡到再不能平凡的,却未料到被不平凡的人注意了。。。。。。三年后。。。。。。她已经有了相爱的人,稳定的工作,然而他……却变的不那么甘心了他情不自禁的出现在任何她在的地方,然而她一次次的忽视他,忘记他。他终于忍无可忍,一手毁了她苦苦坚持的幸福,将她囚于身边她恼过,哭过,逃过,然而……然而冥冥之中也许已经注定。。。。。。他眸中怒火早已隐藏不住,冷冷道:“这是要往哪去呢?”她闻声吓的一个激灵,手一松那车票就飘到他脚边去了。他弯身拾起看了一眼,放在手心一握那票就毁了,皱巴巴的一个小团子,他毫不犹豫将那小团子抛向一旁的垃圾桶。眼看着大好的机会没了,瞪着眼睛直视他,这丫一生气连怕都忘了。“你凭什么毁了我的票!你赔,你赔!”对着他的胸口就是一顿乱捶。他不理她,她更加肆无忌惮起来“老流氓,老混蛋!你变态!”————懒得和她继续纠缠,扛起来就往出口走。他这心里的火还有一半没消呢,不回去帮他消火就行了?!强娶篇她颤抖的坐在医院的凳子上,握着手里的病历排着队:宝宝竟然在她肚子里了,就这样拿掉她或他吗?她觉得自己真的很残忍,可是她不想做个未婚妈妈。。。。。。他捏着拳头悄悄站在她身后看着她,等着她的决定。终于到她了,她拖着已经抖的无力的腿朝手术室走去。他眯着眼睛看着她起步向那里走去,一个箭步向前一把将她抱起离开!这小东西真当他的孩子是垃圾了?她想拿掉就拿掉?!他同意了?!在她开口前冷冷道出两个字:“结婚!”她惊愕的看着他道:“我没有同意啊。。。。。。”不同意?他的决定什么时候由得她说不就不了?!(温馨宠文)