Priddle and the great watery eyes of Charley Budge.
âHoping thereâs no offence, mister, in us having taken the liberty of showing âee that there bit âo news. It may be as itâs your poor dear Mother whatâs runned into a railway train, and it may be as âtisnât. If âtis, âtis Godâs will. If âtisnât I reckons âtis somebody elseâs mother; but seeing how itâs upset âee like I be afeerd it is as âtis there writâ down.â
Saying these words the foreman of Toat Farm planted his feet firmly in the long grass, screwed up his eyes, scratched his head, and whistled a few notes of the particular call with which he was accustomed to summon his wifeâs ducks at the hour of sunset.
âCharley,â he remarked after a long pause, during which the young man read and re-read the bit of newspaper, âus must be getting on with the beasts, us must.â
âAye, aye, Mr Priddle,â agreed the other. âBeasts must be served funeral days same as wedding days, as old Farmer Patchem used to tell us every time âis missus âad a still-born. âLife is as âtis, Charley,â âee used to say, âand them as takes it quietâll last longest and their childrenâs childrenâll call âem blessed.ââ
Having uttered these words of wisdom the two sages moved away. âThe poor lad be dazed-like,â said the foreman. âDid âee mark, Charley, how âee squinnied with the eyes oân, when âee got tellin of funerals? A reckon âee might oâ bashed it out, âee did, too point, Charley, than âee was. Sort oâ bashed it out, âee did, tooplumb and positive. Maybe the old woman isnât broken up complete. Some of them elderly females is wonderful hard to kill; same as cats I reckon.â
Well! no use standing here , thought Canyot. I must off to Sets-hurst. If it is the poor darling, I shall stay the night there. It may be nothing more than a nervous shock, after all. These papers exaggerate so. And it may not be her at all. But if it isnât, itâs certainly an odd coincidence .
He felt a small hand softly and timidly pulling at the sleeve that hung empty. Robert had lost his arm in Flanders and possessed two medals for courage in the field. He looked down and patted the childâs head, ashamed of having forgotten her. The little dumb girl was making pitiful sounds with her poor mouth.
âPoor little water rat!â he murmured. âPoor little Sally-Maria! This is a bad day for us, isnât it? But never mind! Say your prayers for your friendâs Mummy. Letâs hope that when we meet again all will be well.â
The child put her arms around him holding his sleeve tightly and hiding her face.
âThere â there â my little one,â he said, extricating himself from her clinging arms. âDonât worry any more about it. Run home to Auntie and be a good little kind faithful water rat. Weâll see each other again. Goodbye and God bless you!â And he broke from her and started off at a run in the direction of Littlegate. Iâll just tell them where Iâm going , he said to himself, so if Iâm away for the night they wonât be scared . Even to his own heart he used the pronoun âtheyâ, but his thoughts circled round Nelly and the sad walk he had had with her the night before. Iâve go to face it , he said to himself as he followed the pack-horse track along the lower slopes of the Downs. If she has never really cared for me as she thought she did, I suppose I canât blame her. But if sheâs simply fickle, and just flattered by that cunning old Frenchyâs blarney â well then, to the devil with her! Sheâs no better than a flirtatious little cat !
  Â
The path Canyot followed through the late afternoon sunshine lay through the open
Ursula K. Le Guin
Thomas Perry
Josie Wright
Tamsyn Murray
T.M. Alexander
Jerry Bledsoe
Rebecca Ann Collins
Celeste Davis
K.L. Bone
Christine Danse