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know what.’
    ‘You think he means to marry her on a promise?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Aunt Grace said sadly. ‘Harry is a man who plays his cards close to his chest. He hides himself behind a mask of brash impertinence, and only gives you a look at his real self when it suits him. But don’t worry. We’ll put a spoke in Eloise’s wheel somehow or another.’
    She got up from the rocking chair with some difficulty, and stuffed her knitting back into its basket. ‘Time for your meal,’ she said. ‘You just rest yourself. Mary will bring it.’ And then, looking thoughtfully down into the basket, ‘I do believe I’ll unravel this whole thing tonight and put it away.’
     

CHAPTER SIX
    It was another three days later, a Friday, before Katie felt secure enough to venture out into the open. The fair weather still held, but there was a nip in the air. Harry and Eloise had disappeared shortly after lunch. Aunt Grace was off for her nap, and Katie played on the patio with Jon and Mary. The little boy had been smitten by the powered wheelchair. He sat in Katie’s lap, urging her on at full speed, yelling at the top of his voice, ‘Choo choo!’
    ‘He must be mad about trains,’ Katie laughed.
    ‘You would be, too,’ Mary told her, ‘if you had an uncle like Harry King. Have you been down to the workshop yet? Trains everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life!’
    ‘You mean model trains? I can see him at that! Does he have any other hobbies?’
    ‘Everything, I think,’ the younger girl replied. ‘Amateur radio, trains, aeroplanes, photography, automobiles—everything. ’
    ‘Have you known him long, Mary?’
    ‘All my life. My mother worked here for his mother, you know. I used to come up here every day during the week, until that ladyfriend of his put up a fuss. Doesn’t bother me, of course. Mr Harry, he’s been paying me regular, even though I didn’t come. And now, in two weeks, comes the fun.’
    ‘Two weeks? What happens then?’
    ‘Oh, he wants his aunt to go to the World’s Fair over at Knoxville, but she can’t travel alone. So, she and-1, we’re going off to the Fair together. Mr Harry is arranging it all. We fly over from Johnson City, spend five days in a first-class hotel, and then Aunt Grace flies back.’
    ‘You’re not coming back with her, Mary?’
    ‘Oh no. I’m going directly to Atlanta, for an operation on my foot. Mr Harry arranged that, too. He’s a wonderful man. Just wonderful!’
    Well! He’s a wonderful man, Katie thought. Mary thinks so. Aunt Grace thinks so. Eloise thinks so! And what about me? Do I think so? ‘I don’t want to know,’ she mumbled aloud.
    ‘What?’
    'I said what kind of a bird is that sitting on that bush?’
    ‘That’s a cardinal. There’s a pair live around here regular. Is it true what Aunt Grace says, you got the powers?’
    ‘No. That’s pure superstition. There’s no such a thing! How in the world can we ever get equal rights for women if we believe such stupid things?’
    ‘But you did put a curse on Mr Harry—and cured his boils, too.’ Katie looked carefully at the girl. No doubt about it. She wanted to believe! How do you convince someone like that that it’s all mumbo-jumbo? ‘I only made up a herb poultice,’ she offered lamely.
    ‘Katie! Katie Russel! I want to talk to you!’ Harry came striding up the ramp from the cellar.
    ‘I think he’s mad. I’m gonna run,’ Mary giggled. ‘And I’ll take the baby with me!’
    ‘Coward!’ Katie called after her.
    ‘What’s this I hear about you being a secretary?’ Harry wasted no time in getting right to the point, and he was mad. She could almost see smoke coming out of his ears.
    ‘I’m fine, thank you, 'she said. ‘How are your boils?’
    ‘My boils?’ He looked down at his arm, puzzled. ‘I do believe that they’re cured. Stop changing the subject.’
    ‘What was it?’
    ‘My aunt tells me that your new cover story is you are a