Chapter VIII: Kitty Is Mystified

TIM'S first idea on witnessing Kitty's accident was that she had killed herself; but before he had time to move the ladder from one side of the wall to the other and descend to her assistance, which he set about doing at once, she had struggled into a sitting posture, and as he reached her side she was trying to get up. That, however, she found she could not do, for she had injured her right foot in her fall; and her face was colourless and drawn with pain, and her blue eyes full of frightened tears as she raised them to Tim's scared countenance.

"Oh, Kitty, are you hurt much?" he inquired anxiously, extending a hand to help her to rise.

"Don't touch me," she almost shrieked. "I believe I'm bruised all over, and my foot is hurting me dreadfully—I think all the bones in it are broken! Oh, dear, what shall I do? Please fetch father—fetch him at once!" And the little girl burst into a storm of tears and sobs.

Tim, pale as a sheet himself, rushed to the house to do Kitty's bidding; and a few minutes later he returned, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Glanville and the two servants. Mr. Glanville carried his little daughter indoors, and laid her on the sofa in the dining-room; then he suggested sending for a doctor.

"Yes," assented his wife, who was carefully withdrawing the shoe from poor Kitty's injured foot. "There, dear, it's off," she said, soothingly, as Kitty moaned with pain.

"Let me go," said Tim, who was hovering about the doorway, deeply concerned. "Ah! Do let me go; I'll run all the way."

"There's no need for such hurry as that—" said Mr. Glanville "at least, I think not. But if you will go and ask Dr. Richards to come round and see Kitty, I shall be very glad. I dare say you'll catch him before he starts on his morning round. You know where he lives?"

"Oh, yes—just round the corner," Tim replied. "Bob pointed out the house to me, and said your doctor lived there. I'll be back in a jiffy."

In spite of what Mr. Glanville had said Tim ran all the way, for he thought most seriously of Kitty's condition; and, as it happened, it was fortunate he did, for Dr. Richards was on the point of stepping into his gig when the little boy rushed up to him—a moment later he would have been gone.

"Oh, please," panted Tim excitedly, "will you go to Mr. Glanville's first of all? There's been a dreadful accident. Kitty's fallen from a tree, and is so injured! She's bruised all over, and has broken every bone in her right foot. I'm afraid she's very bad."

"I'll go and see her at once," the doctor replied, not looking nearly so impressed as Tim had expected he would; and, getting into his gig, he drove away.

The little boy retraced his footsteps soberly, and found the doctor's gig outside the Glanvilles' house on his return. He went round to the back of the house and discussed Kitty's accident with Cook in the kitchen; and when he heard Mary opening the front door for the doctor to depart, he begged Cook to go and ascertain what was the medical opinion of the patient, which she was very willing to do.

"She's more frightened than hurt, Master Tim," Cook told him reassuringly, coming back after a short absence from the kitchen. "Dr. Richards has bandaged her sprained foot, and he says she must be kept quiet; but there's no need to be alarmed about her—she'll soon be all right again."

"Oh, how glad I am to hear that!" cried Tim thankfully; "I quite thought she had killed herself!" he added, with a shudder.

"Young bones fall light," remarked Cook. "I hope this will be a lesson to Miss Kitty not to be so hoydenish in future; why she hasn't fallen from that apple tree before I really don't know."

Meanwhile, Kitty, according to the doctor's order, was being put to bed by her mother and Mary. She was bruised and shaken, and her foot was giving her a great deal of pain, so that altogether she was feeling very low-spirited and unwell.

Bob, on his return from school at mid-day, was greatly concerned on hearing of his sister's accident; but she would not tell him how it had happened. Accordingly, he sought Tim, and learnt from him that the little girl had been climbing down from the tree very carelessly, when she lost her footing, and thus brought about the mishap.

"I suppose she was showing off because you were watching her," observed Bob, jumping at once to the right conclusion.

"Yes," nodded Tim, "that was it; but please don't tell her I said so," he added hastily.

"All right," agreed Bob, "I won't. Poor Kitty, she'll be tied by the leg for a bit, I suppose. I wonder if she'll be well enough to come to the sports?"

That was the thought which troubled Kitty herself. Dr. Richards kept her in bed only two days, after which she lay on the sofa in the dining-room. Of course there was no question of her returning to school on Thursday. She did not mind that in the least; but it worried her to think she might not be well by Saturday week, which was the day fixed for the grammar school sports. Dr. Richards would not say she would be able to go, and when questioned upon the point merely answered evasively, "Oh, we'll see."

"I suppose Bob is taking good care of Fluffy?" the little girl remarked to her mother one morning after she was comfortably settled on the sofa, with Snip on the rug at her feet.

"Oh, Tim's seeing to Fluffy," Mrs. Glanville replied. "He cleans out the hutch every day, I believe. He offered to take charge of your pet, and we were glad he could do so; for, you know, Bob has little spare time, what with his lessons and practising for the sports."

"It's very kind of Tim," admitted Kitty, rather grudgingly.

"Tim is kind," said Mrs. Glanville, in a tone of decision; "and he has been greatly concerned about you, my dear; he continually calls to know how you are. I hear his voice at the door now. Wouldn't you like to see him?"

"Yes, I think I should," Kitty answered. "It was very good of him to fetch Dr. Richards so quickly the other morning—I thought so at the time. Please, mother, ask him to come in."

So Tim came in, his plain, freckled face very bright, and told Kitty how very glad he was she was better, and reported that Fluffy was doing well under his care. Kitty thanked him for looking after her pet; and then, as she expressed a desire to see Fluffy, Tim fetched the rabbit, and she kissed its pink nose and fondled it, until Snip, watching her from the corners of his eyes, began to show symptoms of jealousy, and it was deemed advisable to restore Fluffy to the hutch.

Tim's visit did much to cheer Kitty, and she asked him to come again, which he accordingly did very willingly. She began to think that she had been mistaken in believing it had been he who had stolen the covered basket; but she could not entirely rid her mind of the suspicion that he had had something to do with the mysterious death of the first rabbit, though she would gladly have done so.

And Tim, when he met the gaze of Kitty's honest blue eyes, was often conscience-stricken, remembering how she had asked him point blank if he had overturned the box which had held her rabbit, and he had answered, "No, certainly not." What would be her opinion of him if she ever found out his untruthfulness? He was beginning to think less of the impetuous act which he had done in his temper than of the denial he had uttered; and now he knew the Glanvilles, he saw that they would more easily understand and overlook the revengeful deed than the deliberate falsehood, for both Kitty and Bob were particularly honourable children. How difficult it would be to make them believe that he did not tell stories as a rule, but that he had succumbed to temptation because he had been lonely and desired their friendship, which he had feared he would never gain if he confessed the truth.

It was nearly a week before Kitty was fit to stand on her injured foot again, and then she was only able to limp about—"a lame duck," her brother called her. Nevertheless, she declared her intention of attending the grammar school sports. And, much to her joy, Dr. Richards gave it as his opinion that it would do her no harm to go, if she was driven to the ground where the sports were to be held, and sat down as much as she could whilst she was there. Accordingly, when the long-looked-forward-to afternoon arrived, she drove off in a cab with her mother and father and Tim Shuttleworth in the best of possible spirits.

The ground belonging to the grammar school was a short distance out of the town. And as the cab drew up at the entrance gate, Bob, wearing his colours—pale blue and silver, which his sister had chosen—left the group of boys with whom he had been chatting, and ran up to it.

"You'd better come and sit on one of the seats near the hedge, Kitty," he said, as he assisted the little girl to alight. "They're going to run off the heats first of all, and you'll have a good sight from there. See, there's an empty seat with room for all of you; and there's a board for you to put your feet upon, so you can't possibly catch cold."

Bob led the way with his sister, and the others followed. It was a beautiful May afternoon, warm and sunshiny, and there were a lot of visitors present, for the grammar school at B— numbered many pupils, who had brought their relations and friends to witness the sports. By-and-by the town band arrived to play selections of music between the various performances.

"Have you seen Tom Hatch?" inquired Kitty of her brother.

"No; but one of the masters told me he was here with his people," Bob replied. "I expect I shall run against him presently. Shall I tell him you want to speak to him, Kitty?"

"Yes, do," she said, eagerly.

At that moment her brother was called away, and she turned to Tim, who was seated next to her, and entered into conversation with him. He had not heard what she and her brother had been saying, for he had been talking to Mrs. Glanville, who was on his other side. Very shortly after that the sports commenced, and Kitty had no eyes but for those engaged in them, all of whom she knew by sight, if not to speak to.

Much to his sister's delight, Bob distinguished himself on several occasions that afternoon, more especially in the high jump, in which he easily beat the other competitors of his age.

"He will get the first prize," Kitty whispered to Tim, a thrill of intense gratification in her voice. "I'm so glad."

"So am I," returned Tim heartily, and he rose and went with Mr. Glanville to offer Bob his congratulations.

"Your father is going to get us some tea presently," remarked Mrs. Glanville to her little daughter. "It will be nicer to have it here than in the refreshment tent."

"Yes," agreed Kitty. "Oh, mother, there's Tom Hatch!" she cried a moment later, as a boy of about Bob's age passed the seat, and took off his cap to them. "Oh, Tom, stop a minute!"

There was nothing for Tom to do but to come back and shake hands with Mrs. Glanville and Kitty. He was a shy-looking boy, and his manner was rather embarrassed.

"I wanted to see you to speak to you about that rabbit—" Kitty was commencing, when he interrupted her hastily.

"Oh, yes!" he exclaimed, growing very red. "I was so sorry I couldn't let you have it after all. The truth is, I—I sold it, and made a good price of it. I ought to have let you know, of course; but I was so rushed for time, and—I hope you didn't mind?"

"But you did send the rabbit!" said Kitty, looking bewildered. "At least, I suppose it was you who sent it, for I found a dear little rabbit had been put in my hutch, and as you had told Bob you meant to give me one I guessed it had come from you."

"Yes, yes, I did tell him you should have one," Tom admitted. "But I—well, I broke my word, I'm afraid. In fact," the boy added in greater confusion than before, "I—I acted awfully shabbily about it."

"Then you didn't send the rabbit?" the little girl gasped. "Oh, please understand I'm not a bit angry, but—" her eyes opening in a wide stare of incredulity, "I should like to be quite certain."

Tom shook his head. "No," he said emphatically, "I give you my word I didn't send it. Somebody else must have done it as a surprise. At any rate, the rabbit wasn't mine."