protested, but not vigorously.
“But I’d be lying if I told you I was displeased.”
She looked at him again, and then she smiled.
“Now you can tell me all about yourself,” she said, “and there’ll be only me to hear it.”
“Does that make a difference?” he said.
“To me it does.”
His eyes brightened with mirth, and he broke into a smile. But he did not answer her. And then he laughed.
“What is there to laugh at?” she said.
“At inquisitive little girls.”
“I’m not a little girl.”
“You just said not five minutes ago that you were a little girl of fifteen,” he laughed. “You can’t have it both ways.”
“Oh, you knew what I meant.”
He laughed again.
“Quit teasing me,” she said.
“I wouldn’t dare treat you with anything but the utmost seriousness and respect,” he said with a grin.
“Then why do you refuse to tell me about yourself?”
“Do I look like a man with dark secrets?”
Her face showed that he indeed did, and his smile grew wider because he had guessed right. He was enjoying this sparring with
her, and she wasn’t liking it at all. She wanted to get through to him—to make him see her as a woman and not as a child.
They had been walking through trees, but now they emerged into the open. Sam’s face grew worried.
“Look where you’re going,” he warned. She had been looking back over her shoulder at him as she walked.
When she made no move to comply, he repeated, “Look where you’re going. I mean it.”
“Oh, really?” she said, thinking he was still playing with her. But she did turn and look ahead. And when she did, she made
a little frightened cry, for she was standing on the brink of a steep grassy decline. It wasn’t a cliff; yet it only failed
to be a cliff by a few degrees.
She stepped back a little dizzily. But then she felt his hand on her shoulder, steadying her. “Why didn’t you tell me it was
so close?” she snapped. “I could have gone off the edge.” His hand, she was aware, had remained on her shoulder. She shrugged
it ofif and stepped away from him.
“I did tell you,” he said reasonably.
“But you almost let me fall off,” she persisted.
“There was no danger. I was right next to you.”
She moved close to the edge and looked down. At the bottom of the steep grassy slope was a rocky spring. Then she heard him
laughing again.
“I hate teases,” she said without looking up at him. In fact, she wasn’t peeved at him because he was teasing her, but because
he was so successfully fending off her efforts to direct the conversation toward himself. She was also growing aware of an
aching pain from the burn. The exertion of her brisk walk and the heat and the chafing of her underclothes all contributed
to her discomfort. The ache made her both nervous and lightheaded.
He didn’t respond directly to her remark about teases. “Am I correct in understanding that you and your sister are very similar?”
he asked.
“How?” she asked, giving him a look that said that she thought she and her sister were quite different.
“Do you both fight the people you like?”
“I fight the people that tease me and play silly games with me,” she said.
What happened next neither Miranda nor Sam afterward remembered clearly. Miranda was certainly giddy due to the pain of her
wound. At any rate, she lost her footing near the edge of the decline and pitched forward, reaching out helplessly toward
Sam. He grabbed for her but missed her hand and failed to stop her progress downward. What he did instead was fall with her.
They both spilled head over heels down the precipitous grassy hillside.
“Jesus Christ!” he said at the moment his balance deserted him.
Miranda hit the grass first and rolled over and over. As she turned and as the sky and earth reeled crazily around her, she
realized that the hill wasn’t as steep as it had looked from the top.
The truth was that she was having fun.
She
“But I’d be lying if I told you I was displeased.”
She looked at him again, and then she smiled.
“Now you can tell me all about yourself,” she said, “and there’ll be only me to hear it.”
“Does that make a difference?” he said.
“To me it does.”
His eyes brightened with mirth, and he broke into a smile. But he did not answer her. And then he laughed.
“What is there to laugh at?” she said.
“At inquisitive little girls.”
“I’m not a little girl.”
“You just said not five minutes ago that you were a little girl of fifteen,” he laughed. “You can’t have it both ways.”
“Oh, you knew what I meant.”
He laughed again.
“Quit teasing me,” she said.
“I wouldn’t dare treat you with anything but the utmost seriousness and respect,” he said with a grin.
“Then why do you refuse to tell me about yourself?”
“Do I look like a man with dark secrets?”
Her face showed that he indeed did, and his smile grew wider because he had guessed right. He was enjoying this sparring with
her, and she wasn’t liking it at all. She wanted to get through to him—to make him see her as a woman and not as a child.
They had been walking through trees, but now they emerged into the open. Sam’s face grew worried.
“Look where you’re going,” he warned. She had been looking back over her shoulder at him as she walked.
When she made no move to comply, he repeated, “Look where you’re going. I mean it.”
“Oh, really?” she said, thinking he was still playing with her. But she did turn and look ahead. And when she did, she made
a little frightened cry, for she was standing on the brink of a steep grassy decline. It wasn’t a cliff; yet it only failed
to be a cliff by a few degrees.
She stepped back a little dizzily. But then she felt his hand on her shoulder, steadying her. “Why didn’t you tell me it was
so close?” she snapped. “I could have gone off the edge.” His hand, she was aware, had remained on her shoulder. She shrugged
it ofif and stepped away from him.
“I did tell you,” he said reasonably.
“But you almost let me fall off,” she persisted.
“There was no danger. I was right next to you.”
She moved close to the edge and looked down. At the bottom of the steep grassy slope was a rocky spring. Then she heard him
laughing again.
“I hate teases,” she said without looking up at him. In fact, she wasn’t peeved at him because he was teasing her, but because
he was so successfully fending off her efforts to direct the conversation toward himself. She was also growing aware of an
aching pain from the burn. The exertion of her brisk walk and the heat and the chafing of her underclothes all contributed
to her discomfort. The ache made her both nervous and lightheaded.
He didn’t respond directly to her remark about teases. “Am I correct in understanding that you and your sister are very similar?”
he asked.
“How?” she asked, giving him a look that said that she thought she and her sister were quite different.
“Do you both fight the people you like?”
“I fight the people that tease me and play silly games with me,” she said.
What happened next neither Miranda nor Sam afterward remembered clearly. Miranda was certainly giddy due to the pain of her
wound. At any rate, she lost her footing near the edge of the decline and pitched forward, reaching out helplessly toward
Sam. He grabbed for her but missed her hand and failed to stop her progress downward. What he did instead was fall with her.
They both spilled head over heels down the precipitous grassy hillside.
“Jesus Christ!” he said at the moment his balance deserted him.
Miranda hit the grass first and rolled over and over. As she turned and as the sky and earth reeled crazily around her, she
realized that the hill wasn’t as steep as it had looked from the top.
The truth was that she was having fun.
She
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