“I thought, Fleuriss, that we’d go to that great hill over there—do you see?”
“Yes.”
“Go over there so that you can see from 'way of how beautiful it is.”
“Oh yes; I’m crazy to see it!”
Eepersip saw that this hill was wooded on one side, but on the far side it was like a pasture—she could see sunlight glinting on it. On they went, often stopping to pick flowers, to dig up roots, or to refresh themselves at some little tinkling brook or mossy spring. Once as they were pushing through a fence of low beech-branches they came to a spring all surrounded with green moss—oh! so soft. There were ferns nodding beside it, and one or two strange pink orchids gazed at themselves admiringly in its surface. At the bottom were white stones. A cool, green frog plopped into it as they arrived. And Fleuriss was fascinated. She sat there for a long time, watching him reappear for air, then bob down again when he saw that they were still watching him.
Again they came into a great meadow dotted with flowers. Butterflies with soft wings stroked Eepersip’s cheeks caressingly. Fleuriss danced through the flowers, looking, as Eepersip thought, like a little butterfly herself. The sky was a heavenly deep blue—a rich deep blue, yet filled and sparkling with all the gold of the sun and all the coolth of snow. She could see for miles into it, as if it had suddenly come nearer than usual. She reached up and could almost see her fingers touching it. What a strange sensation!
But Fleuriss had a stranger one. As Eepersip danced along, it seemed as though her feet barely touched the ground. The flowers and grasses swayed gently beneath her, but they were not crushed. And Fleuriss felt a bit of dread coming into her mind—dread of living and staying with this strange sister. What if she should grow tired of Fleuriss and run off? Suppose she should change into a tree—a leaf—a sprite? But Fleuriss fought with this feeling—because she wanted to live by the ocean, and to do the things that Eepersip had promised.
After a while they came to the foot of the great hill. They slept down there, near a tiny lakelet, in the soft grass and among the flowers, with the tinkle, tinkle of a little brook in their ears all night. The next morning they climbed the hill together, and it was very steep and rocky. Fleuriss had to be helped often, and grew tired before she reached the top. But Eepersip lured her on by the promise of seeing the ocean, and they struggled painfully up.
The sea stretched away to the horizon, blue and sparkling as it met the sky. Fleuriss was spellbound.