"But you pretended not to know me!"
"I couldn't help it, it was such fun."
"How COULD you make fun of me then?"
"I always shall, you know."
"Oh, yes," she said, "do, always."
"What DID you think when you saw me in the tree? What did you see when you got there? Not what you expected."
"No. I saw twenty years come flying upon me, twenty years I'd forgotten all about. Because for me it has always been twenty years ago."
"And you expected to see a boy, and you saw a grizzled man."
"No," said Helen, her eyes shining with tears, "I expected to see a boy, and I saw a gray-haired woman. I've seen her ever since."
"I've only seen her once," said Peter. "I saw her rise up from the water and sit in my tree. And when she spoke and looked at me, it was a child." He put his hand over her wet eyes. "You must stop seeing her, child," he said.