“Yes, running away. And no business of yours.”
The warrior in Kate straightened. This was a clear call to arms. She felt very old and wise. She certainly would never let that crying little girl go away like this into the rain and dark night. She couldn’t expect to walk out right under Kate’s nose!
“Is that what the note I brought you was about?” she asked. “Was it a plan for this?”
“No. It was telling me not to do this. But I’m going to, just the same. He didn’t understand—he couldn’t know.”
Elsie returned to her packing. Kate moved nearer to her.
“Do you think I’m going to stand here and let you run away right in the middle of the night like this?” she asked, curiously.
Elsie did not glance up at her. She simply said, “Well, what can you do to stop me?”
“Wake the house, of course. Call Aunt Katherine. Shout for her.”
Elsie stared at Kate in unfeigned surprise. “You’d tell on me?” she asked in an unbelieving tone. “I thought you weren’t like that. I thought you were decent.”
“I am decent. I don’t tell, not about little things, like the key. But this is entirely different. I should certainly wake the whole house if you tried to walk out with that suitcase.”