CHAPTER XIX
QUEER CONFIDENCE
When the excitement died down, and Nancy found an opportunity to “look Rosa over,” as she expressed her scrutiny of the cousin’s physical condition, she found so many cuts, scratches, bruises and other marks of violence, that she really wanted to call Margot in to attend to their cleansing and bandaging.
“I tell you, Nance, they’re all right,” insisted Rosa rather petulantly. “I don’t poison easily and those are all scratches from the trees and bushes.”
“But just see that long cut on the side of your leg—”
“A wire, I guess it was a barbed wire—”
“That’s always dangerous,” interrupted Nancy. “The rust is one of the worst things. Rosa, how could you be so silly?” Nancy’s patience was by no means abundant. She hated to see Rosa’s skin torn that way; besides, she realized the danger of it.
“Nancy Brandon!” called out the cousin in a determined voice, “you have no idea what I went through. Orilla acted like a lunatic and I was honestly afraid of her. She seems quite fond of you—” there was sarcasm in this—“that is, she spoke of you as if you and she were pals. Just another one of her oddities, of course, so I let it go that way.”
Here was Nancy’s chance to tell Rosa why the girl considered her friendly. But the hot flush in her cheeks warned her. Besides, there was in Nancy’s mind a new thought. It came when Orilla had smiled at her in the woods. Perhaps Nancy could help Orilla!
So the moment passed and the cousins continued to bathe and bind the scratches. Rosa’s hands were cruelly torn and, as the girls talked, Rosa gave Nancy an inkling of the whole absurd plot.