“They are sort of weird,” Judy agreed, “but they’re quite nice old ladies, really. We’ll ask them whose car that is. Well, here we are. We have to cross on the plank. You aren’t afraid, are you?”
Holly laughed. “I guess if two old ladies can make it, I can. It does feel shaky, though,” she admitted as she started across the narrow footbridge.
“Don’t worry,” Judy told her. “I’m right behind you. If you slip I’ll catch you. There! You’re over. That wasn’t hard, was it?”
Holly didn’t answer. She was staring at the house. There were three women busy with something on the porch. At first Judy couldn’t see what they were doing but, as they came nearer, she could see that they were sorting apples. Violetta was just helping her visitor lift a full basket into the green car when she looked up and saw the girls approaching.
“Good afternoon, Judy!” she called cheerily. “You and Honey are just in time to sample some of our sweet apples.”
“She called me Honey,” Holly whispered. “I’m not. I’m Holly.”
“She’ll soon discover that,” Judy replied cheerfully.
Violetta was coming down the path to meet them. “You picked a good time to come,” she told Judy. “We’ve been out in the orchard picking apples all day. An old friend of ours drove over here this morning—”
“How did she get over?” Judy asked curiously. “There isn’t any bridge across the creek.”
“There’s another way—” Violetta stopped and looked at Holly in surprise.