Suddenly she began to cry very loud, as a child does when it sees comfort, and went on much faster, making for the bridge. As she ran along the log her arms were out to meet some one.
Calista stared for a couple of seconds, then she raced like a savage down to the first bend, her red shawl flying behind her.
It lay in a pool on the kitchen floor when Conrad and Hannah came in; it was the first thing they saw, and their voices stopped as though a hand had been laid upon their mouths. Mary was lying on the settle and Calista was doubled up against it with her face hidden.
"What's wrong?" Conrad asked. She said nothing, and when he tried to lift her she writhed away from him. Hannah ran to Mary. The blankets were warm, but the small creature was quite cold.
"Now it is time you say what has happened," she said, and Conrad stood silently by.
Calista sat up, looking deadly sick. The story came out in fragments, and at the end she bowed her head, shivering and staring at nothing.
"Did she say this before?" Hannah asked.
Calista told wearily, and the old woman listened, a spectator of strange things to which she alone had the clue.
"Is that all?"