--
Clare was busy hemming her new dress when she heard the heavy thudding of Phineas' crutches coming downstairs. "Fin, be careful!" she instructed, not moving from the sofa.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied, making it safely to the bottom of the stairs. He looked around, then asked, "Where are Mom and Dad?"
Clare set her pink dress aside. "They went to get some peaches from Susan's farm. They're supposed to be back at dinner."
Phineas stood on his good leg next to the antique couch. "Let's go do something today, Clare," he suggested. "The air in this house is starting to choke me."
Clare sighed and looked at him. "And just what do you propose we do?" she wondered.
Finny thought for a minute while Clare took up her sewing again. "What about your friend Alice, who lives next to the elementary school?" he said, sitting next to her. "You know, the pretty blond?" He smiled at the thought. "I'm sure she'd love to take a walk to the movie theater with me---I mean us."
Clare giggled. "For one thing, Alice is now married and no longer lives next to the elementary school. For another thing, it looks like it's going to rain. And for a final thing, I promised Mom and Dad that I wouldn't let you get into trouble."
"Oh, there's nothing to do!" Finny wailed, falling dramatically across the arm of the couch.
"Would you like me to teach you how to sew?" Clare suggested.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Finny replied.
"Why don't you listen to the radio, or watch television, or read a book or eat some breakfast?" Clare asked, exasperated. "Go and bother someone else."
"Believe me," Finny said, "if there were someone else to bother, I would."
--
At around two o'clock in the evening, the doorbell rang. Clare was entranced into her favorite radio soap opera in the den at the moment, so Nell, the other maid, answered the door.
As soon as her program ended, Clare ventured into the living room to find out who the visitor had been. She found him still there, in a heated conversation with Phineas. He was a young man with brown hair and a troubled face.
"You must be Gene," she guessed. He looked up at her, not realizing that another person was in the room. Clare looked at Finny, who appeared rather upset and wouldn't look at either of them. "Fin's always talking about you," she told Gene. Sensing the hostility in the air, she wondered, "You asked Gene to stay for supper, didn't you Fin?"
Gene couldn't help noticing how beautiful this young lady looked. She was like a piece of the beautiful house, like a walking talking doll. Since Finny wasn't going to answer her, Gene politely said, "Oh, thank you, but I've gotta get back to school." He of course didn't have to return to Devon for another day, but he had no intention of overstaying his welcome. Plus, Finny probably didn't want him around at the moment. "I just came to see how he's doing and everything."
Clare laughed and stood beside Gene. "Him? Oh, he's up to his usual tricks," she said.
"Well, that's good," Gene added, not knowing what else to say.
"Bye, buddy, see you soon," Finny coldly said, not looking away from the wall.
Gene longed to make amends with Phineas, but didn't want Clare to know that anything was wrong. "Soon, really?" he wondered.
"As soon as possible. Imagine having a nice, peaceful house again," Clare laughed. "He's driving us all crazy." She wasn't sure why Finny was so upset by Gene coming over. He normally enjoyed visitors.
"Yeah, he can do that," Gene said. "Well, don't send him back too soon. I need the rest."
Gene smiled at Clare and left the room. Clare followed him into the foyer. She was determined to fix whatever was going on between Gene and her brother. Plus, she wanted to get to know Finny's cute friend from school a little better.
"Listen, Gene," she said once they were out of Finny's earshot. "You really should stay for dinner, I insist."
"Oh, well—" Gene began.
"You should have a nice, hot meal before you have to take that long train ride," she said.
"Well, all right," Gene consented. He found that he couldn't say no to Finny's enchanting sister. He didn't know whether it was because she was so beautiful or because she too had Finny's characteristic skill of talking people into things.
--
NoV: OK, whadya think? The text in italics, I took directly from the 2004 movie. Review!