Grandmother and Grandfather intercepted Gwen as they all left the dinner table one evening in early November.
"What have I done?" she asked, looking guiltily at their solemn faces. She racked her brains to try to think of anything terribly heinous she might have done, but nothing came to mind.
"Not a thing, so far as we know," Grandfather said laughingly. "We just want to talk to you. Come into the parlour?"
"Do I need to come, too?" Phil asked immediately.
"Or me? Jo added hopefully.
Grandfather shook his head at them. "Sorry, lads. Gwen only."
"Don't worry," Gwen heard Jo tell Phil as she trailed after her grandparents into the parlour. "Gwen will tell us all about it afterward."
Grandmother sat down in her special wing-backed chair and folded her hands in her lap. Grandfather sat in his chair across from her and looked intently at Gwen. Gwen herself sat down on the rug by the fireplace, being very careful to stay away from Gog and Magog, and the fire irons, and anything else she might knock over.
"What is it?" she asked finally, unnerved by the long silence. A sudden pang struck her. "It's not—nothing has happened to Mother and Dad, has it? You're not telling me first so I can break it to the others?"
"No, no," Grandmother exclaimed. "Nothing like that, dearest. No, it's just—oh dear, I don't know how to put this without making it sound wrong. Gilbert?"
Grandfather took over. "You see, Gwen, when your friend Fanny suggested that you stay here to finish out High School, it wasn't the first time I had thought of it. I hadn't said anything to anyone, even your grandmother, because I wasn't sure if it was just me being selfish, wanting to keep at least one of you kids here longer, but when she told me about Fanny bringing it up, I broke down and confessed that I'd been thinking the same thing."
"We don't want to put any pressure on you, Gwen," Grandmother said. "We know that you would miss your brothers and sister dreadfully. But Coach Flagg really does think you have a future ahead of you as a runner, and your other teachers all say your grades have improved remarkably from when you first came here last year. I know Kingsport is a big city, and the Glen only a small village, but our High School really is one of the finest on the Island."
"I know that," Gwen said, feeling a little dazed. "The classes are all much harder, but much better explained here, than in my school back home."
"Then too, there's Jack and Oliver and the rest of the Owls, and Fanny and Lynde, and we know how hard it is on young people, especially your age, to make new friends and then lose them."
"In short," Grandfather said, "We'd like to write to your parents and ask them what they think of all this, but we don't want you to feel that we're going behind your back in any way. Would you consider staying with us for the next two and a half years, until you graduate?"
"Or at least," Grandmother added quickly, "consider thinking about it, and asking your parents' for their opinion?"
"I'll consider it," Gwen said slowly. "And of course you may ask Mother and Dad. But I have to tell you, right now I don't think I'll ever be willing to be away from the rest of the family for that long."
"That's fine," Grandmother said at once.
"Just think about it," Grandfather added. "After all, you don't want to sacrifice your future just for fear of being a little homesick."
"Now Gilbert," Grandmother reproved gently, "We promised each other we wouldn't try to influence her."
Grandfather looked abashed, and Gwen rose unsteadily to her feet. She crossed the room to pat her grandfather's shoulder. "No, it's good. Sometimes I need someone to remind me of all points of view, not just mine." She paused for a moment. "Do you mind if I go outside for a bit? I know it's dark, but I promise I won't go beyond Rainbow Valley. I just think the fresh air will help me think."
"Of course," Grandmother said. "Make sure you're back in an hour, please. You do still have homework tonight, you know."
Gwen smiled. "I know."
Rainbow Valley, so many people had said, was magical in the moonlight. Tonight, Gwen didn't see any magic in it at all. It was an ordinary, pleasant valley with many old trees and a frozen brook, and a weary old moon shining overhead. She was glad. Magic might have distracted her, and she needed to have clear wits for thinking this through.
She pulled her coat a little tighter around her, pulled her knitted tam down over her ears, and began a brisk circuit of the valley.
Could she stay? Would she stay? Should she stay? It was all very well and good to say that she couldn't bear to be separated from her family for two and a half years, but …
She thought of Mary, working every spare moment so she could further her education. She thought of Trygve, sacrificing his dreams so his sister could achieve hers. She thought of Jack's bitter lament over why they were so blessed when others who had just as great of dreams or greater were left behind.
Could she, being offered this chance, really turn it down? Kingsport High was a decent school, true. To a student like Jeremy or Phil, who were naturally smart and could usually go beyond what was taught, it would not be a hindrance for going off to college after graduation.
For someone like Gwen, who needed her teachers, who struggled with concepts and theories, who was not naturally bright, it was the worst possible school. She knew that. She had slipped through the cracks in every grade already, only passing with the help of her cousins, brother, and parents. It would only get worse the further along she went.
She wasn't concerned about leaving her friends. Either her friends or her family, she would have to leave one behind.
No, it was the concern over whether she would be wasting her chance at further education, at fulfilling this new dream of running, if she went home.
On the other hand, would it be selfish of her to stay when everyone else went back? Didn't Phil and Lee and Jo deserve a better school, too? Could she really leave Mother and Dad without the love and support and help of their oldest child? If she accepted Grandmother and Grandfather's offer, would she be indulging herself to the detriment of her family?
Her allotted hour passed long before she had come to a conclusion. She reluctantly turned her steps back to Ingleside. Maybe Mother and Dad would just say "no" and spare her the difficulty of deciding.
In any case, she supposed she ought to pray about it. That's what Dad would tell her, before anything else, and he was usually—if not always—right.
"Ho, fellow Night Owl!" a laughing voice greeted her. Gwen's confused thoughts cleared, and she smiled at Oliver.
"What are you doing here so late?"
"I'm here to see you," he said. Gwen's heart gave a weak flip, but she felt nothing like the wild jolt of excitement she would have had he said something like that last spring.
"Why?"
"Before I answer that, will you tell me what you're doing out, wandering alone on an icy November night?"
"Thinking," Gwen told him, and because she saw no reason not to, she told him about Grandmother and Grandfather's offer. To her surprise, his face lit up with such intense joy that she could see it even in the pale moonlight.
"Really? That's wonderful! You'll accept, naturally."
"I haven't decided yet," she said, taken aback by his assumption.
"Oh, but Gwen, you must. What's in Kingsport, after all?"
"My family," she reminded him, a little nettled by his blithe dismissal of her home.
"Well yes, naturally, but you have family here, too. And friends, and we'd all be lost if you went back."
"Really?"
"The Owls wouldn't be the same," he declared.
"Well," Gwen said, trying not to show how flustered she felt, "I still have to think about it."
Oliver grasped her mittened hands in his own, his dark eyes burning. "Don't think about it, Gwen. Just stay."
She pulled her hands out of his clasp, feeling both uncomfortable and unaccountably annoyed. "Anyway, why were you here to see me?"
He allowed the change in subject. "Being the principal's son gives me an inside look at all the school happenings, so I heard before any of the other students that there's going to be a Midwinter's Dance in December, open to all classes and held in the Town Hall." He glanced at her sidelong, suddenly shy. "So I wanted to ask you if you'd go with me, before any other boy had a chance to ask."
"Oh," Gwen said flatly. Half a year ago, she would have been beside herself with joy at such a question. Now … she was flattered, certainly, and pleased, and also nervous and uncomfortable. In some ways, she preferred Oliver as a dream crush to a real-life, flesh-and-blood suitor.
Then she got a grip on herself. What was to say he really was a suitor? He was probably only asking her because they were friends, not because he had any special feelings for her. Although his excitement at the thought of her staying beyond the end of this year did seem more than just friendly …
At any rate, he had asked, and she couldn't keep standing there silently. She wouldn't hurt his feelings for anything, and, she told herself sensibly, she couldn't be certain if she would ever like him as more than a friend in real life if she didn't give it a chance.
She smiled. "Of course I'll go with you," she said. "Just don't expect much from me. I've never been to a dance before, so I won't know what to do. I'm not a very good dancer at all, I'm afraid."
"Neither am I," he confessed. "So we'll be a good match."
They had reached Ingleside by now, and Gwen motioned to the lighted house. "Won't you come in?"
Oliver shook his head. "No, I have homework, and I'm sure you do, too. I just came to ask you about the dance." He smiled shyly at her. "I'll see you tomorrow at school."
"See you then," Gwen agreed, and managed to find her way up the steps and into the house without tripping and falling on her nose.
"What happened to you?" Phil asked, stopping on his way through the hall.
"Oliver just asked me to the Midwinter Dance," Gwen answered automatically.
Grandfather was standing behind Phil. He whistled and shook his head mournfully. "It's happening again," he said. "I've got another heartbreaker on my hands."
"Oh Grandfather," Gwen said. "Oliver and I are just friends."
Jo popped his head around the corner and snorted. "Sure you are," he said, and vanished again.
"Oh dear," Gwen said helplessly.
"What's the problem?" Phil asked calmly. "I thought you liked Oliver?"
Thankfully, Grandfather had moved on as well by then, so Gwen could answer freely. "I did," she said, "But then this summer happened, and now … I don't know. I don't want to hurt his feelings if he does like me, but I don't want to be a flirt and give him the wrong impression."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Phil said. "Like you said, you're just friends, and as long as you make it perfectly clear that that's all you want, if he gets hurt it'll be his own fault. Besides, who knows? You might decide you do like him, again, after all?"
It was so like her own thoughts on the matter that Gwen had to laugh. "You're right, of course, Phil. But oh, I wish it were easier to grow up!"