Chapter 16
Arrietty couldn't even speak. She knew then why she had thought this girl so beautiful. She looked like Spiller and Arrietty thought he was the most beautiful borrower she knew. He had not left her for another woman or been hurt with no one he loved to care for him. He had been hurt, but he had found his sister, and she had cared for him when Arrietty couldn't. Relief poured through her as Pod and Homily both began to talk at once.
"A broken leg?" Pod exclaimed. "How did you do that?"
"Your sister? I thought your sisters were all gone. How did you find her?" Homily was puzzled.
"Yes, tell us that," Arrietty said, "but first for goodness sakes, sit down and let us get you something to eat and drink. You look like you've been on the river for days."
Spiller let himself down onto Homily's new bench and set his crutches aside as Larkspur took off her hooded cape. Arrietty took it, and then impulsively hugged her. "You look just like I'd expect a sister of his to look! I'm so happy you're here, so happy to meet you."
Larkspur laughed, relieved, certain that her brother's girlfriend would soon be her friend as well. "I'm happy to meet all of you! He's told me so much about you. It's been hard for me to get used to calling him Spiller, though."
"Why ever would that be?" asked Homily, even more puzzled.
"Because that was his nickname as a child, not his real name," Larkspur said mischievously, and went on to explain to her brother's embarrassment what their mother had actually named him and why she had nicknamed him.
"Ash!" Arrietty exclaimed. "I like that. It's a tree. Trees do seem to turn up at all of the most important moments of our lives. He was in a tree when I met him!"
"Didn't actually meet me until you fell out of it," he retorted.
"I told him if he wants to keep using Spiller, though, I think it's sweet of him to remember Mum that way," Larkspur said, and told them a bit about the fire and how she had escaped.
"Goodness," Homily said, transfixed. "You were saved by a human? How extraordinary!"
"Tom Goodenough saved us from the gypsies," Arrietty retorted. She looked at Larkspur. "I know they aren't all tame but they aren't all bad."
Pod sighed. "We go through this a lot with Arrietty. "They are and they aren't. You can find good ones now and again, but word usually gets out. That's why we had to leave Little Fordham in the first place. The bad ones came after us when the decent ones weren't looking."
Homily who was totally flummoxed by this entire turn of events, did what she did best. She brought them tea, and then she and Arrietty rushed to get the supper on the table, leaving Pod to continue chatting with Spiller and his sister.
"I know what you mean," she said. "The rest would not be as nice as Alice, I'm sure. Not from what I've heard of them. But she said she didn't tell because she knew no one would believe her. That's a hard thing it must be for them. Knowing you're right but no one believing you."
"Aye," Spiller said. "They call Tom Goodenough the biggest liar in the county and it's all because he talked about seeing. That's been a hard thing for him."
Larkspur changed the subject then. She told Pod that Spiller had said he was a shoemaker, and Pod talked to her quite a bit about that, about how he had spent the winter making new boots for almost every borrower he knew. He offered to make her a new pair of shoes, and when she was delighted by that suggestion, they discussed the colors of leather he had and what type of beads she would want for the buttons. He promised to measure her feet after supper.
"I can have them done in a few days," he told her.
"We'll probably stay at least a week," Spiller said. "I did well enough going downriver but my leg's killing me now. Just not used to it anymore."
"You must rest up while you're here," Pod told him.
"Need a bit of help, though," Spiller confessed. "Have to redo the canopy on my boat. Didn't last the winter. Can you help me borrow some canvas from the miller and with the work?"
"Can," Pod assured him. "Be glad to. We don't have to look tonight, do we? I'd rather see you rest up a bit and get back on your feet."
"Not tonight, no," Spiller said.
They had beef stew for dinner, thick with onion, potatoes, carrots and meat that they had gotten from the miller. Larkspur complimented Homily on the cooking, which pleased her, and on her cookstove, which Homily credited to Spiller.
"Got that from Little Fordham," he said, tucking into his stew. "Can't wait to get back there."
"He's told me all about that," Larkspur said. "I'd like to see it, too."
"Take you we will," he assured her. "Arrietty and I will probably spend a lot of time there this summer. Good borrowings there in the summer."
"I want to go see Burgonet and Arista and find out what the baby turned out to be!" Arrietty said, pouring herself another thimble full of tea.
"He told me about that, too. Imagine there being so many borrowers. I didn't see a one for years," Larkspur said. "I used to wonder if I was the only one left."
Arrietty laughed. "I used to think I would be!"
They had a nice meal and all talked a lot. Spiller remembered then what he had heard about Firbank Hall and told them what Alice had said. Pod was genuinely grieved to hear of Sophie's passing.
"She was a good friend to me."
"Even though she was a human?" Arrietty needled him.
He frowned. "Was different. She thought I came out of the decanter. She saw but she didn't really believe."
"That happens a lot," Spiller interjected hastily, trying to avoid an argument.
When Homily brought out custard pie everyone almost drooled over it. Eventually Homily got used to Larkspur and after Spiller told Homily what a good seamstress his sister was she began to talk to her, too. She told a lot of stories about Firbank, since Larkspur knew about it from Alice, stories about how nice it had been. Homily told Lark how much she missed it. Larkspur told her about the hunting lodge, and old man Cairncross and his invalid wife, and all of the children and grandchildren.
"Mrs. Cairncross sounds like Great-Aunt Sophie at Firbank, Papa," said Arrietty, not willing to let the subject go. Spiller kicked her under the table, but it was too late.
"A bit," Pod agreed, and began to explain to Larksput about the fine old pale Madeira and how Aunt Sophie used to drink it and think he came out of the decanter. Lark hadn't really understood his earlier reference to the decanter, but now she understood it perfectly and they all had a good laugh about that. Homily even laughed, although she admitted the one time she had gone along with Pod to see Her, she had been terrified.
"We have to decide where to put you, dear," Homily finally said to Larkspur when they were all talked out. "We don't have a guest room yet, you see. We're still newcomers so to speak," she said. It was beginning to get late and she was tired and wanted to start getting ready for bed.
"Oh, I can sleep on the floor in his room," Larkspur said, pointing with a piece of bread at her brother. "He still has trouble getting up and down. If he needs help at night I can do that."
"You will not," Arrietty said calmly, as she began to gather up the pie plates. "You can sleep in my room and I'll sit up with Spiller. You've been nursing him for months. You're our guest now and you shouldn't have to work."
"Now, Arrietty," Homily said alarmed, but Arrietty shot her a determined look.
"Mother, he's had a broken leg! He's not well yet and poor Larkspur probably hasn't had a decent night's sleep since November what with having to nurse him and all. You and Papa need your eight hours. It's no imposition if I take some blankets and a cushion in there and keep watch tonight."
"Well, I suppose so. Go show Larkspur where your room is and get her a towel and a washcloth. Then come back and help me wash the dishes. Spiller, you have some more pie. I do declare you've lost so much weight you don't even look like yourself. I want to feed you up before you take your sister home. A hunting lodge…imagine that!"
Pod watched Spiller as he took another piece of pie. "You do look run down. Going down river was easy. Going back will be harder. Do you think you'll be able to manage it?"
"If Arrietty and Larkspur keep fussing over me and Homily keeps feeding me like this, I will," he retorted, and Pod laughed. "Can we go up tomorrow and look for canvas to fix my boat?"
Pod nodded thoughtfully. "If we wait until the old man goes to work on the outside. He's been telling other humans that he plans on doing it all week. We hear them talk sometimes, but he hasn't done it. I should think he'd be about ready to start on the outside by now. Odd that he has not done it yet. He's been sleeping later in the mornings. That's a possibility, too, or we can wait until he goes to bed. He's been going to bed early, too. He's not getting any younger and he seems to be going to bed earlier and earlier."
"That's good for you," said Spiller.
"But not for him," Pod argued. "What if he passes and they send someone else to run the mill that does things differently? What if they get a cat?"
"No use worrying about that until it happens," Spiller pointed out, although he could see why Pod was worried.
When he got settled into his bed, Arrietty came in with a cushion and some blankets, and propped herself up against the wall. "When did you start wearing a nightshirt?"
"Larkspur made me a couple. It was nice of her to do. It got cold in the wall at the lodge during the winter." Spiller looked at her perplexed then. "Nice nightgown you have there, too, but are you really going to sleep like that?"
"Shhhhh!" Arrietty put her finger to her lips. Homily came and handed Arrietty, who was still wrapped in her blanket and propped up by the wall, an extra pillow. "Let us know if you need anything."
She then turned to Spiller and told herself for the hundredth time, I've got to keep trying to like him. I've got to try. This is what Arrietty wants. She missed him so and he really does have his good points. She sighed and said, "Spiller, dear, try to get some rest. We're going to take good care of you so that you finish building up your strength." Homily would never admit how glad she had been to see him step through her door once more, but she had been glad, very much so. She leaned down and brushed his hair out of his eyes and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
When she was gone Arrietty held her finger to her lips again and listened. Then she brought her blanket over, tossed it over Spiller's other blankets, and crawled in under the covers beside him. "I'm so happy," she said, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of him, "that you're back."
"Happy to be back," he assured her, kissing her temple. "I knew you'd worry. Was worried about you, too. Tried to think of a way to get word to you, but wasn't nothing I could do." He then said in a whisper, "Was afraid you'd wind up having a little one and your parents would go mad."
Arrietty smiled ruefully. "I almost wished I was having one at one point. I was afraid you'd gone and gotten yourself killed and that I'd have nothing left of you."
He frowned. "Ari, that was a stupid way to think. I wouldn't have wanted your whole life ruined over me."
"It wouldn't have been. It would've been a great comfort but everything turned out all right didn't it? If you hadn't gotten hurt you'd never have found Lark. Things happen for a reason."
"Maybe," Spiller said, tightening his hold on her, "but we have to start planning this wedding. I don't ever want to be that long without you again."
"I don't ever want to be that long without you, either." They started kissing, and Arrietty eventually slid on top of him and began to make love to him, believing with all her heart that everything would be all right, because she loved him and he loved her. Spiller was startled. The different position and the different feel of nightclothes contrasted greatly to the last time they'd been together but even though he didn't have her warm skin against him it still felt wonderful. She seemed to like it better this way, or perhaps she just knew what to expect.
When it was over she stayed in his arms kissing him and stroking his cheek, running her hand down his neck to his collar bone, and enjoying the feel of him beneath her even if his night shirt and her gown were between them. "That was wonderful! Oh, Spiller, that was so wonderful!"
He thought so, too, and as they were warm and comfortable under the pile of blankets he just held her for a few moments, thinking about exactly how wonderful they were together. "Nice homecoming present, you are," Spiller finally told Arrietty sheepishly.
"It's just so nice to have you home," she sighed, putting her forehead on his chest. "When I got really lonely for you I'd read that book of poems Miss Menzies gave me and think about what you said about wanting to have a home like the one in that one poem someday."
"I do," Spiller said, smoothing her long brown hair down over her back. It felt soft under his hand, yet heavy. He liked her hair down and now that she was older she usually wore it up. When she let it down like this it seemed like she was becoming someone different, a secret Arrietty, that was just for him.
"I keep coming back to Little Fordham in my mind," Arrietty admitted, "especially now that we know Mable and Sidney are gone." She laid her cheek against his shoulder and looked up at him.
"That's a possibility," he admitted. "Might even have neighbors from here on out. Lark wants to see it and I know Halberd and Hemiola won't want to stay in that iron stove in the hot summer months with all the gypsies going in and out of the camp."
Arrietty considered this. "That would be nice. There are certainly enough houses there. Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott certainly liked it when Halberd came with us to visit that one time. Do you really think perhaps your sister would stay with us there as well, at least for awhile?"
"Do," Spiller said firmly. "Told her all about it. She's very keen to see it. You like her then?"
"I do. Why wouldn't I? She's your sister and she's very nice. I think before long I'll love her, too." Arrietty said, raising her head from his shoulder.
"I love you, Ari," he said.
"I love you, forever and always. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you."
"Never be that stupid again. I promise," he said, kissing her. He pulled her back on top of him.
In the morning Larkspur tiptoed all the way down the hall to Spiller's small room as soon as she woke up. She wanted to get Arrietty and Spiller up before Homily went back to get them. Peeking in Larkspur saw Arrietty curled up at her brother's side and smiled. They looked sweet.
She was relieved that they at least had their clothes on although she suspected they had done more than cuddle. She knew how much Spiller had missed Arrietty and that they had already had a physical relationship, and it was clear from the way Arrietty looked at her brother that he was it as far as she was concerned, so it didn't particularly bother Larkspur. Her brother was twenty, certainly old enough to know what he wanted, but she knew Homily might not take so kindly to the two of them sleeping together.
"Wake up, you two. Morning is here, and I think you want to get out of that bed, Arrietty, before your mother comes back her to get you out of it," Larkspur said, amused. "Rise and shine!"
Spiller opened one eye and groaned. "Do we have to?"
"I'm afraid so," his sister told him. "I'm going to put the kettle on. Arietty, you have the nicest stove. With that tile under it, it almost makes me want to learn to start cooking again. After the fire at our house I was always afraid to do too much of it."
Arrietty sat up and ran her hands through her tangled hair. "Mother would love to teach you." She stretched, leaned over, gave Spiller a quick kiss and crawled out from under the covers. She snatched her blanket, her pillow, and the cushion her mother had given her and she and Larkspur left the room speaking in whispers.
Spiller smiled. He really did love his sister and he loved Arrietty. If the two of them could get along his life would be a lot easier and it looked like that was going to be easy enough. He pulled the covers back around him and thought about everything he wanted to do that day. If he and Pod could get the canvas for the boat Spiller had a new idea of how to put it on. He wanted to bring the back down and over, and make a sort of flap that could be closed, and he wanted to extend the front a bit, and also leave part of the canvas to come down. If the tobacco tin could be propped up in the back and fastened down somehow, it would make a fair closet. Spring was the rainy season and he wanted more covered space to keep their things dry when he and Arrietty started running up and down the river together. He also wanted more privacy.
I'll have to think of a better way to set up the platform on the cutlery dividers, he thought. I'll need a bigger piece of wood to make a flat platform. Just curling up in the corner on some sheep's wool is fine if we're just catching a little bit of sleep, but if we're going to be doing anything more than that we need to be more comfortable. And when he and Arrietty left the mill he definitely planned on doing more than sleeping on the boat. He finally sat up and looked at the side of the bed where she had been lying. That part of their relationship couldn't be better. He got up and straightened his covers a bit, grabbed his kit bag, and headed past the storeroom.
Peeking in, he saw Pod, arranging some things on shelves. He looked up, his doughy face stretching into a smile. "Ah, you finally woke up! Arrietty said you slept like the dead. Good! Good! Think you'll be ready to go get that canvas?"
"I think so," Spiller said. "I have some ideas of changes I want to make on the boat."
"We can talk about it over breakfast," Pod assured him. "Go along now. The girls are in the kitchen with Homily.
Spiller did go through to the kitchen, to where Homily was now up and directing the girls, who were both dressed and groomed, about what needed to be done for breakfast.
"Hello, Spiller, dear," Homily said. "Arrietty said you slept very well. How's the leg?"
"The leg is fine, thanks to Larkspur," he assured her. "She did an amazing job of splinting it and bandaging it. It healed very well."
"It wasn't a bad break," Larkspur said. "More of a crack in the bone, I think. I was worried for awhile, but we managed."
Homily waved a wooden spoon at him. "Go clean up and when you come back we'll have tea and egg. Pod went up after the miller was done with his breakfast and got an egg and a sausage. We'll have a feast!"
They did have a wonderful breakfast and while they ate Pod quizzed Spiller about how he wanted to fix the boat. When Spiller said he wanted to extend the canvas to block more of the rain, Pod thought that was a good idea.
"You'll still get water in and have to bail out, if you can't get to shelter quickly enough when a storm comes up, but it will help."
When Homily went to dish out more eggs, Spiller eyed her wooden spoon. "You make that?" he asked Pod.
"Yes, I've made several of them. I was never a good woodworker but this winter I had a lot of time to practice."
"Speaking of bailing, I'd like to have one, but bigger, and a bucket," Spiller said, as he reached for his tea cup.
"Could do," Pod said thoughtfully. "I want to send one like this to Hemiola. She probably misses having one. I got the idea from one Sateen had. Daubery told me they weren't that hard to make. Maybe you could keep a regular one in your boat as well. In case you have to cook or bake on the run."
"Could do," Spiller said back, as Arrietty and Larkspur stifled giggles behind their own teacups.
When the men went off to work on the boat, the women began to talk over another cup of tea. Arrietty wanted to hear all sorts of stories about what Spiller had been like as a boy, and his sister obliged. Homily talked a lot about Arrietty's childhood and her own youth under the floor. It was clear that she had never gotten over leaving Firbank and would never stop missing it. Larkspur felt sorry for her.
"Of course," Homily conceded, "it was not as much fun after everyone else left."
"That's true, Mother," said Arrietty. "Think of all the things that we'd have missed. I'd never have met Spiller, we'd never have found out what happened to the cousins, and Halberd might never have gotten married. Spiller might not have found Larkspur again, either!"
"Everything does seem to be connected," Larkspur conceded. "He said he went back to see the old place again because he wanted to say goodbye to it before he had a home of his own. He does want a home of his own now, Arrietty, and that's all because of you."
"I still think you're too young," Homily said, her voice quavering as she rose from the table, "but if you're sure that's what you want to do your father and I won't stand in your way."
Arrietty leaped up from the table to hug her mother, her eyes were full of light. She looked truly euphoric. There was no question in Larkspur's mind about how much this young woman loved her brother. It was written all over her.
Homily looked ravaged but they could see in her face that she'd resigned herself to letting her daughter go. "I won't stop you," she said, trying to sound dignified, "because I want you to be happy. I love you, Arrietty. That's all I want is your happiness, whatever that is to you. If it's Spiller, all right, it's Spiller. Your father and I know how much you missed him this winter."
"I have, Mother, and it's made me surer than ever that this is what I want. I just feel so certain about it. I believe in him. I believe in this. This is definitely the life I want."
"You don't have to do the planning now," Larkspur put in. "He's got to fix the boat and he's been telling me about all the people he needs to visit. After that you can start working things out. Maybe I can even come to the wedding. I'd like that."
"Spring's getting away," said Homily. "If you want to be here perhaps we should be thinking of a summer wedding. June weddings are nice."
"We'd like to have you," Arrietty said firmly. As long as her mother was coming around to the idea of the marriage, she didn't want to argue with her about dates. "Maybe Spiller can even bring my Uncle Hendreary, Aunt Lupy and the cousins for you to meet."
"Lupy?" Homily cried. "Oh, dear, do we have to?"
Arrietty laughed, and began to tell Larkspur stories about her aunt's family. Homily was able to join in on some of those and her mood lightened considerably. Then she, Larkspur and Arrietty cleaned up the dishes and the table. Homily took Larkspur to see some of the things they had knitted and sewn while they were stuck in the mill through the winter.
When the men came back for luncheon Homily told them in a resigned voice that they had been discussing wedding plans. Spiller's eyebrows shot up and he glanced over at Pod who nodded ever so slightly.
"I might get to come," Larkspur said happily. "Of course, it will take time to plan".
"May take until summer," Homily warned, "but that will be better for Arrietty anyway. We can do it in June after her 19th birthday. We all agreed June weddings are nice."
"Know we'd talked about spring," Spiller acknowledged, "but spring is almost gone."
"How did the work on the boat go?" Arrietty asked, changing the subject as they sat down to eat.
"Very well," said Pod. "We got the canvas and the extra nails we needed. The old man's got them all over the floor on the workroom. We redid the platform that goes under the canopy and got a tobacco tin that Larkspur gave him fastened down in the back to make a nice waterproof place for storage. Wish it had been like that when we were moving here from Little Fordham."
"Odd about that canvas," Spiller said. "Thicker dust on it than I've ever seen it this late in the season. The miller hasn't done any outside repairs at all. Odd that is for sure but it was there and in good shape. We got plenty. Pod sees how I want the canvas done and he agrees with me. It will be a regular houseboat when I got done with it. Just right for you and me to go visiting Ari."
"I hope you'll be visiting me often," his sister said, "even though you plan on settling down a bit."
"Don't worry about that, Lark. Now that I've found you I'll not lose you again," Spiller said.
Arrietty and Larkspur went with the men after they were done eating to see how things were coming along. Homily told them to go on ahead, that she would wash up the dishes. "I know where I want things to go and I know you two are both determined to see what's going on," she told the girls who followed the men quickly before she had a chance to change her mind. They sat down next to where the boat was tied up, Spiller's gear all around them, and looked on with interest as the men worked.
Arrietty was delighted by the changes to the boat. She and Lark looked on as the men put the new canopy over the frame. The sloshing water below the boat rocked it and that worried them, especially when the men called out "Whoa, there!" when the boat rocked under them but no one fell down and even Spiller seemed to take the rocking in stride.
"How's your leg? Do you need your crutch?" Larkspur said at one point, when he appeared to stumble and groaned, but he recovered quickly and assured her it was fine.
"No. I just get tired quicker than I used to." He glanced over his shoulder at her as he waited for Pod to get one side of the canvas in place so he could straighten the other.
"Want to stop for awhile?" Pod asked anxiously but Spiller shook his head.
"Three quarters of the way around now. Might as well finish. Then the girls can help us reload her." But Pod could see Spiller's energy was flagging. The cover was on and he was getting ready to get out and start the reloading when he fell. Arrietty and Larkspur both stifled screams, clutching their mouths, and Pod caught Spiller by the arm.
"Enough," Pod said sternly. "You're out of shape and dead on your feet. Want to break your other leg? The floor and the canopy is done. Rearrange the hooks and anchors and reload tomorrow." Spiller had to drag himself out of the boat and his face was an unhealthy shade of gray. He nodded, and the girls both rushed to support him, one on each side.
They got him into the kitchen and onto a chair. Homily turned from the stove and when she saw him she gasped as well. "Oh, Spiller, you poor boy. You've overdone yourself this time. Can't work like you used to. You sit there and eat a good dinner and then go straight to sleep!"
"Don't feel as pert as I ought," he admitted, as Arrietty brought him a wet washcloth to wipe his face and hands and Larkspur poured him some tea. He ate, but he was too tired to even pay attention to what was going into his mouth, and when he went to get up his leg almost went out from under him. Pod helped him to the bathroom and then to his bedroom.
"I'll get one of the girls to sit with you tonight," Pod said firmly when Spiller was settled for the night. "If you need anything you will break your other leg if you try to get up!"
When Arrietty came in later with Homily he was sound asleep. His face wasn't as pale but he did have a pinched look about him. "Poor boy," Homily said. "He's really overdone it. You must make him take better care of himself, Arrietty."
"I have a hard time making him do anything," she replied, taking her cushion, blanket and pillow to the corner, "but if he wakes up and needs anything, Mother, I'll hear him and help him."
Of course when the house was dark and quiet she slipped over to Spiller and slid in beside him but he didn't even wake. Arrietty fell asleep listening to his even breathing.
Unfortunately, she woke up to Pod's indignation. "Arrietty Clock," Pod hissed. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I was sleeping," she grumbled, and rolled away from Spiller's side.
Pod was shocked. "If your mother had come in here she'd have had an attack of the vapors!"
Arrietty sat up as Spiller rolled away from her. "Papa, I was just sleeping. Nothing happened. Spiller was out like a light when I came in here and he hasn't moved all night. You saw what bad shape he was in yesterday. I was worried about him and I stayed by him. That's all!"
"Whaaa?" Spiller said groggily, trying to figure out where he was and what was going on.
"We've offended Papa's sensibilities," Arrietty said to Spiller. "I told him nothing happened. As if it could have," she added, throwing a dark look at her father. "You really do know as well as any of us how bad off Spiller was last night."
"I guess so," Pod said slowly, "but Arrietty, you have to have more sense and be more practical."
He turned on his heel and walked away before she had a chance to argue with him anymore.
Spiller groaned and wiped his hand across his face. "Arrietty, your father has a point. Nothing happened that time but I hate to lie to him."
"I didn't lie," she said, standing up and stretching, "and I don't think it's any of his business."
"It's his house and his feelings are very real to him," Spiller said, sitting up himself. "When we're on our own it's different."
"How is it different?" Arrietty demanded.
"I don't know. It just is."
Arrietty stooped to gather up her pillow, blanket and cushion. "Spiller, I love you and I'm not ashamed of it. We're getting married. Even Mother agrees to that now. So what's the difference?"
"There's no sense upsetting your parents when we don't have to. I love you, yes, and we are going to get married, but let your father be the master of his own place, will you?"
"He wouldn't have this place if it wasn't for you," Arrietty retorted. "Besides, it's getting better for us every time. How long do you think it will go on getting better every time?"
Spiller laughed. "About thirty or forty years, I hope. At least, but Ari, we need to stop being so selfish and do things the right way, and not upset anyone."
"Oh, Spiller," she sighed, and flounced out of the room without even waiting to see if he needed help up. Luckily he didn't. He was still tired, in spite of practically being unconscious all night, and his leg still ached a bit, but it was just regular soreness from overwork. He'd felt that before when he's spend too much time punting on the river, or digging up the floor at Little Fordham, or hauling too heavy a load down the drain. I have to take it easy today, he said to himself ruefully.
When he had thrown his bedding together he headed down the hall with his kit bag to the bathroom. He met Larkspur coming out. "Are you all right?" his sister whispered. "Pod seemed upset when he came back from waking up Arrietty. Sorry I overslept and didn't get you up."
"Nothing to be sorry about. I didn't do anything I shouldn't. I was so tired last night I slept like the dead. I have to take it easy today." He headed off to clean up. While he was in the bathroom he took a piece of razor blade and trimmed his hair after he was done washing, shaving and dressing. He eyed himself in a piece of mirror that Pod had scrounged somewhere and thought he'd done a fair job.
"Why, Spiller," Homily said when he came into the kitchen, "you look much better. Your skin looks less pale and the circles under your eyes are gone."
"I was just tired," he said, helping himself to some friend potatoes. "Redoing that canopy wore me out. I should have done half of it yesterday and saved the rest for today."
"Are you going to reload the boat today?" Homily asked as she brought him a piece of bacon.
"Maybe a bit but not with everything. I'd hoped to stay around a week. Any idea what the weather is like?" He took a big bite of bacon.
"Drizzle," Pod said. "Misty and drizzly. The old man isn't working outside today. I got up early and went after the bacon. He hadn't even come down and made his own breakfast yet." He chewed some himself but kept his eye on Spiller.
"Spring rains will be coming," Spiller said. "Little Fordham will be opening in a few weeks."
"I wish you'd come to see the lodge sometime," Larkspur told Arrietty. "I'd love for you to see the house where Spiller and I grew up."
"I'd like that," Arrietty said, not meeting her father's eyes. "I'd like that very much."
"Oh, Arrietty, I don't know if you going off with Spiller and Larkspur for a long trip all the way up and down the river is a good idea," said Pod, alarmed.
Larkspur laughed. "I'll keep my brother in line. Pod, do you really think you can make me new shoes before we go?"
"If I get right on it today," he said, distracted by her question. "I'll measure your feet after breakfast. I'll also start on the spoons and the bucket for Spiller."
Spiller went down to the boat with Arrietty while Pod did that, and tucked the sheep's wool in under the canopy, in case it got drafty under the floor. He didn't want it to blow away. He loaded his fishing gear, crochet needle and butter knife. She handed him things and watched out for him.
"I can't wait to see the lodge and Alice sounds wonderful," Arrietty told him as she passed him his fish stringer. "Do you think Larkspur will be able to come to our wedding?"
"Maybe," Spiller said, "but judging by your father this morning, I'm not really keen on spending a honeymoon here with the rest of the family. Notice that your mother has gotten us off spring and into summer? If she keeps putting it off we may not get married until we're a hundred."
"Oh, it won't take that long," Arrietty said, leaning over to kiss him. "I love the new tin closet. Have you got six extra bags for me? I want to start packing my clothes."
"Six! What do you need six for?" He was astounded.
"I'm only planning on leaving a few things here. I need one just for my underpinnings and socks. I need one for my shoes and boots. I don't want them to get my other clothes dirty. I need at least two for my dresses, skirts and shirtwaists, and I have other things I want to take with. I have my book and my pencils, and…"
"Ari," Spiller interrupted, "why do you want to take everything you own now? Why not wait until the wedding is over?"
She sighed. "Because I want to get my things out of here. I just have this feeling about it, a feeling that it would be best to start moving on. You don't understand. You've never had a lot of possessions, but wherever I go I need more things than you. Why shouldn't I spread it around a little? I won't have all of it with me all the time, no, but if we're going to be traveling why can't I have a few things here, a few things in the boat, a few things at Little Fordham and so on?"
"I guess that's all right. Wrong you are about possessions, though. Since I met you I've been accumulating them right and left. Remind me to pick up my suit to keep with me. They don't have room for it at Daubery's house anyway. Shall I wear the same suit when we marry?"
Arrietty laughed. "No matter how many possessions you collect with me I doubt if you will ever need more than one suit." He laughed, too.
They spent the afternoon just chatting, relaxing, sipping tea and eating biscuits while Pod cut out the shoes and started to sew them. Spiller sat with his feet up, Arrietty sat beside him, and Larkspur sat next to Arrietty. Homily was knitting a pullover, the pins she was using for knitting needles clicking away as she worked.
She was very curious as to how Halberd and Hemiola were getting on. Spiller promised to go see them and Lupy while he was making the rounds. Homily had some funny stories to tell about the cousins that Arrietty had not told Larkspur and she listened eagerly to them.
"I wonder what it would have been like if we'd all grown up together," she said to Spiller, a little sadly. "It would have been so different. I used to get so lonely. I missed everyone so much."
"Together now," he said stoutly. In the afternoon he felt well enough to go borrowing with Pod. They went to the miller's kitchen. To Pod's relief, Spiller seemed to be moving almost normally. The rest he'd gotten the night before and that afternoon had helped him. As they were tying up their borrowing bags, though, he couldn't resist trying to sound Spiller out again about Arrietty.
"Honestly, Pod," Spiller said exasperated, "nothing happened. I was sound asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and I didn't wake up until you came in this morning. Unless Ari took advantage of me in my sleep, nothing happened!"
Pod winced. "I just worry about her. Headstrong, she is. I'll be glad when Homily starts planning the wedding. I'm sure now that it's what Arrietty wants, and I know you'll do right by her."
"Will," Spiller said firmly.
He brought the wedding up over dinner. "When we come back from this round of trips, we have to start planning this wedding," Spiller said in between mouthfuls of bread and meat.
"Yes, let's," Arrietty said enthused. "I'll need a wedding dress and I want to have as nice a wedding cake and feast as Halberd did."
"I'm sure that I can manage a cake," Homily said with dignity. "Sateen told me how she made the icing she used. I've been dying to try it."
"Spiller and I have decided once we're married we're going to go down to Little Fordham for the rest of the summer," Arrietty told her parents. "There's such good borrowings there in the summer."
"I can't wait to see it," Larkspur said. "He promised her that he would take me on a train."
"You'll love riding the trains." Spiller spread a piece of bread with jam. "There will be strawberries out by then. We can pick some and bring them back to Homily."
"Thank goodness," Homily exclaimed. "We've gone through almost all the jam we had."
That night Arrietty and Larkspur both stayed in Arrietty's room. Spiller had told Arrietty very firmly that he would be fine and that it was no use upsetting Pod again. It worked out rather well because Arrietty and Larkspur turned it into a sort of slumber party and wound up talking half the night. Arrietty began to organize her clothes. Larkspur couldn't understand either why Arrietty had so many or was so determined to move them out of the mill.
"You're going to need them here," she told Arrietty. "It's not like you'll never be back again."
Arrietty sighed. "It's got to do with my feelings for Spiller. When I get most my things out of here I'll really feel like I'm getting married. I'll leave a few socks and underpinnings and a couple of dresses here but I want to keep most of my things at Little Fordham if that's where we will spend most of our time." She pulled out the pleated dress that Mabel and Sidney had made for her. "You're shorter than I am, Lark. Would you like to have this? It has two pinafores with it to keep it clean. You can use those when you're back living in the wall."
"Oh, Ari, I can't take that from you. It's too beautiful. Can't you let it down or sew a ruffle around the bottom to make it longer?"
"It's getting too tight in the bust, too." Arrietty held it up and held it in front of Larkspur. "I don't have good memories of this dress anyway. Take it, do."
"It's true that I am not so well endowed," Larkspur said ruefully, and accepted the dress, folding it neatly and putting it in the bottom of the bag she'd brought from the lodge.
The next day after breakfast Spiller and Arrietty took some of her bags down to the boat. She had managed, to Spiller's great relief, to just have four. When he had them in the new tin closet he looked over at her. "I was thinking maybe we could leave the day after tomorrow. We can go see Daubery and Sateen first."
"If it's a short visit," Ari said. "We should have short visits with everyone until we get to Little Fordham. It should be opening next week. Miss Menzies is probably worried about us. Then after we see her, we can have longer visits with everyone else on the way back. By then it will be around my birthday and we can finalize our wedding plans with Papa and Mother."
Spiller thought aloud. "All right, Ari, if that's what you want to do."
I'd like that!" she exclaimed. "I'd enjoy seeing all of your friends, especially the family you lived with that had all those girls! Do you think they will be my friends, too?"
"'Course they will," Spiller said firmly. He had no doubt of that.
Pod finished the shoes and bucket the next day Lark liked her shoes very much. They lingered for one more day, and then got ready the next evening to set off for Daubery's house. Arrietty managed to get most of the rest of her things on board the boat without Homily realizing how much she was actually taking because Spiller was taking so many bags of flour and Homily was helping to pack that. He knew everywhere he went flour would be needed.
The new shoes Pod was sending for all of the adult borrowers were a distraction. They had to promise to take measurements Timmis and Actina's feet, so Pod could make them some as well.
The sky was gray and cloudy, but it wasn't raining when Arrietty, Larkspur and Spiller set off on their latest adventure. Pod had finished Lark's new shoes and Homily had washed and mended all her clothes for her. As they chattered over dinner Larkspur admitted she hadn't been so spoiled since she was a child.
"You poor dear thing, you deserve it," Homily said, impulsively giving her a hug after she set down the soup pot. "You must come back often."
"I'd like that," Lark said.
"We'll be back in a couple of weeks, maybe three," Spiller said, when Homily came to hug him next. "We're going to make short stops along the route and then come back here. Lark wants to see everything, but she wants to get home eventually."
"Be careful," Homily admonished him. "No more broken bones…for anyone. Give my love to Halberd and Hemiola."
When they got into the boat and Spiller released the moorings, Pod and Homily waved as the young people set off. Arrietty looked back for as long as she could see the white of her mother's apron as Homily shook it in farewell. Arrietty saw it fluttering until they slipped out from under the mill, and then it was gone.