The Richest Heart

Chapter 14

"Emiline, where have you been?" Susan asked. There was a long distance of road between her and her friend, but in a moment, she reached the girl's side and took both of Emma's hands in her own. "I haven't seen you for two whole days! What happened? You could have at least dropped by for tea!"

Emiline cast her a pouty look. "I couldn't," she said sadly. "Grandma wouldn't let me."

"What?" Susan's glittery eyes widened with shock. "Why not?" She slipped her arm through Emma's comfortingly and looked at her with pity.

Emma let out a sigh and tried to think of the best way to answer. They had both gone on a walk that Monday morning, half hoping that they would meet. Now they headed down the main road together.

The rain began to drizzle as they went, but they were safe and dry beneath two big umbrellas. They hadn't gone far, and Emiline had only just begun telling her story, when they saw someone walking ahead of them. It made Emma pause and then gasp in horror.

"Oh, Susan!" she exclaimed. "That's Dotty! And she's getting soaked!"

The poor little girl hadn't brought an umbrella. The weather had been very hard to predict. One minute, the sun would shine, and the next minute, the clouds would come back to pour out their raindrops.

Susan's heart filled with pity. "Dorothy!" she called loudly. "Come and walk with us!"

The girl ahead of them turned around in surprise. Then her face lit up with delight. She ran as quickly as she could, but with her enormous, half-broken shoes, that wasn't very fast. In a matter of minutes, she had ducked beneath her friends' sheltering umbrellas.

"Oh thank you!" she exclaimed. "I was getting so wet!"

Emma pulled the girl closer and wrapped an arm around her to keep her warm. As the three walked on, Dotty kept staring up at her friends with a thankful smile. She looked like a rejected puppy whose master had finally said a kind word to it.

Susan fidgeted with her lacy gloves in a nervous way. Somehow the gratitude in Dorothy's eyes made her feel strange. Scrambling to escape her guilt, she broke the silence and turned to Emiline.

"Emma, why wouldn't your Grandmother let you come to my house?" the girl pressed.

"Well, I guess she didn't mean to keep me away," Emiline answered. "But she wouldn't give me a moment's peace. She kept saying that her back hurt and asking me to get things for her. I've never seen anyone drink as much tea as she does!"

Dorothy's face softened with sympathy. "Oh, your poor Grandma!" she said. "Will she be alright?"

Emiline looked at the girl in surprise. This wasn't supposed to be a pity party for Grandma Adler; it was supposed to be all for her. "I...suppose she will," Emma answered slowly.

"When Papa's back hurts," Dotty went on, "he drinks a cup of willow tea. Do you think that would help her?"

Emiline looked at her friend's face and studied it thoughtfully. There was such a look of sweetness in her eyes; such a look of care. Suddenly, Emma's heart felt pricked with shame. There was something very wrong about the way she had been acting. She hadn't been showing Grandma Adler much respect, and she hadn't been worried about the way the old woman felt.

I guess I should be kinder to Grandma. After all, she doesn't feel well. She bit her lip and held her breaking pride together. Then, speaking aloud, she said, "I know that Grandma's back hurts. But I still don't understand why I have to be her nursemaid. There are a lot of people who don't feel well, and they still manage to do things for themselves. Mrs. Winston walks with a limp, but she even goes into town to help other people. Couldn't Grandma Adler make her own tea?"