by Kit Pearson
“This is an awfully hard decision for Polly to make right now,” protested Maud. “Let her think about it for a while.”
“I don’t have to think about it,” said Polly, getting up from the floor.
She looked around at her family. She loved them all: Daddy, Maud, Noni, Esther, and Baby Una. Not to be with Una every moment, to miss her first smile or her first steps, would be especially hard.
But Polly knew whom she belonged to: the person who had sheltered her, and healed her, and loved her when she had been lost and afraid. The person in the room who needed her the most.
Polly kissed her grandmother. “I can never get enough of you.”
Then she turned to the others. “I’m sorry, Daddy and Esther and Maud. It would be wonderful to live with you, but I belong with Noni.”
Daddy opened his arms and Polly ran into them. “It’s all right,” he whispered. “I’ve always known that. I gave you up to your grandmother a long time ago. But you’re still my Polly-Wolly-Doodle, right?”
“Right,” choked Polly through her tears.
Esther stood up, wiping her own eyes. “I’m going to make up our room for you, Mrs. Whitfield. Daniel and I can sleep on cots in the living room.”
“That’s very kind of you, Esther,” said Noni. “I must say—I need a nap. I think we all do!”
Noni told them she would stay until Monday. Then Maud and Una would be strong enough to go to the island with her and Polly. It amazed Polly how natural it was to have her here. She and Mr. McMillan talked about places they knew in Scotland. When Noni wasn’t cuddling Una, she weeded the entire front garden of the boarding house. Polly showed her around the town, and they went for walks along the shore.
“Do Aunt Jean and Uncle Rand know you’re here?” Polly asked her.
“They do now. They were still away when I left, but I wrote them a note saying when I’d be back.” She grimaced. “Won’t they be shocked when they see Una! It’s not going to be easy, hen.” Then she smiled. “But we must try to have as much gumption as your sister has. Maud is right—no more secrets.”
Polly could hardly believe that Noni was being so accepting. “What made you change your mind?” she asked shyly.
“It was your note, hen. After I read it, I burst into tears and I couldn’t stop crying for hours. You were so right, Polly! I had lost Una through my own stubbornness, I was about to lose Maud, and now you had run away from me. But then you told me the baby’s name. All my love for your mother flooded back and cancelled out those past sorrows. Then I simply had to see Una.”
On another walk Noni lamented that Maud was only coming home for a visit, not for good. “Now that we’re being open about Una, Maud may as well continue to live on the island.”
“Oh, Noni, that would be wonderful! Have you asked her?”
“I asked her last night. She was glad that I did—that I wanted them both. But she said she belonged with your father and Esther now, that it wouldn’t be fair to take their grandchild away from them. I suppose she’s right … but how I wish that we didn’t all have to be separated!” She sighed. “We’ll just have to work it out so that we see one another as much as possible. Maud and Una can come to the island for long visits, and you can still spend part of your school holidays in Kelowna, as you’ve been doing.”
She gave Polly a sharp look. Polly skipped a pebble across the water to keep from answering. Noni seemed to be assuming that Polly had decided to go back to St. Winifred’s. In all the turmoil, Polly had almost forgotten that she wasn’t.
That evening, after the boarders had left the supper table, Polly pushed back her plate. “I have something to tell you,” she said.
“Surely there’s nothing left to tell!” teased Daddy.
“There is,” said Polly solemnly. “I’ve decided …”
Noni looked worried.
“Out with it, Poll!” laughed Maud.
“I—”
Then the truth rose up in Polly so fast she almost choked. “I was just wondering …” She grinned at Noni, then she turned to Maud. “When I go back to St. Winifred’s … what should I say about Una? Do you want me to keep her a secret?”
“No, Polly! I don’t want her to be a secret from anyone. Tell whoever you want.” Maud paused. “Well, maybe not the Guppy. I wouldn’t ask that of you—she’d have a conniption! I’ll tell her. I’ll write to her before you go back, and I’ll say she’s not to talk to you about it, all right?”
“Thanks,” said Polly.
“Are you eager to get back to school?” Esther asked her.
Polly nodded slowly. “I’m looking forward to seeing my friends, and I’ll be really glad to start special art again.”
Beside her, Noni squeezed her hand. “What a brave lass!” she whispered as Esther and Maud cleared the table. “I’m so proud of you!”
Polly couldn’t believe she had changed her mind. It was as if another self—a more grown-up, better self—had taken over. But maybe she hadn’t really changed. Maybe she had just realized that the decision she had made in the infirmary after she had talked to Alice was the right one after all.
I’m going to be an artist! Polly thought gleefully. She had to go back to St. Winifred’s, therefore, to learn how to become the best artist she could. Miss Guppy’s unfairness had sidetracked her for a while, but now she was back on course. She would have to be really brave to stomach all the things about school she didn’t like, but that didn’t seem so hard anymore. Look how brave Maud was being.
And wait until she told her friends about Una!
Polly, Maud, Una, Noni, and Tarka stood on the deck of the steamer as it approached Kingfisher Island. Maud arranged Una’s blanket partway over her face to protect her from the sun. Polly squinted as the familiar landscape came into focus: the lighthouse, the dark firs pointing their tips towards the bright sky, and Noni’s white house. What a long time it had been since she had first seen the island—what a lot had happened since then!
But now there were no more secrets left. As the boat grew closer, Polly saw Aunt Jean and Uncle Rand waiting on the wharf. Aunt Jean’s archrival, Mrs. Cunningham, was standing beside them.
“I see the hotel is still for sale,” said Maud.
“Yes, it’s such a shame that it’s standing empty and neglected,” said Noni. Then she gasped.
“What’s wrong, Noni?” asked Polly.
“Nothing, hen.” Noni chuckled. “I’ve just had an idea! A grand idea … but I’ll tell you later.”
Now the steamer stood at the wharf. Uncle Rand had his back to them, but Aunt Jean and Mrs. Cunningham spotted them at once. Aunt Jean waved. Then she put her hand to her mouth as she saw what Maud was holding. Mrs. Cunningham’s own mouth dropped open, then she said something urgent to Aunt Jean.
“Oh, dear, look at their expressions!” said Noni. She put her arms around Polly and Maud and Una, drawing them close. “Are we ready?”
“Ready or not, here we come!” joked Maud, but her voice wobbled.
Polly gulped. First there was the island to face, then going back to St. Winifred’s. She felt as new and vulnerable as her tiny niece. But Una was swathed in love … and so was she.
Polly squeezed Maud’s hand and said firmly, “Ready for anything!”
EPILOGUE
Vancouver Province, “About Town,” May 23, 1961
A distinguished company gathered on Saturday as the beloved Vancouver artist Miss Polly Brown (Mrs. Chester Simmons) was celebrated at a festive evening at the New Leaf Gallery. The occasion was the opening of her latest exhibit, Memories of an Island. Miss Brown’s mixed-media paintings are set on Kingfisher Island, where she and her family spend the summers. Accompanying her at the opening were her husband, Dr. Chester Simmons, a professor of biology at U.B.C., and their lovely twelve-year-old daughter, Miss Clara Simmons. Included among the large crowd of family and friends were the artist’s sister, Judge Maud Brown; Judge Brown’s daughter, Una, with her husband, Dr. David Meyer,
and their newborn son, Danny; the artist’s father and stepmother, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Brown, who are the proprietors of the Kingfisher Hotel; the artist’s great-uncle and -aunt, the Reverend Mr. Randolph Stafford and Mrs. Randolph Stafford; the Reverend Canon Gregor Stafford, Mrs. Gregor Stafford, and their daughter, Miss Maisie Stafford; the well-known artist Miss Frieda Falconer, accompanied by the writer Mr. Frans de Jonge; Miss Hilda Guppy, retired headmistress of St. Winifred’s School for Girls in Victoria; and the internationally famous opera singer Miss Alice Mackenzie, escorted by her father, Mr. Thomas Mackenzie. The exhibit is dedicated to the memory of the artist’s maternal grandmother, Mrs. Gilbert Whitfield.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOR THEIR ADVICE AND INSPIRATION I WOULD LIKE TO thank Garry Anderson at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel Archives in Cranbrook, B.C.; Deirdre Baker, Donna Baker, Stuart Brambley, Marie Campbell, Hadley Dyer, Christine Godfrey, Lally Grauer, Ernest Hanson, David Kilgour, Larry MacDonald, Lynne Missen, Katherine New-lands, Louise Oborne, Anne Pearson, Doug Rhodes, the late Winifred Scott, Ellie Stone, and Valerie Wyatt. Extra special thanks, as always, to my beloved partner, Katherine Farris.
Emily Carr’s words are created partly from my imagination and partly from some lectures she gave in the 1930s. They are collected in Fresh Seeing: Two Addresses by Emily Carr (Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited, 1972).
About the Author
KIT PEARSON is an award-winning, critically acclaimed Canadian children’ s author. Her books include A Handful of Time; the Guests of War trilogy (The Sky Is Falling, Looking at the Moon, and The Lights Go On Again); The Daring Game; Awake and Dreaming; A Perfect Gentle Knight; Whispers of War, a Dear Canada book; and, most recently, The Whole Truth, which was named a CCBC Best Book for Kids and Teens. She lives in Victoria, BC. You can visit her at www.kitpearson.com.
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Credits
Cover image from iStockPhoto
Copyright
And Nothing but the Truth
Copyright © 2012 by Kathleen Pearson.
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EPub Edition © July 2013 ISBN: 9781443415866
Published by HarperTrophyCanada™, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
First published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd in a hardcover edition: 2012
This HarperTrophyCanada™ digest paperback edition: 2013
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