And Nothing But the Truth Read Online Free PDF Page B

the secret that Daddy was still alive. How he had turned up on the island on Polly’s twelfth birthday, and how she’d hidden him for a week.
    “I haven’t seen him since,” she said sadly, “but now he’s confessed and everyone knows he’s alive.”
    “Did he have to go to jail?” asked Eleanor.
    “No. The judge gave him a suspended sentence. That means he has to stay in Winnipeg until the end of this year. If he hasn’t committed a crime during that time, he’ll be free to go back to Kelowna.”
    “Gee … what a story! It’s like something in a book. You’ve been through so much, Polly.”
    Polly shrugged. She hadn’t told Eleanor how Daddy had let them believe he was innocent, and how betrayed she felt when she found out he’d lied.
    But now she’d forgiven him and had written him a letter telling him so. Just before she came here, she’d had a long, loving letter back.
    Polly blinked away her tears.
    “When will you see your father again?” Eleanor asked.
    “He’s coming to the island for New Year’s—I can hardly wait! Then he’ll go back to Kelowna, but he wants Maud and me to spend Easter there with him.”
    “Thank you for telling me,” said Eleanor.
    Polly smiled. “It’s a relief to talk about it. But don’t tell the other two, all right? It was in the papers when Daddy turned up alive. I think some of the older girls must have read them, the way they keep staring at me. And Miss Guppy and Alice know. But I’d rather keep it a secret from Daisy and Rhoda.”
    “I won’t tell,” said Eleanor. She looked thoughtful. “
I
don’t have any secrets. Our family is happy, but my life is boring compared with yours.”
    It sounds more peaceful than boring
, thought Polly. Peaceful, like sitting in here on the soft, warm moss almost falling asleep … Then she noticed something move.
    “Eleanor,” she breathed. A small flock of quail scratched at the moss close to them, their plumes bobbing.
    The commanding bell sounded. The quail flew up in a startled bunch, and Polly and Eleanor hurried away for prep.
    “I can’t sleep,” complained Rhoda that night. “I never go to bed this early at home!”
    “Don’t talk so loud!” whispered Daisy. “Mrs. Blake might come back and check on us!”
    “She won’t,” said Eleanor. “I heard her tell Miss Poirier how much she enjoyed going to her own room with her book after lights out.”
    Polly lay silently. Part of her mind was going over the injustices of the day, and part listened as the other three chattered freely.
    Daisy told them what a struggle it was for her family to send her away to school. “My father is a carpenter. He did a lot of repairs to St. Winifred’s the week before school started. Miss Guppy accepted that as part of my fees.”
    Rhoda’s family, on the other hand, was well off. She lived in a large house and her family had a cook.
    So does my grandmother
, Polly almost said, but she didn’t want to sound as boastful as Rhoda.
    “I’ll tell you something really interesting about me,” said Rhoda. “I’m adopted!”
    Now all of Polly was listening.
    “You
are
?” said Eleanor. “I’ve never known anyone who was adopted.”
    “That
is
interesting!” said Daisy.
    “How old were you?” Eleanor asked. “I hope you don’t think I’m being too nosy,” she added.
    “I was just a baby,” said Rhoda. “I don’t mind talking about it. I was
chosen
,” she added proudly. “So was my older brother. That makes us special.”
    As usual, Rhoda managed to sound superior.
    Every day after lunch, Polly checked her mail slot in the sitting room. On Thursday, she got two letters. Polly snatched them out of the slot and curled up on one of the soft chairs to read them. One was from Maud and the other from Noni.
    Maud was adoring her first week of university. “U.B.C. is huge—about two thousand students,” she wrote. “I’m meeting so many interesting people. And I feel so free! I only have a few classes every