For a moment the two women stared at each other. Then Kit understood. “Aunt Rachel!” she cried. “It is Kit! I am Margaret’s daughter.”

“Kit? Katherine Tyler? I thought… Oh, my dear child, how wonderful!”

All at once there was warmth and happiness. Yes, this strange woman was really her Aunt Rachel!

Captain Eaton then started saying his goodbyes. “Well, I am glad that everything is well.”

“I’m sorry about all this trouble,” Kit said. “And I thank you, all of you.”

The captain had already started walking back along the road, but Nat still stood beside her. As their eyes met, something passed between them. “Remember,” he said softly. “Only the guilty ones swim.” And then he was gone too.

Through the doorway of Matthew Wood’s house Kit stepped into a great kitchen. “Matthew! Girls!” cried her aunt. “Something wonderful has happened! Here is Katherine Tyler, my sister Margaret’s girl, who has come all the way from Barbados!”

Three people stared at Kit from the dining table. Then a man stood up and came toward her. “You are welcome, Katherine,” he said gravely. There was no welcome in his dark eyes. From behind him a girl came. “This is your cousin Judith,” Kit’s aunt said. Judith’s face was so beautiful – clear white skin, blue eyes, black curly hair. “And your other cousin, Mercy.” The second girl came up more slowly, and at first Kit only saw her extraordinary clear gray eyes – the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Then, as Mercy stepped forward, Kit noticed that she walked with crutches. “How lovely,” said Mercy, “to see you after all these years, Katherine! Have you had breakfast yet?”

“I am afraid not. And please call me Kit.”

“Then take off your coat and come close to the fire, my dear,” said her aunt.

“Oh!” Judith exclaimed. “You traveled in a dress like that?” Here in this plain room Kit’s beautiful dress seemed too elegant. The three other women were all wearing some simple gray gowns.

Then Judith saw Kit’s gloves. “They are so beautiful,” she whispered.

“Do you like them? I’ll give you some just like these, if you like. I have several pairs in my trunk.”

Meanwhile, Rachel Wood set a mug, a spoon and a simple wooden plate for Kit. “Tell us, Katherine, how you came so far. Did your grandfather come with you?” she asked.

“My grandfather died four months ago,” Kit explained.

“Oh, you poor child! All alone there on that island! Who came with you, then?”

“I came alone.”

“Oh, poor child!” her aunt cried. “Well, you’re safe here. Have some corn bread, my dear. It was baked yesterday, and there is butter.”

Kit was thirsty and lifted the mug, but then put it down again. “Is that water?” she asked politely.

“Of course. Fresh from the spring.”

Water for breakfast! But the bread was delicious. While Kit was eating, Rachel Wood was looking at her young face. Her eyes filled with tears. “You look so like my sister.”

Matthew Wood had not sat down at the table with the others. What did this kind woman find in that grave silent man? Was he so handsome? Uncle Matthew had said nothing, but Kit understood that he had been watching her very carefully. Now he put on a leather jacket and prepared to leave. “I will be working in the south meadow till sundown,” he told his wife.

At the open door, however, he stopped and looked at Kit’s baggage. “What is all this?” he asked coldly.

“Oh,” said Kit. “Those are my trunks.”

“Yours? Seven trunks? What can be in them?”

“Well, my clothes and some things of Grandfather’s.”

“Seven trunks of clothes, all the way from Barbados, just for a visit?”