Page 111 of Charming Artemis

My heart is worried for you, and I don’t know what to do other than write you a letter, one you may never read. Did your scraped knee heal? Have your sisters lost track of you again? Has your father shown you the attention and love you need?

I have spent the day playing games with my boys and have repeatedly imagined you here with them. We have a dear neighbor girl, Arabella, who is not much older than you are. She would be a wonderful playmate for you and count herself as another sister in your life. I would see to it you had all the sweets you wanted, though my beloved wife would scold me for it.

I know not how to learn your name or where you live without raising an alarm in your family and neighbors. Without knowing your name or address, I don’t know how to help you.

When next I pass through Heathbrook, I will look for you again. If the heavens are kind, I will see you there, and you will call me Papa again, and I will feel comforted to see that my Princess is well.

All my love,

Your Papa

This must have been written after their initial meeting. He’d been so kind and, as his words testified, had loved her already, just as she had him. She had been thought of and cherished from the very beginning.

She broke the next seal and found not merely another letter but also a length of dark-teal ribbon inside.

My Princess,

I found you again. I hope I adequately expressed to you my joy at seeing you and the way my heart burst to see your head of golden curls bouncing as you ran toward me. I wasn’t at all certain you remembered me.

How tempted I was to ask you your name so I could find your home, but I feared your family would be alarmed and would not permit me to see you again. I am not known to them, and I hope they are protective enough of you to be concerned, no matter that they need not be.

You wore the same dress today as the last time I saw you. Though you were clean and your clothes in good repair, I could tell the dress was thread-worn and faded, likely worn by an older sister before you. I asked my friend Digby what color ribbon would give a splash of complimentary color to a dress of faded pink. He suggested this shade of bluish-green, and his opinion on such matters is to be trusted.

If you lived closer to me, I would invite you to have picnics near our river with my sons and my wife and me. You and my littlest, Charlie, are the same age, I would wager. He is often lonely. I wish I could introduce the two of you, as I suspect you are as lonely as he.

I continue to think of and pray for you. I hope someone is looking after you and helping you feel safe.

All my love,

Your Papa

She rested the ribbon across her lap as she read his next letter.

My Princess,

A few very careful inquiries have led me to discover that you do not live in Heathbrook but somewhere in the surrounding area. That will make finding you all the more difficult.

I saw you again when last I was there. How I wish I didn’t live so far away. My friend Digby has agreed to watch for you as well whenever he passes through your area. I have assured him your profuse golden curls are unmistakable. I hope that should you make his acquaintance, you will know that you can trust him.

I have vowed to always have peppermints with me when I pass through Heathbrook now that I know you like them as much as I do. My Charlie enjoys them as well. I wish I could introduce the two of you.

I continue to think of and pray for you.

All my love,

Your Papa

Artemis swallowed against the thickness in her throat.

Charlie’s arm slipped around her, pulling her attention to him.

“You’re crying,” he said.

She pressed the last remaining letter to her heart. “I am so grateful he wrote these. And he has mentioned you more than once.”

“He has?”

She nodded. “He said he wished he could introduce us because he was certain we would be fond of each other.”

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