The secret garden — Chapter Thirteen Colin

　　"Have you been here always?"

　　"Sometimes they take me to the sea, but I won"t stay, because people stare at me. I won"t have people staring at me! I used to wear an iron thing to keep my back straight. But then a doctor from London came to see me, and made me take it off. He said I didn"t need it. All I needed was fresh air. I hate fresh air, and I don"t want to go outside."

　　"I didn"t either, when I first came here," said Mary.

　　Colin didn"t take his eyes off of Mary. "I don"t want this to be a dream," he said.

　　"It isn"t. We"re both awake, and everyone else is asleep. Wait a minute -- if you don"t like people to see you, do you want me to go away?" asked Mary.

　　Colin grabbed her sleeping gown. "No," he said. "I would be sure I was dreaming, if you went. Stay here and talk to me, if you are real. I want to hear all about you."

　　Mary made herself comfortable. She was curious about Colin, too. "What do you want to know?"

　　Colin wanted to know how long she had been at Misselthwaite. He wanted to know where her room was, and what she had been doing. Did she hate the moor, like he did? Where had she lived before? Mary answered his many questions. Colin made her tell him about India, and about her journey across the ocean.

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