Hayley walked toward the door, stopped quickly, and turned toward Maddie. "I'll try not to keep you too long from your domestic duties." Maddie gave her a puzzled look and Hayley stepped through the courtyard door.
Maddie and Cedric looked at each other and then back toward the door.
"Cedric, what has gotten into her?"
"Her rudeness is uncommon. It must be the first shakings of her cocoon."
_ _
Hayley and Maddie reached the university campus by horse and carriage. Hayley was disappointed in not being able to walk the long distance from the cottage. Neither of them had spoken to each other on the trip.
After arriving at the campus, Hayley climbed down from the carriage and stood looking up at a large building before her. Maddie remained seated in the carriage.
"Do you want to go with me and find the library?"
Maddie said.
"I will walk around the campus, until I find it."
"It seems rather large. How long do you plan to stay?
"Only a few hours."
"Would you like me to stay with you?"
"Do as you please."
"I don't wish to leave you alone here." A few students walked passed them.
"You can surely see that I am not alone. I will fit right in. I am old enough to be in attendance."
"If you are comfortable, then I suppose, I can leave for a while. I will meet you back here, in two hours."
Hayley nodded and moved onto the sidewalk without another word to Maddie. When Maddie said good-bye, Hayley did not respond.
_ _
As Hayley walked about the grounds, she felt more freedom than she had ever felt before. Spring had made the campus beautiful with Redbud and Dogwood trees in bloom. She knew their beauty would last for only a few weeks. It caused her to think of her return to the island, and her freedom that would only be for a few weeks.
She wanted to drink in her surroundings and plant them vividly into her mind. She closed her eyes wondering if her imagination could paint the colors as beautifully.
As she stood several seconds with her eyes closed, she heard a male voice.
"Excuse me miss…."
Her eyes popped open.
"Could you be so kind as to hold my books for a moment?"
Hayley instinctively reached for them.
"Thank you." The young man knelt on one knee and gripped the shoestrings on his right shoe. "I should buy loafers I suppose, but my father says that a man who buys loafers is a loafer." The man looked to his left and pointed to a nearby park bench. "I see now that I might have been able to devise a better plan."