That wasn't only the most dramatic change in him. He was thin, his hair now was the same gray as the Scottish sky, and he appeared exhausted—as though he he’d been an invalid for months.
Her mother stepped out of the coach next and gave Penny and Charlotte a pensive half-smile from behind her father's back. She knew what this meant—that something wasn't right. Perhaps Papa was ill?
"Papa?" Penny stepped forward, a hundred questions racing through her mind and every one about his missing leg.
"My pretty Penny," he said, and Penelope stepped into his one-arm embrace, his other arm occupied, of course, with the crutch. Her father kissed the top of her head, and she kissed his cheek. "How are you my darling?”
"I am well, Papa." She didn’t want to ask him about the injury that caused his ha
