Show queen anne s lace ti yio by frances parkinson keyes ci franco frances parkinson key WW Ser CHAPTER I 1 2 anne anne where be ye yel it was the third time the shrill insistent call had penetrated to the hot little attle attic room twice the girl who heard it had bad disregarded it now she jerked open the door and answered im upstairs undressing alev ye fed the hens Y yes did ye fasten the gate after ye Y yes e 1 1 I 1 be ben a lookin at the string beans I 1 think theres enough ter start cannin ye come down an pick a few afore it gits dark oh Slum merI merl its late bowl now I 1 ive barely time to get ready before georgell George 11 be herel beret ill pick them tomorrow ni night bt 11 there was a silence frau fraught bt with disapproval 1 wont vont I that do 1 I spose so seems to me atwould be a good thin tiling to can em when fit but I 1 know that dont count none in your ft ihen hen you want to go to a dance anne bit tier her lip and went on with her undressing the cheap little alarm clock ticking awny away on the pine bureau warned her that she must hurry she filled the heavy cracked white basin from the heavy cracked white pitcher A sculptor would hare used tier her as a model for a bathing nymph with a dell gIfted prayer ot of thanksgiving to providence for giving him so perfect a subject for she was slim and straight it and supple as exquisitely white sunned as she was finely formed except for the tan on soft forearm find and softer neck cut but to herself she was simply a hot tired girl hastening to make herself clean and coo cool to go out with the young farmer whose hose place adjoined tier her fathers and whom both had long taken for granted she would eventually marry she would have liked to feel naturally that she could make herself beautiful as well as clean and cool but that seemed almost too much to hope however she did her best she dusted herself with talcum powder from a highly colored can stamped in an oriental design and rubbed her neck with rose perfume from a still more highly colored bottle these toilet perquisites ites had bad been purchased at the total expenditure pend iture of fifty cents which she could ill III afford to squander and she knew they must be reser reserved ted for great occasions only if she were to justify her extravagance to herse herself if put kut this really did seem a sufficiently great occasion then she put on her best underclothes der clothes made of lansdowne embroidered broi brol dered by herself with sprays of forget me nots bots and tri trimmed mined with crocheted lace which she had made herself her one pair of silk stockings originally white but grown yellow from many washings and carefully darned black patent leather slippers somewhat cracked and shapeless came next then a pink silk muslin dress with a knot of block black velvet on one shoulder and a black velet sash made from an old of her mothers carefully steamed pressed and she had read in thy the symposium of styles that a touch of black was always very ery frenchy 11 last of all she loosened and rewound her hair and added another knot of velvet to its shining colls coils im glad ive got some flowers to wear she said to herself as she surveyed the results of her efforts in the small blurred glass over the washstand 1 I will have a real lower flower garden some day even it if aupper and hummer do think its a waste of time and space I 1 know there are enough sweet peas I 1 picked them tor for three days on purpose she was down the steep sleep narrow staircase in one swift rush of color and motion across the kitchen out of the rusty screen door halt half b hanging inn g edg on its binges over the scraggly gly yard to the still more scraggly garden the one line of scanty sweet pea vines growing close beside the flourishing string beans was completely stripped of blossoms anne dashed from the garden to tre tie narrow front porch where their labors tor for the day ended her parents and tier two small brothers sol and sam were taking their ease case in unwashed relaxation who picked my sweet peas she demanded accusingly you all knew I 1 was saying saving them for tonight and gone 1 I picked ern em announced mrs chamberlain rocking heavily 1 I 1 took em cm down to the cemetery an put lem cm on your aunt grave its just three years ago today sense your aunt sarah passed away I 1 presume yeve ben 0 BO o took up th inkin about this dance yere golu to ye aint thought of the dead maybe like to go down and take em off on the grave she ended with supreme scorn 1 I 1 would it if I 1 had time the girl burst out you knew how much I 1 wanted thorn thern and mine anyway I 1 bought the seeds and planted them and ive tended them they wont do aunt sarah any good and they were all I 1 had hadl I 1 tier her mother remained entirely unmoved clearly the maiter matter of the beans still rankled but tier her father giamp glimpsed SNI something of the tragedy ot 0 her disappointment shucks nannie what does a few lowers flowers matter if ye hev to hev lowers theres some roses left still OU on that bush down the lanes lane by the med der kinder gone by but I 1 eess answer take ye long to run down there anti and see sol you go I 1 ill get my skirts all dusty 1 hold em up an ye wont I 1 cant pick flowers roses the pesky thorns stick inter me so I 1 get to holler ln nn an let go an sam wont you sam sae gae a deep groan reminiscent of too much supper them cucui bers I 1 et ct dont seem to lay lest jest right he objected graphically or debbe the blueberry pie id rather set still for a spell then go weed chasin I 1 hen hard all day anyway all right 1 you just wait till I 1 ever help you with ana anything thing again I 1 either of you youl I 1 see she was gone a blur of pink and gold down the lane to the meadow where the rose bush clambered prickly and parched over a decaying fence it was as her father had said not far rut but anne hated the white powder of 0 dust on tier her shiny black shoos shoes the tiny heads beads of perspiration which with her haste gathered on her face most of all she hated the laziness and indifference on the part of tier her family which ila had made tier her quest necessary they might to do something to help me once in a while rut aut they never to do beverl never when I 1 do all I 1 can for it fair in tier her anger she nt attacked tacked the un offending rosebush with more ahem ence than caution lon and pricked her finger she whipped it swiftly to her mouth but she was not quick enough a drop of blood had fallen on tier her bodice just above the waistline waist line ilde now ive got to get something to cover that and there arent enough roses oh what shall I 1 do why my dont you take some of tha t white flower browin on the other side of the fence in the medder and put it with yer roses its kinder large cover up tip yer spot anne wheeled about george 1111 dreth who ho was to take her to the party was standing beside her nis round red and rather flat face shone with soap and scrubbing ile he was dressed in his bis best a garnet pin in his spotted tie a monogram buckle on his belt chocolate colored shoes evidently he be had bad arrived during her absence and on being informed where she had gone had followed tier her unconsciously site she had spoken aloud and he had heard her you look great anyway I 1 dont see why you should worry about flowers dowers do you honestly think igo BO well I 1 guess I 1 do there was not the slightest doubt of the earnestness of 0 Ce georges orges admiration anne veered away from a more tangible proof of it but those flowers would be pretty could you climb through the barbed wire and get me some or would you hurt bour our clothes george hesitated torn between his desire to serve and his consciousness of the twenty nine fifty earned by the sweat 0 of f his brow which chich he had so recently expended on his new pepper and salt suit which lie he was now wearing for the first time Al would it take too long to go round by the gate we ive could let down the bars and go round inter the medder we could both go oh george youre just like all the others you never can do anything quick I 1 now anne dont get mad I 1 only thought oh I 1 know what you thought the same as I 1 know what aupper and mum hummer and sol and sam think I 1 youve got about as much action between you as aunt sarah why ashes been dead three years 1 I know it 1 what wh at I 1 meant I 1 you cant even see that come on then well go round by the gate I Uon Ionest cst anne for heavens sake come on do you want to get to that party before they start playing 11 nome 0 in e sw sweet C et home 1 I dont care anne so long iong as I 1 can be with you lie he put his arm about her she did not actually shake it off but her lack of mental response to his caress was so m marked that a physical withdrawal would really have been less chilling help me pick some of these flowers then so we can start F for or a moment they pulled away silently at the white blossoms then anne laughed laughed so joyously that george realized with a bounding heart hearl that her vexation ves atlon must be passing do you know the name of these flom flowers ers no I 1 never heard kind of a pest I 1 spose pose but pretty they dont seem to belong someway with the dust and weeds cud and rocks under kinder like lace thais what called queen annes lace its tunny funny it my name I 1 mean and wearing them ado aca finding them in a place ilze like this an ana not having anything else pretty 11 she held a spray up against her face smiling as the soft white blossoms brushed her checks clice ks then she broke off the stems steins and twisting ibea in the thorny roses thrust them into tier her belt TO BE CONTINUED |