Show Q neen Anne liLN lace by frances carldo keyes heyes 0 prances frances parkinson keyes service CHAPTER I 1 2 anne anne where be ye it was the third time the shrill insistent call bad penetrated to the h hot ot little attic room twice the girl who heard beard it had disregarded tt it now she jerked open the door and answered im upstairs undressing her ye fed the hens yes did ye fasten the gate after ye yes 1 I ben lookin at the string beans I 1 think theres enough ter start can inin ye come down an pick a few afore it gits dark oh ob mummer 1 its late bowl ive barely time to got get ready before georgell George 11 be herel ill pick them tomorrow night 9 there was a silence fraught with disapproval val wont wont t that do 1 I spose so seems to me atwould be a good thing to can em when fit but I 1 know that dont count none in your lodgment when you want to go to a dance anne bit her up and went on with her undressing the cheap little alarm clock ticking away on the pine bureau warned her that she must hurry burry she filled the heavy cracked white basin from the heavy cracked white pitcher A sculptor would have used her as a model for a bathing nymph with a delighted prayer of thanksgiving to providence for giving him so perfect a subject s for she was slim and straight and supple as exquisitely white skinned as she was finely formed except for the tan on soft forearm and softer neck but to herself she was simply a hot tired girl hastening to make herself clean and cool to go out with the young firmer whose place adjoined her fathers and whom both had long taken for granted she would eventually marry she would lave 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 had bid been purchased at the total ex pend iture of fifty cents which she could ill III afford to squander and she knew they must be reserved for great occasions only if she were to justify her extravagance to herself but 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 trimmed with crocheted lace which she had made emde herself tier her one pair of silk stockings originally white but grown yellow from many washings and carefully darned black patent leather slippers somewhat cracked and sh shapeless came next then a pink silk muslin dress with a knot of black velvet on one shoulder and a black velvet sash made from an old of her mothers carefully steamed pressed and she had read othe anthe symposium of styles that a touch of black was always very 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 wash stand 1 11 I will have a real lower flower gar den some day even if aupper and mummer do think its a waste of time and space I 1 know there are enough sweet pens peas I 1 picked them for three days on purpose she was down the steep narrow staircase in one swift rush of color and motion across the kitchen out of the rusty screen door half hanging on its hinges over the scraggly 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 the narrow front porch where their labors for the day ended her parents and her two small broth ers sol and sam were taking their ease eaise ln in unwashed relaxation who picked my sweet peas she accusingly you all knew 1 I was saving them for tonight and gone 1 I picked lem era announced mrs airs chamberlain rocking heavily 1 I took lem em down to the cemetery an put lem em on your aunt Sa grave its just three years ago today sense your aunt sarah passed away I 1 presume yeve ben so took up tb inkin about this dance yere coln to ye aint thought of the dead maybe like to go down and take em cm off the grave she ended with supreme scorn 1 I would if I 1 had time the girl burst out fiercely you knew how much I 1 wanted them and mine anyway 1 I 1 bought the seeds and planted them and ive tended them they wont do aunt sarah any good and they were nil all I 1 hadl had I 1 her der mother remained entirely unmoved clearly the matter of the beans still rankled but her father glimpsed something of the tragedy of her disappointment shucks nannie danule what does a few flowers matter if ye nev hev to hev flowers theres some roses left still on that bush down the lane by the medder kinder gone by but I 1 guess answer take ye long to run down there and see sol you go gol I 1 ill get my skirts all dusty I 1 hold em cm up an ye wont I 1 cant pick flowers roses leastwise the pesky thorns stick inter me so BO I 1 get to holler holleran ln an let go an sam wont you sam gave a deep groan reminiscent of too much supper them cucumbers I 1 et dont seem to lay jest right he objected graphically or debbe twos the blueberry pie id rather set still for a spell then go weed chasin I 1 ben hard bard all day anyway 11 1 1 all right I 1 you just wait till I 1 ever help you with anything again I 1 either of youl 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 but anne hated the white powder of dust on her shiny black shoes the tiny beads of perspiration which with her haste gathered on her face most of all she hated the laziness and indifference on the part of her family which had made her quest necessary they might do something to help me once in a while I 1 but they never do never I 1 when I 1 do all I 1 can for it fair in her anger she attacked the unoffending rosebush with more debem vehemence than caution and pricked her finger she whipped it swiftly to her mouth but she was not quick enough a drop of blood had fallen on her bodice just above the waistline waist line now ive got to get something to cover that and there arent enough roses oh what shall I 1 do why dont you take some of that white flower browin on the other side or of the fence in the medder and put it with yer roses its kinder large cover up yer spot anne wheeled about george hll HII dreth who was to take her fier to the party was standing beside her its ills round red and rather flat face shone with soap and scrubbing lie ile was dressed in his best a garnet pin in his spotted tie a monogram buckle on his belt chocolate colored shoes evident ly he had arrived during her absence and on being informed where she had gone had followed her unconsciously she had bad spoken aloud and be had heard her you look great anyway I 1 dont see why you should worry about flowers do you honestly think so well I 1 guess I 1 do dol I 1 there was not the slightest doubt of the earnestness of georges 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 your clothes george hesitated torn between his desire to serve and his consciousness of the twenty nine fifty earned by the sweat of his brow which he had so recently expended on his new pepper and salt suit which he be was now wearing for the first time would it take too long to go round by the gate we could let down the bars and go round inter the medder we could both go oh george youre just like all the others I 1 you never can do anything quick I 1 now anne dont get mad I 1 only thought oh 1 I know what you yon thought the tha same as I 1 know what aupper and mummer and sol and sam think I 1 youve got about as much action between you as aunt sarahl sarah 1 why ashes been dead three years JI 1 I 1 know it I 1 what I 1 meant I 1 you cant even see that come on then well go round by the gate honest onest anne for heavens sake come on I 1 do you want to get to that party before they start playing home sweet home 1 I dont care anne so long 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 marked that a physical withdrawal would re acay y have been less chilling help me pick some of these flowers then so we can start for a moment they pulled away silently at the white blossoms then anne laughed laughed so joyously joyous ly that george realized with a bounding heart that her vexation must be passing do you know the name of these flowers no I 1 never heard kind of a pest best I 1 spose but pretty they dont seem to belong someway with the dust and weeds and rocks kinder like lace what called queen annes lace its funny it my name I 1 mean and wearing them and finding them in a place like this and not having anything else pretty P she held it spray up against her face smiling as the soft white bloss blossoms oms brushed her cheeks then she broke off the stems and twisting them in the thorny roses thrust them into her belt TO BE CONTINUED |