"I didn"t know where you were," I said, my relief in seeing her obvious in my voice. "The bread smells great. Is that for supper?"
Her hair had come loose as she danced, and now Augusta caught the coppery ma.s.s in one fleeting motion and fastened it behind her head. "It"s for Pluma"s niece. You said you were going to see her."
It had been a tiring day. "Tomorrow," I said. "It"ll keep until tomorrow."
Augusta paused at the foot of the steps and looked up at me. She didn"t answer. She didn"t have to.
"Are you telling me to hurry?" I said.
Augusta nodded. "Time and Mrs. Hopkins wait for no one."
"Huh?"
The angel smiled. "Mrs. Hopkins was a cow. So called because the family who owned her said she reminded them of a neighbor by that name. Mrs. Hopkins woke them, bellowing to be milked at five every morning, and that was an expression they used." Augusta moved past me into the house, and a crisp, earthy scent trailed after her. It smelled of apples and pumpkins and sun-dried gra.s.s. "That was in another time, of course. I wasn"t with them long."
I followed her inside. "Don"t leave me yet, Augusta. Please. I can"t do this without you," I said.
"Don"t worry," she said. "It"s not time yet. I"ll let you know when it is."
"Augusta, do you know what"s happened to Mildred? Because if you do, I wish you"d tell me. Vesta"s really worried, and so am I."
She shook her head. "I think Mildred"s searching as we are. I can only hope, as you do, that no harm comes to her."
"But you think she"s still alive?"
"Arminda, I don"t know. We"ll have to wait and see." My guardian angel opened the refrigerator and quickly closed it. "I"m afraid I didn"t prepare anything for supper. Why don"t we order pizza?"
Now, on the way to see Martha Kate Hawkins, pepperoni sat heavily in my stomach and Pluma Griffin"s message to my great-grandmother weighed on my mind: I won"t forget! I won"t forget!
Augusta claimed never to have met her, but said the name sounded vaguely familiar. I guess if I"d been responsible for as many people as Augusta over the centuries, I"d forget a few names, too.
October House, the a.s.sisted living center where Martha Kate lived, was festive with pumpkins and fall foliage. A foursome quarreled at cards by the gas fire in the parlor, and somebody was playing "I Could Have Danced All Night" on the piano at the far end of the room. I had called ahead, so Mrs. Hawkins was waiting for us, and even managed a gracious thank you when we saddled her with Lucy"s copy of The Heart Sings a Blessing The Heart Sings a Blessing.
"Well, my goodness," she said. "This does go back a long way, doesn"t it?" She stuck it under her arm. "Do you think people really read stuff like this?"
I knew then if Pluma Griffin"s kin knew anything to help us, she would give it to us straight.
She led us to a small sitting area where comfortable chairs were arranged around a marble-topped coffee table. "It"s still not too late to get coffee-but not the real thing, I"m afraid. Would you like some?" Pluma Griffin"s niece hesitated before joining us in the flame-st.i.tched coral chairs. She wasn"t very tall-probably not much over five two-but she was trim and straight. I remembered her as being pleasant but efficient when I visited Dr. Hank"s office during my growing up years.
I thanked her but declined-and got straight to the point. "We"ve become intrigued by a group of women our great-grandmother used to belong to," I began, ignoring the eye-rolling from Gatlin at my use of the p.r.o.noun we we. "From what we"ve learned, there were six of them, and after finding this book, Vesta thinks your aunt Pluma may have been one of them."
Martha Kate Griffin took time to remove a dead leaf from the African violet on the table in front of us before she answered. "Why, yes, that would be the Mystic Six," she said, leaning back in her chair. "Did you know they pa.s.sed a quilt among them? I always thought it had some kind of story behind it, but Aunt Pluma never said. She willed her pretty little pin to me. Look, I had it made into a ring." And our hostess held out a fragile finger bearing the encircled flower and star.
Chapter Fourteen.
Do you know what happened to the quilt?" Gatlin asked after admiring the woman"s ring. "I remember seeing it once or twice when I was little, but I"ve forgotten what it looked like. Vesta said it had something to do with the academy."
"That seemed to be the theme of it, yes." Martha Kate Griffin turned the dainty ring on her finger. "It fascinated me when I was a girl because it incorporated a burning building. Aunt Pluma said it represented the old cla.s.sroom wing that was destroyed in a fire. Professor Holley died in it, they say."
"Seems a strange reason to make a quilt," I said, thinking Lucy and her friends must have been a morbid lot.
"People sometimes make quilts that tell a story," our hostess reminded us. "And in those days Minerva Academy was the focal point of just about everything that went on in Angel Heights. And not only did the fire deprive them of their center of culture, it also killed the very person who provided it." She paused to smile and flutter her fingers at two women walking past. "Fitzhugh Holley was sort of a celebrity in his own right, as well, from what I"ve heard. Wrote a little animal series for children. Something about a cat, I think. They were published, I believe, after he died."
"Callie Cat and Doggie Dan," Gatlin said. "I"ve seen copies at Holley Hall-under gla.s.s, of course." Gatlin said. "I"ve seen copies at Holley Hall-under gla.s.s, of course."
Martha Kate nodded. "I believe they were on the quilt, too, and several figures-female figures, naturally, since the school was only for young women."
"Your aunt-did she have the quilt when she died?" I asked. "I"d really like to see it."
"I didn"t find it among her things. It"s a shame really, as it should be on display at the academy. In fact, I asked Gertrude Whitmire about it once, thinking perhaps the quilt had been donated to the museum there, but she didn"t seem to be aware it existed."
I must have groaned, because Martha Kate turned to me in concern. "Is anything wrong, Arminda?"
"It"s just that we were hoping you might be the one who had it. I"m afraid we"ve come to the end of the trail, and no one seems to know where the quilt ended up," I told her.
"Oh, I do hope it hasn"t been destroyed! Young people now don"t seem to value the old family heirlooms as they should...." Martha Kate smiled at Gatlin and me. "Present company excepted, of course.
"Aunt Pluma must have been number six on your list-or were you unable to find descendants of the others?"
"We"ve tracked down all but one," I said and then noticed Gatlin"s grin. "Sorry, didn"t mean to make them sound like criminals or something, but it"s taken a lot of detective work to get this far."
Pluma"s niece leaned forward as if she meant to share a secret. "So, who have you spoken with so far?"
I counted on my fingers beginning with Lucy"s daughter- my grandmother, Vesta. "And Irene Bradshaw-her mother was Pauline Watts, and then Flora Dennis"s granddaughter, Peggy O"Connor. We-I-drove all the way to Cornelia, Georgia, to find her. Your aunt Pluma would make number four. My great-grandmother"s sister, Annie Rose, belonged, too, but she drowned in the Saluda when she was only sixteen."
"There was something on the quilt about that, too, I believe." Martha Kate frowned. "A little strip of blue fabric representing a river, and a rose embroidered beside it. I remember Aunt Pluma telling me about your great-aunt. My goodness, she"d be your great-great-aunt, wouldn"t she? Her death must have affected the others deeply."
Now she turned to Gatlin, who seemed to be at least making an effort to keep up with the conversation. "I"m sure you"ve asked your grandmother about all this?"
"Vesta couldn"t tell us much," Gatlin said. "She said the women pa.s.sed the quilt among them, but she couldn"t remember what happened to it." My cousin looked at me and shrugged. "And from what Minda tells me, the others weren"t much help, either."
"Then perhaps Mamie can tell you something," the older woman said. "The last I heard, her mind was sharper than my own."
"Mamie? Was she a friend of your aunt"s?" Gatlin shifted her coat from one arm to the other and tried to cover a yawn. It had been a long day, and my cousin was ready to leave. So was I. Almost.
"Mamie Estes was the one you missed. She"s number six." Martha Kate looked at both of us and smiled.
"Do you know if she left any descendants we might ask?" I said.
"Unless something"s happened in the last couple of months, you can ask Mamie herself," Martha Kate said. "She lives in Charlotte with a daughter-in-law, and the last I heard was still reading a couple of books a week."
"But she has to be at least a hundred and ten!" Gatlin said, letting her wrap slip to the floor.
Martha Kate laughed. "She"s no spring chicken, but at last count Mamie must"ve been about a hundred and two."
"And she was a member of the Mystic Six?" I had started to get up, but sat again. "But that was back in 1916 or "17. How could-?"
"Young people didn"t attend what we call high school as many years as we do now. Mamie was probably around fifteen when all this happened. Certainly not much older." Our hostess rose. "I have her address and phone number if you"d like it, and I"d advise you to call first. At a hundred and two, it"s best to plan ahead.
"And for goodness" sakes," she added as we were leaving, "don"t let Mamie talk you into playing bridge! She cheats."
"No," Gatlin said as we hurried to the car.
"No what?"
"No, I can"t go to Charlotte with you to track down this Mamie whoever. I"m expecting estimates from two contractors in the morning.
"What"s this?" In the car, Gatlin drew out the tiny pajamas Augusta had made that had become wedged behind the pa.s.senger seat.
"Pajamas. They"re for a baby," I said.
"Well, I can see that, Minda!" Gatlin held them to the light. "What beautiful craftsmanship! They look handmade. Where on earth did you find them?"
"A friend," I said. And earth had nothing to do with it And earth had nothing to do with it. "I meant to drop them off yesterday. Family lives in that little house next to the water tower. The father lost his job."
"Do you know them?" Gatlin folded the pajamas on her lap.
"Not really. I just heard they could use some help," I said, wishing she"d drop the subject.
"So you"re just going to knock on the door and give this woman those pajamas? That"s a generous thing to do, Minda, but kind of a touchy situation, don"t you think? How do you plan to handle it?"
I hadn"t thought of that.
And Augusta Goodnight wasn"t any help at all. "It was your idea," I said. "You could at least tell me what to say to her. I don"t even know the family"s name."
"Foster. The baby"s mother is Maureen Foster."
"But what am I supposed to say?"
Augusta only smiled. "You"ll think of something," she said.
The weather was brisk but not too cold when I started out the next morning, and since I needed the exercise after indulging in Augusta"s culinary delights, I decided to ride my bike the three or more miles to the small cottage near the water tower. The bicycle had been a birthday present from Jarvis a few months before he died, and since that time I"d kept it in the family garage behind my grandmother"s old home. I"d had to inflate the tires a bit, but other than that, it seemed in good shape, and I liked to think he rode along with me as I whizzed past familiar houses on Phinizy Street and on through the heart of town.
Angel Heights was like many villages that grew up w.i.l.l.y-nilly around a crossroads over a period of two centuries, and it still hadn"t decided where it wanted to go. I kind of liked it that way. Most of the houses (including ours) in the older part of town were built in the early 1900s and were as individual as their owners. A hideous brick Gothic with square pillars and heavy-lidded windows sat next to a sprawling yellow shingled house that had grown in every direction. Simple cottages nudged prestigious colonials, and scruffy, weed-choked yards thumbed noses at manicured lawns next door.
What was left of Minerva Academy, screened from the street by large oaks and surrounded by a shoulder-high stone wall, slept in the pale November sun, and a few blocks down the street the group of retired men Vesta referred to as the Old Farts Fraternity gathered for their usual breakfast of biscuits and gravy at the Heavenly Grill. I waved at Dr. Hank (who should know better) as he crossed the street to join them and picked up speed outside of town. Tonight my muscles would holler for help, but I knew the exertion was what I needed-even the last curving pull to the top. Panting, I watched a couple of cars zoom past.
Augusta had agreed to go to Charlotte with me as soon as I completed my mission to the Fosters, and I was in a hurry to meet the last living member of the Mystic Six. You don"t dally when keeping an appointment with somebody Mamie"s age, and for the life of me I couldn"t understand why Augusta was so h.e.l.l-bent-oops, I mean heaven-bent-on my delivering her handcrafted baby gift first thing.
I could think of a lot of necessities the family might need more, I grumbled as I pulled up into the Fosters" lawn and propped my bike on its stand. Few houses populated the two-lane asphalt road leading past the tower, and only a couple of cars had pa.s.sed me along the way, so I didn"t bother to lock up my bike. Besides, all I wanted to do was drop off the pajamas and get on with it, and I still didn"t have a clue how I"d explain my visit.
But Maureen Foster didn"t seem to be at home when I knocked timidly on her door. Relieved, I placed the tissue-wrapped bundle just inside the screen door and turned to leave, eager to be on my way to Charlotte and Mamie Estes.
"Can I help you?"
A young woman stood in the half-open doorway.
"Uh-yes, I brought..." I stooped to pick up the package at my feet, waiting for divine inspiration. Nothing happened.
"Did Louise send you?" Maureen Foster-or I supposed that"s who she was-held out a hand for the pajamas. She was small and slender, with bright brown eyes, wore her sleek dark hair cut close, and carried a chubby baby low on her hip.
I gave her the pajamas. "Louise," I said. I felt like I was taking part in a spy-farce and Louise Louise must be the pa.s.sword. must be the pa.s.sword.
"Is this all of it?" The woman shifted the baby a little higher and frowned at the parcel I"d given her. "I hope you"ve brought more than this."
"Excuse me?" I didn"t expect her to fall into a fit of ecstasy over a small pair of pajamas, but this woman wrote the book on rudeness!
"You didn"t bring the quilting sc.r.a.ps from Louise? She said she"d send some over today." As she spoke, Maureen slowly unwrapped the bundle and let the paper fall to the floor. "Oh." The baby-size pajamas dangled from her hand. "Why, these are a work of art! Did you-?"
I shook my head. "A friend sent them. She-that is, we thought your little boy might like them."
I closed my eyes. Might like them? Babies don"t like pajamas! Babies like milk andbeing rocked, silly Might like them? Babies don"t like pajamas! Babies like milk andbeing rocked, silly! "I meant, we hoped he could wear them."
She held the door wider to let me inside. "You brought these for Tommy? They look like a perfect fit. Thank you!" She stepped aside to lead me into a small living room. "Please, sit down-that is, if you can find a s.p.a.ce. Did you say your friend made made these?" these?"
I nodded, looking about me. Every surface was covered in quilts, or fabric on its way to becoming quilts. "She sews like an angel," I said. "And so do you, it seems."
Maureen placed Tommy in his bouncy seat, and, removing a stack of what seemed to be Christmas pillow covers, sat on a small chair across from me. "Right now I"m behind in my orders," she said. "Louise Starr sells my things at her shop, Starr Bright, in Charlotte, and this close to the holidays, the demand gets ahead of the supply."
She smiled and offered tea, which I accepted. "Hope you like herbal," she explained. "I"m nursing. You must think I"m bonkers," Maureen said, pouring boiling water into a pot. "Louise sends me quilting sc.r.a.ps whenever she can get her hands on them, and I"m running low on red calico for a couple of crazy quilts I promised. I thought you were dropping them by for her." She smiled and stooped to offer a toy to Tommy. "I"m glad to get the pajamas. He"s outgrown most of his others. Thanks."
I smiled back at Tommy, who gave me a toothless grin. "You"re welcome."
I noticed how gracefully she accepted the gift-with no questions asked. Her baby needed the pajamas, and I supplied them. If only life could be as simple as that.
Later, over peppermint tea and introductions, Maureen told me her husband, whom she called R. T., had worked for a builder in California, but the cost of living was high there and the climate didn"t agree with her, so they moved south to be closer to her family.
"That was soon after Tommy was born," she said. "But the company my husband went to work for here went out of business over a month ago, and he hasn"t been able to find permanent work."
I told her I"d ask around and see if I could come up with any leads. "And I hope your quilting sc.r.a.ps arrive soon," I called as I was leaving.
"Now I know why I didn"t hear you drive up," Maureen said, watching from the porch. "We"ll have to bike together sometime. R. T. can baby-sit, and maybe you"ll show me the good paths."
"I"d like that," I said, and rode away pleased that my stubborn angel had insisted I become acquainted with Maureen Foster. But I didn"t think it was only because Tommy needed pajamas or I needed a biking buddy. Augusta Goodnight had something else up her heavenly sleeve.
According to Maureen"s kitchen clock, it was a little after ten-thirty when I left. If I hurried, I could change, collect Augusta, and be in Charlotte in time for lunch. I remembered a barbecue restaurant on the south side that had a drive-in window and was known for its Brunswick stew. Augusta told me she"d sampled the stew in three of the states she"d visited lately, and was eager to see how North Carolina held up.
The idea appealed to me, as well, and I pedaled a little faster, then slowed as I came to the downhill curve.
"Jump!" urged a voice in my ear. Augusta"s voice. urged a voice in my ear. Augusta"s voice.
"What?" Was I hearing things? What had Maureen put in that peppermint tea?