Dawn (9 page)

April and May

Gwen caught Dawn’s eye as she once again climbed up on the stage and picked up a guitar. Without missing a beat, she joined in with the twins filling the air with dance music. Her precision and speed were easily on par with that of the twins and Dawn swore she actually could see Gwen smile. As the song hit its halfway point, she suddenly stopped and climbed off the stage and started walking over to the refreshment table. One of the twins made a sharp whistle in time with the music and tossed a small bag at Gwen. Gwen spun and plucked the bag from the air nonchalantly and the music continued without missing a beat.

Dawn laughed and was curious what that was all about.

Gwen weaved her way through the crowd, her movements fluid and in time with the music, until Dawn found herself face to face with her. Gwen opened the bag and dumped out a series of bells into her hand and smirked at Dawn.

“
Oh, no, thank you. I’m fine,” blurted Dawn nervously. Girls wore bells on ribbons at dances when they were old enough to start to date and shop around, as it were. Bells on rings were generally reserved for girls with steady serious boyfriends. Ribbons or rings were immaterial; Dawn had no intention of further dances, much less starting to date!

Gwen paid her no mind and physically picked up Dawn and sat her on the table. With remarkable dexterity she quickly wrapped a series of bells around Dawn’s ankles. Half a heartbeat later she found herself standing again. A quick look down revealed not only were there bells on her ankles but her toes too!

Gwen smiled and gave the confused Dawn a quick hug.

“
Why waste silver bells on such a drab girl?” murmured a girl of about fifteen behind them.

That caught Dawn flat footed. Everyone else had been so nice the last week or so. She could almost hear her late sisters after her again.

Gwen quickly spun around and got right into the other girl’s face. She grinned widely, baring her teeth wide. The interloper quickly scampered away.

“
Thanks, Gwen,” murmured Dawn sheepishly.

Gwen spun back around giving Dawn a second hug before taking her by the hand and leading her across the dance floor. She all but swam as she walked, bouncing in time to the music, she threaded effortlessly through the crowd. Dawn had to work to keep up but found her antics and attitude fun and inspiring. Then she turned the corner on the far side of the hall.

And there was Gavin sitting at a table enjoying a drink. Beside him sat that gorgeous girl! In a brilliant green dress she looked even more striking than before. Gavin saw Dawn and then locked eyes with Gwen.

“
Uh, no?” Gavin tried to protest.

He was too late. Gwen already had him by the wrist and turned to march the pair away. Gavin held his ground, but a swift twist of his wrist made it clear who was in charge. Staying close to keep her from bending his wrist backwards again, Gavin joined the parade. Soon the three found themselves in the middle of the hall just as the last dance ended and the next one was lining up to start. Gwen’s timing was impeccable.

With a flourish, Gwen spun the two youngsters and bowed out as the two faced each other and were left holding hands. The music launched off with great flair and Dawn soon found herself dancing with Gavin. They made one odd couple, both a little clumsy with their footwork, more from nervousness than lack of skill. As the song pressed on, they both started to relax, and before long, they were actually having fun.

The final notes of the song faded away, and Dawn flushed and her fur briefly stood on end. Gavin’s nervousness also showed as, right on cue, the color of his fur rippled. The both laughed at the situation as another dance was getting ready to start.

“
Again?” peeped Dawn. “Or did you want to dance with that other girl.”

“
Other girl?” Gavin craned his neck to see where Dawn was looking. “Oh, Fiona? She’ll be all right by herself for a bit.”

“
So you and she aren’t…”

“
Huh?”

“
Well, she does seem to hang off you.”

“
Well, she needs to. She’s been blind from birth.”

Dawn’s heart melted. The girl was gorgeous and couldn’t even appreciate it herself. So here was Gavin doing his best and nicest around a hard-luck case.

“
I didn’t know. I thought you two were a couple.”

Gavin laughed so hard Dawn thought he might pass out, “Okay, it’s a small town. But not
that
small! She’s my sister.”

“
Oh… Oh.” Suddenly Dawn felt horribly embarrassed and relieved all at the same time. “So then, um, would you like to dance?”

Gavin nodded shyly and the two set off again.

Two dances later the pair sat at a bench by the refreshments sitting back to enjoy the others on the floor.

“
You’re a Silver, aren’t you, Gavin?”

“
I guess I do color a bit when nervous,” he admitted. With a small display his fur rippled in hue until, with some concentration, he shifted the darkness down doing a fair approximation of a solid black coat.

Dawn laughed at the display, “I’ve never seen anyone ever try to imitate my coat before.”

Gavin shrugged, “It’s a beautiful and exotic coat, just like its owner.”

Dawn could feel her ears on fire as she reeled from the statement.

Quickly shifting gears Gavin asked, “So what brings you to our town?”

Dawn tried to smile, “My real parents were killed, so my uncle adopted me.”

“
I, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“
It’s okay,” Dawn interrupted, “You didn’t know.” She smiled, “I now consider Llewellyn my father.”

Gavin’s eyes went wide, “Llewellyn Silverglade of House Stratford is your
father?”

Dawn laughed at his shock, “Oh, so you’ve heard of him?” She smiled and continued, “Yes, officially I am Dawn Stratford. Don’t worry, Father doesn’t bite.” Suddenly realizing how taken aback he really was she asked, “We are still on for bocce tomorrow?”

“
Yes. Yes, indeed,” he laughed quickly recovering.

“
Uh oh. I see Gwen coming over here. She probably wants us back on the dance floor. Shall we dance?”

Gavin smiled, “I’d be delighted.”

Dawn rolled out of bed late. Late late! She was sore all over, who knew dancing could take so much out of you. Ugh! She still had bells on her ankles and toes. How did she make it all the way home like that? She took them off setting them neatly on her desk. She made quick work of her bath and too quick work with the towel: wet fur stuck to her dress as she put it on. She must have made quite a sight when she walked into the kitchen as Ivy and Maria gave a mighty laugh.

“
Someone had a good time last time. You hungry, sunshine?” offered Maria.

Dawn lit up, more at the sight of Maria doing so well than the offer of food, “Yes, please.”

Maria started to get up, but Ivy bid her to stay seated and she started to prepare breakfast for Dawn.

“
You knew Fiona and Gavin weren’t a couple and you didn’t tell me,” mock groused Dawn to Maria.

“
Well, I
did
try to get you to go talk to him, didn’t I?”

“
True enough,” she smiled back. “Hey, where is Lily?”

“
She’s sleeping, but Gwen is watching over her.” Maria replied.

“
I thought she and Rachel left yesterday,” Dawn was a little confused.

“
They did, but Gwen wanted to come back over, and we were delighted to have her. She really does so well with infants.”

“
Do you mind Gwen being around?” asked Ivy from the stove. “She is a little different.”

“
Not at all, Mom, she’s delightful. We are all a little different. She is just a little autistic.”

“
That she is,” Ivy smiled at the response. “So you don’t mind even if she does tie bells to your toes?”

Dawn laughed, “Oh, so you heard about that. Speaking of which, are those bells hers or the twins?”

“
Oh, the twins. Who else would have planned such a thing?” mused Maria. “Seriously though, you are fine with Gwen around here?”

“
Yes, indeed, what’s up? Is there a problem between her and Rachel?”

Both the ladies laughed.

“
Far from it,” said Maria. “It’s just both twins are expecting some time in early winter and I could use the help.”

“
We have a darn good chance of having
four
new baby girls in the house in five months’ time,” Ivy said.

“
Four girls?” asked Dawn.

Maria wrinkled her nose, “Class time! What are the chances of a baby being a girl?”

“
Class before breakfast?” Dawn tried to protest, “Um, Lowlanders it’s like 52%, pretty close to humans; Highlanders it’s right at 80%.” Dawn’s head swam as she fought through the numbers.

“
Yes, indeed! What you may not know is, with a Silver as the father and a twin as the mother, their baby girls are almost always twins as well.”

“
Wow!” Dawn sudden grasped the very real prospect of four more little sisters.

“
Wow, indeed. Either way it will be quite a handful. Speaking of which,” Maria carefully stood and craned her neck.

Gwen strolled into the room smiling and carrying a barely awake Lily. Gwen all but glowed as she passed Lily to Maria and then went waltzing off as quickly as she had arrived.

Dawn smiled as she watched her go, “Oh, I was supposed to meet Gavin for bocce just after lunch. Is there anyone who can come with me into town?”

Ivy paused thoughtfully, “I’d say you’re big enough to go on your own if you like. Ask your father first. Things are still a bit tense.”

“
Worst case, we’ll go with you,” offered the twins. “We need to drop off things in town anyway.”

How did they sneak in again?
Dawn was beginning to wonder if they could change colors to hide like a Silver or if they were just that sneaky.

“
Don’t get your hopes up too much,” they continued, “it looks like rain.”

“
We’ll find something else to do if it rains,” Dawn proclaimed.

“
I bet you two will!”

“
April! May! Mind your manners. She’s only fourteen!” Ivy scolded.

The twins smiled broadly, “Sorry, ma’am.” They quickly changed the subject, “The bells are yours to keep, Dawn. They seemed to fit you well.”

“
Thank you. I did have quite a dresser,” Dawn cocked an eye. What else were the two up to?

The twins flashed sly grins as they exited the kitchen.

“
I do think it was a public service we did taking them in, before they caused real damage out in society,” mused Maria.

Ivy almost lost control she was laughing so hard. Dawn joined in on the joke as she sat down for breakfast.

Dawn made it to the edge of town just as the first of the rain started. Her father had let her come on her own, but had insisted that she take an umbrella, and now she was very glad for it. It wasn’t that heavy a rain, it was quite light in fact, but wow! was it cold! The twins had commented that snow wasn’t impossible this time of year, and she hadn’t given it a thought. Now, she was starting to believe that maybe they weren’t kidding.

She gingerly opened the umbrella―it seemed so delicate in her hands―and stood there for a bit enjoying the playful pat-a-pat that the rain made against its surface. Cold as the rain may be, she still enjoyed its sound. Sounds she hadn’t heard much of while on travel. So calm, so relaxing, so…

Dawn cried out as she was suddenly bowled over. Someone running through the rain had just run into her at quite a clip! “Ow! Are you all right?” she gasped as she wiped mud from her fur.

“
Why don’t you watch where you are going!” came the shrill reply.

The unseen speaker viciously kicked Dawn’s umbrella which crunched alarmingly as several of its ribs broke. “Oh, I’m sorry…,” came a sarcastic apology.

Dawn suddenly recognized the voice; it was that girl who had been so mean at the dance.

The girl continued berating Dawn. “You are a clumsy, pathetic girl, aren’t you. Just standing there in the rain while decent people are trying to go about their business.”

“
It’s not like I ran in front of you, you ran into me,” countered Dawn as she struggled to her feet. “And you didn’t have to break my umbrella.”

“
Well, you should learn to stay out of my way! If you hadn’t been so clumsy and dropped your stupid umbrella, it wouldn’t have gotten damaged now, would it?” sniffed the girl, “What are you doing in town anyway? I thought you had the decency to stay out in the woods.”

Dawn bit her lip. “We come into town all the time.” Why did this girl have so much venom for Dawn? What had she done? “I don’t see how that could possibly be a problem, Miss..?”

“
Kate.” She sniffed, “You ought to have known that by now. Well, if you had any proper breeding or upbringing you would have. My mother is Lady Mayor of this town.”