Main Street #1: Welcome to Camden Falls (9 page)

“Well, the hospital was freezing.”

“Put them somewhere else,” said Flora.

“No. Flora? I’m scared.”

Flora rolled over on her back, away from Ruby’s feet, and looked at the ceiling. “Me, too,” she said after a moment.

“You’re not supposed to say that!” exclaimed Ruby. “You’re supposed to say, ‘Don’t be scared, Ruby.’”

“But I am scared.”

Ruby was silent. Flora could see her clasping and unclasping her hands. “What would happen to us now if something bad happened to Min?” she asked.

“Nothing bad happened to her,” replied Flora.

“I know. But if something did. What would happen to us?”

Flora, who had been worrying about this very thing for hours, now felt grouchy as she heard the same questions from Ruby. She wanted to be able to tell her sister that everything would be all right. But she couldn’t. “Ruby, I don’t
know
what would happen, okay? I’m really sorry, but I don’t know.”

“Would we always be able to stay together?”

“Yes,” said Flora. “I’m sure about that. You will always have me and I will always have you.”

“Okay.” Ruby tucked her feet back under Flora’s legs, and after a while, both girls fell asleep.

When Flora and Ruby awoke the next morning, they tiptoed down to the Edwardses’ kitchen in their T-shirts.

Mrs. Edwards smiled at them. “Good news,” she said. “Your grandmother’s at home. And she’s going to be fine. Her wrist is fractured, but not badly, and she’ll only need to wear a cast for a few weeks.”

Ruby let out a giant sigh, as if she’d been holding her breath for the entire night, and in no time the girls had changed into their clothes, made the bed in the guest room, carefully folded Robby’s T-shirts, called “Thank you!” and “Good-bye!” over their shoulders, and charged back to their house.

Min met them at the front door. “Look!” she said cheerfully. She held up her wrist, encased in its cast. “Already almost as good as new.”

Ruby and Flora pounced on their grandmother, hugging her so hard she nearly lost her balance.

“Gracious me,” she said. “What’s all this? Come. Let’s sit down — before I fall down.”

Flora escorted Min into the living room, carefully guiding her by her good arm. She helped Min onto the sofa, even though Min said she could manage quite well by herself, thank you.

As soon as Flora and Ruby and Min were settled, Ruby blurted out, “Min, if anything really, really bad ever happened to you, what would happen to Flora and me?”

Flora thought Ruby could have said this a bit more tactfully, but she barely cared. She peered anxiously into Min’s face.

“Oh, girls,” said Min, “don’t worry. You’ll always be taken care of.”

Flora’s stomach tightened. Min hadn’t said
how
they would be taken care of. And that, she felt certain, was because Min didn’t know.

On one of the very last days of July, the cool weather still gracing Camden Falls, Nikki sat cross-legged on a patch of dry earth in front of her house. Mae sat beside her, holding out a fistful of dog kibble.

“Look, Nikki. Paw-Paw takes it right out of my hand. See?”

Sure enough, the scruffy dog nibbled delicately from Mae’s outstretched palm.

“That’s great, Mae,” said Nikki absently. Her mind was on the arrival of Mrs. DuVane, and her ears were pricked for the sound of tires on gravel.

“Nikki?” said Mae a few moments later.

“What?”

“I
said
, isn’t it too bad we have to keep Paw-Paw a secret?” She paused. “Aren’t you listening?”

“I’m sorry,” said Nikki. “I guess I’m just thinking about the old — I mean, about Mrs. DuVane. That’s all.”

“She’s coming today, right?”

“Any minute now.”

“And where’s she taking you?”

“Into town to that sewing store. For some kind of lesson.”

“I want to learn to sew,” said Mae.

“Every time I get back from the store I’ll teach you what I learned, okay?”

“Okay.… Nikki? Who’s going to watch me while you’re in town?”

“Mom’s here.”

Mae lowered her voice. “She’s
asleep
.”

“Oh. Already?” Mrs. Sherman was having another bad day. “Well, you know the rules. If Tobias and I aren’t here, you have to stay on our property. So just … keep quiet so you don’t disturb Mom, and stay out of Dad’s way if he comes home. Maybe Tobias will be back soon.”

At that moment, Nikki heard gravel crunching. Mrs. DuVane honked twice and waved gaily out her car window. “Hello, Nikki dear! Ready for your big day?”

Nikki rolled her eyes, then kissed the top of Mae’s head before starting toward the car. “Hi, Mrs. DuVane,” she said flatly as she opened the door.

Mrs. DuVane eyed Nikki’s dusty shorts and her smudged legs. “Is that how you’re going to go to the store?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she glanced at her watch, then said, “Well, you haven’t time to change. But next week, Nicolette, try to look a bit more presentable.”

“Okay,” said Nikki. “I mean, yes, ma’am.”

Nikki stared out the window as Mrs. DuVane drove into Camden Falls. She didn’t feel like speaking.

Mrs. DuVane parked her car across from Needle and Thread. “Now remember, Nicolette,” she said as they climbed out of the Audi and closed the doors behind them, “this embroidery class is for adults, so you won’t be able to participate per se, but there are usually two or three other little girls here at the store, so maybe they can teach you some things while I’m taking the class. You can all learn from one another!” She added brightly, “Sewing is a very respectable pastime.”

“Yes, ma’am,” mumbled Nikki.

When Mrs. DuVane opened the door to Needle and Thread, a bell rang. Nikki stepped into the cool air of the store and was engulfed by the smell of new fabric, of coffee, and of something sweet she thought might be cookies.

“Hello, Mrs. DuVane,” called a woman from behind the counter. “You’re just in time for the class.”

Mrs. DuVane smiled. “And I’ve brought someone with me,” she said. “This is Nicolette. I know she can’t take the class, but I thought she might enjoy looking around the store. Nicolette is very creative. Aren’t you, dear?”

“I like to draw,” said Nikki, staring down at a piece of tape that was stuck to the floor.

“Hey!” called a voice, and Nikki turned around. Sitting on some couches at the front of the store were three girls about her age, and spread on a table in front of them were squares of fabric, which the girls were cutting into shapes and arranging in patterns. “You’re Nikki Sherman, aren’t you?” said one of the girls.

“Yeah,” said Nikki. She couldn’t believe her bad luck. This girl — Olivia Walton? Was that her name? — had actually said to her on the school playground just a couple of months ago, “You know, if you washed your clothes more often, they’d smell better.”

Nikki had stared at her. This tiny little girl (she was in Nikki’s grade, but not in her class, and Nikki thought she might have skipped a grade at some point), this tiny little girl had had the
nerve
to tell Nikki how to do her housework. Let
her
try to wash clothes in a machine that didn’t work half the time. This girl probably didn’t even have to
do
her family’s laundry.

When Nikki hadn’t been able to stop staring, Olivia finally said, “I — I didn’t mean anything by that. I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. I just thought you’d like to know that there’s an easy way …” Her voice began to trail off. “… an easy way to, um, to improve your personal hygiene.”

At this point, Nikki, disgusted, shook her head, turned around, and walked off. Her only wish then had been that she not wind up in Olivia’s class in the fall.

And now here she was, facing Olivia and two of her friends. Worse, she was stuck with them for an entire hour.

“Come on and sit with us,” said Olivia. “Our grandmothers gave us a job. There’s a kids’ patchwork pillow class coming up, and we’re supposed to make up designs for some easy pillows. You can help us.”

Nikki sniffed pointedly at her underarms. “If you’re sure I won’t oh-fend you,” she said, and was pleased to note that Olivia’s cheeks reddened slightly.

Three couches were arranged around the table. Olivia and one of the girls sat on one, and the third girl, the youngest-looking one, sat on another. Nikki sat down by herself in the middle of the remaining couch. She eyed Olivia’s friends.

“Um,” said Olivia, “do you want to help us? Our grandmothers —”

“Am I supposed to know who your grandmothers are?” asked Nikki.

“They own this store,” spoke up the girl who was sitting next to Olivia.

“Wow,” said Nikki. “The
owners
.”

After a brief pause, the girl spoke again. “Do you know how to sew?”

Nikki hesitated. She frequently mended the clothes that got tossed into a wicker basket sitting in the corner of the kitchen, but she had a feeling this wasn’t the kind of sewing the girl meant.

“I can sew a little,” she said at last.

“Have you done any quilting?” asked Olivia.

“No.”

“Well, that’s okay.”

“I know it’s okay.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Olivia after a few moments, during which Nikki had sat glaring at the fabric pieces and no one had spoken. “I just realized we haven’t introduced ourselves. Well, you know me. I’m Olivia Walter.” (Oh,
Walter
, thought Nikki.) “But you don’t know Flora and Ruby. This is Flora, and this is Ruby,” she said, pointing to each of them. “Flora and Ruby Northrop. And this” (she pointed to Nikki) “is Nikki Sherman. She’s in my grade. Flora and Ruby just moved to Camden Falls. Flora is going to be in our grade, too, Nikki. Ruby will be in fourth.”

Nikki, looking desperately at the pieces of fabric being arranged on the table and having no idea what to do with them, finally said, “So how come you guys moved here? Did your father get a new job or something?”

At this, silence fell. Flora went still as stone, then began arranging the fabric again, her eyes boring into the table. Ruby slid back onto the couch for a moment, then moved forward and whisked a triangle of blue calico away from Flora. Wordlessly, Flora grabbed it back from her.

“That’s mine!” cried Ruby.

“No, it isn’t. I was using it.”

“But I had it before and I need it to go right here. See? I’m making a
star
? SEE?”

“Then cut your own triangle. That’s why we have scissors. Anyway, a star pattern is going to be too complicated for beginners.”

“I’m a beginner, and I’m making a star.”

“Well, stop.”

From across the couch, Olivia eyed Nikki. “Nice move,” she said.

“What? What did I do?”

“Flora and Ruby moved here because their parents … their parents …”

“Go ahead and say it. Our parents died.” Ruby grabbed a pair of scissors and cut a sloppy triangle out of the calico fabric. “We’re orphans,” she added, slamming the triangle down on the table.

“I’m sorry,” said Nikki, and now she could feel her own face flushing. “I’m
really
sorry.”

“It’s all right,” said Flora.

“You didn’t know,” added Olivia. “Okay, come on. Here. Cut all these pieces of fabric into four-inch squares.”

Nikki took the fabric and scissors that Olivia held toward her, but she said, “Are you always so bossy?”

“Pretty much.” Olivia turned back to Flora and Ruby. “Now, I think that all the pillows should be made up of squares only. That’s easier for beginners. Nine squares will make up into a very nice pillow.”

Flora let out a sigh. “Okay. Half the fun is in choosing the fabric anyway, seeing which ones look best together. Ruby, quit working on that star. Put the triangle pieces away.”

“No!” Ruby slid away from the older girls, and for a while, Nikki, Olivia, and Flora concentrated on laying out squares.

“With squares you could make theme pillows,” commented Flora. “You could use this fabric with the Eiffel Tower on it, and this one with the globes, and this one with the French poodles to make a Paris pillow.”

“You could do the same thing with stars,” muttered Ruby, coming back to the group. And after a moment, she added, “I’d
much
rather be in a tap class right now.”

Nikki glanced at her, then back at the table, where she halfheartedly began arranging squares of fabric again.

“What’s your theme?” Olivia asked Ruby a few moments later.

“I don’t
know
, okay? I’m just experimenting.”

“Hey,” said Nikki, “didn’t you say you were supposed to come up with several patterns for the class? Now you only have the pillows made from nine squares.”

“And the stars!” cried Ruby.

“Would you forget about the stars?” shouted Olivia.

“Girls, what’s going on over there?” called Min.

“Nothing.”

Half an hour later, when Mrs. DuVane’s embroidery class ended, Nikki, Ruby, Flora, and Olivia were still sitting on the couches, but they were sitting as far from one another as they could manage.

“This store,” said Nikki, getting to her feet, “should be called Sew What?”

“Ha-ha,” said Olivia as Mrs. DuVane appeared, smiling and clutching a square of muslin adorned with ribbon flowers and bees.

“Well, that was a wonderful class, just wonderful,” said Mrs. DuVane. “I hope you girls had fun. Nicolette, let’s buy you a few supplies and then we should be on our way.” She turned to Flora, Ruby, and Olivia. “We’ll be back again next week.”