Once in a Blue Moon (23 page)

Melissa grinned. She
glanced at the bread cooling on a side table. Very familiar-looking
bread. It looked exactly like the loaves that appeared on her
doorstep every day, right down to the knife split down the middle.
“Hannah, have you been leaving bread for us every day?”

Hannah was instantly
flustered. “Why no, of course not. Why would I do such a thing? I’m
going outside now.”

She was a horrible
liar.

Melissa followed her,
suddenly feeling deflated. Hannah was a really nice person. She
wouldn’t gossip, she did things for others without expecting
anything in return. She was a goody-two-shoes and they had
absolutely nothing in common. So what was Melissa doing there?

Wistfully, she realized that if she
could
have a friend, she’d like one
like Hannah. A true blue friend. Someone to confide in who wouldn’t
tell her secrets; who would stick up for her if others tried to
gossip behind her back.

The admission left her
feeling vulnerable. Silly. Idiotic.

Hannah caught a chicken
running around outside and walked over to a nearby stump and picked
up the ax imbedded there.

Melissa followed. If
she were to choose a friend, it wouldn’t be someone like Hannah.
She was unfeminine, not interested in fashion of any kind, and
nerdish, to boot. Melissa would choose someone she at least had
something in common with; someone with class and style. Someone
with at least a smidgeon of manipulative ability. Maybe even
someone with a bit of a cruel streak so she wouldn’t be bored.

Anyway, Melissa was
being ridiculous. She already had everything. She was happy with
her life back home. She had her coworkers, her clients, Richard and
the kids.

She was willing to do
Hannah a favor and to be her friend, but what did Melissa need with
a friend? Especially one who could only be temporary? It would be a
waste of energy.

Hannah put her foot
against the chicken to hold its struggling body in place and
Melissa’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The ax lifted, and with
a quick, sharp jerk, Hannah chopped off the chicken’s head.

Melissa’s mouth dropped
open as the tiny head fell at her feet, almost touching the hem of
her skirt. A small amount of blood spurted out of the chicken’s
neck and down the side of the stump. The body struggled, wings
flapping.

Hannah lifted it by its
feet and held it upside down and more blood drained onto the
ground.

Woozy, Melissa snatched
her skirt away from the bird’s head, took a step back and dropped
onto her butt. She stared at the chicken head, at the body dripping
blood and the world turned an interesting shade of grey. Melissa
toppled backward.

The last thing she saw
was Hannah’s amused, slightly cruel smile and instantly Melissa
changed her mind.

She could definitely be
friends with this woman.

“Melissa, I’m ready for
a fresh iron.”

“I’m on it.” Grateful
for the intervention, Melissa sat a sticky toddler on the grass,
dodged several small children and two ladies, and hurried to where
Sarah ironed. Sarah’s timing was perfect since Melissa needed to
check the biscuits anyway.

Sarah finished pressing
a petticoat, set the iron down and quickly folded the slip and
placed it in a nearby basket.

Amused, Melissa picked
up the iron with its protective cloth and headed for the nearest
cabin. They all acted like any underwear left out in public would
be the most embarrassing occurrence imaginable.

She smiled as she
realized she was actually having fun. She was used to being Top
Prima Donna, but today the other women were bossing her around a
bit; okay, a lot, but it actually amused her.

Besides, it hadn’t
taken her long to realize their system of working together was a
good one. It certainly benefitted her. She wouldn’t know how to do
all this drudge work without help. Besides, how boring would it be
to do this kind of chore alone?

It was her turn to do
the job of trading irons, and she carried the warm implement into
Sarah’s cabin and set it beside the two hot ones on the stove. They
had six irons between them, and were continually trading them off
to keep them heated.

She was glad for the
break; she was good at pressing clothes, as she ought to be, since
she’d had enough practice over her years in fashion. But archaic
ironing was hard, hot work, and 100% cotton was a pain.

Using
a towel, Melissa opened an oven door to check the biscuits, which
were slightly overdone. “Great.” She blew out a breath in disgust.
“Just great.” She’d thought she had at least five more minutes.
Everyone was counting on the treat. She pulled them out of the oven
and set them on the table, burning herself in the process.
“
Ow
!”

Shaking her singed
fingers in the air, she studied the biscuits. They really weren’t
too bad. She quickly transferred them to a plate so they wouldn’t
burn on the bottom. A little trick Amanda had taught her.

Using a protective
cloth, she grabbed a heated iron and took the hot implement outside
to where the four ladies ironed and gave it to Sarah.

“Thank you,” said
Sarah.

“Mmm hmm.” The smell of
starch permeated the windless air and Melissa glanced past Emma and
Amanda to Hannah, slightly off by herself. She’d done her best to
ignore Melissa for the last four hours or so.

Melissa was amused.
“You okay, Hannah? Need a new iron yet? More starch?”

Hannah shook her
head.

Melissa conceded Hannah
had won the first round this morning. When Melissa had woken from
her faint, one of the disgusting barn dogs had been licking her
face. No chicken head to be found. She shuddered again. Surely the
dog didn’t eat it? And then lick her? That didn’t bear thinking
about. She’d washed her face and needed to put it out of her
mind.

But the bottom line was
Hannah still didn’t have a chance. Melissa had set her sights on a
goal and now it was simply a matter of time until Melissa was her
bosom buddy.

Heading back to the
cabin, she realized she was humming and in a good mood. Probably
excitement about the new dress. She actually liked the material the
widow had given her and was itching to get to it. Melissa had been
studying the women’s dresses as she’d ironed, trying to decide what
she wanted to do with her own.

Something similar
enough to be fashionable, yet different enough to stand out and be
envied; in other words, business as usual. She’d cut it out tonight
and sew it tomorrow on Amanda’s pride and joy, a treadle sewing
machine.

Once inside, she cut
the biscuits in half, applied butter and jam and took them outside.
As the kids devoured them, she made a second trip for the
adults.

Amanda wiped her brow
as she finished her biscuit. “In a few minutes I’ll be ready for a
new iron.” She’d just finished ironing a frilly chemise and now
started on the matching pair of drawers. When the iron cooled, they
always switched to the underwear as it wasn’t as critical they be
perfectly pressed.

“Those are nice.”

Amanda grinned and
blushed a bit. “They were specially made for my wedding day.”

Melissa arched a brow.
“Wedding day, or wedding night?”

Amanda tossed her
auburn hair and shot her a superior look. “Wouldn’t you like to
know?”

Melissa grinned. “Yes,
actually I would. Also, I’m doing a survey. I’m not wearing any
underwear because I’m washing mine and I’m wondering if the linen
or the cotton chemise cuts down better on the breeze factor?”

Amanda put a hand to
her mouth and laughed. “I’m not wearing any, either.”

“Me, neither,” said
Sarah cheerfully.

They all three started
to laugh.

Emma looked scandalized
and Hannah ignored them all.

Amanda shot her a
curious look. “What’s a survey?”

Melissa chuckled and
shook her head. “Never mind.” She was actually starting to like
these ladies.

She turned to see
Jessica smiling, seeming younger somehow, less worldly, her simple
dress giving her a childlike appearance and stripping away the
sophistication of the twenty-first century. No doubt the lack of
black eyeliner helped the impression too.

“Jessica, you’re doing
a very tidy job,” said Emma.

Jessica and Sarah’s
eleven-year-old daughter were folding and hanging the clothing for
Emma and Hannah. Jessica glowed at the compliment.

Jessica had lapped up
attention from the women all day and, once again, Melissa wondered
if she were a good mother. Materially, she had always given her
children everything; they’d never be able to fault her on that.
But...perhaps she could have personally been there more?

The fun petered out of
the day.

These women seemed to
be instinctive nurturers: their touches, their loving looks, their
moments of teaching the kids how to work hard and have fun doing
it. Had Melissa missed the boat somewhere along the way? Been
gypped of her portion of mothering instincts?

She smiled at Jessica
and held up the plate. “Jessica, do you want another biscuit?”

“Sure.” Jessica smiled,
walked toward her, and Melissa felt something inside her unclench.
It was all right; she still had time to make it all right.

She noticed Jessica’s
dress was dirty at the knees and also realized she only had the
one. A hand-me-down, almost threadbare, too-any-times-washed, icky,
calico dress.

Melissa blew out a
breath. She had two dresses: two ugly-as-sin, nasty dresses; two
despicable embarrassments.

She sighed. Yes, she
did love this kid. She must. “Jessica, I got some material today.
I’m going to make you a new dress.”

“Really?”

Melissa nodded.

Jessica glanced at the
other kids. “A nice one?”

Melissa smiled at the
happy look on Jessica’s face. In the last year, Jessica had turned
down every bit of clothing Melissa had made for her and the
turnaround was wonderful. Melissa nodded. “Way nice.”

Hannah stopped her work
and turned to look at Melissa. Melissa gave her a slight shrug,
and, just like that, felt happy again.

* * *

“
Get out of here
!” yelled Melissa.

The stocky
black-and-white dog scrambled backward, out the cabin door, its
back legs skittering on the wooden steps as it tried to find a
foothold without taking its wary gaze from Melissa. Finally, its
feet caught and the dog twisted and ran away. Again.

“Stupid dog.”

“He’s just hungry,”
said Jessica.

Glancing up from the
material, Melissa looked at the food on the warmer. The delicious
smell of stew and biscuits had lured the animal inside and she
couldn’t really blame the poor creature. She was hungry too.

It was already starting
to get dark outside and if Richard and Jeremy didn’t get home from
work soon, they’d eat without them, take baths and go to bed. She
was too tired to wait much longer.

She’d like to shut the
door to keep the dog out, but the stove was still warming water and
the heat in the cabin was already unbearable. She just needed a few
more kettles of hot to add to the cold she’d already filled the tub
with to make the water lukewarm. With the backside of her wrist,
Melissa wiped sweat off her brow. “I can’t wait to take a
bath.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Melissa smiled at
Jessica, enjoying the feeling of comradery between them. Leaning
over the table, she carefully smoothed the green jersey and snipped
another piece of fabric with the inferior scissors she’d borrowed
from Emma.

Jessica’s dress was
already taking shape and a buzz of excitement tingled through
Melissa, pushing back some of the weariness. The dress would be
beautiful and it was wonderful to work at something she loved for a
change.

“Do you see how I’ve
snipped this at an angle?”

Jessica leaned over.
“Yes.”

“Well, what do you want
to do on the other side to make it match?”

“The mirror thing?”
asked Jessica.

Melissa smiled and held
out the scissors. “Correct. You want each piece to be a mirror
image of the other so when we sew them together they’ll match
up.”

Carefully, Jessica did
as she asked.

Melissa reached forward
and tucked a blonde strand of hair behind Jessica’s ear. “You know,
I never realized how talented you are at this.”

Jessica smiled, then
shrugged.

Melissa stuck in
several pins to hold the two sections of bodice together and set
the finished piece with the others on the back of a chair.

Taking the scissors,
she started cutting out the last section of the skirt, stopped to
measure one last time with the string, then continued.

Jessica bent over to
see better. “How do you do it without a pattern? In school we used
a pattern.”

Melissa shrugged. “I
don’t know. I just see it in my mind and cut it out. You’ll get
better with practice.” She made a few more snips and let Jessica
pin the fabric.

“All done.” Melissa
straightened, drew in a deep breath and rolled her shoulders to
relieve some of the tension. Every muscle in her body ached. She
stretched.

Like
it or not, she was settling into this life. It was absorbing her.
The slow rhythm-- She saw movement out of the corner of her eye.
“
Get out of here
right!...now
.” Melissa’s voice trailed off
and heat seared her already hot cheeks.

A stranger, decked out
in quality western wear, fancy stitched boots, and a tan,
sliver-studded cowboy hat, stood in the open doorway. He was tall,
over six feet, muscular, with shoulder-length, wavy dark hair and a
huge grin on his good-looking face. “Howdy, ma’am.”