Seventeen Stones (19 page)

The
bill from the dressmaker, though cleared in advance with the trustees had made
Mr. Smith very nervous.  For fifteen years the solicitor had dutifully measured
the profits coming in to the estate, with very little in the way of
expenditure. 

Mia
didn’t mention to Mr. Smith that she had ordered six dresses specifically for Ella
with shoes and accessories to match.  She knew her friend couldn’t afford to
buy them.  So she had enlisted Vivian’s help. 

Mia
had deliberately intercepted Vivian on her way back from art class.  Vivian
could tell that Mia had a plan, and Vivian was always up for one of Mia’s
schemes.  They broke up the tedium nicely, in her opinion.  “…so if we had
Ella’s measurements…”  Vivian grinned.  “It solves that problem.  I was
wondering what we were going to do…you
are
the closest to her size.” 
Lizzy and Beth happened to be walking by, six buildings away from their last
class.  “But you are not the only one who wants to help.  Actually, through
some act of foresight…”  Beth winked.  “Lizzy and I brought a bunch of gowns
from home that we outgrew this spring.”  Lizzy cocked her head.  “That will
cover most of the tea gowns she’ll need, and add two riding habits.”    

Together
they talked Ella into a short visit to Madam Reece’s shop, ostensibly to look
at some samples of lace and take Vivian’s measurements.  Madam Reece took
Ella’s measurements at the same time.  “…so that I can alter Miss Mia’s gowns
to suit you dear.”  Madam Reece tut-tutted away Ella’s comments about payment,
shamelessly lying and claiming it was part of the usual service.

Technically,
they were Mia’s dresses: Mia was buying them, but they weren’t made for her,
they were made for Ella.  Ella would have protested if she’d known that they
were ordered specifically for her, but she accepted the loan during the party
with only minimal resistance.

The
other girls couldn’t pull the same kind trick on Ella.  Vivian was built on a
larger scale, and Sarah was more petite.  The twins were close in size; but they
had more rounded, womanly figures, the old dresses from last spring fit
perfectly.  Ella and Mia were almost exactly the same size but their coloring
was so dissimilar that the colors needed for one would make the other look ill. 
Madam Reece had agreed to take a few of Vivian’s, Lizzy’s and Beth’s gowns up,
so she would have a respectable wardrobe for the party.  Mia hoped Ella would
accept the gift of the six dresses she’d specifically ordered for her: Mia
wouldn’t be able to wear any of them unless she wanted to look like she’d come
down with scurvy.

Mia
pulled her mind back to the task at hand.  After the stable inspection, the
lady requested a tour of the available guest rooms.  Mrs. Wallace graciously
led the way.  Lady Anne looked around with a slight frown.  “I think if you use
the space available on the nursery floor, that you should be able to invite
sixteen guests to stay the week of the party.  Lizzy and Beth can share a room,
just as my husband and I intend to.”  The lady contemplated the small bedroom
they were standing in, one of the nursery suite.  A brass four poster bed stood
in one corner, with a chair and reading lamp across the room.  A tiny oven,
rather than a normal fireplace stood in one corner.

“On
the other hand, it’s always better to invite less than complete capacity, just
in case.  It makes things more comfortable for the people staying with you.” Lady
Anne started ticking guests off using her fingers.  “So far you’ve invited
Greatlady Imogene, all five of your dorm mates, myself and my husband, and your
guardian, am I correct?”  Mia nodded.  “So we have nine already.  You can
invite two or three more, and then we can use the nursery rooms to house any
unexpected additions.” 

Mia
couldn’t really think of anyone else she particularly wanted to stay for the
entire party.  Inviting less than complete capacity struck her as a good idea. 
Vivian still hadn’t received permission from her parents because they were in
Southport supervising the offloading of the final trading ships of the year. 

Mrs.
Wallace tucked them into the carriage for the ride home, with blankets and warm
bricks to ward off the chill of the autumn evening.  The housekeep was half
apologetic, half proud when she informed Mia “That carriage doesn’t have a
heating or cooling spell on it…the Greatlady always cast one if it was needed. 
The spell most Greatlords put on their equipment only heats or cools the interior
of the coach.  She could heat or cool the whole carriage, from the coachman to
the footman at the rear.  Your mother always said that if she was too weary to
see to a spell, that she shouldn’t be warm or cool when others were
suffering.”  It wasn’t cold enough inside the carriage to make either the hot
bricks or a heating spell entirely necessary, especially since the carriage was
still rather crowded (even with Sarah riding back to the City with her mother). 
Mia imagined the coachman would appreciate it though, and she tucked that
question away to look up later.  The girls nibbled on leftovers from the food
tasting and dozed a little as the carriage drove them home. 

Two
hours later the weary girls disembarked and trudged to the dorm, stretching
aching muscles as they walked.  Mia headed for the study and didn’t raise her
head from her books until Vivian brought up a tea tray about eleven o’clock. 
“Everyone else has used the bath, and I even remembered to spray the tub down
when I finished.”  Vivian dimpled.  She wasn’t known for remembering
housekeeping details.  “Drink a cup of this and have a few pastries before you
get washed up, then go to bed.  Otherwise you’ll fall asleep in here and drool
on your essay.”  Mia laughed and thanked her friend as she poured herself a cup
of tea and snagged a plump pastry.

School
progressed and the lingering autumn was knocked roughly aside by a harsh winter
blast.  The girls pulled out their warmest cloaks, heavy stockings, gloves, and
boots.  Ella was unprepared for the colder temperatures at first.  The coldest
winters she’d ever encountered simply hadn’t prepared her for winter in the
City.  She shivered through a full day before her friends noticed. 

Lizzy
picked up the thin cloak that Ella had worn all day.  The temperature had
dipped down to freezing last night and wasn’t expected to come back up for a
few days.  “No wonder you’ve been cold!  This cloak isn’t even lined!”  Mia
looked over and started going through her closet immediately.  Ella blushed
furiously and pulled Mia’s hands away from her searching.

“I’m
fine.  The school’s scholarship program gives me a quarterly allowance.  I’ll
buy new things when it comes in.”  Beth looked mulish.  “The quarter isn’t for
another two weeks.”  Ella shrugged.  “I’ll survive.”

Mia
groaned.  “Don’t be stupid Ella.  Just borrow my extra cloak for a couple of
weeks until you can buy your own.”  Ella’s jaw was locked.  It was a sure sign
she didn’t intend to take any more charity, and she wasn’t going to argue about
it.  She hated that she was going to college on a scholarship.

Sarah
came to the rescue.  “Why don’t you transfigure the thinner cloak into a thicker
one?”  Ella’s head shot up.  “Can you do that?”  The blond girl shrugged.   “I
don’t see why not.  It’s a subtle transfiguration, and we haven’t covered
anything like that yet in class, but we could probably find a book on it in the
library.”  The idea was no sooner submitted than accepted.  Ella even agreed to
borrow Mia’s extra cloak for the trip to the library. 

“Here
we go,
The Well-Dressed Wand Wielder
had an article about transfiguring
cotton to silk about three months ago.”  Vivian flipped through the magazine. 
Sarah was disgusted that Vivian had been able to get to the information quicker
than she had. 

Fortunately
for Sarah’s self-esteem, the magazine’s instructions were less than perfect. 
The girls looked up the reference works cited in the article.  “It says here
that it’s a simple wand movement.”  Beth was eyeing the book uncertainly.  Mia
was more willing to experiment.  She pulled her own cloak off the hook and
pointed her wand at it, keeping the type of material that she wanted firmly in
mind. 

“Well,
it’s warmer, anyway.”  Sarah giggled at the purple fur wrap that was sitting in
place of the woolen cloak.  Mia grimaced and picked up the book.  “I must have
missed something in the instructions.”  She re-read them carefully and tried again. 

Mia
put the cloak down on the table with an annoyed noise.  “Who would want a
leather cloak?”  Sarah raised her brows.  “Someone who’s going to be riding in
the rain.  It just soaks through wool.  Let me have a go.”  She jabbed her wand
at the cloak.  This time it turned into wool, but the color was bright orange. 
Sarah grimaced and muttered.  “That’s going to clash with her hair.”  Three
tries later she shook her head over it.  The cloak was thick water resistant
wool on the outside, but the inner lining was some sort of heavy sheep skin,
and it turned mottled green and brown.

Ella
sighed and turned her wand to the task.  The heavy wool remained and the color
was original gray.  The sheepskin was transfigured into lovely soft rabbit’s
fur, but the fur was an unfortunate shade of magenta. Lizzy giggled.  “That’s
better.”  Ella shot her a look and tried again. 

It
took two days, but in between Sarah, Ella, and Mia, they finally managed to fix
Mia’s cloak.  They applied their hard-won knowledge to Ella’s wardrobe.  She
had warm, fur-lined boots and, rabbit-skin liners in even her mittens before
they were done.  Sarah giggled.  “You look like some sort of snow beast!”  Only
Ella’s bright eyes and red hair were recognizable under the mounds of fur and
wool.  Even her mouth and nose were buried in a scarf.  The other girls heard a
muffled chuckle as Ella unwound herself out of the winter clothing.  “I don’t
care what it looks like, at least I’m warm.”             

***

Mia
and the others were busy with other things of course: there were fittings for
the dresses, accessories to buy, and a full load of school work to fit in
somehow.  School work included Professor Petrov’s mid-winter concert: each
music student who qualified was required to perform at the end of the
semester.  Mia (due in no small part to Beth’s gentle guidance) was able to
qualify, but she was far from perfect.  The professor grew steadily more
irritable as the performance approached and Mia was her favorite target when
there were issues with the sets or props.  “Amelia!  Stop torturing those keys
or I will be forced to transfigure your fingers.”  Practice when Petrov was in
the general area wasn’t Mia’s favorite thing.    

Perhaps
it was just that the professor was annoyed with Mia most of the time and the
least little error set it off.  Whatever the reason, Mia’s performances
suffered from each attack.  She ran out of the theater building one blustery
November morning in tears after a two hour ‘practice’ session that had
consisted of her playing a stanza or two and then enduring a fifteen minute
rant about her playing.  She couldn’t remember being so
bad
at anything
in her life.      

The
paths were kept magically clear from snow and ice, though two feet of white
accumulation decorated either side of the walkway.  It was actually warmer
today because it wasn’t snowing or sleeting all over her.  During the first two
days of snow, you were actually more likely to get wet from a snowball attack
than from the falling flakes.  At this point, even the most die-hard snowball
commandos had been dissuaded by magical snowball retaliation.  It is a
universal truth that there is nothing like a watermelon-sized snowball falling
on your head to end the urge to throw them at others.

Having
lived a mere two day’s journey from the college all her life, Mia knew the snow
wouldn’t last.  In a few days the ground would be clear again.  But right now
she was glad of the cold.  People kept their heads down when it was cold;
everyone had red eyes and a red nose.

She entered
the study with a sigh of relief and only a mild sniff.  Vivian looked up from
the latest Botany assignment.  “You aren’t catching cold are you?”  Lizzy took
a closer look at Mia and said “I have something that will fix you right up in
my wardrobe.”   Mia didn’t argue; she really didn’t feel like discussing the
Professor’s behavior this afternoon, or her own inability to deal with it.  Once
they were alone, Lizzy handed her a familiar looking bottle of red-eye remover,
and said “Spill it.  Professor Petrov’s been evil again, I can tell.”  Mia
nodded silently as she applied the drops to her eyes.  Darn sighted people. 

Lizzy
continued.  “Do you want to work with Beth and I?”  Mia shot her friend a wan
smile.  The twins had already sacrificed quite a bit of composition time to
help her get up to standard.  “No.  Another month and this will be over,
whatever happens.  I’d love to drop the course, but when she’s not around I really
do enjoy playing.  I’ll never be as good as you and Beth” Mia shook her head to
forestall her friend’s protest.  “The two of you are amazing.  It’s not like
that for me.  This isn’t my gift, and I may not have much aptitude for it, but
I want to learn anyway.”