Staying Together (16 page)

“Aughhh!”
shrieked Olivia. “You just gave me the shivers!”

“Me, too,” said Nikki in a whisper, and Flora noted that Nikki had covered her head with a T-shirt.

“Hey, you guys,” said Ruby, peering at the glowing dial of her watch. “Guess what.”

“What?” said Olivia.

“It's midnight.”

“Ooh,” moaned Flora, Olivia, and Nikki.

There was silence for a few moments, and then Ruby said, “What was that?”

“What was what?” asked Olivia in a voice so tiny that Flora could barely hear her.

“That sound,” whispered Ruby. “I thought I heard footsteps.”

“I didn't hear anything,” said Nikki.

“
Shh!
Just listen.” Ruby sat up. “Hear that? It's a sort of crunching sound. Like feet walking through dead leaves.”

“Okay, that's it!” Flora slithered out of her sleeping bag and got to her feet. Immediately, she felt a hand on her shoulder. “
Aughhh!
Someone's got me!”

“It's
me
!” cried Olivia.

“I can't take this anymore!” yelped Ruby.

Nikki gathered her sleeping bag under her arm in an untidy bundle. “Everybody inside!”

In an instant, Flora, Nikki, Olivia, and Ruby were running across the Shermans' yard. Nikki yanked open her front door. She dropped her sleeping bag on the living room floor. “We can finish our sleepover here,” she said.

“Yeah, here is good,” agreed Olivia.

“Maybe I'll just leave this light on,” added Nikki.

“Is the door locked?” asked Flora.

“Yes, but we should probably shove that table in front of it.”

At last, Flora and Ruby and their friends were settled on the floor, lights blazing, unable to fall asleep.

“We should do this again,” said Ruby.

Coffee cup in hand, Min Read stood at the counter in Needle and Thread and admired the two quilts that were hanging, one on each side of the store. There was Lacey Morris's square on which she had painted Camden Falls Elementary School. There was Mary Woolsey's square, the flowers in her own gardens blooming in brilliantly colored ribbons. There was Gigi's square showing the front of Needle and Thread. And there were squares depicting the Row Houses, the mayor, Main Street, and people and events in Camden Falls history.

“Amazing,” murmured Min out loud. She walked to the front of the store and stood at the door, sipping her coffee and watching Main Street come to life on a bright June morning. She cherished these few moments alone, when town was quiet and she could gather her thoughts.

The quilts, she decided, were, if not quite masterpieces, then surely fabulous enough to bring in quite a bit of money for the community center. She and Gigi and Flora had spent hours stitching and piecing until every last square had been fitted into just the right spot. A true community effort.

And this Saturday was the big day. In less than an hour, Needle and Thread would open its door (literally, thought Min, since the weather was fine and the door to the store could stand open all day long), and by noon an auctioneer would arrive and the festivities would begin.

Min closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, she saw before her the Main Street of her childhood — the Woolworth's, where she could buy a hair ribbon for a penny, and Jugtown, where she could buy candy for a penny. She could buy lots of things for a penny in those days. Nowadays, people didn't think much of pennies. Last week a customer had dropped the change that Min had handed her. When a penny had rolled under the counter, she'd waved her hand and said, “Oh, never mind. It's just a penny.” Thinking of penny candy and penny hair ribbons, Min hadn't replied.

Min blinked her eyes again, and now she saw Main Street as it had looked when she was a young mother raising two daughters. There was Piccadilly, the clothing store where she had bought tiny knee socks and nighties and the red sandals the girls wore in the summer. There was Buxton's, the restaurant that had eventually become the T-shirt Emporium.

Min blinked, and there were her daughters all grown up and working together at Dutch Haus one summer. Blink, and her daughters had moved away. Blink, and Frannie was visiting Camden Falls with her own daughters. Min remembered watching Flora explore Needle and Thread when she was four years old and asking for a piece of fabric so she could make a dress for her cat. Which cat was that? Min wondered now. The one that was named Pampered Princess, as if it were a racehorse? On that visit, Min recalled, she had had a long talk with Frannie, telling her that she planned to retire in ten years.

“But why?” her daughter had asked. “I thought you loved the store.”

“I do. But I'm getting older. I wouldn't mind if my days slowed down a bit. Do you know how many books I haven't read?”

“Well, probably thousands,” Frannie had replied. “Millions.”

“I mean, how many classics. I haven't read
The Mayor of Casterbridge
or
The Brothers Karamazov
or
Penrod
. I haven't even read
Wuthering Heights
.”

“Well —” Frannie had started to say.

“And I want time for sewing. I mean, my own sewing. It's been years since I made a blouse for myself just because I wanted one, not because we needed to display it in the window. And there are boxes in the attic that I need to sort through, and drawers that need to be cleaned out. When I die, I don't want you —”

“Mother!” Frannie had exclaimed. “No one is going to die. Stop talking like that.”

“All right. But I'd still like to retire. I can afford to.”

Blink, and six years had gone by, and Frannie had died, her husband, too, and Flora and Ruby were living with Min, and Min could no longer afford to retire after all.

“Hi, Min! We're here!”

Min smiled and set her coffee cup on the table at the front of the store. “Hi, girls.”

Flora, Ruby, and Olivia ran through the door of Needle and Thread, giggling and shouting. Sometimes, thought Min, the very sight of them eased the pain in her aching joints, and she instantly turned her thoughts to dance recitals and homework and summer vacation.

“Is everything ready?” asked Flora at the same time that Olivia exclaimed, “Oh, there are the quilts. They look great!”

“Every last thing is ready,” replied Min. “Olivia, your grandmother will be here in a few minutes. You girls can help us set out the food. People should start arriving around eleven-thirty, and the auction will take place at noon.”

“Is the auctioneer coming?” asked Ruby.

Min nodded. A professional auctioneer had volunteered to help out at the event.

“That would be a cool job,” said Ruby. “I'd like to be an auctioneer. ‘Bid now! Bid now! Fifty! Fifty! Do I hear fifty? Fifty from the bald man in front! Now how about sixty! Sixty! How about seventy-five? SOLD to the rich lady who won't stop waving her hand around.' Except you have to talk so fast that people can hardly understand you.”

“Well, I don't think our auctioneer will speak quite that fast,” said Min. “But I do hope he'll help us get a good price for the quilts.”

“And for the community center,” said Olivia.

“Exactly.”

Everyone was helping out. Up and down Main Street, sidewalk sales were being set up and a portion of the day's proceeds from almost every store and restaurant in town would be donated to the community center.

“There's the balloon guy!” called Ruby, looking out the window. “Oh, and I see the ice cream truck!”

At eleven-thirty, just a few minutes after Min and Gigi had temporarily closed the register and placed a sign in the window that said
AUCTION STARTS AT NOON
, Aunt Allie and Mr. Barnes wheeled Janie through the door. They were immediately followed by Mary Woolsey and then by Mr. Pennington, who was walking Variety.

“Hi, girls,” said Mr. Barnes.

“Hi,” replied Flora and Olivia, blushing furiously.

“Help yourselves to refreshments,” added Gigi.

Min watched as the store filled up with friends and neighbors and customers and quite a few people she had never seen before. Robby Edwards marched in with his parents and a girl wearing a striped sundress.

“This is Sarah. She's my girlfriend,” Robby announced proudly. “Would you like a cupcake, Sarah?”

Just before noon, Nikki arrived with her mother and Mae and Tobias. She waved to Min and Gigi and then joined Olivia, Ruby, and Flora, who were sitting on a couch at the front of the store, passing Janie from lap to lap.

Presently, Min checked her watch. “It's noon,” she said to Gigi. “Do you want to do the honors?”

Gigi rang a bell, then cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “Hello, hello!” until the store grew quiet. “Thank you all for coming,” she said. “I hope you're enjoying the refreshments. They were provided free of charge by Sincerely Yours, Dutch Haus, and College Pizza. I hope you've also had a chance to view the quilts you helped create,” she continued. “Each square represents some aspect of our town or its history. The quilts are examples of your handiwork, and because they were a community effort they're also an example of what we can accomplish when we work together. So now, without further ado — I've always wanted to say that — I will turn you over to Billy Wonder, our auctioneer.”

Billy Wonder. Min, who was now sitting on the couch, taking her turn at holding Janie, turned the name over in her head. That can't possibly be his real name, she decided. She clasped Janie's hands in her own and watched, fascinated, as the auction began.

“Let's start with three hundred dollars,” said Billy, gesturing at one of the quilts.

Three hundred! Min would never have had the nerve to start with a figure so high. Which was exactly why, she soon realized, she would not make a good auctioneer. Almost immediately, Mr. Pennington's hand rose tentatively, and Billy Wonder cried, “Three hundred! Thank you, sir. Do I hear four hundred? Remember, this is for the community center.”

At this point, Min closed her eyes. She felt terrible for Mr. Pennington, who had instantly been outbid, and at the same time both fascinated and grateful as she heard Billy Wonder ask for — and receive — bids of five hundred, then six hundred, then seven hundred fifty, and finally one thousand dollars.

“Min!” said Flora in an excited whisper, squeezing her grandmother's arm as the bidding continued. “You have to open your eyes. This is amazing!”

But Min couldn't look.

Not until Billy Wonder had sold the first quilt for three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars and finally exclaimed, “Sold! The second quilt is yours, ma'am, for a cool five thousand dollars!” did Min manage to open her eyes again.

“Who bought them?” she asked Flora.

“I don't know the guy who bought the first one, but Mrs. DuVane bought the second one.”

When the long day was at last over, when the sun was setting and pale shadows fell across Main Street and the air grew cooler and shopkeepers moved their wares back inside their stores and hosed down the sidewalks, Min and Gigi, alone in Needle and Thread, smiled tiredly at each other.

“What a day,” said Gigi.

“The quilts raised almost nine thousand dollars,” remarked Min. “It never occurred to me that they could pull in
that
much money. When the rest of the stores add their donations …”

“It was a good day for the community center,” agreed Gigi. “And imagine, Sheila DuVane giving her quilt to the center so that it can be displayed there.”

Min sighed. “She may be one of our more ornery customers, but she does have a good heart.” She smiled again at her friend.

“Can I give you a lift home?” asked Gigi a few minutes later.

“Thank you, but I think I'll walk. It will give me a chance to clear my head.”

Gigi left, and Min stood once more at the door and looked out at Main Street. She waved to Mrs. Grindle, who was closing up Stuff 'n' Nonsense. She caught sight of a balloon trapped high in the branches of a maple tree. She turned and looked behind her at the neat aisles of fabrics. Then she switched off the light, locked the door, and walked home to the Row Houses.