The Tapestry in the Attic (11 page)

“Yes,” said Mary Beth. Annie thought it must have gone well because Mary Beth smiled. “I talked to both of them. I called Amy first, and she told me that Melanie was in Paris. Since it was the middle of the night over there, I called her this morning. The good news is that Amy is going to come up to Stony Point tomorrow, and she’s going to take me to the hospital and stay with me until Monday.”

“That’s wonderful news,” said Annie. “What did Melanie say?”

“When I spoke to her on the phone, she didn’t say very much. It was morning here, but it was the middle of the afternoon over there, so she was really busy.” Then Mary Beth started to tear up, but she was still smiling. “But then this afternoon, Jenny Simons—I think you know her; she and her sister Susan own the flower shop Flora & Fern—delivered a beautiful flower arrangement with a note from Melanie. The note said, ‘You’re in my thoughts and prayers. Love, Melanie.’” Mary Beth reached in her purse for a tissue. “It was just the sweetest thing. She’s never done anything like that before. It meant a lot to me.”

At that moment, Gwen said in a voice just loud enough for them to hear over the din of all the conversation that was happening in the theater, “Has anyone seen Stella?”

Annie turned and said, “I haven’t seen her yet, and I’ve been here quite a while.”

Vanessa spoke up and said to Kate, “Oh, Mom, there’s Mackenzie! Do you mind if I go and sit with her?”

Mackenzie was Vanessa’s best friend. The two of them often reminded Annie of herself and Alice when they were teenagers with their penchant for sharing secrets and having long conversations about cute boys they liked and fashion and what they wanted to do when they graduated from high school. Kate gave her permission and Annie watched as Vanessa sat down next to Mackenzie a few rows in front of them. The two girls immediately started talking excitedly, their heads close together, erupting in occasional laughter.

It was Peggy who saw Stella first, “Stella’s up there, on the stage. And there’s the professor too.”

The crowd started to quiet down as the lobby doors were closed, and people came down off the stage and out of the aisles to find seats. Annie looked around again. She saw Dolores and Cyril Fortescue sitting with Stacy Lewis. Felix was nowhere to be seen, but Annie was certain he was there, behind the scenes, making sure everything was in place for the professor. Jacob Martin was standing on the stage with Stella and Professor Howell. It was the first time Annie had seen him since the meeting in the Cultural Center conference room.

The house lights went down to a medium level so that people could finish taking their seats. Professor Howell stepped to the front of the stage where it bowed out in a semicircle, which Annie had learned was called the “apron.” He stood in the very center of the apron behind a little rise in the floor of the stage that Annie knew was actually the roof over the prompter’s box. That was where she would be sitting most of the time during rehearsals and all of the time during performances. Then the house lights went down completely, and the spotlights came on and made a pool of light around the professor. He didn’t have a microphone, but when he began to speak his voice was perfectly audible, and his words were clear.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “to a new adventure … .”

Annie and all the rest of the cast and crew of
King Lemuel’s Treasure
sat in silence for the next twenty minutes as Professor Howell both informed and inspired them.

11

For Annie, the next few weeks flew by. There were so many things going on that it seemed she never had a chance to stop to catch her breath. The other members of the Hook and Needle Club seemed to feel the same way.

Mary Beth’s surgery had gone well, and when the results came back from the lab, it had been determined that her cancer was in an early stage, which was a blessing. She told the others that she would have to have six weeks of radiation therapy, Monday through Friday, and would have to take hormone therapy for the next five years, but that she didn’t have to have chemotherapy, which she felt was another blessing.

At the meeting after her initial trip to the radiologist’s office in Portland, Mary Beth said she had been tattooed with tiny spots on the areas where the radiation was to be administered in order to ensure it was done in the exact same place each time. After that, the office visits only took a few minutes, with each burst of radiation lasting only seconds. However, the daily drive there and back was time-consuming. Fortunately, the weather had been fairly cooperative. There had been a couple of heavy snows, but nothing that prevented Mary Beth from getting through in her SUV.

Though Mary Beth felt well enough to drive herself, as the days wore on, she became increasingly uncomfortable. She described it to the other members of the Hook and Needle Club as “a really bad sunburn.” The radiologist had recommended a product called “Aquaphor” which helped, but it appeared there would be no complete relief until the end of the treatments. Still, Mary Beth persevered, knowing it was her best chance to beat the cancer and to prevent it from returning, even if it meant that she experienced some pain for a while.

As far as her participation in the production of the play went, Mary Beth had decided she couldn’t attend the practice sessions at the college for the intermission music while she was getting her radiation treatments, but she promised she would continue to practice on her own at home, and that perhaps when her treatment was over, she might rejoin the ensemble. She had explained the situation to Professor Torres, who was understanding and told Mary Beth she hoped she would be able to play with them when the time came for the actual performances.

Though Mary Beth still came into the shop to work, Annie and Gwen took turns volunteering at A Stitch in Time to help Kate during the times Mary Beth was away. It wasn’t always necessary, but sometimes, if there was a new shipment to be put out, or if Kate was expecting a group, like one of the knit or crochet or quilting guilds from the surrounding area, it was good to have extra help.

Having Gwen or Annie at the store, or sometimes both, also gave Kate a chance to get away in the daytime now and then; besides personal errands, she was still busy with the costumes for the play. Other than Sarah and Vera from the college and Vanessa, Kate had a team of ladies in Stony Point working away to cut and sew and finish the various costumes. Kate mentioned to the others how glad she was that the professor had directed her to seek out more help; she couldn’t have done it on her own.

Alice had rarely made the trek from the carriage house to Grey Gables since the rehearsals began, and the suede house shoes she had left by Annie’s front door had sat empty for a couple of weeks. Annie missed her friend’s company, but they did see each other at least during the Hook and Needle Club meetings. All the members had agreed to continue with the Tuesday-morning sessions, no matter what else was going on. It was their chance to catch up with each other and to take a breather from everything else that was going on by doing some needlework.

Many parts of the set were still in the works, and Alice was still working with Wally and Carl Johnson to get all the details finalized. Wally had several volunteers to help him, including two art students from the college who were doing any scene painting that was required. Peggy and Alice both said that Wally worked closely with Carl Johnson, but Annie had yet to meet him.

At the rehearsals, Annie was usually in the prompter’s box at the front of the stage, following along with the actors, trying to be engaged in each scene as the professor had instructed her. She was beginning to think she knew the play, as the professor had said, “like her favorite song”; if someone said the wrong words, she didn’t even need to look at the script. It just sounded “wrong” to her.

Even though she was mostly confined to her small space, the rehearsals were exciting to Annie. Watching the process of working out scenes—seeing how an emphasis on certain words, a different tone of voice, or the speed of delivery could make a tremendous difference—was a revelation to her about the acting profession. It wasn’t just memorizing words and standing in the right place at the right time. Dolores and Cyril were obviously the professionals, but there was no hint of condescension toward those who had less experience. The Fortescues were patient and seemed to like nothing better than to work with the other actors offstage to help them with their lines and to work out their scenes together.

And Peggy was blossoming. Annie could see a change in her. Though Peggy was a wife and a mother and worked hard to help support her family, this was something that was just for her. To Annie it was apparent Peggy was gaining confidence and poise.

For Annie, besides working at A Stitch in Time and attending all the rehearsals, part of her activities involved figuring out the best way to display the “Proverbs 31 Woman” tapestry, as she and the other members of the Hook and Needle Club had come to call it, to protect it so it could be used in the stage set. She and Molly Williams had both done research to figure out the best method, and they consulted with each other to reach a decision. Though Cyril Fortescue had said he would check with his friends in the antique business, he hadn’t mentioned anything to Annie, so she just assumed the play was taking up too much of his time, and that he hadn’t been able to follow through.

Annie and Molly decided a frame was needed for the tapestry since it would have to be raised and lowered on the stage several times. After first explaining her plan to Professor Howell and then getting approval from Stella, Annie went to the woodworking shop in the Cultural Center to see Wally about building a sturdy, but lightweight-as-possible frame.

When she walked into the shop, Annie noticed two things at once: the noise—the buzzing of a power saw—and the odors—freshly sawn wood, and stain, varnish, and paint. Wally was running the power table saw, wearing safety goggles and earmuff-style hearing protection. She would have to wait until he was finished. She wandered over to a couple of chairs against the wall and took a seat since she didn’t know how long it would take.

“What are you doing in here?” shouted a man who had just come out of the storage room next to the workshop. He was about thirty-five years old and his head was clean-shaven. He wore a dull green Henley shirt and blue jeans. Annie had seen him before at the rehearsals. Though they had not been introduced, she was pretty sure he was Trent Bodkin, who was in charge of the lighting and the sound in the theater.

Annie had been startled at the sound of his voice. She shouted back to be heard over the sound of the saw, “I’m here to see Wally.”

“You shouldn’t be in here!” he shouted. He roughly grabbed Annie’s arm and started to pull her out of the chair when the sound of the saw stopped.

“Hey!” said Wally. “Leave her alone.”

He released Annie’s arm. “She’s not supposed to be in here,” said the man. “It’s dangerous, and there’s a lot of expensive equipment and supplies in here. We can’t have just anybody coming in and out of here whenever they feel like it!”

“Mrs. Dawson is OK,” said Wally. “She’s part of the play too, and she’s not going to do anything stupid, or steal anything. I’ll vouch for her.”

The man looked angry. “Well, if something goes wrong, it’s on your head. Don’t come bellyaching to me!” And with that, he stormed out of the workshop.

“Thanks, Wally,” said Annie, a little shaken. “Is that Trent Bodkin? I’m sorry if I caused trouble between you and him.”

“Don’t worry about it, Annie,” said Wally. “Yes, that’s Trent Bodkin. I’m sorry if he scared you. He’s always like that. He gets sort of carried away sometimes. What can I do for you today?”

Annie proceeded to tell Wally about the tapestry and that she’d like him to build a frame for it so that it could be used for the stage set.

“Oh, yeah,” said Wally. “Peggy told me all about the tapestry when you first found it. From her description, it sounds like it’s pretty big. Do you have the dimensions for the size of frame you want?”

“Yes,” said Annie, “I have them right here.”

On a piece of notepaper, Annie had written the size of the tapestry itself and the size of the frame she wanted, telling Wally exactly what she planned to do.

Wally took the notepaper, and after listening to Annie, he drew a little sketch of what he thought she wanted.

“That looks just right,” said Annie.

“Good,” Wally said. “I should be able to finish it in a couple of days. I’ll get some lumber for it tomorrow, and I’ll call you when it’s done.”

“Thanks, Wally,” said Annie. “And thanks for coming to my rescue.”

The next day, Annie purchased several yards of 52-inch-wide linen at A Stitch in Time. When she got the fabric home, she cut it into large sections and then machine-stitched the sections together to make a rectangle that was several inches larger on each side than the size of the tapestry.

When Wally called to say that the frame was completed, Annie brought the linen rectangle to the workshop, and she and Wally worked to stretch the linen across the frame, stapling it neatly along the back edges of the frame.

When they were finished, Wally asked, “Now what?”

“Now we take it to the fourth floor on the freight elevator,” said Annie. “Stella gave me a key for one of the empty offices up there, so we can store it. I’ll bring the tapestry over tomorrow and start working on getting it sewn to the linen.”

“If you’re going to be sewing on it, would it help if it was propped up or something?” asked Wally.

“Yes,” said Annie, “it probably would. Do you have any suggestions?”

“I think I can spare a couple of sawhorses for a little while, if you think it will only take a day or two,” said Wally.

“I think that would work perfectly. Thanks, Wally,” said Annie.

When it was time for Annie to bring the tapestry to the Cultural Center, she felt a little pang of guilt about taking it away from Grey Gables—though she didn’t know any reason why she should feel that way. She reminded herself that she had given her permission to use it in the play, and she had to stand by it.

She gently rolled up the tapestry and wrapped it in some of the leftover linen material. She left the muslin pocket lying on the bed in the upstairs bedroom. From the upstairs hallway closet she retrieved two flat sheets to take along with her to the Cultural Center. She thought she would use those to cover the tapestry to keep the dust off.

Molly was kind enough to come over to the Cultural Center two days in a row to help Annie carefully hand-stitch the tapestry to the linen cover of the frame. It was a time-consuming and uncomfortable job, but when it was finished, Annie was satisfied that they had made the right choice. Annie went down to the workshop to ask Wally to come up to the fourth floor to help them move the frame off of the sawhorses.

After they had propped the tapestry up against the wall, the three of them stood back to survey the work of art. Wally whistled low and said, “That’s really something, Annie. I can see why Peggy was so excited about it, besides it being a mystery, of course.” He said that last part with a big smile.

“Thanks for all your help, Wally,” said Annie. “And thanks to you, too, Molly. I’d still be working on this if you hadn’t come over to help me.”

“No problem,” said Molly. “You do find the most interesting things in your grandmother’s attic.”

****

Annie returned the key to the office where the tapestry was stored to Stella the next day, and then she pretty much forgot about the tapestry. She had begun to get used to the busy schedule of working at the shop for a few hours a couple of days a week and going to rehearsals. It reminded her of her busy life when Wayne was alive, and they worked together at the car dealership they had owned. She had sold it after he died; she just didn’t see how she could manage it without him.

Though she was financially stable, she realized she had missed the purpose she felt by having a job to go to every day. But then she had enjoyed her free time too, being able to make plans on a moment’s notice. If she’d had a full-time job, she wouldn’t have been able to help Mary Beth like she had. It was something she’d have to give more thought to once the play was finished. She was certainly busy enough for the time being.

The first week of March rolled around quickly, and the first Hook and Needle Club meeting of the month found its members thinking of spring. There was still plenty of snow on the ground, but the days had gotten longer, and the extra sunshine made them long for warmer weather. The knitters and the crocheters were thinking about making lightweight yarn projects. Alice, the only embroiderer, had started on a pretty bouquet of flowers for a pillow cover. Peggy, the only quilter in the group, was making Emily’s favorite doll a small string quilt in bright yellows and greens.

Mary Beth was more than halfway through her radiation treatments, and she was still driving herself to her appointments and still coming in to work every day. The “sunburn” continued to get worse, but she was managing to deal with it.

Annie was a little concerned about Stella. When the project of the play had started there was a lot of excitement, and it seemed to buoy everyone along, but lately Stella had seemed very tired. She was still keeping up with her more “glamorous” appearance, but she was quieter at this meeting, and Annie didn’t see her at the rehearsals as often as she had before.

“How are things going for you?” Annie asked Stella.

Stella had begun knitting a prayer shawl that had a pretty shell pattern, using a super-fine weight yarn made of a blend of merino wool, rayon from bamboo, and nylon. She looked up from her needles at Annie and smiled. “I’m fine. I have been tired lately. There’s just a lot to do with the play and everything. Jason has been helpful, as always, getting me where I need to be and running errands. It’s a lot of responsibility; I think I’ll be ready for a break when this is all over.”