Judges

Chapter Fifteen

1907

I sit, glaring at my shoes, in an uncomfortable chair in our parlor. The drapes are pulled over the windows to block out the light.

Aunt Hilde can't stand the light, for some reason, when she is doing needlepoint.

She wants us to be like her: grouchy, mean old ladies who do not enjoy fun things and only like making others miserable and accomplishing boring tasks.

I should be stitching a flower into the fabric, instead of stitching something useful, such as fixing the damaged brim of my favorite hat, but Aunt Hilde insists that Margaret and I should be able to stitch "at least something this simple."

"Hurry, Margaret," I whisper, "If we finish fast, we may be able to escape and go into town."

Aunt Hilde sits across the room, stitching a quote into her fabric twice as fast as Margaret's tiny fingers can do it.

Margaret looks up and smiles, and mouths back, "I think I can finish enough."

After a few minutes she nods at me, and I open my mouth to speak just as Father enters the parlor.

"My dear Aunt Hilde, I'm afraid I may have to steal these young ladies away from you for an hour or two. They have been invited into town."

Aunt Hilde looks up, and visibly uses all of her strength to procure a smile. "Of course," she says, "But girls, do not muddy your dresses, or Maybelle will have to clean them again, and last time they were so dirty she had to wash them twice."

I nod at her once, and we walk out of the parlor quietly, and once out of Aunt Hilde's sight and hearing, Father laughs.

"You weren't really invited into town, but I do not need my two young girls to grow up to be just like your Aunt Hilde. Would you like to go into town with me, instead?"

"Of course, Father! Let me get my new hat!" squeals Margaret, and she walks upstairs to get it.

"I'm thinking that we should go get ice cream, and soda pop, and then go see something at the new cinema... I wanted to take you girls out on my day off."

"Father, I know that Margaret has been wanting to go and see her friend Ruth, could we invite her and her older sister Mildred? She is a very dear friend of mine."

"Of course. I'll wait here for your sister, and you can run on down to invite the girls to go into town with us. Margaret will be here with me as soon as you return."

I smile, and skip down the hall and open the door, and walk down the path into the street, which I follow for seven houses down. A grand house with white pillars sits far back on a lawn, and after an automobile passes by, I cross the street and knock on their door.

Their maid, Olive, answers.

"My dear, Augusta, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, I'm here to call on Mildred, is she in?"

"Yes ma'am, if you'll come inside."

I step into the cool house, and wait in the foyer until Mildred appears at the top of the stairs and rushes down to greet me.

"Olive said you were going to take us into town?"

"Yes, my father said you could come with us, maybe to the cinema."

"I'd love to join you."

We walk back to my own house, after bringing Ruth along behind us, and join Margaret and Father in the yard, where we begin to walk down the short street leading into town.

Father speaks with Ruth and Margaret about their recent readings at Miss Clara's School for Girls, as Mildred and I speak about other things.

Edward, for instance.

"He spoke to my cousin Walter the other day, he said that he fancies you very much."

I blush, after making sure my Father was out of earshot. "Are you sure?"

"Walter's never lied to me. He said 'I fancy that beautiful red-haired Augusta Moore.'"

"That's wonderful. He's a very sought-after young man..."

"And Walter said that there was another young man asking after me. Apparently he is a good friend of Walter's, and his father owns the factory on the edge of town. Have you heard of a Charlie Hill?"

"Yes, he is such a kind boy, he likes to go to the park. I see him there often, he speaks to Edward and another boy, Johannes. I've spoken to him once or twice, I'm sure you've met him. He is there most of the time we go there."

"Then I would be happy to speak to him."

"I'm sure he knows it wouldn't be proper for any of them to see us more than three times a week, of course?" I say, after a pause, "Because not one of us is over the age of fifteen. They must wait until we are seventeen to court, and then I told my father I would not marry until I turned nineteen."

"You wouldn't?"

"I said I would not marry a soul, no matter what." We both laugh. "I did promise him though, but I don't suppose it would be too much of a problem."

"Of course not. That is a perfectly respectable age to marry at."

"I hope so."

We approach the town, and Margaret has asked that we stop at the ice cream shop for a treat before we walk anywhere else.

The shop is colorful, and beautifully furnished with curving chairs and small tables, as it is barely a month old.

I immediately recognize the young man behind the counter, and so does my father.

"Young Mr. Alastair! How are you?"

"I am doing well, Mr. Moore. How do you do, Augusta?"

I grimace. "Nice to see you, Alastair."

Alastair. I remember we used to play together, as children.

We used to play in the meadow behind his house, which was nice, as Alastair's father owns the company that transports materials using the river. Their house is one of the largest and grandest in the town, but Alastair's father believes in his boys knowing how to work, and makes each of them get a job by the age of fourteen.

I tell Alastair what flavor I would like, and he hands me a small glass bowl with two scoops of the flavor, and everyone eats in silence, enjoying their treat.

I look over, behind the counter, and watch Alastair scoop out some ice cream for himself. He looks up to see my eyes, and I look away.

I can feel him watching me, even when I turn my back.