A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Chapter XIII: Gold Dust Woman

The bell over the door rang as I entered the florist's. The fresh scent of plants carried me away and the sight of all of them around the room or hanging from the ceiling was like walking into a dream. An enchanted garden. Stone fountains with birds or cherubs carved into them demonstrated splashing their water around while garden gnomes kept watch over the place by night. Wooden and ceramic animals wandered the joint too, anything from a squirrel to a cheery pink pig in red rain boots. 

I might have to have that.

Or the speckled green frog holding a yellow umbrella...or the duck holding a suitcase while wearing a necktie...oh, there were too many to choose!

A woman with long coily hair asked if she could help me with anything. I asked her what her favourite animal was in the store and she showed me a little glass bluebird and the pig with the rain boots. I thanked her and grabbed them into my arms, naming them Bridgette and Margot respectively. 

A beautiful fern caught my eye, not unlike the one I saw in England all those years ago. Long green fronds and a stunning blue pot. I needed it too.

With my purchases lined up on the counter the woman who helped me earlier let me rent out a wagon to take my things home in. I picked the pink one and rolled my shiny new things out the door and down the street. It bumped over rocks and cracks in the footpath and I had to constantly check to make sure my things were still in one piece.

And still in the wagon. 

I opened the gate to our front yard and held it open with my foot. I carried my new figurines inside first and came back for my potted fern. Making sure they were safe and hidden in the yard, I turned back to return the wagon. 

When I ran into Sheryl. 

Her little blonde pigtails swung back and forth while she stared up at me, hands innocently behind her back. She wore an expensive looking dress I had seen on a mannequin at the boutique. "Hello, Hannah!" she waved.

I waved politely back. "Hi."

"Is that your wagon?" she asked. Just like me, the vibrant pink colour had caught her eye.

"For now. I'm on my way to return it to the store," I said pulling it behind me. I didn't expect Sheryl to follow me. I was hoping she'd shrug her shoulders and find one of the other kids to play with. 

"Where's Angus?" she asked picking dandelions. 

"He's in America right now," I said, the wagon wheels hitting my heels. "He's working."

"Do you miss him?" she asked. I smiled. 

"Of course I miss him, he's my best friend."

"I miss him too," she said picking up a smooth rock. "He gives me Smarties." She picked up more smooth rocks and tossed the ones deemed not good enough. Finally she had a huge collection of them and held them in her dress like an apron. It was now covered in dirt. "When is he coming back?"

"In March."

"What he if gets married while he's gone?"

It felt like the six year old just punched me in the stomach. What kind of a question was that? What did she hear from her parents? Was there neighbourhood talk about us? Rumours spreading that Angus would leave me for someone else? Was there....proof?

"He's not getting married," I said defensively. "He's my Angus."

"I'd marry him if I could," Sheryl said dropping all her rocks on someone's front yard. I looked around before quickening my pace. The wagon creaked behind me, almost catching on a shrub. "Then he could give me Smarties every day."