The Tapestry in the Attic (10 page)

Two hours later, she had been through about half of the letters and had listened through both CDs. She decided it was time for a break. It had been interesting to read the letters, but she hadn’t found anything that mentioned a tapestry. She went into the kitchen to warm up some chicken noodle soup for dinner and munched on a saltine while she waited. Soon, she felt something brush along the side of her ankle. Sure enough, it was Boots; all was forgiven and her cat food bowl was almost empty. Annie knew she could depend on Boots’s tummy to rule over her emotions. She reached down and scratched between Boots’s ears and spoke to her soothingly, apologizing for the cat’s earlier incarceration.

After Annie finished her soup and cleaned up the kitchen, she decided to get comfortable. She went upstairs and changed into her flannel nightgown and bathrobe, and put on her crocheted slippers. She retrieved the book she was currently reading from her bedside table and took it downstairs with her. In the kitchen, she made herself a cup of chamomile tea and then took it and her book into the living room, intending to curl up on the sofa to read for a while. The room had gotten chilly, so she started a fire in the fireplace. Then she put the Anonymous 4 CD in the player again, turned the volume down low and pushed play. She bunched up pillows on one end of the sofa and sat down, her legs stretched out across its length. For good measure, she covered her legs with the crocheted afghan she kept draped over the back of the sofa. She took a sip of tea and began reading.

The book was enjoyable, but as she read on through the evening, she slipped down further and further on the sofa. Soon she fell asleep with the open book on her chest and Boots curled up on top of her legs. She awoke with a start when she heard the clock in the kitchen strike eleven o’clock.

“Oh, Boots,” she said sleepily, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Guess it would be a good idea to go to bed now.”

Boots didn’t stir, but Annie slipped her legs to the side, out from under the afghan and the cat, and stood up to stretch. The fire in the fireplace had gone out, and just a few red embers remained. As Annie reached down to pick up her tea cup and saucer from the coffee table, she saw the corner of an envelope on the floor, sticking out from beneath the edge of the sofa. One of her grandmother’s letters must have slipped out of the bundle, and Annie thought she must have inadvertently kicked it under the sofa when she was getting up or sitting down.

She picked up the envelope and checked the postmark. It was from May of 1946. Annie shivered. “Must be getting cold,” she said aloud, but she really felt quite warm after her nap. It was late, so she started to put the letter back in the 1946 letter bundle, but something made her stop. She looked at the return address. There was no name, only “Office 316, Wilson Hall, Longfellow College, Maine.” Now she was hooked. Who did her grandmother know at Longfellow College in 1946? Annie opened the envelope and took out the letter and began reading: “Dear Betsy, I was very pleased and honored to have received in the mail this week the invitation to your wedding.”

As Annie read, she felt like she was seeing another side of her grandmother that had been unknown to her. She’d had no idea that Gram had taken college courses before she married Grandpa. She felt a little bit of an ache that she hadn’t known her grandmother better. To her, she was just Gram—Annie loved her, but she had learned since she moved into Grey Gables that she had just scratched the surface when it came to knowing her grandmother.

When Annie reached the end of the letter, she breathed in sharply when she saw the signature: Lily Cornette. She cast a look back to the top of the letter at the heading: Longfellow College. May 7, 1946. That’s when it all came together for her; she knew she had found what she was looking for. In her mind’s eye Annie saw it: “L.C.~1946~ L.C.”

10

Rehearsals for
King Lemuel’s Treasure
were to begin the first week of February and would continue up until the first performance near the end of April. The rehearsals were scheduled three nights a week—Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays—and on Saturday afternoons. All the members of the Hook and Needle Club planned to be at the first rehearsal on Wednesday of that week since Professor Howell wanted a word with everyone involved with the production. But the day before, at the club meeting held at A Stitch in Time, the play was not the main topic of conversation.

The main focus was on Mary Beth, who had been to see her oncologist to get her biopsy results the day before. Though Mary Beth could have easily driven herself to see the doctor, Alice insisted that she would drive. When the results were known, Alice and Mary Beth were both glad she had insisted. It wasn’t long before all the members of the club knew the results: The lump in her breast was a small tumor—and it was malignant.

After everyone had arrived, just before the Hook and Needle Club meeting began, Kate locked the front door of A Stitch in Time and turned the “Open” sign to the “Closed” side so that they wouldn’t be disturbed. Mary Beth was understandably emotional. Her worst fear was confirmed, and her friends consoled her. When she shed tears, so did they.

When Mary Beth was able, she told them what the doctor had said would be her next step. She would have to undergo a lumpectomy, which meant that they would remove only the lump and not the entire breast. The doctor had told her that they would be inserting a radioactive dye into the breast and would use a Geiger counter to follow its progress through the breast and the lymph nodes in the armpit to determine if there were any more small lumps in the breast and if any of the lymph nodes would have to be removed. Her surgery was scheduled for that Friday.

After her surgery, the tissues would be tested to determine what kind of cancer it was, and what stage it had reached. The doctor also told her that if the tumor was determined to be ER positive, that is, whether estrogen was causing the tumor to grow, it would be sent to a lab in California where they could do a special test to determine if that was the case and help develop the best course of treatment for Mary Beth. Only then would she know if she would have to have chemotherapy or radiation or hormone therapy or some combination of the three.

“Would you like to go home today?” asked Kate. “I can handle everything here.”

“No,” said Mary Beth. “I need to be active. If I go home, I’m just going to sit around and feel sorry for myself.” She looked at Annie. “Someone gave me some good advice recently. She said to put things in order, but then live in the present and let the future take care of itself, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not going to lie to you; you know that I’m scared. But I’m not going to just give up.”

“Have you called your sister and your niece yet?” asked Gwen.

Mary Beth’s sister, Melanie, a fashion designer, and Melanie’s daughter, Amy, both lived in New York City. Mary Beth was close to Amy, but her relationship with her sister was complicated. For years the sisters’ connection had been strained, but Melanie had helped Mary Beth during her purchase of the building that housed A Stitch In Time, and their relationship had improved somewhat. Since Mary Beth’s mother had died, Amy and Melanie were her only close family.

“I haven’t called them yet,” said Mary Beth. “I just wasn’t ready last evening. I’ll call each of them tonight, when I know that they are home from work.”

“I’m sure they’ll want to be here with you,” said Gwen.

“Maybe Amy will be able to come,” said Mary Beth. “But Melanie is getting ready for the spring fashion shows. I don’t know if she’ll have time.”

“Well, then she should
make
time,” said Stella, sounding a little bit outraged. “I’ll speak to her, if you like.”

“No, Stella, it’s OK,” said Mary Beth with a smile. “I think I’d rather just wait and see—if she comes, fine; if not, it’s also fine. Really.”

“If you say so,” said Stella. She didn’t look convinced, but she wanted to support Mary Beth, not add to her troubles.

“How long will you have to be in the hospital?” asked Peggy.

“Incredibly, at least to me, it will be what they call ‘24-hour outpatient surgery,’” said Mary Beth. “I have to be there very early in the morning so they can inject the dye and see how it spreads, and then they mark the placement of the tumor for the doctor so he can do the surgery, but once it’s done and the anesthesia has worn off, I should be able to go home.”

“Even if Amy or Melanie can’t come to Stony Point, you know that any of us that can will be there,” said Alice.

“There’s no need for all of you to be there,” said Mary Beth. “But I will need someone to drive me home, I’m sure. I’ll let you all know what’s going on after I talk to Melanie and Amy tonight. Thanks for all your love and support. You know how much I appreciate all of you, but now, if you don’t mind, let’s talk about something else.”

After a lengthy pause, Peggy said, “Let’s talk about the ‘Proverbs 31 Woman’ tapestry. I didn’t get to hear everything that you said after church about the letter you found, Annie; we had to leave right after the service for a family dinner at Mitzy’s house.”

“I missed it too,” said Kate. “Vanessa wanted to get home fast so she could eat lunch and then could go tobogganing with some friends Sunday afternoon.”

Annie had brought the letter with her to the meeting so everyone could see it. Gwen read it first. “This looks pretty convincing to me, Annie,” said Gwen. “She writes about a “small gift” that she sent, and it’s the right year—at least for the small tapestry—and it’s the right initials.” She passed the letter on to Mary Beth.

“Did you check to see if there were more letters to Betsy from her?” asked Alice.

“Not yet,” answered Annie. “It was the middle of the night—at least for me—when I found this one, and I just haven’t had a chance to go any further. What I might do is go to the 1966 bundle of letters first to see if there are any letters from Lily then.”

Mary Beth passed the letter on to Peggy and said, “At least it’s a place to start. That’s more than you had before. You should be able to find out more about Lily from the college, even if you don’t find another letter. They would surely know if she was capable of making a tapestry like the ones you have.”

“I’m hoping to go over to the campus one day in the next few weeks, though I’m not really sure who I should speak with once I get there,” said Annie. “The important thing for me is to figure out what to do with it when the play is over.”

“We’d be happy to display it over at the Cultural Center,” said Stella.

“I’ve thought of that,” said Annie. “It depends on what else I learn about it, but it’s a better option than anything else I have right now.”

Peggy passed the letter to Alice. “The professor is really excited about using it in the play,” said Peggy. “He stopped in at The Cup & Saucer yesterday morning, and I heard him talking on the phone about it.”

“He was persuasive,” said Annie. “I wasn’t entirely ready to decide when he and everyone else came over to Grey Gables, but he was so enthusiastic. It was just impossible to refuse.”

Alice passed the letter to Kate. “You have to admit,” said Alice, “that it’s perfect for the play. Did you find out any more about how to display it?”

“I stopped by to see Molly at Expert Cleaners this morning,” said Annie. “She’s going to do some investigation and let me know what she finds out. I think most of the antiques she deals with are clothing, so the tapestry is unique for her. She said she can’t wait to see it.”

Kate passed the letter on to Stella. “Molly is one of the people I called to help with the costumes,” said Kate. “She’s so knowledgeable about historical clothing, and she’s a wonderful seamstress too. I’ve been really pleased with the response that I’ve gotten personally about helping with the play.”

“Me too,” said Gwen. “I’m sure you all saw the article about the play in
The Point
. I had only asked Mike Malone if I could take out an ad to ask for volunteers. He was the one that offered to write an article about the play, including the reason why the play was written and that its purpose is to raise money for breast cancer research. And it was effective. I started getting calls from volunteers as soon as that issue came out.”

Annie looked over at Stella; she seemed to have finished reading the letter and was only staring at it. Her expression seemed distant and a little sad. Annie asked, “What is it, Stella? Do you know the writer of the letter?”

“No, I don’t think so,” said Stella. “It’s just seeing this, about Betsy and Charlie getting married. It brings up old memories—good and bad. I should have been at their wedding, and I should have been happy for them, but I was too wrapped up in myself.”

They all knew the story of Stella’s jealousy and how it came between her and Betsy.

Annie reached out and put her hand over one of Stella’s. “It’s all in the past now, Stella, and I know it’s been forgiven. Don’t go beating yourself up over something that is over and done.”

“I know, Annie,” said Stella. “But I still wish I could go back and change the past.” She sighed and closed the letter and gave it back to Annie. “I am glad to have had the chance to be a friend to Betsy’s granddaughter.”

“That makes me happy too,” said Annie.

****

The Cultural Center theater was abuzz the next evening. There were people standing in little groups on the stage, in the side aisles, and there were some making their way into the house from the lobby. From her vantage point, Annie could see a couple of people backstage as well as they occasionally passed by a gap in the back curtain. There were others, like Annie, who had found a seat in the house and were waiting for something to happen. It wasn’t that crowded, but the noise level was a little high, with people conversing and laughing; it was a pleasant sound, at least to Annie.

She was a little early, and she hadn’t seen any of the other members of the Hook and Needle Club, but she recognized several people from Stony Point. There were just as many that she didn’t know, though, and she assumed many of them were students from the college who had also volunteered to help with the production. She watched and wondered how Professor Howell would ever get this rabble organized so that he could talk to them and then get the rehearsal underway.

She had been in the theater several times now; in fact, she’d made it to every event they had hosted so far—the classic movies, the touring dance troupe, the Myra’s School of Dance recitals, a travelogue about Glacier National Park in Montana, and a community Christmas program. It wasn’t a huge theater, but for a town the size of Stony Point, she thought it was pretty impressive.

In the main theater area, the flooring of the third floor of the Walker Building had been removed to combine the second and third floor spaces to make a high ceiling, leaving columns and beams for support. The support features had been suitably disguised with decorative architectural details, so it was hard to imagine the space had not always been as it presently was.

The ticket office had been placed on the main floor. To get to the lobby of the theater, there were stairs, but most people took the elevator that rose to the third-floor level where the floor had been left intact. There were two sets of doors from the lobby into the house, each one opening to an aisle that ran along the side of the central seating area, slanting down toward the stage. Between the lobby doors was a glassed-in area where the control booth was located. The glass was black, so even when the house lights were down, it was nearly impossible to see inside the booth. Between the first row of seats and the stage, there was a flat, open area, and right in front of the stage was the orchestra pit. On each side of the proscenium there was an ornate Greek column; the curtains were a rich gold color.

While Annie was taking in her surroundings, she didn’t notice at first that someone had sat down beside her. “Good evening,” said a deep voice very near to her.

Annie jumped a little. “Ian! You surprised me.”

“Sorry about that,” said Ian, smiling. “You’re taking in all the sights, I see. Looks like a bit of a madhouse, but I’ll bet Professor Howell will soon have everything under control.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” said Annie. “Better him than me, that’s for sure. The end of April isn’t all that far off. Do you think we can get all of this together by the date of the first performance?”

Ian didn’t have a chance to answer since, as Annie was speaking, Wally, Peggy, and Emily had walked past and turned into the row just in front of them. Instead of sitting down, they turned around to face Annie and Ian. Wally reached out to shake hands with Ian, and they exchanged pleasantries. “Isn’t this exciting?” Peggy asked. “Wally and Emily are just here for Professor Howell’s speech, and then Wally’s going to take Emily home. When we both have to be here, my mom said she would watch Emily, so everything’s going to work out well, I think. My boss wasn’t thrilled when I told him I couldn’t work Saturday afternoons for a couple of months, but when I told him the reason, he got onboard. Jeff’s not really such a bad guy.”

Ian laughed; he’d known Peggy’s boss since high school and was inclined to agree that he wasn’t always the gruff guy he pretended to be. Ian had been a resident of Stony Point all his life, and it was an advantage for him as mayor. There weren’t many people who could bluff their way around him. He’d known most of them too long to be fooled by outer appearances—and that worked both ways. The people of Stony Point knew that the man they had elected as mayor was a man to be trusted—even if he was a politician.

Annie and Ian chatted with the Carsons for a bit, and soon the other members of the Hook and Needle Club showed up and found seats close to Annie and Ian. Alice and Mary Beth took the seats on the other side of Annie, and Gwen, Kate, and Vanessa sat behind them. Peggy’s sister Mitzy came and sat down next to Peggy. John Palmer, Gwen’s husband, had taken the seat next to Ian so they could talk. Annie took the opportunity to quietly ask Mary Beth if she had called her family.