Chapter 8
Laura woke to the smell of antiseptic and pain in her back. Meg was sleeping in a chair next to the bed. Meg slowly opened her eyes, “The next time your doctor tells you to go head and have a cyst removed. Don’t put it off. Cuz, your stubbornness almost caused you to bleed to death. Doc Greer was concerned about it called us last week. We took precautions and made sure that we had what we needed.”
“I’m sorry I put everyone through a scare. How long will I be down for the count?”
“Well it is outpatient surgery so you will be up and about tomorrow. Still, you have to take it easy until the stitches drop off, which should be by sometime next the few days. Laura, the good news is that you will be ready just in time to help the rest of us in the Christmas baking. Anyway you have a tall handsome visitor that’s been driving us crazy the last six hours.”
Hank came in the door, “Yah, my concern hindered your doctors.”
“Don’t listen to him. We did our jobs.” Pete laughed.
“How’s the weather?” Laura asked.
“It is still raising a ruckus.” Meg said, “Now that you’re awake it’s time to put you back to sleep. It’s still night time.”
“I need to get some sleep. This pain isn’t that bad.”
Pete shook his head, “With what we gave you shouldn’t feel anything. Seriously don’t move out of that bed until in the morning. Your wound needs a good chance to close up.”
“Don’t worry Pete. I’ll be a good patient. I learned my lesson.”
“You always had to learn things the hard way. Now this is going to sting a little.” Pete said.
“Ouch! A little sting?” Laura said.
“Just get some sleep. I know I am.” Meg said.
Laura didn’t hear her. She was already asleep.
Hank headed for his room but Pete stopped him, “Look, I don’t know you from Adam but from what I see, you love my cousin. She is stubborn, loyal and is very giving. She believes in things that I can phantom with my rational mind. You have chosen a woman that is strong and yet needs for you to be the protector. You have to realize that her whole idea of what a man should be was my Uncle Tom West. That is a high standard to have to meet. I wish you all the best and though you don’t need it, my blessing.”
“Pete, I know what I must live up to and I fear that I may fail at times to come close to being as good a man as her father. I can only do my best to love her and protect her.”
“That is all anyone could expect from you. We need to get some sleep.” Pete said.
Hank woke to find that the storm had lessened to a gentle snowfall. He could feed the horses without using the rope. He dressed and went down stairs to the kitchen. Mary and Peg were drinking coffee.
Mary smiled, “It’s going to be a beautiful snowy day. We can get plenty done the next few days.”
Ric joined them, “Good, I need to do a little wood working. I want to make Tony a wooden train set for a Christmas present and a doll bed for Tammy. I know that Barbara needs a new quilting loom and Debbie could use a roll top desk. What do you think that Gabby and Tommy would like to have for Christmas?”
“Gabby is a practical girl and would want something useful. Ric you could make her a cedar chest for her quilts.” Peg said.
“Tommy is learning to be a wood wright so a tool chest would be the perfect gift.” Hank said.
“A better idea would be a bob sled.” Pete said reaching for the coffee pot. “Greg is on his way down and Debbie and Meg are checking on Laura.”
“Will she have to stay in bed? Couldn’t she sit on the Balcony?” Peg asked.
Pete chucked, “She had better get up. She doesn‘t need for her back to stiffen. Her stitches are healing ok. She can set and lay down but no hard work for a few more days.” Pete said.
Meg came in, “No walking downstairs until day after tomorrow she needs to get her sea legs back first. She is doing great. This coffee tastes great. So it is baking and wood working today's agenda?”
“We don’t really have to do much baking until next week so how about we make use of the sewing room?” Mary said.
“The girls will like that. We can finish the decorating too.” Pete said.
“You said no work but would that include cross-stitch, embroidery, quilting and crochet?” Hank asked.
“Those would be ok in fact she needs to feel like she’s contributing something. Just no hard work like lifting things” Meg said.
Hank smiled, “That is true. Laura will not just set around and do nothing when she sees that others working.”
“You do know my cousin pretty well.” Pete laughed.
Julie was smiling as she came in. She kissed Ric. “A very Good morning and how is everyone.”
Ric smiled, “What was the kiss for?”
Julie blushed, “For the way you woke me up.”
Meg looked at her and laughed, “I don’t want to know any more.”
Greg and Adam sat at the table and poured themselves a cup of coffee. “The horses need feeding and that barn needs straightening up. Gabby, Debbie, and Barbara are working on the fresh wreathes for the railings with Terri and Faith supervising. They will be here when it’s time to start breakfast. They’ve picked out a good one for the front door.”
“The kids have taken to the whole notion of work before play.” Sue laughed.
“Mom, we’ve got to pull on own weight now. Speaking of which, what is Tommy doing?” Adam asked.
“He’s making up his bed. I told him it could wait but he insisted that the girls shouldn’t have to clean up behind him.” Sue replied looking at her son.
“Ouch!” Adam said, “I’ll be back down in a little bit.”
Sue chuckled, “Now if only his Dad would learn where his dirty socks and underwear are supposed to go.”
“Isn’t that what a wife is for?” Greg teased.
Sue picked up the rolling pin and pointed it toward him, “Careful big boy.”
“I have an idea for a Christmas gift for Sue.” Ric said, “Julie already as one.”
The men finished their coffee and headed out to the barn. Debbie, Gabby and Barbara came in and checked in Laura’s cupboard for some Chamomile tea. “We have finished a few of the new wreathes and they are drying.” Gabby said.
Barbara nodded, “We’re a great team.”
Peg looked at them sternly, “Just don’t let your pranks go too far. Just like a certain trio did by putting molasses in their cousin’s hair tonic.”
“That was one of the very few pranks that didn’t work.” Julie laughed.
Tiffany pulled up a chair, “Those were good times. I have a feeling that things are going be better than we deserve. Laura is already complaining about lying on her back while we are working.”
“I’ll go and tell her to get off her lazy buns. She can do needlecrafts for a few days. I told her last night, she would be recovered enough just in time to help with the baking. The cyst was pretty close to the surface so it will heal quickly. Pete also told me he could see that cyst outlined through her blouse when she climbed up the latter and suspected it was about to pop through her skin.” Meg explained.
“That snow is beautiful. It will last a couple more days at least.” Sue said as she looked out the window.
Faith nodded, “It’s the finest kind. They are nice big fluffy snowflakes that make great snowmen and snowballs. We won’t have another noreaster for a few more days.”
“That means that Pete and I can take a sleigh ride to our new home tomorrow.” Meg said.
“I’m having second thoughts about Logan Harbor I would like to live up here near everyone.” Sue thought.
“This is a pretty place. The Fairy's meadow is especially lovely and it has a transcendental aura.” Barbara told them.
Tiffany smiled at her second cousin, “So you believe in magic, enchantment, and fairies now?”
“After the other night I believe that Her Majesty Queen Shea of the Fairy Meadow watches over this family. Look at what happened last night, If Meg hadn’t looked down and saw that blood things could have been much worse.”
Meg looked at her and smiled, “Someone else has been changed by this place.”
Gabby was puzzled by the whole exchange. She had a hard-nosed practically that was preventing her from seeing beyond the physical world.
She frowned, “I wish I could believe in all of that.”
“Just open you mind more and you will see the true beauty of the world around you.” Julie said.
“How? Doesn’t the Bible say that when we grow up, that we are supposed put aside childish things?” Gabby asked.
“Why do you consider it childish to think that some things can’t be explained by man? Child, life its self is magic and it is a precious gift. Things have been happening that I have no way of explaining. Thank about these events, two people longing for each other, but too stubborn to make the first move. Suddenly they each get a leaf and a branch of mistletoe with a missing leaf. They match perfectly. A dead grandfather appears to his grandson and sets his head straight. Your Mom just so happens to be looking down at the floor at the right moment. I can’t just say it was all blind chance.” Peg told her.
Julie and Tiffany smiled, “Look, Gabby. Don’t try to understand everything and you will become more open to spirituality.” Tiffany said.
“It’s easy for you, Laurie and Julie because you are Wiccans.” Gabby said.
“We're not Pagans or Wiccans. You've seen too much of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, but there is a difference between the our beliefs and those shows.” Julie said.
“We don’t practice magic; just respect the spiritual things around us.” Tiffany explained.
“I’m surprised that the fairy queen wasn’t upset because we didn’t ask her permission and honoring the Christ child.” Debbie said.
“Laura forgot that? She must have been in pain and didn’t want to show it.” Tiffany said.
Meg nodded, “The fluid sack surrounding it must have been getting ready to burst. It is a good thing that it didn’t break at the meadow.”
“See Queen Shea wasn’t mad at Laurie. She was watching over her.” Barbara told Gabby.
“I can’t explain the timing of it. The horses seem to have a quicker pace coming back from the Fairy Meadow. Aunt Laurie was having a hard time slowing them. Like someone else was controlling them.” Gabby said.
“Well I’m a little miff at her for climbing that ladder yesterday.” Meg said.
“Well, we need to get breakfast going. Meg, you have the griddle today. Tiffany and Julie, start the sausage and biscuits.” Mary said.
“I’ll make the batter for pancakes.” Peg said.
“Sue, you get the make the juice, and I’ll scramble some eggs.” Mary said.
Julie looked at her daughters and Gabby, “You three go tell Faith and Terri to start cleaning. Have them place a chair on the balcony for Laurie to set in. You help them. Have them place another chair in the sewing room. Gabby, I want you to open the curtains and let the natural light in the sewing room. Get it ready for us. After breakfast, I’ll help you get that sewing chest and the dress patterns from the attic. If Laurie and Hank were as meticulous with the sewing room as they were with the parlor, then I know you are going to love it.”
“Tom and Mike said they designed the room to be a woman’s work shop. I gave Mike a good piece of my mind for that quip.” Peg told her.
Gabby went upstairs and found a chair for the sewing room so that Laura could be included. She opened the drapes and light flooded the room from four large windows. She looked out the window and saw the front yard. Rabbit tracks dotted fresh snow and snow covered the tops of the bilberries bushes like white caps. She turned around and saw the old manual sewing machine. Gabby walked over to it and opened it. She found the bobbins and looked at them. She started threading one of them and it was as if someone was guiding her fingers. She saw that it had been recently oiled and the wide paddle worked perfectly.
She opened the other machines and laid out scissors and measuring tapes on a cutting table. Someone had nailed a yardstick on one corner of the table.
She walked over to a large cedar cabinet and opened it. It was full of rolls of cloth. She ran her hand over a bolt of cloth and felt how soft it was. It was old style fabric but to her it would be brand-new.
She looked around the room, saw several more cabinets, and opened them. The room was a needle crafter’s dream come true. The room needed to have two other things. It had no broom or wastebasket.
Gabby decided to go up to the attic and see if they could use something there. She found a dusty old empty nail keg. It was about the size of a kitchen wastebasket. She saw an old straw broom and dust pan. She carried all three down and went to find some dust cloths and furniture wax. She dusted all the cabinets, sewing machines, and Laura’s chair.
She was cleaning the nail keg when Laura entered helped by Barbara.
“From all the pictures I’ve seen you and Hank knocked another home run.” Barbara said.
“We treated all of the rooms but my office the same. After the first of the year, we will restore it. We needed it for storage. So Gabby how do you like that old sewing-machine?”
“It is really easy to use. I even figure out the bobbins right off the bat. Maybe Great Grand Ma was helping me out a little. Do you like our new waste basket?”
“The old nail keg works in this room. You’ve been up in the attic already?”
“I needed to find a waste basket. I also found this old broom and dusk pan. Julie said to make sure everything was ready. There it just needed a little cleaning.”
“You know later you can get some old English furniture oil and stain it.” Barbara said.
“I like it the way it is. In the old days people used what was handy.” Gabby laughed. “Today we call it recycling.”
She placed the keg next to the cutting table. She took the broom, wet it, and dusted down the hardwood floor. The room was clean.
“This floor needs waxing.” Laura said.
“It’s a floor for a room that is for working and not entertaining.” Gabby told her, “This old scratched hickory floor is part of the room’s character.”
Laura smiled weakly, “I’m glad that you are learning to look outside your own preconceive notions of what is real. No one but a home decorator would use the word character. Even then, it would just be an adjective. A house has a character of its own just like a person. In fact every room in a house has a character all its own. Gabby, it still needs to have a flat coat of hard wax to protect it. You are thinking about high gloss wax.”
“It does need some wooden benches for us to set on while we’re hand piecing.” Barbara said.
Gabby laughed, “So where are the quilting looms?”
“They are in my temporary study. Get Debbie to help you. Faith has made Barbara my jailer.” Laura laughed.
Meg entered and looked around and nodded, “Just like I remember except the looms. I see that Gabby has done a good job in here. I take it that she is the one in charge of it?”
“Of course she is.” Barbara laughed, “Until Grandma and Aunt Peg get here.”
Gabby laughed, “We should get the looms set up then.”
Meg looked at Laura and held up a syringe. Laura frowned, “This room is for sewing needles not doctors’ needles.”
“Ever hear the expression, any port in a storm? Barbara, I need you to help me to get her on the table. This is for your pain. I want you to do some walking today so that your muscles don’t get too stiff.”
Meg administered the shot and they helped her down. Gabby and Debbie returned with a loom and went down for another one.
They at last had everything done. Gabby checked the room over. Debbie handed her a binder, “Compare it to this picture.”
“The looms should be closer to the windows.” Gabby said.
Laura laughed, “Well it looks like this house will be in good hands.”
Debbie, Barbara and Gabby rearranged the looms and the cutting table. “That’s perfect.” Laura said.
Gabby ran her hands across the top of the manual machine, “I can’t wait to work with this machine. I can control the speed the way I like.”
“You will have fun with it.” Debbie agreed.
The last four-days Debbie had been thinking about tradition and legacy how truly important they were to people. As she looked at Abby standing next to her great-grandmother’s sewing machine, she saw it at work. It had been passed from Caitlin O’ Donald to Peggy O’ Donald Vane to Abigail Vane. Mother, daughter, and a granddaughter had formed a chain that bound them together in a tradition of home needlework.
Abby looked at Debbie, “It is an awesome burden isn’t it?”
Barbara nodded, “Needle crafting past from mother to daughter and one day we will past it onto our daughters. Just like your mom has passed it to you. She wasn’t always a general surgeon. She was once a Logan harbor teen that made her own clothes. You just didn’t pick sewing up second hand. She taught you. It’s all part of life’s magic.”
Abby smiled, “Sometimes I think the first words I learned were McCall’s and Simplicity. Our real inheritance is what we pick up from our parents and other relatives. It’s an unbroken chain of tradition and history. That was why I never really fit in with my friends. Their roots were planted in the shallow ground of materialism while mine were planted solid fertile ground of love and self-sacrifice.”
Laura smiled as she listened to them. Unlike so many young people, they had discovered what was important in life. Too many, things like learning to sew were trivial things but for the girls it was a precious treasure given to them from their mothers.
“You know that I was destined to become a writer. Dad once told me that history was nothing more than story telling putting on airs.” Laura told them.
“Grandpa owned the Logan Harbor Weekly News. I’ve seen some of his columns.” Barbara replied to Laura.
“He did, but his writer’s soul was touched by the gentle goddess of poetry. He and Robin Masters inspired me to become a writer without saying a word well Robin and I talked a bit about it. A legacy can be taught by deed as well by words.” Laura mused.
“We absorb so much from our parents without knowing it.” Terri said as she climbed on the cutting table.
“We are very lucky to have parents that know that.” Abby said thinking about her friends in California.
“So you’ll be a thinking, it was a bit of luck? You have been blessed with them. I’ll not be calling it luck.” A soft voice whispered in her ears.
Abby blinked and looked around behind her. Laura smiled, “What’s a matter?”
“Do any of you remember great grand ma?” Abby asked.
Terri shook her head and looked at Laura.
Laura smiled, “I do.”
“Did she have an Irish brogue?”
“Yes she did. Why.”
“I think she just scolded me.” Abby blushed.
Laura smiled, “Welcome to life.”
“You know Queen Shea is Irish.” Terri told her.
Abby looked at her, “You too?”
Terri laughed, “When I was seven I decide to take a walk to the Fairy’s meadow. Of course, I become confused. I sat down under a tree, and started crying. Queen Shea walked out of a thicket. She had long red hair, her voice was beautiful and gentle, and all my fear disappeared. She took me by the hand and led me back here.”
“The voice I heard was soft and gentle.” Abby admitted.
“It could have been either one. The important thing is you now know we live in a world full of magic.” Barbara told her.
“Breakfast is about ready.” Peg called from the stairs.
Barbara smiled, “I’ll be right back with ours.” She told Laura.
Laura nodded to Barbara, “Thanks I could use the company.”
Terri jumped off the table, “Don’t get used to it. Meg says that by the day after tomorrow you can go downstairs.”
“Terri, believe me. I’m tempted to do it now.” Laura laughed.
“I know and if you do Aunt Mary will meet you in the dining room with her rolling pin.” Terri winked.
Laura rolled her eyes, “That is if Aunt Peg doesn’t meet at the top of the stairs with hers.”
“I think getting rid of that cyst as improved your sense of humor.” Terri laughed.
Meg watched the others leave, “Robin Masters, so she seduced you too.”
“Swept me right of my feet. The only thing she didn’t take was my cherry.”
“She wasn’t interested in that. She never took her lovers cherries. Are you one of her chosen?”
Laura nodded, “I still have my copy of Leaves of Grass.”
Even with her pain, Laura’s eyes were bright and her mood was joyful. Barbara returned just as Meg left. She was glad to spend more time with Laura. She had been riding an emotional roller coaster ride for the last year. It wasn’t all just, what was going on with her parents. She was dealing with her own sexual persona. She needed to talk to someone about it and didn’t want to talk to her parents nor did she want to disturb Jessie Ross about it.
“Aunt Laurie, I need to talk about something.” She said.
“Is it something to do with your parents?” Laura asked.
Barbara shook her head, “No, this is something personal. I have sexual feelings for both boys and other girls. The last year I’ve been dating both. I think Debbie suspects what I’ve been doing. Your book helped me through some tough times. I saw that not dealing with personal sexual issues can be destructive.”
“It’s hard hiding from the world. Babs, whom you spend your time with or whom you date isn’t what isn’t troubling you. You are torn over the church’s stand on homosexuality and bisexuality. I wish I could give you some brilliant insight about it. Look, like we’ve been telling Gabby, just be yourself. If you like dating girls and boys then it is ok. Are you sexually active?”
“No, we just make out. Sometimes when I’m with a girl, we do sometimes go a little too far.”
“Ok. You need to stop letting it go too far if it makes you feel uncomfortable. A little kissing and caressing are ok, but you’re still too young to take on the responsibility of an adult relationship. You are still exploring the different facets of whom you are. Learn those things first and you won’t have the same problem that your mom and dad had the last year. When I was just a little bit older, I was seduced by my friend Robin Masters. What we had was magical and special. It will be same for you.”
Barbara threw her arms around Laura, “Thanks, I knew all that yet I need somebody to confirm it.”
“You don’t have a steady right now, do you?” Laura asked.
“No, Keri and I broke up last summer. I haven’t been dating anyone since then. I’ve been concentrating on my studies and my writing.”
“Writing? You want to be a writer?”
Barbara nodded, “I have a yahoo group where I and the other members post what we have written and then critiqued it. It has helped me a lot.”
“You can do things like that on the Internet?” Laura asked in surprise.
“Sure, just let me go and get my lap top and I will show you. Do you want to become a member?”
“Well I can’t post anything there and I will have to be careful not to steal any one’s ideas. I can post about the process of writing and what to watch out for.”
Barbara smiled, “I will go and get my lappie and show you some things that I have written.”
Laura sat back in the chair with her eyes full of anticipation. Barbara had all the qualities of a good writer. She was creative and a good observer. Laura wanted to encourage both her nieces to develop all their talents.
Barbara came back with her laptop and two TV trays. She put a tray front of her aunt and set the laptop on it. She showed her how to open the publishing software. Next, she showed Laura how to open a file.
“Do most programs operate the same way when opening and saving files?” Laura asked.
“Yes, they do. They’re not called programs by the way, they are called applications. I have called mine a few other names.” Barbara laughed.
Laura started reading and was surprised by some on the poems Barbara had written. They were dark and full of sadness. Her short stories were the same way. She looked up, “Barbara when did you start writing?”
“Last March. I didn’t like the yahoo writing groups that were there and last June created one of my own.” Barbara told her.
“You poured your soul out in these poems and stories. How were they received?”
“A lot of members liked them. Those that didn’t criticize them only did so on their technical flaws.”
“Well you must have done some rewriting because I don’t see any flaws.” Laura said.
“Well I quickly learned that writing is in reality just rewriting.” Barbara giggled
“Don’t I know it.” Laura laughed, “Do you write anything down anything on paper?”
“I always start on paper, why?” Barbara asked.
“Oh no reason. I only use pencil and paper. You have lots of talent. I suspect that now your stories will be full of light.”
“I’ve learned a lot the last few days about magic, enchantment, and myself. I think that my writing will be less dark from now on.” Barbara agreed.
“Another thing but I am sure that someone has pointed this out to you. Start writing about what you know.”
“What do you mean?” Barbara asked.
“Write about people, places and things around you. Describe them. Make them real to your readers.”
“Thanks that has been one of my bad habits.”
“Create exercises by looking at pictures in books or magazines then describe them in a form of a short story. For too many writers start writing their story from a first person perspective. That is really putting the cart before the horse. You can really develop your narrative skills better by using, a third person perspective.”
“Well I have plenty of magazines to use. I will start doing that tonight.”
"Like I said, first person perspective is very limited and you don’t need those limitations right now. It forces you to become less creative with your secondary characters. Third person expands your creativity and your descriptive skills will become a habit before you know it.”
“Aunt Laurie, how come you’ve never option your books for films? It would make Aunt Tiffy’s job easier.”
“Babs, I want people to use their minds to see the story not some weird Hollywood creation.”
“So Babs are you giving computer classes to our reigning Miss nineteenth century?” Debbie quipped as she and Gabby, brought in the breakfast trays.
“Aunt Laurie wanted to see my writings.” Barbara said.
“That is so cool!” Debbie squealed.
“Yeah it really is.” Barbara smiled, "She has already been a big help."
“It has been awhile since you and Mrs. Ross have talked.”
“Not since her wedding. We’ve both been busy.”
“You and Jessie talk a lot?” Laura asked.
“Jess and I are best friends. I can tell her and you things I can’t tell mom or dad.”
“Deb, you’re a great writer, I wish I was.” Barbara said.
Barbara nodded, "I would love to paint with words like you do with a brush."
"Debbie, you were given the eyes and the soul of a painter. I was given the eyes and soul of a needle craftier. Barbara has the eyes and soul of a writer. We all must celebrate and revel in our talents. Envy is a poison that kills the barer not the target." Gabby told her.
Debbie hugged her sister, "I don't envy Babs. I am proud of her but it would make my term papers better if I could write the way she does."
Laura closed the laptop, "You gals, can go back downstairs and eat. I am proud of all of you. You have taken to this place like a duck takes to water."
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