Читать книгу Holly Jean and the Box in Granny's Attic - Bonnie Compton Hanson - Страница 3

Wailing, Aunt Kate thrust the envelope back into her great-niece’s hands. “R-read it, child!” she begged. “Oh, read it quick!”

Holly Jean caught her breath. Suddenly, even on this blistering hot day, she shivered. Oh, dear God, please let this letter be good news, not bad news!

Clearing her throat, she opened the envelope carefully, then began reading:

Dear Miss Kate:

Would you please do me the honor of going to my brother’s party with me next Saturday? I’d be right obliged if you did. No one I’d rather go there with, you know. Can’t rightly thank the good Lord enough for helping us be friends again. Been praying for that for years. So if it okay with you, I’ll stop by for you at noon.

Your friend,

Jake Morgan

Slowly her great-aunt rose from her rocking chair. As if in a trance, she flung off her sunbonnet. “Oh, yes, Jake! Oh, yes, yes, YES!” she cried.

Then, sobbing, she suddenly collapsed in her chair again. “Oh, child, ain’t never been so happy in all my born days!” And she smiled right through her tears.

Holly Jean patted her great-aunt’s hand. “So, Aunt Kate, what are you going to wear?”

“Oh, my! You’re right, gal. I gotta really git all dolled up, don’t I? After all, this is my first real date in over 40 years!” She giggled and blushed. “Well, I do believe we have some unused flour sacks around. I’ll just sew me up something purty as a picture. What about you gals? Want something new and purty too, Nan?”

Granny Nanny laughed. “No thanks, Katie, dear.”

But Holly Jean was intrigued. “Really, Aunt Kate? You could really sew me a new dress to wear to the party? Like what?”

Aunt Kate almost bubbled. “Like whatever you want. See, we got your new green jumper and blouse to go by for size. So just draw me a sketch of something you’d like, then we’ll look at the sacks and see what we can use for fabric. Why, you can even draw a purty picture of what my new dress should look like too. Now whatcha think of that?”

By now Holly Jean was giggling herself. She found a two-ring binder in her old school supplies—one she had used back at Taft Junior High in Cincinnati—and added some fresh paper. But her pencil was dull. “Do you have a pencil sharpener, Granny Nanny?” she asked.

Grinning, her grandmother looked up from her tub of beans and held out her kitchen knife. “Got one right here, gal. Know how to use this?”

Nervously, Holly Jean sharpened her pencil with the knife. Please, God, don’t let the lead break! And don’t let me cut myself!

But a few minutes later she was happily drawing—just as she used to in her art class back at Taft. Now if only she had some coloring pencils, crayons, or water colors! But even without them, in a few minutes she had sketched two dress ideas—one for her and one for her great-aunt.

She held them up proudly. “Okay, Aunt Kate, whatcha think…gorgeous enough for a party? Oh, I just love parties!” But Aunt Kate was nowhere around.

Finally the older woman emerged from the cabin—her arms full of empty, brightly patterned sacks that had once held flour for baking.

“Look what I got!” she cried triumphantly. “Just about every color of the rainbow. Been saving these up for a new quilt. Now I’ll use them for a new me!” And she started hanging the sacks up on the clothesline. “This way we can see all of them at once. So which color do you want, Holly, gal? You choose first!”

Oooo—they were all gorgeous! But finally Holly Jean selected a bright yellow fabric with daisies and black-eyed Susans splashed all over it. “This one reminds me of Hickory Hollow,” she said. “But can you really make me a dress like the one I drew, Aunt Kate?” Holding up her sketch, she said, “See, it has puffed sleeves, a round neck, darts at the waist, and a real full skirt.”

“Piece of cake!” her great-aunt retorted. “Piece of cake with icing on it. Okay, I’ll pick this blue one with tiny roses all over it for me. Jake always was partial to roses, you know. Now let’s get to work!”

Aunt Kate laid out the fabric on Granny Nanny’s bed and started snipping away. Then, hot as it was, she pulled Granny Nanny’s prized Singer sewing machine out to the porch—even with her bad knee and all! The sewing machine’s wood drawers and metal head shone in the bright sunlight. Bringing out a kitchen chair to sit on, she was soon sewing away—her feet pumping up and down on the wide metal treadle that powered the machine, while its needle zoomed across the cloth.

“Well,” Granny declared, “I better git some lunch on afore the afternoon’s teetotally gone. Then gotta figure out what vittles to take to the big party Saturday. Maybe some pickled beets or fried chicken or chocolate pie—or all of them!” And off she scurried to the kitchen.

Holly Jean jumped up. “I’ll help you!” And off she scurried too.

What a week! The heat never let up—but neither did the all the work that had to be done. There were beans, tomatoes and ears of sweet corn to be picked, potatoes to be hoed, all the farm animals to be fed, milked and petted, Domino and the other barn kittens to try to befriend, and bucket after bucket of water to be drawn by hand from Granny’s well for scrubbing, laundry and baths—not to mention all of Granny’s cooking and baking, and Aunt Kate’s sewing and fitting and sewing some more. Even Holly Jean got in on the act as Aunt Kate showed her how to hem the skirts with dainty, hard-to-see stitches. Finally both dresses were ready.

When Holly Jean tried hers on, she squealed with delight and gave her great-aunt a big hug. The yellow-flowered dress sparkled like a summer day. Why, it looked as if it came straight from the newest Sears catalog, or even from one of the big department stores back in Cincinnati. “I love it! Oh, Aunt Kate, you did it! How can I ever thank you?”

Her great-aunt hugged her back. “My pleasure, child, my pleasure!”

Was Saturday never going to get here? Holly Jean wanted the party to start right then! And then, almost before she knew it, it did!

As soon as breakfast was over that Saturday morning, Granny Nanny started in on her last-minute cooking. Holly Jean and Aunt Kate hurried out to the barn to milk old Star and feed all the animals, including the barn cats and kittens. Little Domino even rubbed against Holly Jean’s ankle and purred! But he still wouldn’t let her touch him.

Then came the mad rush for everyone to get bathed, dressed, and hair done just right. Holly Jean’s new yellow dress was absolutely perfect! So was Aunt Kate’s. She had even sewn a new bonnet for herself to match her new blue dress. Whee!

Finally, they packed up all the yummy food Granny Nanny and Aunt Kate were bringing to the potluck. Everything smelled so good Holly Jean was ready to eat lunch right then!

In fact, she felt so good she was ready to bubble over. Oh, I just love parties! Thank You, dear God, for bringing Moon’s father back home to him and his mother after all those years! They’ll be so happy, and I’m so happy too!

Then she remembered that her own Papa Joe was still far away in the Army. Maybe he’d be gone for years too. Suddenly she didn’t feel happy anymore. Not fair, God! I want my papa home too!

But as quickly as she thought the words, she was ashamed. Instead, she sent God a quick prayer, asking Him to forgive her and keep both Papa Joe and Uncle Tom’s son, Cousin Willie, safe in this awful war.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from around the bend where the little dirt road emerged from the forest.

“Must be Tom’s pickup already!” Granny Nanny shouted. “Okay, gals, I’ll need you to help me carry all these vittles out to the truck!”

But instead of a motor, they heard horses, wheels, and a loud, “Yee-haw!”

What in the world was THAT?