Missing Memories

by Carol Dean Jones

  “Well, I think he should have done something right away.”

  “I know, Sarah, but sometimes we don’t want to interfere in other people’s business, and I’m sure he had other things on his mind. Jake said the guy called the police yesterday immediately after he returned and saw it in the newspaper.”

  Sarah looked resigned but muttered, “People should look out for each other…”

  “It’s a fine line,” Charles responded. Hoping to lighten the mood, he turned to Sophie and asked about her dog.

  “Emma’s just a bundle of joy,” Sophie responded with a wide grin. Emma was her first dog, and she was enjoying the many benefits. “She’s always so happy to see me, even when I come back in the house from taking the garbage out. She acts like I’ve been gone for days.”

  “It’s that unconditional love,” Sarah added, stroking Barney’s head that was now stretched out across her lap. “He knew I was upset a few minutes ago, and here he is trying to comfort me.”

  The three sat quietly for a while sipping coffee and munching on oatmeal cookies. Finally, Charles sighed and looked at his wife for a moment before speaking. “I think I could be very helpful to the department if I did some legwork for them. I’ll just bet there are other people who know something. They’ve interviewed the shopkeepers in the neighborhood, but I think that someone needs to look at their early morning sales that day and try to contact customers.”

  Once the words were out, he sat quietly, looking thoughtful. He had promised his wife that he wouldn’t pursue police work again, but perhaps this is different, he thought. Finally he added in a serious tone, “What do you think, Sarah?”

  She sighed. “Promise me you won’t put yourself in danger?”

  He nodded his head slightly, knowing he couldn’t make that promise. He knew he would follow any leads he found. Finally he said, “I’m always careful.”

  Sarah knew he was going to do it and loved him for caring enough to help her friend. “At least if you go, we can bargain with Nathan.” He turned to her with a puzzled look.

  “Let’s tell him that you’ll come up to Chicago and help with the investigation if he’ll come home. Anna needs him and now his daughter Katie is here and begging to go to Chicago to be with him. He’s needed at home.”

  “Okay, it’s a deal. You call Nathan, and I’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

  Chapter 9

  Sarah took her seat at the worktable and greeted everyone. Most of the members had arrived early to participate in the fat quarter raffle they had planned for this week. Telephone calls and emails had been flying among the members, and it was ultimately decided that the Friday Night Quilters would continue to meet just as they had when Ruth was there. “It’s what she would want,” several members had said. This would be their first regular meeting without Ruth.

  They got right to the raffle, skipping the usual formalities. No one wanted to bring up Ruth’s absence just yet. Each member had agreed to bring in fat quarters to donate to the raffle. For each fat quarter a member brought in, that person got one chance to win all the fat quarters. Delores had brought the most, placing a dozen blue and yellow fat quarters into the large basket Anna had brought in from the store room. Anna gave her twelve chances.

  Sarah brought five from her civil war collection and Christina and Kimberly together contributed another ten. “I want to be in on this too,” Anna said, grabbing her tote bag and placing another six on the growing pile.

  “Here are my two,” Allison offered.

  “Wait for me,” Frank called as he rushed into the shop. “Sorry I’m late. My grandma needed me to help her with the laundry. What are we doing?”

  Anna explained the raffle, and he looked disappointed. “I don’t have any fat quarters,” he responded. Frank had only made a couple of table runners and hadn’t had an opportunity to collect fat quarters. “Can I buy some?” he asked Anna.

  “Here,” Delores spoke up. “Take these two and if you win, you can pay me back.”

  “Thank you,” Frank said almost shyly. He had never fit in well with his own age group, but he enjoyed being a part of the quilter’s group.

  “Here’s mine,” Caitlyn said, placing one on the pile.

  “I’m going to throw in two more fat quarters to make it an even forty,” Anna said. She shook the bag that now contained forty scraps of paper with the contributing members’ names.

  “Who wants to pick the winner?” she asked as she continued to shake the bag. How about you Caitlyn?”

  Caitlyn blushed as she always did when she was the center of attention. She reached into the bag and grinned. Frank,” she announced.

  “Me?” Frank looked shocked and even a bit worried. “What will I do with all these?” he asked almost rhetorically as he looked at the fabrics. “These are beautiful,” he added. “Oh here, Delores,” and he picked out the two Delores had given him. She smiled and thanked him.

  “Really,” he repeated, this time looking from Anna to Sarah. “What will I do with these?”

  “How about we all help you make a quilt.”

  “For my grandmother?”

  “Well, it could be, but how about for yourself?” He grinned, apparently liking the idea.

  They put their heads together to come up with a simple quilt that they could all work on together. They finally settled on a sashed four patch, and they began cutting just as soon as they figured out the dimensions. “We’ll choose the sashing later,” Anna said.

  They cut nine six-inch squares from each fat quarter and handed Frank the left-over pieces. “These are for your next project,” Delores said. “We’ll help you make a scrap quilt.” They got Frank started at the machine sewing them together in groups of two and Caitlyn sat at a machine next to him and put his twos into groups of four. Simultaneously, Allison and Sarah did the same thing on the other side of the table. Anna and Delores set up two ironing boards and did the pressing. By nine o’clock they had the four-patches completed.

  “Do you want to take these home or keep them here,” Anna asked.

  “I’ll leave them here so we can work on them next week,” he responded.

  While they were cleaning up the work room, Delores asked Sarah about the classes she took at the show.

  “I took two classes, one on trapunto and the other on paper piecing,” she responded and pulled out the projects she had completed. Delores was familiar with both techniques, but the rest of the group was fascinated and very interested in learning.

  “Will you teach us how to do this?” Caitlyn asked as she carefully examined the paper-pieced star.

  “Well, Ruth wants me to design a couple of classes for the shop, so maybe I’ll practice on you folks.” They remained quiet for a moment, as they always did when Ruth’s name was mentioned, but then responded favorably, especially Caitlyn who was like a sponge when it came to learning new techniques.

  “Sarah, would you be willing to show me how to do trapunto?” Allison asked. “My mother sent me this beautiful cotton panel with an exotic bird in bright shades of blue, red, and yellow. I think they’re macaws. Anyway, they’re sitting on a limb in a tropical forest, and I’d love to make the bird and the limb stand out and maybe a few of the leaves and flowers when I quilt it. I just don’t know where to begin with the trapunto.”

  “How many people would be interested in learning trapunto?” Anna asked the group, but only two people raised their hands.

  “I have at least ten years worth of UFOs in my sewing room. I don’t dare start anything new,” Kimberly replied.

  “I have unfinished projects, too,” her sister added, “but don’t let us stop you from doing it. I’d be happy to listen.”

  “I have an idea,” Sarah began. “Anna, could we use the classroom one afternoon next week? I’d be happy to go over the instructions with anyone interested, and that’ll give me a chance to work out the kinks and be able to offer the class when Ruth gets back. She’s had a few customers ask about it, and I know she�
�s interested in offering the class.”

  “Do you want me to let the customers know about it?” Anna asked.

  “Oh no! This is just a practice session for me.”

  “I don’t have anything scheduled in Classroom B this coming week, so just pick a day.”

  Sarah, Allison, and Caitlyn agreed to get together after the meeting to find a day that was good for them all.

  “We forgot to do Show and Tell,” Delores announced.

  No one had anything except Allison, who pulled out a pile of finished blocks ready to sew into rows.

  “What’s that pattern called?” Caitlyn asked, and she blushed when the group chuckled at her question.

  “Sorry, Caitlyn. We aren’t laughing at you. It’s just that this block has more names than we could ever list. It’s from the early 1800s and one of the first blocks young girls learned to make. I’ve known it as Hole in the Barn Door, a Love Knot, and a Quail’s Nest.”

  “And back home we called it a Double Monkey Wrench, Hens and Chicks, and Broken Plates,” Anna added.

  “My grandma has a quilt on her bed like that, and she calls it her Shoo Fly quilt,” Frank said.

  “I really like it,” Caitlyn said, “but it looks hard.”

  “It’s just a nine patch, Caitlyn. See, three here, three here, and three here,” Allison said, pointing to the half square triangles and the blocks between.”

  “Oh, gosh,” Caitlyn replied. “I see it. That would be easy.”

  Allison began gathering up her blocks, and Anna turned to Sarah, “How about you? What have you been working on?”

  “I didn’t bring anything tonight,” Sarah replied, “but I’ve been working on a Double Wedding Ring quilt.”

  “Oh my,” Delores exclaimed. “You’re a brave soul. That’s a very complicated pattern.”

  “Actually,” Sarah responded, “I found a simplified technique, and I think it’s going to work out just fine. I’ll bring it in once I get a little farther along.”

  “Is this a gift?” Kimberly asked, suspecting Sarah probably had someone in mind.

  “Yes, I’m going to save it for the next wedding that comes up…”

  “The next wedding? What do you mean?” Caitlyn asked.

  “Well, there’s my daughter Martha who just might decide to marry Sophie’s Timothy one of these days,” Sarah responded. “And then there’s Charles’ son, David, who is definitely in love with a delightful young woman in Denver named Stephanie. I can hear the faint tinkling of wedding bells in the air -- I’m just not sure which direction the sound is coming from.” Everyone chuckled knowingly.

  “If that’s all we have for tonight, let’s end the meeting a little early,” Anna suggested. “Sarah, do you want to meet with Allison and Caitlyn before you leave?”

  The three gathered in the workroom while the others were leaving. “How about Thursday?” Sarah asked.

  “I have a doctor’s appointment,” Allison said. “Could you do Tuesday?”

  Looking at her pocket calendar, Sarah said, “Actually, that’s even better for me. How about you, Caitlyn?”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t come. I don’t get out of school until 2:30.”

  “Three o’clock works for me,” Sarah said, “You?” she added looking at Allison.

  “My husband works from home on Tuesday so he can take care of the kids. Three works fine for me.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll go over my notes and see what I can pull together.”

  “What should we bring?” Caitlyn asked.

  “I’ll bring what we need. That’s what they did in the class I took, and it worked out just fine. See you girls on Tuesday.”

  ”As they were leaving, Kimberly caught Sarah’s eye and raised an eyebrow, symbolically asking if they could talk. Sarah nodded toward the storage room and Kimberly and her sister Christina joined her there just as the last person was leaving the shop.

  “Has there been any word?” Christina asked as she entered the room.

  “Nothing yet, but my husband has gone up to Chicago to help with the investigation.”

  “That’s right,” Kimberly responded. “He’s a retired policeman, isn’t he?”

  “Well, he’s retired, but he helps out occasionally. He’s been there a few days now, and he told me last night that the lead detective is allowing him all the freedom he needs to investigate.”

  As they were leaving, Kimberly lightened the mood by asking, “Who do you think will spend their honeymoon under that Double Wedding Ring quilt of yours?”

  Sarah laughed. “They’re all four totally closed-mouthed when it comes to wedding plans, but my guess is that it will be Martha and Timothy. They’ve been spending lots of time as a family and Martha has lost her fear of potential motherhood. Martha has even taken time off to go on field trips with Penny, which has been a big change. Martha never took time off. Her work was always her life.”

  “That’s a good sign,” Christina said walking toward the door.

  On her way home, Sarah rolled down the window so she could enjoy the warm spring breeze. Trying to put aside her friend’s situation for the time being, she turned her thoughts to Sophie and smiled.

  Sophie had skipped the meeting so she could have dinner with her son and his daughter, and Penny was cooking most of the meal. Before her illness, Penny’s mother had taught her how to make an authentic Italian lasagna, and Penny was excited about preparing it for her new family. Tonight was just a practice run. Next week, she was going to be preparing it for the entire family at Sophie’s party.

  “What’s this party?” Charles asked when he called later that night.

  “I don’t know. Sophie said Tim asked her to have it at her house, but they’re doing all the work. I know that Martha has been invited. Do you suppose there’ll have an announcement?”

  “Have you asked your daughter?”

  “Martha dismisses the issue every time I bring it up. If there are going to be wedding bells, I guess you and I will learn about it along with everyone else.” She sighed with resignation. “That’s just the way it is.”

  “Well, at least you know your son’s news,” Charles remarked as his voice carried the warm smile she knew was spreading across his face.

  Sarah instantly glowed with the joyful smile of a proud grandmother. “Yes, at least I know my son’s news.”

  Jason had called that afternoon to announce that the baby would be a boy. “Little Alaina is going to have a little brother.”

  * * *

  The next morning as Sarah was washing the breakfast dishes, the phone rang. She started to let it go to the machine but decided to dry her hands and answer it. She was glad she had when she saw that it was Charles calling.

  “Good Morning, dear,” she answered. “This is a special treat. You usually don’t call before the evening,” but then she frowned and added, “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m on my way home.”

  “Charles, you’ve only been there a few days,” Sarah responded incredulously. “I thought you’d been cleared to help with the investigation.”

  “I was, but it’s not a police matter any longer. The FBI took it over.”

  “What?”

  “Yep. According to Krakowski, the feds swooped in here early this morning and set up a command center. They’ve agreed to keep the lieutenant informed, but they refused any involvement by the department and definitely not any help from an outsider like me. I’m heading home as we speak.”

  “What does this mean, Charles?”

  “Not sure, but one thing is certain. This lady was involved in something big.”

  “Oh Charles,” Sarah responded doubtfully. “I can’t believe that. She’s a kind, middle-aged woman. She’s married, has a grown daughter, and runs a small quilt shop in a peaceful mid-western town. What could she be involved in that would cause her to be kidnapped, of all things.”

  “You know what they say about the quiet ones…” Charles joked.

  “This isn’
t funny, Charles. Her family is devastated.”

  “Sorry, hon. I didn’t mean to make light of the situation.”

  “Oh Charles,” she sighed. “What in the world is going on?”

  “No idea, sweetie. I’ll be home in a couple of hours. We’ll talk more then. Don’t mention the FBI to the family just yet, okay?”

  “Okay,” she replied reluctantly.

  As she hung up the house phone, Sarah heard her cell phone ring. She hurried to the kitchen, but as she reached for the phone, she saw Anna’s name on the incoming call display. She’ll know I’m holding something back, she thought. She hesitated a moment, wondering what to do.

  She let the call go to voice mail but noticed another message that must have come in while she was talking to Charles. It was Sophie announcing that she and Emma were on their way over.

  Moments later, there was a knock at the door. “Come on in Sophie,” Sarah said as she held the screen door open, “and tell me all about your dinner with Tim and Penny.”

  “What’s wrong?” Sophie asked ignoring her friend’s words and responding instead to the stressed look on her face.

  “It’s nothing,” Sarah replied, wondering how her friend was able to read her so well. “Come on back to the kitchen. The coffee’s on, and I heated up the apple pie we had last night.” Sarah started to lead the way, but Sophie continued to stand at the door.

  “Sarah, come right back here and answer my question. I know when you’re upset, and I want to know what’s going on.”

  Sarah sighed and walked back to the door. “Okay, come back to the kitchen and we’ll talk. Charles told me not to tell anyone, but I guess that doesn’t mean you. You just have to promise me not to repeat it until it’s announced officially. We don’t want Ruth’s family to hear rumors until we find out exactly what’s going on.”

  “They found her?” Sophie asked, looking frightened. “Was she…”

  “No, no. Nothing like that.”

  Sarah noticed that her friend was limping and asked her about it. Sophie had a knee replacement the previous year, and Sarah hoped she hadn’t developed a problem with it.