Finally, Rose dismounted and let him loose in the pasture. Instantly he galloped far away from her. Rose’s eyes suddenly filled as she watched him go.
“Oh Star, will you ever like me?” It was already March thirtieth. They had four weeks left.
eight
Rose came home from the stable one evening and called, “Anyone home?”
“In the parlor,” Momma trilled.
The front hall was free of crates now. Their house was nice and orderly. She found Momma sitting at the ladies’ desk in the parlor’s bay window. Momma looked up with a brilliant smile.
“I had the most wonderful idea today, Rosie!”
“You did?”
“First, I should tell you. I finally found those pamphlets after all this time! It was the funniest thing…they were buried under some towels. I don’t remember packing them with towels, but I guess I did everything in such a rush. I still can’t find our tablecloths.”
“Momma, I wish you’d get rid of them! The pamphlets, I mean, not the tablecloths.”
“You know, I’m glad I had a chance to look them over before I passed them out. They’re a little…well, something more subtle might be better for Cape Light.”
“Nothing at all would be best!”
“Now here’s my idea. Rosie, sit down.”
Rose sat down in a rose velvet chair alongside the desk.
“Look!” Momma handed her a card of creamy parchment. The writing on it was in Momma’s elegant curly penmanship.
Mrs. Merrill Forbes cordially invites you to a tea in honor of her daughter, Rose…
Rose looked up, confused.
Momma smiled. “Keep reading.”
…and to discuss the formation of the Cape Light Girls’ Club. Please join us at our first meeting on…
“Momma, what is this?” Rose asked.
“I’m starting a girls’ club. For girls your age. I’ll serve little cucumber sandwiches and pinwheel sandwiches, and strawberries and cream. How does that sound so far?”
“What kind of club?” Rose said slowly. Somehow she didn’t think it would be about learning embroidery.
“Well, I thought, perhaps a weekly club? And we would talk about the importance of the vote and maybe have the girls write to congressmen. Between delicious refreshments and lots of fun, of course. It’s so important to get the support of young girls just growing into womanhood.”
“Oh, no!”
“Have you met Mrs. Cornell, the owner of the book-shop on Pelican Street? She thinks it’s a wonderful idea, too. She helped me with the invitation list.”
“No!” Rose shouted.
“But Rosie, it’ll be fun and festive. You know I’m a good hostess. And I’ll have little vases of grape hyacinths and violets at each place setting and—”
“No!” Rose screamed. She swallowed and lowered her voice. “What invitation list?”
Momma handed a sheet of paper to Rose. The name of every girl in her class anywhere near her age was on it!
“How could you do this without asking me? How could you?”
“I meant to ask you after school, but then you were at the stables and I was so excited I couldn’t wait to get started! I’d love to give a party for you, Rose. It’s a nice way for you to make new friends and—”
“I don’t want this. I really don’t want this! I’m not the suffragist here! You can’t get me involved. You can’t get my friends involved!”
Momma’s face fell. “Do you feel that strongly against it?”
“Yes!”
“All right, then. If that’s the way you feel. I suppose it really is up to you.” Momma sighed with disappointment. “Anyway, planning it was fun. But I used up my best stationery.”
“Momma, none of those invitations went out, did they?”
“Just a very few. I haven’t stamped and mailed them yet.” “A few? To whom?”
“Just a few girls, because I was passing their houses, anyway. I dropped them off. The mail takes so long and by the time—”
“Whose houses?” Rose interrupted.
“Well, Amanda Morgan, of course, because she’s right across the street, and Lizabeth Merchant when I went to the bakery at the village green, and Joanna Mason. That’s all, I think.”
“You have to cancel, Momma. Make some excuse and cancel.”
“All right. If you really want me to.”
“I really want you to! Did the invitation say what kind of club?”
“No, just a girls’ club.”
Rose could breathe again.
“All right, I’ll cancel it. I’ll think of something….”
Rose was too angry at Momma to stay with her for another minute. She was afraid she’d become seriously disrespectful.
“Is Poppa home?”
“In his office.”
She rushed down the long hallway that separated their home from the waiting room and office. “Poppa, I’ve hardly seen you!” She smelled rubbing alcohol.
Poppa was arranging bottles of pills on a shelf of a white metal cabinet. “It’s been busy. I met the doctor in Cranberry today, Dr. Clark. A pleasant elderly gentleman, but he’s still using leeches for bad blood.” Poppa sighed. “I thought I could wait a while to settle in, but the people here have been needing a doctor for too long.”
He seemed tired but content. “I know they’ll love you,” Rose said. How fine he looked with his neatly trimmed mustache and beard and his brown eyes radiating kindness. On him, the Forbes nose was just right.
“I need to talk to you, Poppa.”
“What is it, dear?” He sat down on the examining table and patted a spot by his side. “Tell me, how are you getting along?”
“Fine, Poppa, but there’s one big problem.” She sat down next to him. “It’s Momma. It’s starting all over again. She wanted to start a suffragist girls’ club and I stopped her just in time! But who knows what’s next? I know she’ll talk to everyone about the vote, even to the new cook when she hires her, and—”
“I do hope that cook comes soon,” Poppa said. “Putting a meal together is not one of your mother’s best talents.”
“Poppa, listen, she…” Rose lowered her voice. “She might even put on bloomers again! The other day she said, ‘When it’s appropriate’! Bloomers will never be appropriate! I’m afraid to bring any friends home. I don’t know what she’ll say or what she might be wearing!”
“Rose dear, you worry too much. Of course you can invite your new friends. They won’t be concerned with your mother.”
He didn’t know, he had no idea! “What if someone finds out that Momma wears bloomers?” Rose whispered frantically. “Or about the arrest?”
“It was in the paper months ago, Rose, and I doubt that anyone in Cape Light gets New York City newspapers. If any of those papers are still around, they’re lining the bottoms of birdcages.”
“You’re not taking this seriously enough! Poppa, please, can’t you do something to stop her?”
Poppa smiled and patted her shoulder. “Nothing can stop your mother—neither man, nor beast, nor storm—if she believes it’s the right thing to do. That magnificent spirit was why I fell in love with her in the first place. Well, that and her flashing gypsy eyes.”
Rose sighed. Poppa would be no help at all! She should have known. He thought anything and everything Momma did was wonderful!
nine
Rose listened to Reverend Morgan in church on Sunday morning. “Hope,” he said, “moves mankind forward and keeps us from sinking into despair. Hold on to your hopes with all your heart, but call on all your mind and strength to make them more than idle wishes.” The minister looked around the congregation and smiled. “You hope that your boat comes home safely, but you’d better spare no effort to make sure it’s shipshape before you set out.”
Rose glanced at her parents sitting beside her. Momma nodded in agreement with the reverend. She certainly supported her hope for the vote with effort, though it was embarrass
ingly out of place. And Poppa hoped for better ways to treat terrible diseases like scarlet fever and smallpox. Rose knew he studied his medical books late into the night, looking for answers. My hope, Rose thought, is for Star to make a good impression at North Menasha and get a good home, but I don’t know what to do to make that happen. Her real hope was to keep Star at Clayton Stables, and that seemed near impossible. She had to forget about her own feelings and focus on what was best for Star. She had to put her whole heart and mind into making him attractive to a nice buyer. Star needed more from her than idle wishes.
Rose glanced at Amanda. She was in her blue choir robe at the front of the church. Then she spotted that boy, Jed Langford, in the third row. He couldn’t take his eyes off Amanda. And Amanda seemed flustered and trying hard not to look his way.
After services, Reverend Morgan stood at the church door to greet everyone as they filed out.
The Williams family came out and passed by the Forbes on the old stone steps. Mr. Williams was tall, with auburn hair just like Kat’s. He was followed by Mrs. Williams, Kat, and her two younger brothers, Todd and James. Rose was wondering how she could greet Kat’s mother politely and still avoid having to make introductions, when Mrs. Williams smiled at Momma and said, “Hello, Miranda. How nice to see you again.”
Kat’s mother had met Momma already! And now Rose was forced to introduce Momma to Kat. After a while, Mr. and Mrs. Williams continued on their way, but Kat remained. She studied Momma, somehow looking more than just curious.
The memory of what had happened at Miss Dalyrumple’s was still searing. Momma especially liked to preach about the vote to young girls. Rose had to do something, fast, before she got started!
“Sorry, we have to hurry right home,” she told Kat. “Come on, Momma. Poppa, we have to go!”
Kat raised her eyebrows. “I don’t mean to keep you. I just wanted tell you, Rose, we’ll all be at the lighthouse later. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Forbes, Dr. Forbes.”
The expression on Kat’s face as she turned away made Rose’s heart sink. Did her desperation to keep her wonderful new friends away from Momma make her behave so rudely that she would lose them anyhow? But what else could she do?
On the way home, Poppa asked, “What’s going on, Rose? What was the rush?”
“Oh, because Star has to be fed and watered, even if it is Sunday.”
“Are you really in that much of a hurry?” Momma asked. “You were very abrupt. Don’t you like the Williams girl?”
“I like Kat a lot. It’s not that. I mean, it was because I want to take care of Star and meet my friends at the lighthouse later.”
“She seems lovely,” Momma said. “Maybe you could invite her for dinner sometime. Or lunch or—”
“No, she can’t come, not ever, because…well, she has the early shift at the lighthouse.”
“Oh. I see.”
“Momma, how do you know Mrs. Williams? She called you Miranda.”
“Mrs. Merchant invited me to tea last week and Mrs. Williams was there, too. They’re sisters.”
“Momma, you didn’t bring pamphlets or anything like that with you, did you?”
“Why are you quizzing your mother?” Poppa asked.
“As a matter of fact, the only thing I brought with me was a nice box of cookies from the bakery. It was wrapped in the prettiest gift paper; I found out later it was hand-painted by your friend Kat.”
“Did you…did you bring up anything about suffragists?”
“Only that it would be nice for all of us to have a say in whatever Teddy Roosevelt does next. I was very subtle.”
Rose groaned.
“It’s just as well that we’re hurrying home,” Poppa said. “I’ll have a quick lunch and pack a suitcase.”
“Your shirts are ironed and ready,” Momma said. “I hate to see you go.”
“A suitcase?” Rose asked. “Where are you going, Poppa?”
“There are four cases of scarlet fever in Cranberry, Rose, and five more possible. I’m afraid it’s spreading from down the coast. Dr. Clark needs help with the diagnoses and I’m going there this afternoon. I’ll be in contagious sickrooms, so I’ll stay away for a few days.”
“I’ll miss you so much,” Rose said.
She’d been thinking about what to tell Kat. Maybe Poppa could be her excuse.
When the girls were gathered in the lighthouse tower that afternoon, Rose said, “Kat, about this morning after church. We were in a hurry because my father’s leaving for a few days.”
Kat shrugged. “You don’t have to explain.”
“But I want to,” Rose said. “I know I must have seemed rude, but Poppa had to pack and—”
“Rose, your father looked as surprised by your big hurry as I was,” Kat said. “I’m not mad at you. But either tell us the truth, please, or let’s forget about explanations altogether.”
Rose was taken aback. She’d felt so close to Kat. If Kat turned on her, she wouldn’t be able to stand it. Was she imagining that Amanda and Lizabeth exchanged looks? Had they all been talking about her?
“Kat? Is there something else? I mean, what’s wrong?” Rose asked.
“Well, it seems a little odd to all of us that you didn’t invite Kat to your party,” Lizabeth said.
“To my party?” For a moment, Rose was stunned. “Oh, my mother’s tea! But that was canceled, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Amanda said, “but Lizabeth and I were invited—and not Kat?”
“Oh, that’s because my mother hadn’t mailed the invitations yet! But she dropped a few off to houses she passed that day—yours, Amanda’s, and Lizabeth’s, and Joanna’s, that’s all.”
“Why did your mother cancel? The tea and the girls’ club and everything?” Kat asked.
Rose was dumbfounded. She had no idea what excuse Momma had made.
“That’s all right, Rose.” Kat looked almost sympathetic. “I’m not blaming you for your mother. My guess is it was canceled because you got into an argument about inviting me.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?” Rose turned to Lizabeth and Amanda. “What did my mother tell you?”
“Just that she had a conflict with the dates,” Amanda said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kat said.
“But—” Rose started.
“I said it doesn’t matter,” Kat said. “Could we talk about something else?”
“But I don’t understand what—”
“Rose, you’re not ready to admit what’s going on with your mother and that’s fine. And I really don’t want to talk about it anymore!” Kat turned to Lizabeth. “So, do you have another good book to lend us?”
There was an awkward silence. Amanda finally broke it. “Lizabeth has an account at the Pelican Book Shop,” she told Rose, “and she passes her books on to us.”
What does Kat know about Momma, Rose wondered. She felt panicky.
“I’m reading the best book,” Lizabeth said, “but it’s really thick so I’ll take a while to finish. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. That’s French for ‘the wretched ones.’”
“Not too hard to figure out,” Kat smiled. “The miserables.”
“I didn’t like Jane Eyre that much,” Amanda said. “Rochester wasn’t nice at all, and I couldn’t see why she loved him.”
“I promise you’ll like this one,” Lizabeth said. “Anyway, Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread and he’s arrested, but he escapes and the policeman hunts him for years and years. He just won’t let go! Once you get into it, it’s very exciting. Do you think someone should be jailed for just a loaf of bread?”
“Stealing is stealing,” Amanda said.
“Even if someone’s hungry?” Kat asked. “That’s unfair.”
“You still have to obey the law,” Amanda said. “If someone’s arrested, there’s a good reason for it. He’s a criminal.”
Rose squirmed. She wished they would talk about something else.
“In the book
, you’re on Valjean’s side,” Lizabeth said, “though in real life, you wouldn’t want anything to do with a jailbird. You can’t have jailbirds running around loose.”
Rose’s throat felt tight. What if they found out about Momma?
“Don’t worry, Lizabeth, we don’t have any convicts in Cape Light.” Kat laughed. “Anyway, someone innocent could be arrested.”
“Valjean wasn’t innocent,” Lizabeth said.
“But if he’s never forgiven,” Kat said, “and the policeman goes on hounding him forever…What do you think, Rose?”
Rose felt as though a too-bright light was being focused on her. She blinked. “Think about what?”
“About convicts and jailbirds.”
“I don’t think about that!” Rose exploded. “Why should I? Jailbirds. What a dumb thing to talk about! Who cares what anyone thinks about convicts and jailbirds!”
Rose suddenly realized she was shouting. She clapped her hand over her mouth.
In the silence, Kat, Amanda, and Lizabeth looked at each other.
Rose couldn’t face their startled looks. She jumped up. “I have to go.”
ten
Kat didn’t come to the stables every afternoon anymore. Rose missed her.
“Do you want to walk over with me?” Rose asked her after school one day.
“No, I can’t.”
“You can’t?”
“I’m busy with my gift wrap,” Kat said.
Rose suspected that Kat continued to help with Star’s care occasionally only because she had promised she would.
I’m not about to force myself on anyone, Rose thought. She no longer spoke to the girls with the same easy confidence. She could no longer say, “Let’s go see Star” or “Are you going up to the tower? I’ll meet you later.” Rose held herself back. She waited for the girls to approach her. Sometimes they did and sometimes they didn’t. More and more, she was alone with Star.
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