Train Through Time Series Boxed Set Books 1-3

by Bess McBride

  “I’m sure Mr. O’Rourke would wish to assist you with that himself, Miss St—Annie, especially if you cannot find a way to return home. Do you wish to stay in Seattle?”

  “No!” Marie almost barked. “I mean, no, we don’t. We have our lives in Chicago.” Mrs. Sanford looked taken aback at the sharp note in Marie’s voice.

  Annie threw a pointed look at her sister. Maybe Marie had a life in Chicago, but Annie really didn’t, and Marie knew it. Not that she really wanted to be stuck in the early twentieth century either.

  “No, I know my sister really wants to…return, and I guess I do, too, but we don’t know quite how that is supposed to happen, so just in case, I think we probably need to find a boarding house. I’d really rather we find one ourselves. We don’t really know Mr. O’Rourke. He owes us nothing, and I don’t feel comfortable taking his money, or letting his pay for us like this.”

  “Oh, Annie,” Marie said. “Just relax.”

  “I have kept house for Mr. O’Rourke for several years now, Annie, and although he travels a great deal and is gone for great periods of time, I feel I know him fairly well. He is a generous man, and I feel certain that what he has done for you and Miss Marie comes without a price. He is a gentleman and would never think to impose himself on you in any way. However, I do understand your desire to be independent. I myself have lived independently all my life, beholden to no one, and I think I understand your concerns.”

  “He travels a lot?” Annie lost her train of thought. “Oh, he would, wouldn’t he? He’s a photojournalist or something, isn’t he?”

  “I’ve not heard the term photojournalist, but it makes sense. Yes, he’s a very famous photographer, actually, with photographs in museums, private collections, libraries, magazines and newspapers.”

  “Really?” Marie said.

  “I had no idea,” Annie murmured.

  “Is he…rich?” Marie asked as she surveyed the room.

  “Marie!” Annie said with a shake of her head.

  Mrs. Sanford coughed discreetly behind her hand, but Annie swore she saw the woman’s lips twitch.

  “Yes, Mr. O’Rourke is wealthy, Miss Marie, independent of his earnings as a photographer.”

  A knock sounded on the door. Annie jumped up, but Mrs. Sanford stayed her and went to the door herself. She opened it a crack, listened to the person on the other side, nodded and closed the door behind her.

  “Hurry, ladies, into the bedroom, Mr. Becker’s girls are here laden with bags and boxes.”

  Annie and Marie jumped up and scrambled into the bedroom. Annie left the door open a crack to see Mrs. Sanford open the door wide to two young women and an older woman who brought in multiple bags and boxes, which they set on every available chair and table, and the sofa.

  “My ladies are on the shy side, Miss Simpson, so I will assist them with dressing. What sizes have you brought for them?”

  Annie couldn’t hear the response from the smallest of the salesgirls, a redhead, but Mrs. Sanford seemed satisfied.

  “Yes, I think that is about right. If they need to be tailored, I presume your girls brought their sewing kits with them?”

  Miss Simpson, a short, plump, gray-haired woman, nodded.

  “Yes, Mrs. Sanford.”

  “Good! Let’s start with some undergarments, then I will return for the evening dresses. That is our first priority as my ladies have an engagement this evening.”

  The other salesgirl, a taller blonde, lifted the covers off several boxes to peer in and selected three to hand to Mrs. Sanford. She murmured something Annie couldn’t hear, and Mrs. Sanford nodded and turned toward the bedroom. Annie and Marie jumped back from the door, and she entered the room and shut the door behind her.

  “I see you have been watching,” she smiled. She set the boxes on the bed and rummaged through them to pull out several white garments, which she handed to Annie and Marie. “Here is your chemise and your unmentionables, ladies. Can I assist you in undressing?”

  She moved toward Annie, who instinctively jumped back. “Oh, sorry! No, I’m sure we can undress ourselves. What are unmentionables?”

  “What are unmentionables?” Marie asked almost at the same time.

  Mrs. Sanford looked from one of the sisters to the other, looking as if she already wished she hadn’t volunteered to help.

  “Unmentionables? Your drawers?” Clearly, Mrs. Sanford didn’t understand that Marie and Annie had no clue. She held up a garment that looked like more bloomers with frilly bits of material and lace attached to the bottom of the legs. “These are your drawers,” Mrs. Sanford said, “and made of the finest lawn, I think. Very lovely.”

  Annie stared at the open flap between the legs. Oh, surely not!

  Reluctantly, she stepped out of her capri pants and her underwear and slipped into the “unmentionables.” Mrs. Sanford came around her to button the drawers at the back. Marie stared at Annie with rounded eyes before dropping her own skirt and panties to step into the drawers.

  “How do you…?” Marie began as Mrs. Sanford came to button the back of her drawers.

  “The flap,” Mrs. Sanford said without elaborating. She handed out the chemises—lovely bits of silk material with narrow straps of lace and embroidery.

  “You must remove that article of clothing,” Mrs. Sanford said when Annie attempted to slip the chemise over her comfortable sports bra. “The straps of your garment will show with almost any evening gown.”

  Annie sighed and removed the bra, unable to remember the last time she’d gone without support. Marie was more relaxed and was, in fact, not wearing a bra.

  “So, now the dresses?” Marie asked, biting her lips to keep her face straight as she met Annie’s eyes. Over the years, she had teased Annie gleefully about her need to wear a supporting undergarment.

  “No, not quite yet. You must put on your corsets next.”

  “Corsets?” Marie repeated weakly. “Oh, no, not a corset. Not for me, thanks.” Annie agreed, but Mrs. Sanford dashed those ideas.

  “You must wear corsets, ladies. The clothing will not fit without the corsets, nor is it at all proper for women to go about in public without proper undergarments.”

  Annie sobered. The housekeeper didn’t look like she was taking no for an answer from either of them.

  Annie took the white satin corset, which looked nothing like the corsets she’d seen. The shape was odd, and two suspender straps dangled from the front, presumably for stockings.

  “How do you put it on?” she asked.

  “Would you like me to show you?”

  Annie nodded, and Mrs. Sanford wrapped the corset around her back and pulled it around to the front.

  “Hold it in place, and I will hook it.” Annie tugged at each side of the corset, pulling it toward her midriff and wondering how on earth Mrs. Sanford was going to get it closed.

  “Are you sure this fits? Maybe I need a larger size?” She sucked in her stomach as Mrs. Sanford began hooking the corset over her breasts. She looked over the housekeeper’s shoulder and rolled her eyes at Marie, who watched with amusement.

  “Well, maybe this fits after all—” Annie began, but she was brought up short as air was forced from her lungs when Mrs. Sanford grabbed hold of the edges of the corset and pulled tightly, forcing Annie’s body into the oddest posture.

  “Wait! No! This can’t be right!” she wheezed. “I’m bent over! I can’t straighten up.”

  “It is the style, Miss St. John. I am so sorry. I personally do not like these new corsets and wear my old favorites that are sadly out of date, but that option is not open to you, I am afraid—not at your age.”

  “Annie, you look like a pigeon!” Marie laughed, clearly forgetting she was next. “Mrs. Sanford, are you sure her corset isn’t broken or damaged in some way?

  “No, Miss Marie. The corset is as it should be. It was designed to emphasize a woman’s most…alluring features, I believe—or so the advertisements explain.” Mrs. Sanford attached th
e last hook and stood back to survey Annie, who had grabbed the footboard of one of the beds to lean on.

  “How am I supposed to walk in this?” Annie muttered as she attempted to pivot to stare at herself in the large cherry oval cheval mirror. She looked ridiculous. The odd S-shaped curve of the corset forced an arch in her back, pushing her chest forward and her backside to jut out. She really did look like a pigeon, just as Marie had said.

  “I have seen ladies carry parasols or walking sticks to stay upright. I’m afraid we have neither of those.” Mrs. Sanford shook her head in sympathy and turned toward Marie.

  “May I assist you, Miss Marie?”

  Marie backed away a few steps with one hand outstretched, bent over double with laughter.

  “Oh, no, Mrs. Sanford. I can’t wear that. I can’t believe you actually got Annie into that thing.”

  Though her back had begun to ache, Annie chuckled. Mrs. Sanford’s lips twitched as well.

  “Miss Marie, the clothes will not fit if you do not wear the proper undergarments. I do not think you really have a choice unless you wish to stay in seclusion in this room during your…visit.”

  “Just put it on, Marie. There are people waiting in the other room for us,” Annie said, bracing a hand on her back. “Besides, if I have to do it, you have to do it.”

  Marie straightened and wiped tears from her face. “She has a point, Mrs. Sanford. Better hook me up.”

  Mrs. Sanford assisted Marie into her corset. The entire process seemed to go much more smoothly than it had on Annie.

  Marie preened in front of the floor mirror, looking quite elegant and more like a regal peacock than Annie’s puffed-up bird.

  “That wasn’t so bad,” Marie said, turning from side to side to survey herself. “This corset gives me the curves I’ve always wanted. I like it!”

  “Now, your stockings. You do know how to put those on, don’t you?” Mrs. Sanford said, handing each of them a pair of pale off-white stockings.

  “I think I can figure it out,” Annie said. She tottered over to a straight-back chair in the room and perched on the edge, separating one stocking from the other as she attempted to stick her foot into the silky stocking. The spare stocking fell to the red and gold Oriental carpet at her feet. For all that the corset kept her in a bent shape, it didn’t allow her to actually bend forward to reach the stocking near her foot.

  “Help,” she moaned. “I can’t even put a stocking on.”

  “Miss Marie, why don’t you help your sister while I go get the rest of your undergarments?”

  “There’s more?” Annie gasped. “It’s not possible.” Marie, her corset clearly made of a fabric much more flexible than Annie’s, drifted over and bent to help Annie with her stockings.

  “But of course, Miss St. John. You must wear petticoats.” Mrs. Sanford moved into the other room.

  “And what are you smirking about?” Annie asked as Marie pulled one stocking up Annie’s outstretched leg. “What is your corset made of? Elastic? Because I don’t see how you can move.”

  “No, silly, it’s made of the same stuff as yours. They look exactly alike. I think it doesn’t feel as stiff as yours because I’m, um…thinner.”

  Annie looked down at her own fuller figure with a sigh. “I’ve got to go on a diet, and I think this thing will ensure that I do. Probably won’t be able to eat a bite.”

  Marie pulled the other stocking up, and helped Annie stand while they fiddled with the two clasps dangling from the corset above each leg. Annie convulsed with laughter at the absurdity of their situation.

  “I just can’t imagine Mrs. Sanford doing this for me,” she gurgled.

  Marie, struggling to work the clasps, joined in. “You keep laughing, dear Sis, cuz you’re going to have to help me in a minute. There!” she exclaimed as she straightened. “Did she say there are more undergarments?”

  “Yes, she did,” Annie said as she picked up Marie’s stockings and dangled them. “Here you go!”

  “I think I can manage,” Marie said with a broad smile. Naturally, she had no trouble slipping into the stockings and hooking them to the straps of her corset.

  The door opened and Mrs. Sanford entered with another armful of garments. “I see you have managed the stockings, ladies. Here are your petticoats.” She held aloft two long champagne-colored skirts of rustling taffeta, the bottom half elaborately decorated with large flounces and ruffles of intricately embroidered eyelet lace and scallops.

  “Beautiful,” Annie murmured.

  “Yes, they are,” Mrs. Sanford agreed. “It would seem that Mr. O’Rourke has spared no expense.”

  Annie cringed when Mrs. Sanford dropped the skirt to the floor so she could step into it. It seemed far too beautiful to lay on the floor. Mrs. Sanford pulled it up over Annie’s hips and buttoned it in back. “I trust you ladies will assist each other in undressing tonight, as this amount of clothing will be difficult to remove without help.”

  “You’re not wearing all these undergarments, are you, Mrs. Sanford?” Annie eyed her slender form speculatively.

  “I am,” Mrs. Sanford replied with pink cheeks, “though not so fashionable as those which you now wear.”

  When Mrs. Sanford finished with the petticoats, she returned to the sitting room again and came back with another armful of clothing, this time in shades of rose and Wedgewood blue. She laid the gowns out on the beds.

  “Would you look at those?” Marie said with a short whistle. Annie eyed the elegant dresses of silk overlaid with some sort of filmy gauze embroidered with gold thread on the rose dress and white thread on the blue dress.

  “I’d be afraid to rip that,” Annie murmured. The rose dress had obviously been ordained for her as it was the shorter of the two garments. “It looks so delicate.”

  “They are beautiful, aren’t they?” Mrs. Sanford said admiringly, a small sigh escaping her lips. All three women gazed at the evening gowns for a moment before Mrs. Sanford checked the small watch pinned to her blouse. “We still have much to do, ladies, so we mustn’t dawdle.” She picked up the rose-colored dress.

  “Much to do?” Annie whispered. “What else? We’re just going to dinner, right?”

  “We must dress your hair. That is not my forte, but I will endeavor to make you presentable. Come, lift your arms.”

  Annie complied, and Mrs. Sanford pulled the dress down over Annie’s head and settled it into place. While she fastened the buttons in the back of the dress, Annie studied Marie’s reactions. Marie, running a finger along the silk of her own dress as it lay on the bed, shook her head open-mouthed as if she were speechless. Annie grinned.

  “Seems like a bit much for dinner, doesn’t it?”

  “I’ll say,” Marie murmured. “But it’s absolutely gorgeous. It suits you. For all that you hate that corset, your curves really compliment the dress.”

  Annie blushed, certain her cheeks had turned as rosy as the gown. Mrs. Sanford moved to help Marie into her dress, and Annie turned to stare at the mirror. Marie was right. The dress did accentuate her curves…or the underlying corset did. Shoulder straps of silk resembling tiny puffed sleeves left her neck and upper chest bare, with a hint of cleavage. Annie hoped the shop girls had brought a shawl. The tight bodice of the dress narrowed to her waist, ending in a V-shape just below her stomach. The skirt, not as wide as she’d imagined, fell away from her hips in a tulip shape with the gauze floating loosely over it. She wondered what Rory would think when he saw her…when he saw them, she corrected herself.

  In the mirror, she saw Marie, stunning in her blue dress, more regal than she’d ever seen her.

  “Well, look at you, Queenie!” Annie turned and said. “Beautiful. If nothing else, this Edwardian thing is making us look good. I wish I had a camera.”

  Mrs. Sanford looked up from buttoning Marie’s gown. “Mr. O’Rourke has cameras, of course, though I do not imagine he would bring one to dinner.”

  “Well, maybe we’ll get him to take a picture
of us sometime,” Annie said.

  “Then you’d better ask him soon, Annie, because I’m not staying, beautiful clothes or not,” Marie said.

  Mrs. Sanford gave her a startled look, but said nothing.

  “Shoes, gloves, hair.”

  “A shawl?” Annie said, flattening her hand against her chest in an effort to cover her cleavage.

  “Grow up,” Marie said with a grin. Given the leaner proportions of her athletic body, Marie’s dress accented her broad shoulders while revealing no extra curves above her breasts.

  “You are suitably dressed now, ladies. Come into the sitting room and see what the girls have brought. I am sure they would like to know if their selections meet with your approval.”

  Annie and Marie followed her to the room in a rustle of taffeta silk petticoats. Annie clutched a handful of skirt.

  The older woman, whom Annie had heard introduced as Miss Simpson, rose from one of the chairs.

  “Lovely!” She clapped her hands together. “Do the dresses require any alterations?”

  Mrs. Sanford tilted her head and regarded Annie and Marie for a moment. “No, I think not. You have chosen well, Miss Simpson.”

  “Oh, thank you! Sally, Jennifer, please get the shoes.” The young redhead and blonde, standing by the stacks of bags and boxes, rummaged through them and brought forth several boxes.

  “We asked the shoe store for several sizes, so I feel confident we can find the right sizes,” Miss Simpson said.

  Annie, feeling a bit like Cinderella at the ball, lowered herself with care to one of the straight-backed chairs and perched on the edge, hoping to try on the shoes herself as she might at home, but the young redhead named Sally approached her with two boxes, while Jennifer saw to Marie.

  “Let’s try these on, miss,” Sally said as she knelt at Annie’s feet. She pulled out a pair of shoes in a dark rose color, a good match for the dress, and slipped them on Annie’s feet. The shoes were remarkably similar to those worn in the twenty-first century, with pointed toes, broad square heels and a decorative gold bow at the top.