“What exactly does Miss Baxter do? I mean, what do I do?” Louise asked, taking off her hideous nightcap.
“What do you do, ma’am? I don’t understand.” Her maid looked perplexed. Louise wanted to tell her they could be friends. Weren’t Anna and Miss Baxter almost the same age anyway?
“Can’t we just be friends?” Louise tried hesitantly. Something about the girl’s striking blue eyes reminded her of Brooke, and she suddenly wished that she could talk to Anna like she was her friend. It was too painful to think that Brooke wasn’t with her on this adventure. They had done pretty much everything together up until this point.
“Ma’am?”
“You don’t need to call me that,” Louise moaned.
“Sorry, ma’am. I mean, Miss Baxter,” Anna stammered, confused.
“Arghh…. Not that, either. Never mind. Call me whatever,” Louise said, defeated. She dramatically threw herself facedown on the featherbed, clenching her fists in frustration, like a toddler in the midst of a temper tantrum.
“Ahh, that’s more like it,” she heard Anna whisper to herself. “Ma’am, your bath is drawn.”
Louise stepped into the gilded claw-foot bathtub and submerged her head under the warm, soapy water. Ohmigod! Disgusted, she shot out of the water spitting out a salty mouthful of suds. It was seawater! Gross.
“Anna, I hate to tell you, but the water in the tap seems to be coming from the ocean,” Louise called through the ivory-molded closed door.
“Of course, ma’am!” Anna shouted back. “It’s supposed to be therapeutic.”
Of course? Louise hastily stepped out of the tub and tried to dry off the sticky residue with the warm, fluffy white bath towel Anna had laid out for her. She guessed there would be a few things that would take some getting used to. Then she had an idea.
“Anna, if you could have one day on this boat to do whatever you wanted, what would it be?” Louise asked, peeking her head out of the bathroom.
“Anything at all?” Anna asked hopefully, fluffing a feather pillow as she expertly made up the bed.
“Anything,” Louise confirmed excitedly.
“Well, I suppose I would like to buy a ticket for the swimming pool. Can you believe there’s actually a swimming pool on this boat? Wonders never cease.”
“Sounds fun,” Louise exclaimed, suddenly realizing that Coach Murphy was going to kill her for missing swim practice! She hoped she hadn’t missed the Westport meet. She would never be able to explain her way out of that one.
“And then I’d like to go relax and take a steam in the Turkish baths. They say it’s just like a bath house in Morocco.”
“Cool.”
“No, they’re hot,” Anna corrected, still looking a little bewildered that Miss Baxter was offering her all of this.
“Right, that’s what I meant. And then?”
“I suppose I’d be hungry, so I’d like to have a meal at the Café Parisien. It’s supposed to be just like a real sidewalk café in Paris. Even the waiters are French,” she added hesitantly.
“Wow,” Louise enthused. “I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.”
“You did a production there last spring,” Anna reminded her.
“Of course,” Louise responded quickly. “It seems as though my memory is still a bit patchy.”
“Perhaps next I would like to ride one of the mechanical horses in the gymnasium or play cards or take a stroll on the promenade. Not that I’ve thought this through, of course,” she added quickly. Clearly Anna had been thinking this through.
“Sounds perfect,” Louise said. “Miss Baxter, I mean, I am rich. So let’s have fun!”
“You mean we would actually do this? Together?” Anna asked, perplexed.
“Of course,” Louise said. “I mean, I’ve been fainting all day, it really wouldn’t be safe for me to spend the day alone.”
“Well, in that case…”
“It’s settled,” Louise said firmly. “Now, Anna, this might seem strange, but with this horrific case of amnesia I seem to have caught, I need a little help in remembering how I talk and act. How does Miss Baxter, I mean, how do I behave anyway?”
“I can give you a lesson in becoming Miss Baxter,” Anna offered hesitantly.
“Please, maybe that will help spark my memory.”
“To begin with, you must flutter your eyelashes a lot. Especially around handsome men,” Anna began. “Call everyone ‘dahling.’ If you like something say, ‘It’s simply mahvelous.’ ”
“Mahvelous, dahling,” Louise echoed uncertainly.
“Very good,” Anna replied. “But you have to add a dramatic flourish to everything you say. Remember, you are an actress.”
“Simply mahvelous, dahling,” Louise said again, with a little more pizzazz.
“Much better. How do you do?” Anna asked in a posh English accent.
“How do you do?” Louise repeated like an aristocratic parrot.
“Perfect! You should be back to your old self before you know it.”
“Now the most important question, what should I wear? Will you help me get ready?” Louise couldn’t wait to try on another one of Miss Baxter’s fancy dresses.
“I always do,” Anna replied, walking into the closet.
“Getting ready” was a process that bore no resemblance to Louise’s daily jeans, sneakers, and lip-gloss routine. She gripped the bedpost with white knuckles while Anna strapped her into a corset. She was beginning to feel like an overstuffed Italian sausage. Anna ignored her subject’s cries of pain and laced the bustier so tightly Louise thought one of her ribs must have broken.
Glancing down, Louise realized that H&M was knocking off the same look one hundred years later (but a little less painfully)! It was interesting to see how the designs she thought were modern were actually variations on older pieces. On closer examination, she realized the delicate mother-of-pearl buttons and lace trim were unique to this piece and couldn’t be mass-produced by any retail chain. She felt a little sad that the intricacies and specialness of the piece had somehow been lost over the years.
Anna helped her into the beautiful violet chiffon tea gown Louise had seen earlier in the steamer trunk. It was accentuated with a spray of hand-sewn grass green and raspberry pink silk flowers that were so delicate they looked like they could only have been stitched by a doll’s hands.
“Oh my God, it’s a Lucile,” Louise whispered loudly while reading the pale green tag with black script lettering. “And it’s in perfect condition.”
“It better be,” Anna replied, smoothing the wrinkles out of the fabric with her hands. “You paid a pretty pound for it last week.”
“Oh right, it’s new,” Louise clarified quickly, realizing that in 1912 this would not be vintage.
“She’ll be thrilled to see you wearing it. You look absolutely radiant in her designs.”
“When I see her?” Louise asked, confused. “You mean Lucile is on this ship, too?”
“Yes, don’t you remember? Lady Duff-Gordon and Sir Cosmo are both on board. They are traveling to New York to open her first American Lucile shop,” Anna answered patiently, as though she was speaking to a slow five-year-old.
To her surprise, the dress fit Louise perfectly. It was like it was custom-made especially for her. “That is so cool,” she breathed, excited.
“Would you like me to warm the dress up for you?” Anna asked as she extended her arm, confused.
“No, I just meant this is really nice. This will be classic.” Louise carefully chose her words. “We should take care of this one.” She ran her hands reverently over the delicate, sheer fabric. She had just seen a mesmerizing retrospective exhibit of Lucile designs at the Met Costume Institute in New York City. Each dress was so uniquely and beautifully crafted and painstakingly sewn, Louise thought she could still feel the love and emotion that went into each piece, even after all of those years.
“Yes, ma’am.” Anna nodded, giving Louise a curious look and handing her a ma
tching purple silk shawl. “You should take a wrap as well; the air is quite brisk.”
Louise was spritzed with some musky French perfume, powdered, and adjusted and, eventually, she was ready to go. She didn’t have to lift a finger; it was like being sent through a car wash.
Anna and Louise stepped out into the carpeted hallway. It looked like they were staying in a fancy hotel. The ivory-colored inlaid walls were lined with shiny brass light fixtures and sconces.
“Should we buy a ticket for the swimming pool?” Anna asked excitedly.
After experiencing exactly how unbelievably long it took for Miss Baxter to get dressed, Louise wasn’t quite as psyched about jumping into a pool. For the first time in her life, she had turned into one of those girls who didn’t want to get her hair wet.
“How about a stroll on the upper deck instead?” Anna suggested quickly, sensing Louise’s lack of enthusiasm.
“Perfect,” Louise piped up, relieved.
Anna led her down the hall to an old-fashioned elevator that was operated by a mustached man in a White Star uniform. “Where to, ladies?” he asked jovially.
“The upper deck, please,” Louise replied confidently, feeling fancy and sophisticated in her new dress.
They had elevators one hundred years ago? This boat was more amazing than any modern cruise ship she had ever known! He closed the wrought-iron gate and manually started the lift. “Going up.”
At this time of day, the ship’s decks were crowded with passengers taking leisurely walks and enjoying the sunlight. Children in woolen knickers and newsboy caps were running races up and down the deck and spinning tops on the wooden floorboards. Uniformed men were walking French poodles on long leashes. Women were strolling in small groups laughing and gossiping. She could get used to a life of leisure!
Looking around, Louise noticed that everyone seemed to be wearing hats. Men wore bowler hats or fancier silk top hats. Women wore much more elaborate hats with wide brims and long narrow plumes sticking out of them. Louise thought they looked really cool and decided she was going to try and bring back the fashion when she returned to school.
They passed a group of children laughing and playing a ring toss game.
“It must be past noon,” Anna said as she squinted up at the direct angle the sun was shining down on them. Glancing down at her bare wrist, Louise realized she never wore a watch because she always relied on her cell phone for the time. She was pretty clueless without it. Since her parents were so concerned about radiation, that was about all her phone was good for: a clock. She wondered where her cell was now—still in the pocket of her jean jacket on the hardwood floor of the vintage sale?
“Miss Baxter, I don’t see any other maids on the A Deck. People may think it’s a little odd for us to be walking together like this.”
“Really?” Louise asked, surprised that anyone would care. It seemed weird, since it felt like she was just hanging out with her friend.
“Miss Baxter! How lovely to see you out and about on this fine day,” an unfamiliar female voice called to her.
Louise slowly raised her head. She had forgotten that people who she had never seen in her life would recognize her and think she knew them. A young woman, wearing a sea foam green dress that flowed gracefully over her very pregnant belly and accessorized with a blinding amount of diamonds and sapphires, was waving at them. She was beautiful, with hazel eyes and a perfectly dainty nose and cherub pout. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old.
“Who is that woman?” Louise asked Anna under her breath.
“Madeleine Astor,” Anna whispered.
“Mrs. Astor,” Louise said in her most grown-up voice. “How do you do?”
“Just fine, thank you. This sea air does wonders for the spirit, don’t you find?” Mrs. Astor replied, without showing any inclination that she was having a conversation with a twelve-year-old girl. Her green-and-purple-feathered hat made her look like a proud peacock.
“Yes, it’s simply mahvelous,” Louise sang in a saccharine-sweet tone, trying to remember Anna’s lesson. She felt as though they were both actors in a play for which she didn’t know the lines. She had a feeling that if she didn’t end this conversation soon, she would be discovered as a phony. Her heart started racing.
“I’m sorry we can’t chat, but Anna and I must run,” Louise said. “We have an appointment with a mechanical horse, I believe.”
Anna giggled, and Louise bit her bottom lip so she wouldn’t laugh.
“Oh, I see. Do you have a session with that darling English chap, Mr. McCawley?” Mrs. Astor asked, eyeing Louise’s, or rather Miss Baxter’s, slim figure. “Although I don’t see why you need to be exercising at all. You’ll simply disappear. I see you are bringing your help with you?”
“I find exercising to be such a bore.” Louise forced a dramatic yawn. “But my friend Anna and I do love a good horseback ride, don’t you, Mrs. Astor?”
“I suppose,” she replied, giving them both a strange look.
“Ta-ta for now,” Louise called over her shoulder as she and Anna hastily continued down the deck, hardly able to suppress their giggles. But before they had walked more than a few feet, Louise doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach. She suddenly felt as if someone were wringing out her intestines like a wet towel.
“I’m going to be sick,” she moaned and ran over to the side of the boat. Then she promptly threw up. Anna held her hair back from her face and shielded her from the curious yet averted glances of the other passengers.
Sweating and weak, Louise lowered herself gingerly to the deck floor. She started crying; she couldn’t help it. Ever since she was a little girl, she cried every time she got sick. Suddenly she felt like she was five years old again. She wanted her mother.
Anna sat herself down on the floor next to Louise. “The first time I was on a boat I got really seasick, too. It’s just awful.”
“Yes,” Louise agreed. “That must be it. Seasickness…” But for some reason, she wasn’t completely convinced. Echoes of the stabbing pain she had felt in her stomach seconds ago lingered on. It reminded her of the time she had gotten food poisoning on vacation with Brooke’s family. At that moment, Louise wished that she were back in her own house curled up on the couch watching an old black-and-white movie.
Anna took a neatly folded handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to Louise so she could wipe her mouth. “At least it’s not windy,” she added with a chuckle. Despite her miserable state, Louise laughed, imagining what a mess she would be in right now if the wind had not been blowing in her favor.
They looked at each other and started laughing.
The clacking of shoes against the hard wooden planks gave the girls a start. They stifled their giggles and looked up as two passengers strolled by, arms linked, out for a romantic stroll. A fair-haired lady carrying a parasol glanced down as she passed, giving Louise and Anna a confused and snooty look.
The girls got up, and Anna led them toward the gymnasium. A little seasickness was not going to stop Louise from enjoying her fabulous day as this old-fashioned, glamorous actress.
“Wow, what a cool room,” Louise said while checking out the old-fashioned exercise bikes, rowing machines, and two strange contraptions that looked a lot like a camel and a horse. The floor was tiled white with black diamonds, and the oak wood paneling seemed more suited for a library than a gym. A brown leather punching bag was suspended from one of the exposed wooden ceiling beams in the center of the room.
“What on earth is this for?” Louise asked, pointing to the camel-like machine, perplexed.
“Exercise, of course.” Anna gave Louise a look like she was from Mars.
“Weird,” Louise remarked, realizing that Anna would probably have the same reaction if she came to the Fairview Sports Club and saw an elliptical trainer or a Pilates machine for the first time.
“Good morning, ladies,” a thick Cockney accent called out from behind one of the camels.
<
br /> The girls jumped, startled, having thought they were alone.
A sturdy, muscular little man emerged from behind the mechanical camel’s hind legs and walked over to Louise and Anna with an outstretched hand.
He was wearing a white polo shirt, white cotton shorts, and white sneakers, which offset his deep tan complexion. He had a toothbrush mustache like Charlie Chaplin, Louise’s favorite comic actor from the silent film era.
“I’m T. W. McCawley,” he said while shaking both of their hands vigorously.
“I’m Lou… I mean, I’m Miss Baxter.” Louise quickly corrected herself mid sentence. “And this is Anna, my friend.” Anna smiled at her new title.
“Jolly-o. Are you ready for some exercise? It’s been a slow morning; lazy chaps on this ship,” T. W. said, gesturing to the empty gymnasium. “Excuse my frankness, but it’s a shame to see this modern equipment sit idle.”
Louise and Anna nodded mutely in agreement.
“Well, you aren’t exactly dressed for exercise,” he observed, looking them over in their long dresses. “But I have yet to meet a dame who was. I suppose the rowing machine is out. And the swimming pool.”
“Oh, I’m on the swim team!” Louise blurted out. T. W. and Anna both looked at her, confused, and then T. W. started chuckling.
“Right, right, and I’m on the Olympic equestrian team,” he replied sarcastically.
Louise felt her face burn hot with indignation. She wasn’t lying. If Brooke were here, she would vouch for her. But then she realized that in this era maybe girls didn’t play team sports like they did one hundred years later.
“Perhaps I can interest you ladies in a camel ride? It’s like being in the Moroccan desert; you simply need to use a little imagination.” Louise could not believe this was the treadmill of the early twentieth century. And that she was about to exercise in a genuine Lucile dress.
“Yes, please,” Anna replied gleefully, hopping on the mechanical horse as though she had been doing it all her life.
Time-traveling Fashionista (9780316180580) Page 5
