by Kate Whitsby
The Goodkind family kept the door of their house open until the last glimmer of light left the sky. When the darkness outside matched the darkness in the house, they shut the door and lit their candles and, occasionally, a lamp.
Alma put a platter of tortillas and roasted meat on the table. Grilled chiles and chunks of prickly-pear cactus in another bowl completed their evening meal. The sisters sat down at the table with their father. After he mumbled a simple blessing, a storm of reaching arms and hands followed before anyone said anything.
Each person took a tortilla, scooped meat and vegetables into it with a spoon, and ate the wrapped package with bare fingers.
After an interval of chewing, Allegra broke the silence. “So, what are you going to wear to the church?”
Alma finished the mouthful she was chewing and swallowed. “I was thinking about Mama’s wedding dress. It’s in the bottom of that trunk over there. That is, if Papa doesn’t have any objection.”
Allegra glanced at her father. “Are you sure it will fit you? You’re taller than Mama by a mile, I’d say.”
“I’ll let it out,” Alma told her.
“You—let it out!” Allegra snorted. “I haven’t seen you with a needle and thread in your hand since…well, since before Papa had his accident.”
“That’s only because I haven’t had time to sew,” Alma replied. “It doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to do it. I know how to do it, and it will be a lot easier to let out Mama’s dress than to buy or make another one.” She looked at her father. “You don’t mind, do you, Papa?”
Clarence disguised his hesitation behind chewing his food. “I don’t mind. It’s been sitting in the bottom of that trunk since your mother died. Someone might as well wear it. I think she would be very happy if Alma was married in it.”
Alma choked back the urge to sigh with relief. She hadn’t actually thought about what she’d wear to the church until Allegra asked her. “We’ll get it out after supper and have a look at it. I’ll try it on and see what it needs to make it fit me. I might get lucky and only need to lengthen the skirts a little bit”
The family chewed a while longer.
“I thought you would want a dress all of your own,” Amelia remarked. “I don’t think I could get married in a dead woman’s dress, even if she was my own mother. That would be more like going to a funeral than a wedding.”
“I thought about that,” Alma replied. “But just think how much it would cost to buy a new dress. And then there’s the problem of having it fitted for me. I don’t even know anyone in town who could make one. We aren’t going into Eagle Pass before the wedding. Even if someone had one ready-made, I’d have to buy it, put it on, pray to heaven it fit me properly, and then scoot off to the church in time to meet Jude. It wouldn’t work.”
“If I was going to get married,” Amelia announced. “I would plan in advance to have a dress made. I’d order it from San Antonio, if I had to.”
“You would?” Allegra put in. “You’d get a dress made—with what money? How would you pay for it? And how would you pay the money to travel up to San Antonio to get measured and fitted for the dress? Alma’s right. It wouldn’t work.”
“I’d find a way to make it work,” Amelia insisted. “I’d find a way to get myself a wedding dress. You don’t want to play fast and loose with your own wedding.”
“I’m not playing fast and loose,” Alma shot back. “There’s nothing fast and loose about wearing your mother’s wedding dress. It makes the dress into a tradition handed down from mother to daughter. I could hand the dress down to my own daughter when she gets old enough to get married.”
“I think it’s wonderful that you’re all thinking about getting married,” Clarence told them.
“I’m not thinking about getting married,” Allegra shot back.
“Fine,” Clarence snapped. “You’re not thinking about getting married. You’re just talking about it. And it’s wonderful that you all have different ideas about how to do it. You can each do it in your own way. There’s no right or wrong way to get married.”
“Except when you don’t,” Allegra persisted. “I’m not getting married.”
Clarence Goodkind let out an exasperated gasp. He threw up him hands and slapped them down flat on the table. “Yeah, you said that already. You’re not getting married.” He kicked his chair out from under him and stalked away from the table to his chair by the fire.
Alma exchanged glances with her sisters. They continued eating in silence until Alma wiped the juice from the meat platter with the last tortilla. “Let’s go get Mama’s dress out and have a look at it.”
Allegra gathered up the dishes from the table and washed them in the kettle of water boiling on the fire as Alma and Amelia slid the heavy wooden trunk away from the wall and threw back the lid.
Amelia sat on the nearest bed, which just happened to be Allegra’s, while Alma unpacked the trunk. She laid one wrinkled article of clothing after another on the bed next to Amelia until she reached the very bottom.
“Here it is,” she announced.
She reached all the way down to the bottom and lifted out a faded white gown with lace around the bodice and ribbon ruffles on the front of the skirt. She hung it from a nail in the rafter and smoothed it down. Amelia watched her, studying the dress. “You’re right. It’s a beautiful dress. I’d forgotten what it really looked like.”
Alma measured it with her eye. “I think it will be long enough, too. I’ll try it on, just to make sure.”
“You’ll be stunning in it,” Amelia told her. “I’m sorry for what I said about playing fast and loose. Now that I look at it, I wouldn’t mind getting married in it myself.”
Alma raised her eyebrows. “You’re not thinking of getting married, too, are you?”
Amelia shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking about it at all until you brought it up. Now that you’re getting married, I just might.”
Alma burst into a happy grin. “You’d look beautiful in this dress, too. I would love it if you got married, too. I don’t want to be the only married one of the three of us, and Allegra is pretty adamant that she isn’t going to get married.”
“No, I’m not.” Allegra came over from the fireplace, drying her hands on a towel. “I’m certain of that.”
“You might change your mind,” Amelia suggested. “Forever’s a long time. You never know what might happen.”
Allegra shook her head. “No. You two can get married. I’m staying free. I’ll keep working the ranch while you two stay home and mind the children.”
“You’ll work the ranch—along with our two husbands?” Amelia asked. “That could be tricky. What if the men won’t ride with you? What if they want you to stay home, too, while they run the ranch?”
A shadow crossed Allegra’s face, but she shrugged it away. “I won’t let that happen. This is my ranch more than theirs. I have more right to work it than they do. If they can’t become used to that idea, then this isn’t the place for them.”
“Don’t you think Amelia and I would have something to say about that?” Alma asked. “You’re not suggesting you’d drive both of us and our husbands and children away, just so you could work the ranch alone, are you?”
Allegra stiffened. “I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just saying that I’m not going to give up working the ranch just because you two decided to get married. I hope you both make certain your husbands understand that. Otherwise, we’re going to have a problem here.”
“Don’t worry,” Amelia replied. “I’m not getting married. I’m still going to work the ranch with you. I just never really thought about it until Alma decided to get married. It’s not a half bad idea, anyway. But I’m not getting married, either.”
“And,” Alma added. “I’m not giving up working the ranch just because I’m getting married. I told Jude he can expect all three of us to keep working the same way we always have. I think I can be pretty sure he won’t just walk in and start taking over. All three of u
s will make certain that doesn’t happen. He better wake up early in the morning and pack a lunch if he wants to get the jump on us.”
Allegra laughed. “Alright. Just so we all understand each other. Now, quick! Change into the dress so we can see it on you.”
Chapter 5