And then everything happened at once. Melinda dashed over, knocking me out of the way. The gun went off, and she and I collapsed to the floor. The front door flew open and Winston raced in, teeth bared and snarling. He leapt onto Liz, knocking her to the floor. Matthew appeared in the doorway, followed by Marnie, who was brandishing her purse like a weapon.
I was still on the floor when I noticed Liz’s gun a few feet away. I scrambled for it and jumped to my feet, pointing it at Liz. But I needn’t have worried. Winston was standing on her chest, his face inches from hers, and growling.
“Get him off me,” she screamed. “He’s going to kill me.”
“Winston, you stay right where you are,” Matthew ordered. “Liz, you move so much as an inch and if he doesn’t kill you, I swear I will. Della, you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said, and then he noticed the blood all over my torn dress.
“Shit! You’re bleeding.” He grabbed my arms, as if to prevent me from collapsing, his eyes filled with panic.
“It’s not me. It’s Melinda.” I had crawled through the blood as I’d reached for the gun. She was lying on her back, her face a ghostly white, a pool of blood spreading around her.
“Call an ambulance, and the police,” he said to Marnie, who was already on the phone, giving the address. I rushed to the kitchen and picked up a stack of dish towels.
Back in the living room, Matthew was inspecting Melinda’s injury. “The good news is the bullet went clear through one side and out the other. Hopefully it didn’t touch any vital organs.” He sounded worried. He rolled her on her side and I stuffed a bunch of towels against the bleeding, while he did the same on the exit wound.
“When will that damn ambulance get here?” Marnie said. “I called them ages ago.” In reality it hadn’t been five minutes, and I could already hear sirens in the distance. Moments later, the ambulance arrived, followed by three police cars. Uniforms kept appearing in the doorway until the small room was crawling with cops.
“It’s okay, Winnie. You can get off now,” Matthew said. Liz looked almost relieved when the police pulled her to her feet and snapped the cuffs onto her wrists. As they escorted her out the door, she was yelling about knowing her rights and demanding her lawyer, until she was unceremoniously shoved into the back of the police cruiser. Meanwhile the ambulance attendants were working on Melinda.
“Blood pressure eighty over fifty,” yelled one of them. “Pulse, one hundred and twenty. Respirations, twenty-two. Get an IV going and get me an EKG. We’re losing her.”
They rushed about, trying to save her life, and finally one of them said, “She’s stabilizing. Let’s get her to the hospital.” They lifted the stretcher and hurried out.
“Will she be all right?” I asked.
“She’s young and strong,” Marnie said. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Della?” I tore my eyes away from Melinda. Standing in front of me was Officer Lombard. “How did I know you’d be involved?”
From the hallway, her partner called out, “Looks like Melinda was the museum robber. I just found the evidence.”
“No, she wasn’t,” I said angrily. “It was Liz. She admitted everything to Bunny and me.”
“In that case, how do you explain this?” He was standing by the open closet, pointing at a large primitive painting—Bunny’s painting. On the floor was a package I recognized as the one that had contained Marnie’s flag.
My eyes sought out Matthew’s. He was looking at me with such relief. That’s when it hit me and my eyes watered.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine, because of you. If you hadn’t come in right when you did, Bunny, Melinda, and I would be dead.” As I said this, tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he said, gathering me in his arms. “You know I couldn’t let anything happen to you. I need you in my life.”
I pulled away and looked up at him. “You need me?”
He wiped a tear away with his thumb. “Who else am I going to worry about if I can’t worry about you?”
“Does that mean you . . . you . . .” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word.
“Love you?” he said. He brought his thumb and index finger close together. “Maybe just a little bit.” And then he kissed me.
Weaving Tips
An Easy Beginner Project
Of all the possible weaving projects a beginner can choose from, my favorite is place mats. Not only are they easy to make and fast to complete, but a place mat is an item everyone can enjoy for years to come. For those reasons, or perhaps just because I love a pretty table, even after many weaving projects, they remain my favorite item to make and one of my favorite gifts to give.
I’ve made many different place mats over the years. I made one set from fine linen thread, resulting in a finely woven cloth, appropriate for a more formal table setting. Others I made of thick acrylic yarn, perfect for informal meals. But my all-time favorite is a set I made from some discarded blue-and-white toile curtains. If this is your first weaving project, this trick might be perfect for you.
When working with fabric, printed cotton curtains are prettiest. Here are the steps to preparing your cotton fabric.
1. Press your fabric panels so they are perfectly smooth and lay them flat.
2. Following the length of the fabric, cut strips one and a half inches wide.
3. Once you’ve cut up all the fabric, sew the strips together end to end, until you have one very long strip.
4. Fold the edges in on both sides of the strip so that the edges meet at the center of the strip. Carefully iron the folded result so that you have a strip of fabric showing the right side of the printed fabric on both sides.
5. Fold again, this time along the center of the strip, so that the pressed edges join each other in the center. You should now have no unfinished edges showing. Iron again. By now your strip should be about three-eighths of an inch wide, which will be perfect for a weft yarn.
6. You will need a normal cotton yarn for your warp. (The warp is the taut yarn through which another yarn travels under and over to form the weave. In this case, your cotton strips will be your weft.)
7. Next, decide on how many place mats you want to make, and also their width and length. Then weave a small sample to determine the number of threads you will need to use for your warp in order to achieve the width you desire.
8. Once you’ve dressed your loom with the number of warp threads you need, you are ready to start.
Tip: When you make place mats out of different yarns, keep the following in mind: Place mats will likely get dirty with food stains. You can use bleach on white cotton and linen, but not on colors, and not on acrylics. Those spaghetti-sauce stains might be difficult to remove from light colors. On the other hand, bright, bold colors can camouflage many a nasty stain.
If you follow these simple steps, whatever project you weave will give you years of joy.
Happy weaving!
Carol Ann Martin
About the Author
Carol Ann Martin is a pen name used by author Monique Domovitch for Obsidian. Monique is a former television personality who divides her time between San Diego and the Canadian coast. She lives with her husband and their ever-expanding collection of dogs. When she is not writing, Carol Ann enjoys baking and beekeeping.
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