Betsy bounded in from playing outdoors, with Rover following closely. “I heard the music. It sounds so pretty!”
“Thank you,” Otis said.
Mother appeared. “Do I hear that dog scampering around in here?”
“Sorry, Mother,” Betsy answered and shooed the dog outside.
“Betsy,” Mother warned, “you know Rover can’t be here in the parlor. Please try to do better.”
“I will.” She shut the door behind Rover.
“That dog has taken up the worst habit of coming in the house,” Katherine said.
“He does that because he loves me,” Betsy informed her. “He wants to be where I am.”
“That’s all well and good, but as far as I’m concerned, he belongs outdoors,” Mother reminded her.
“I know. I’ll do my best to keep him outside.” Betsy scampered to where Miranda sat and took a place beside her. She fingered Miranda’s charm bracelet. “Did you get the charm from Egypt yet?”
“Not yet.” Miranda smiled. “I am hoping Aunt Tilly can find one in the shape of a pyramid, but of course such a trinket might not be available.”
“I hope she finds one. I know it will be pretty if she does.”
“Speaking of pretty, what are you going to do for the talent show?”
“Tap dance.”
“Oh, that sounds nice.”
“Mother is going to play for me.” Betsy turned a sunny expression to Otis. “Are you ready to play in the talent show?”
“I’m not sure. I may not be here.”
Betsy’s chin nearly hit her chest. “Why not?”
“This is news to me, too, Otis,” Mother pointed out.
“Oh, please stay, Otis!” Betsy implored.
“I think you should, especially now that I’ve heard you play. You’re so wonderful with music!” Miranda added. “I just don’t know what we would do without you in the talent show. Why, I told everyone at church how talented I know you to be, and they’re all eager to hear you perform.”
“Is that so?” Otis’s chest puffed.
“That’s so.” Miranda batted her eyelashes in his direction. “Oh, please say you’ll stay.”
Otis paused, much to Katherine’s amusement. He was playing up his act for all it was worth.
“Please?” Miranda and Betsy asked in unison.
“Oh, all right.” Otis smiled.
“Yay!” Betsy clapped her hands. “So will you play another song for me?”
Since Miranda never professed to Otis that Katherine could play the piano, Katherine had nothing to prove. She felt as relaxed as she could considering that, as she practiced her song, she still felt Otis’s eyes watching her. As they continued, she missed a few easy notes and soon realized she wasn’t up to form, but they made progress on the musical number. After a half hour, she felt satisfied that they had accomplished as much as could be expected for one day.
“Why don’t we call it a day on this music?” Katherine ventured.
“So soon? I was enjoying the show,” Miranda objected, though not with vigor.
“Perhaps you will see your way clear to watching us rehearse tomorrow,” Otis suggested.
“That is a thought.” Miranda smiled. “You’ve done very well. If I may be so bold, I’m wondering if you might like to take a break and let me entertain you with a song.”
“Absolutely!” Otis said. “Will you allow me to accompany you on the piano?”
“That would be my pleasure.”
“Your request? Perhaps ‘Hello, My Baby.’ ”
“That’s a popular song, indeed, but hardly one that suits my voice.”
“What was I thinking? Of course that wouldn’t be a suitable tune for your feminine voice.”
“Do you know ‘Havanaise’ from the first act of Carmen?”
“You have certainly named a challenging song,” Vera observed.
“Indeed it is, and I’m not sure I can do Miranda justice with my accompaniment, but I shall try,” Otis said.
Miranda took in a breath and executed the difficult operatic number without a flaw. Such was her skill that even Mother stopped her work long enough to enter the room to hear Miranda sing. When she completed the number, the resulting applause from everyone in the room was genuine.
“I think we could give the others some competition at the talent show,” Otis said.
“I think we could.” Miranda giggled, then composed herself. “Present company excluded, of course.”
Otis glanced at the others. “Of course.”
Somehow, he didn’t sound convincing.
❧
Horses’ hooves pounded against Maryland dirt as the Bagleys’ buggy journeyed to the Sharpes’ farm after rehearsal.
“Christopher Bagley, you certainly are not very good company today.” Sitting in the seat beside him, Vera poked him in the ribs.
“Ouch!”
“Sorry. I don’t know my own strength.”
“Sure you don’t.” Christopher rubbed the place in his side where Vera’s elbow had prodded. “Another one of those and I won’t be able to sing.”
“As if you can concentrate with Katherine around.”
“I’ll only permit you to say such a thing since you are like a sister to me, Vera.”
“I’m so glad that’s what you think. Someone has to tell you to wake up and hear the rooster crow.”
He glanced at the unsightly curves of the horses’ rumps, their hindquarters moving back and forth in rhythm, and the trees that lined the path. Anything to keep from facing Vera—and the truth she was bound to reveal.
“I know what you were thinking,” Vera continued, undeterred. “You were thinking that Otis was too much competition for you. Well, if you can’t see after the way he treated her today that he is totally and completely out of the picture, then you need a good whack between the eyes with a frying pan.”
“And you think you’re just the one to do it?” Christopher teased as they turned into the drive.
“Someone has to!”
“Maybe you should tell Katherine what you just told me and see what she has to say about it.” As soon as he uttered the dare, he regretted his words. What if Vera called his bluff and really did tell Katherine? What then? He cleared his throat. “Uh, if you have a right mind to. But I think she’d laugh in your face.”
“Cry with relief is more like it. I know she’s sorry she pulled all those stunts just to protect Miranda.”
Christopher brought the buggy to a stop in front of the Sharpe house.
“It’s a shame Miranda planned such a scheme.” Vera’s feet hit the ground, and she let go of Christopher’s hand after he assisted her in disembarking. “Truly a crying shame. Katherine really is talented.”
“I wish she had said something to Otis right off the bat, though, instead of waiting,” Christopher said.
“We both tried to encourage Miranda to be honest once we found out what happened,” Vera said. “But you should have seen her let loose with the tears. She put on quite a performance to keep us both involved in her plan.”
Christopher nodded. “Knowing Miranda’s penchant for drama, I don’t doubt it a bit.”
“I think Katherine has learned her lesson about the limits of friendship. I know I have.”
Ten
Four days later, Katherine peered through her kitchen window. She watched Vera dismount from her bicycle and lay it on the ground near the porch. “Is it time for rehearsal again?” They had been practicing often over the past few days. Katherine enjoyed the time she spent near Christopher, but she never admitted that fact to anyone. Not even Vera.
Mother dried a drinking glass. “Yes, it must be. I thought you said they’d be over directly after lunch. They’re right on time.”
Betsy entered. “Mother, may I go to the general store and buy some candy?”
“I don’t know.” Mother eyed her. “I had no idea you had so much extra money. Aren’t you saving up for Christmas?”
<
br /> “Yes, but I have two extra pennies I can spare. Please?”
“Well, you’ve done a good job with your chores lately. I suppose you can go, but take Rover with you.”
Betsy smiled and ran out the door, almost running into Vera.
Sheet music in hand, Vera rushed into the house. “Hello, Mrs. Jones.”
“Hello, Vera. Nice to see you again.” Mother set the glass in the proper place in the cabinet.
Vera nodded, and Katherine noticed her breath came in shallow and fast spurts. “Katherine. Are the others here yet?”
“Not yet.”
“At least we don’t have to worry about Otis, since he’s right here.”
Katherine shook her head. “No, he isn’t.”
Vera’s nose wrinkled. “Whatever do you mean?”
“I haven’t seen Otis all morning. He didn’t have lunch with us. How about you, Mother? He tells you everything. Have you seen him lately?”
“I haven’t, as a matter of fact. You know, he doesn’t talk much to me anymore.” Mother eyed Vera. “I declare, it looks to me like there’s been some sort of spat, but Katherine won’t tell me a thing for love or money. Now, you wouldn’t happen to know about any unfortunate event that might have transpired, would you, Vera?”
“Oh, dear, Mrs. Jones, you are putting me in quite a pickle.”
“That’s what I thought.” Mother rubbed her dish towel in a vigorous circular motion against a defenseless plate. “Hopefully one day she’ll see fit to confide in me.”
“If I hadn’t had a spat with him before, I’d certainly have a right to now,” Katherine noted, handing her mother a newly washed plate. “You’d think since he is staying right here with us that he could be on time for practice. But I suppose not.”
“If his lack of punctuality at the past two rehearsals are any indication of his dedication to our cause, he may not show up at all,” Vera opined. “I wonder why? He seemed so enthusiastic about performing in the talent show before.”
“I think I can guess. I have a feeling he’s practicing a number for the talent show with Miranda,” Katherine noted.
“Really?” Mother nearly dropped her plate. “I admit they made a wonderful team the other day when he played the piano and she sang such a lovely opera number. But what about you? Does he plan to leave you out in the cold?”
“No, I think he plans to be part of our act,” Katherine answered. “I just believe he thinks he’s so good he doesn’t need to practice.” Having completed her task, she squeezed water out of the dishrag. “And we have all noticed how he’s been absent from the house lately.”
“He did go fishing with your father yesterday, so of course we didn’t see him much,” Mother reminded her.
“Yes, he has developed quite a fondness for fishing, I must admit,” Katherine said.
Mother placed a spoon in the drawer. “And that’s to our advantage, too. I’ve enjoyed eating fish more often since he’s taken up the hobby.”
“I’m not surprised to hear you take up for him, Mother. He does love to flatter you.” Katherine untied her apron.
“Katherine! You are being mighty hard on poor Otis.”
Father chose that moment to return from his errand at the general store. “What’s this about poor Otis?”
“We were discussing his unexplained absences from the house lately,” Mother informed him.
Father set down his sack of goods and gave Mother a quick kiss on the cheek. “Yes, I’ve noticed that, too. Didn’t want to make mention of it, though. Wonder what’s gotten into that boy?”
Katherine gave Father her rapt attention. She could tell by his voice inflection that he had some idea. But to her disappointment, he only took a seat at the table and made no further effort to reveal his notion to them.
Vera cleared her throat. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, Katherine, but Lily said he’s been at the Hendersons a lot lately.”
“The Hendersons?” Mother asked. “Whatever is the attraction there?”
“So I was right after all.” Father chuckled. “I believe her name is Miranda.”
“Well, of all things! To think he’d abandon our beautiful Katherine for the likes of Miranda Henderson!”
Katherine tossed her apron on the peg fashioned just for that purpose. “Oh, he didn’t abandon me, Mother. He and I were never more than acquaintances who enjoyed a vigorous exchange of letters.”
“But I thought his real intention of visiting us here was a desire to court you,” Mother protested.
“Maybe it was, at first. And maybe I thought a little bit about the idea myself, just in passing, mind you. But long ago, I decided I didn’t want to take things further with him.”
“Really?” Father prodded.
“Really. I have no desire to live so far away. If I moved to South Carolina, I’d hardly ever see you at all. And Otis doesn’t live on a beautiful farm. I don’t know that I’d like living in a city like Charleston so much. Why, Hagerstown is too big for me.”
“You do have a point,” Mother said. “I don’t want you to move, either. But I do want you to be happy.”
“Me, too,” Vera added.
Katherine’s heart warmed to hear those closest to her express their fondest wishes for her welfare. “I have discovered that Otis does not hold the key to my happiness.”
Father grinned. “I think Christopher is practicing with Katherine more than necessary for a church talent show.”
So Father had noticed! Could it be so? “Oh, but it’s a complicated number,” Katherine explained.
Vera giggled.
“Well, I certainly don’t object if he wants to spend a little extra time with you. I’ve always liked Christopher. I had no idea you weren’t interested in Otis. I’m like your mother. I thought the possibility of a courtship was the reason he made the trip up here to start with.”
Katherine sighed. “Well, maybe at one time I thought Otis was exciting. And maybe he is. But he just doesn’t hold any romantic interest for me. And now that I think about it, I doubt that he ever did.”
❧
“Did you enjoy the revival meeting?” Mother asked Otis and Katherine as they talked around the kitchen table after the first meeting.
“Yes. The pastor was wonderful,” Otis said.
“But not as wonderful as our pastor,” Katherine added.
“I’m glad you didn’t make me go,” Betsy opined, looking up from her book.
The clock chimed nine times.
“That reminds me,” Otis said, “My pocket watch has been running slow. Let me see how it’s doing.” He reached into his vest pocket. A stricken look crossed his features.
“What’s the matter, Otis?” Katherine asked.
He didn’t answer right away but patted around his vest pocket. “It’s not here.”
“What?”
Otis patted more frantically. “My money clip. It’s gone!”
“Gone?” Mother asked. “Are you sure you had it?”
“I never leave home without it.”
Betsy, Katherine, Otis, and Mother searched the house for the money clip, even eliciting Father’s help. The clip was nowhere to be found.
“Someone must have taken it at church,” Otis concluded.
“Otis, do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Why would anyone at church take your money clip?” Mother said.
“Why indeed?” Father noted, “Although I’m sure no one at church took it. When did you see it last, Otis?”
“Actually, I didn’t have it at church, come to think of it. I slipped my offering in my pants pocket and left my money clip here.”
A collective sigh could be heard in the kitchen.
“Let me check my room now.” He returned moments later. His face looked pale. “It’s not there.”
“What do you mean, it’s not there?”
“It’s not on the table where I left it.”
“Then where could it be?”
“I don’t hav
e any notion. I must have dropped it somewhere.” Katherine could see by Otis’s demeanor that he didn’t think any of them took it.
“This means you won’t be able to leave, right?” Betsy asked, her eyes wide. “Maybe you can stay with us forever?”
“Oh, I think I shall wear out my welcome long before eternity.” Otis chuckled. “But I am charmed by your sentiment all the same. Besides, I can always have more money wired.”
“Never you mind about that, Otis,” Mother said. “You are our guest, and we’ll take care of you. One way or another.”
“I’m sure we’ll resolve this matter soon. Why don’t we keep looking? Perhaps I dropped it on the floor.”
The family scoured the house to no avail.
“I can’t imagine what happened, Otis.” Mother said.
“I’m so sorry,” Father added.
“No, I beg your pardon for causing you worry,” Otis said. “It is far too late now to vex ourselves any longer about it. No doubt the money clip will show itself in the light of day. Maybe in the yard.”
“Maybe,” Katherine agreed. “I hope so.”
❧
The money clip did not show itself in the yard or anywhere else the following day in spite of continued efforts to find it.
“This visit certainly has started to see its share of odd circumstances,” Otis noted. “First I find I’ve been deceived, then my money clip turns up missing. I’m almost afraid to speculate on what might happen next.”
“I understand why you’re upset, Otis,” Katherine told him. “I would be, too, if my money were missing. But there’s nothing we can do about it except keep looking and praying.”
Otis let out a harrumph. “All the same, I’ll send away for funds from home. They should arrive soon.”
Despite Otis’s grumpy manner, Katherine felt sorry for him. No matter what, he didn’t deserve to lose his money. She had an idea what might have happened to it but didn’t feel at peace about confronting the person who might have been the perpetrator. That would have to wait until the right time.
The following day, practice for the talent show went well, especially since Otis had decided to grace them with his presence. They ran through their performance several times without any noticeable flaws. For once, Katherine felt as though they might be recognized with a prize at the talent show.
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