"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Like it's got th' cold creeps or somethin'." Her nose wrinkled up skeptically.
"Yeah, some books give you goose-pimples, this one's got 'em itself!" agreed Arabella.
"I think ya was just recitin' whacha memorized. Look here." Closing her eyes, she ran her fingers at random over the page.
"Ah broken is th' golden bowl! th' spirit flown ferever!
Let th' bell toll!--a saintly soul floats on th' Stygian river;
And, Gee De Vere, hast ya no tear?--weep now or never more!
See! on yon drear an' rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!"
Tully grinned proudly. "I can read now!"
The other two laughed. "Oh, Miss Nevada, you've caught me out in my subterfuge!" grinned Frances.
"But Tully, that was beautiful... what was that?" Arabella asked, tipping her head to the feminine looking young woman dressed in Mr Crabbe's old clothes. She didn't seem the type to recite.
"Poe?" asked the better-read Frances.
"No, poe-m," Tully explained, a little surprised that Arabella didn't know what that was. The girl seemed to be smart about things...or at least think she was smart about things...and if Tully knew poems, then certainly Arabella did. "Was told a few times by Miz Tully when she was readin' ta her youngsters." Tully shrugged. "Just seemed so sad an' tragic an' romantic all at once. Don' know who Miss Lenore was ta them, but she must'a been real special, that they made all that fancy talk 'bout her."
This was more than Tully usually talked in a week, but then, rabbits and mice weren't much for conversing! "We ought should make our own poem fer Miss Frances, somethin' fancy."
Trying her hand at it, she mused slowly, "Frances...pretty lady of th' night, tried ta get out from that tree with all her might!"
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"No, poe-m," Tully explained, a little surprised that Arabella didn't know what that was.
The other two girls laughed at that little jest. They were kind of giddy in each other's company, and would probably laugh at anything at this point.
"Was told a few times by Miz Tully when she was readin' ta her youngsters." Tully shrugged. "Just seemed so sad an' tragic an' romantic all at once. Don' know who Miss Lenore was ta them, but she must'a been real special, that they made all that fancy talk 'bout her."
Again, Arabella had to bit her lip and stop herself nosing into who exactly this 'Miz Tully' had been and why she had Miss Nevada's first name, and where all this reading had taken place. Curiosity was killing the cat, only satisfaction could revive her.
"Like a lot of Poe's heroines: very beautiful and very dead." opined Frances. "I think I'm with Arabella on this one, it doesn't pay well to dwell overly on the tragic past."
This was more than Tully usually talked in a week, but then, rabbits and mice weren't much for conversing! "We ought should make our own poem fer Miss Frances, somethin' fancy."
Trying her hand at it, she mused slowly, "Frances...pretty lady of th' night, tried ta get out from that tree with all her might!"
They all laughed at the ingenuity of the rhyme, and Arabella and Frances were too polite to point out the terrible scansion of the lines. Then, inevitably wanting the artistic limelight, Arabella tried her hand.
"How about:
A pretty young lady, Tull-ee
Found Frances right under a tree
She said 'don't pull me out
I enjoy it, no doubt
with a twiglet stuck in my fan-ee'"
The last word was drowned out my Miss Grimes objections of "Oh Arabella don't. It was very horrible under that thing. Thank goodness Tully came along like the Good Samaritan. My stick and my nice glasses that Mister Smith made are still under there."
"Oh don't you fret none, Franny, me 'n' Tulls'll go find them for you in the morning, won't we Tully?" she asked, subtly cementing the castaway girl into their little household by getting her to agree to help with little tasks here and there, sewing her into the fabric of their lives.
"Yeah..." Frowning, Tully nodded, then folding back up in the chair and staring into the fire again. "Once it's light, we can see better, ta find yer things."
That was it, she fell silent then, contemplating whether she was going to try to just sleep in the chair where she was, or maybe later she'd curl up on the floor by the fire, but at least it was dry for the night, and her own clothes would be dry, even if still a bit dirty.
Sighing, she closed her eyes, wondering what it was like to be blind, and wondering why someone who was blind needed glasses, but she wasn't going to ask, that would just be rude, and there already was enough rude here to go around.
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"Yeah..." Frowning, Tully nodded, then folding back up in the chair and staring into the fire again. "Once it's light, we can see better, ta find yer things."
Arabella nodded. "Imagine that, a whole tree fallin' over." she cooed. Then she clapped her hands. "All right. Time to turn in. Must be nearly one in the morning!" she yawned. She didn't think Tully fully trusted her entirely yet, so she put her hand on the blind girl's shoulder.
"Say Frances, can you show Tully to her room and get her a nightie? And remember she'll need a lamp to see what she's about." she asked "I'll wash up these things, can't stand comin' down to dirty dishes."
"Oh, of course" Miss Grimes squeaked, standing and realising how stiff and sore she was from her adventure: she'd sleep like a log tonight, a deep dreamless sleep. She held out her hand into the nothingness. "Come on, I'll show you up; it's the nicest room too. It used to be our friend Bridget's."
"Don't worry, she didn't die in it!" Arabella added quickly "She just got... took away." she added sadly.
Slowly, Tully stood, contemplating the words, 'Took away', and what that might mean. But it made her cautious that this was, indeed, some sort of trick, that they lured in young women, then locked them in rooms until someone could come 'take' them. Tully wasn't that gullible, and before she allowed herself to be closed in, she'd make sure she could get out a window or something.
"G'night," she muttered to Arabella as she followed Frances up the stairs, amazed at how easily the blind girl was able to navigate the house. For an instant, Tully closed her eyes, but almost immediately tripped on the stairs, even though she was already on them and knew that was the next step, so she gave up that pursuit.
"How long ya been here?" she asked Frances, "How long ya know Arabella?"
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"G'night," she muttered to Arabella as she followed Frances up the stairs, amazed at how easily the blind girl was able to navigate the house. For an instant, Tully closed her eyes, but almost immediately tripped on the stairs, even though she was already on them and knew that was the next step, so she gave up that pursuit.
"This is it, first right at the top" Frances said, moving her hand along the door jamb to get her bearings and then reaching accurately for the handle. Once inside and with a lamp wick turned up as brightly as possible, a rather childish and froo-froo girl's bedroom was illuminated to Tully's gaze. At least Arabella had removed the rather spooky china-faced stare-y eyed dolls from the room. They were just creepy. Bridget had only been allowed to take one with her, the one-eyed Belinda.
"I'll get you a nightie." Frances said and walked confidently across the room and when she reached the chest of drawers felt about it, finding the shape and then went straight to the middle drawer. She pulled out a gauzy, semitransparent number with all sorts of pink ribbons and bows festooned all over it. Frances felt the fabric between her fingers and noticed the decorations.
"This doesn't feel like you" Frances smiled. She put it over her arm and pulled out a thick, plain utilitarian feeling flannelette nightshirt. "Better?" she asked, holding it out, her face facing Tully but her eyes all over the place.
Once relieved of the plain item of clothing, she held up the fancy one. "Maybe I should put this one on and show Arabella for a joke!" she giggled, quite unaware of just how sheer the risqué nightie was.
"It's real pretty," Tully commented, her nose wrinkled up, "but I reckon ya'd get mighty cold in it." Heck, it was hardly clothing, and certainly not worth bothering with. "It's pretty...whispy," she tried to explain as she started peeling off her clothing, knowing that Frances wouldn't see anything, not that there was anything to see!
"Frances...is that Arabella supposed ta be yer friend? Why's she so mean to ya?" She pulled the nighty over her head, savoring the soft, warm fabric. "Teasin' ya 'bout that boy, an' yer friends, an' havin' ya read that part in th' Bible."
If Arabella was the example of a friend, Tully could very well do without that, but then, she avoided friends anyway, especially since there really wasn't that much of an opportunity to meet people when one did what they could to avoid them! But she liked Frances, and the way Arabella was treating her made her uncomfortable, and it made her feel bad for Frances.
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"It's real pretty," Tully commented, her nose wrinkled up, "but I reckon ya'd get mighty cold in it." Heck, it was hardly clothing, and certainly not worth bothering with. "It's pretty...whispy," she tried to explain as she started peeling off her clothing, knowing that Frances wouldn't see anything, not that there was anything to see!
"Oh that's true! I don't want to catch cold!" A true child of her times, Frances had a horror of influenza. She neatly folded the déshabillé garment and put back exactly where she had found it: so she could find it again if needed, although she realy couldn't think why else she would wear such a thing except as a joke.
Then, out of the blue, the rough and ready street waif asked the blind girl a question.
"Frances...is that Arabella supposed ta be yer friend?"
Frances tipped her head. "That is a curious question. Why do you ask?"
"Why's she so mean to ya?" She pulled the nighty over her head, savoring the soft, warm fabric. "Teasin' ya 'bout that boy, an' yer friends, an' havin' ya read that part in th' Bible."
Frances had heard the first and the last jibes but didn't know about the middle part.
"I suppose she told you I've only got four friends!" Frances laughed gently. "Mister Flandry and Miss Mundee at the saloon would protect me with there lives I think, and Marshall Guyer has been more than kind. As for Mister Vaughn, I'm afraid Arabella is mistaken there, as was I. But it was a mistake I enjoyed while it lasted" she smiled with wistful philosophy. "Working at the saloon one hears many wagging tongues, you may be sure, and one wagged that he has left town with another lady."
So much for shy Mister Vaughn. Maybe not as shy as she had thought.
"But there is another person..." suddenly Miss Grimes lifted her hand in the air for Tully to take, as if what she was about to speak of something holy that called for physical communion. "...you see, Tully, I believe that God sends burdens to those He really loves, to help them, to help them refine their souls, as it were. Most people think my burden is blindness..." she shook her head "... it isn't. Blindness is just my life. My burden is guilt... and loneliness."
"But Arabella has burdens too. She is an orphan; she has a habit of teasing and tormenting those she really loves, I don't know why: just needs their attention, wants to test their friendship, a sense of humorous conspiracy? It doesn't matter. The plain fact is; I was lonely, and she loves me and now I am no longer lonely. It is as simple as that."
She did not mention the other burden that she suspected her housemate carried, one she guessed at, but did not pry about.
"Just don't seem like there's no call ta let someone treat ya like that." Tully shrugged, taking the girl's hand and giving it a squeeze. Of course, Tully had no problem being alone, and in fact, rather would be alone than treated the way Arabella treated Frances. And it made her wonder what the nasty little harridan was saying about her, and if her 'charity' in offering her a place to stay was just a way to find out more ways that she could mock Tully to others.
"She treated me like that, I'd smack her one!" Tully declared, "no mind that she's got her troubles. Ya got yer own, an' troubles, an' she should know that." Then she chuckled. "Second time she done that ta me, I'd surely send her right to th' floor with her jaw so sore she won't be able ta talk fer a week!"