Chapter 1 #2
“Which is impressive to be sure, but I doubt Velma’s pugilistic abilities will be very effective if they find themselves wandering into an area that’s unfit for young ladies. If you neglected to notice, I’ve made certain to keep us clear of any areas that seem even remotely questionable today.”
Coraline’s smile dimmed. “I wouldn’t think there are any questionable areas here as the advertisements we saw plastered around Chicago stated this fair was to be a family event.”
“And I’m sure whoever designed those advertisements did so with the belief that parents—or in your case, your instructor—would steer any children around dubious attractions such as the tent I saw that was selling large tankards of ale.
That tent was within feet of the mermaid attraction, which is why I said we couldn’t view the mermaid lady today. ”
Coraline glanced to Phoebe and Mabel. Some type of look was exchanged, one that probably had some kind of code attached to it, before she returned her attention to Annaliese.
“Given what you just said, which we were unaware of, maybe it would be for the best if we track down Norma Jean and Velma sooner than later to be on the safe side.” With that, Coraline turned on her heel and began barreling her way through the crowd, moving at a pace that was just shy of a full-out run, which caused the apprehension Annaliese was already experiencing to intensify.
Not wanting to lose track of any additional students in her charge, she grabbed hold of Phoebe’s and Mabel’s hands and bolted after Coraline.
“I don’t think there’s any need for this amount of exertion,” Phoebe muttered before she tried to take another bite of her turkey leg as they dodged their way through the fairgoers.
“Norma Jean makes a habit of meandering through the streets of Chicago, and she’s never run into more than a smidgen of trouble. ”
“It was more than a smidgen of trouble when she almost got abducted a few months back,” Mabel argued around the large mouthful of turkey she’d just taken.
“I forgot about the almost-abduction,” Phoebe admitted.
“Norma Jean almost got abducted?” Annaliese asked, even though what she really wanted to ask was if Mabel had been sleeping her way through all the table etiquette lessons of late because speaking with your mouth full had certainly been addressed, and numerous times at that.
Mabel swallowed and gave a wave of her turkey leg, which sent more grease flying.
“Indeed, and it all started when Norma Jean spotted a bright yellow phaeton.” Mabel bit off another piece of turkey, gave a few vigorous chews, and nodded.
“Normally such a sight wouldn’t herald an abduction attempt, but Norma Jean wasn’t satisfied with merely watching the phaeton trundle past. She decided she wanted to interview the man driving it because she’d been thinking about adding a phaeton into a play she was writing—you know she longs to become a playwright someday—which turned out to be a grave error in judgment on her part. ”
“In Norma Jean’s defense, she could have hardly known that the man tooling around in that phaeton had recently nicked it from Mr. Ogden’s front drive,” Phoebe argued before she chucked her partially finished turkey leg toward a rubbish bin.
After the leg made it into the bin, an impressive shot since they were moving at a rapid pace, Phoebe swiped a hand over her mouth, missing a piece of turkey that was stuck directly to the left of her lips.
“It was her fault, though, that after she stopped the phaeton by standing in front of it in the middle of the road, and after the driver told her to get out of his way, she made the monumental mistake of not taking that as a firm no and leapt up alongside the driver instead.”
Annaliese slowed their pace, and after checking to make certain that Coraline was still in sight, settled a frown on Phoebe. “Surely you’re mistaken and Norma Jean didn’t truly jump into a stranger’s phaeton, did she?”
“Not mistaken. That’s exactly what she did,” Phoebe said.
“And then, after Norma Jean settled herself next to the driver, policemen came barreling onto the scene, having been alerted about the phaeton theft by Mr. Ogden. They were apparently making an awful racket by blowing their whistles, and then they gave chase when the thief sped off down the road. That’s when Norma Jean realized she’d gotten herself into a pickle.
She then made the error of telling the thief she was from a wealthy family, and if he’d simply let her get out of the phaeton, she’d make sure he was well-compensated. ”
“And he, being a criminal, decided to hold her for ransom instead?” Annaliese asked.
“Too right he did, and who knows what would have happened to Norma Jean if Seth hadn’t arrived on the scene—not because he knew Norma Jean was in trouble, but because his attention had been drawn to the phaeton after he’d stepped out of a general store and saw it careening down the road.
He immediately jumped on his horse and took off after it because he’d evidently been itching to get a closer look at Mr. Ogden’s phaeton too. ”
“Norma Jean, thankfully, spotted her brother,” Mabel added before she tossed her eaten-to-the-bone turkey leg toward a bin and missed, but was suddenly all smiles when a strapping young lad picked it up for her, placed it in the bin, and then began sauntering their way.
He stopped in his tracks, though, when Annaliese sent him her stern look, which must have been sufficiently stern enough as he then turned in the opposite direction.
Grumpiness settled on Mabel’s face. “I must have misunderstood your lesson the other day, Miss Merriweather, because I thought you said that when a gentleman performs an act of chivalry for a lady, that said lady was expected to extend a prettily phrased word of thanks to that gentleman in return.”
“How reassuring to hear that you’ve at least been paying attention in a few of your lessons,” Annaliese said.
“However, since none of us have been introduced to that young gentleman, and we have no idea if he’s reputable or not, sending him that smile you sent him was a sufficient thank-you.
With that said, though, you might want to practice your smiles in the mirror as the one you just used might have been a tad too welcoming.
But returning to your story—what did Norma Jean do after she spotted Seth? ”
“She began yelling at the top of her lungs. Seth heard her, then went about the tricky business of rescuing her.”
“He used some new contraption he’d been working on,” Phoebe explained. “He’d apparently visited a ranch and decided ranch hands might find their job easier if they had a better way to lasso errant livestock. He then set about inventing a lasso that shoots out of the barrel of a pistol.”
Annaliese’s brow furrowed. “That would have to be some pistol as the rope needed to make a lasso would take up quite a bit of space.”
“It looks like a portable cannon,” Mabel admitted. “Seth just happened to have it attached to his saddlebag because he was heading back to that ranch for some target practice.”
“Turns out he got to practice before he reached the ranch,” Phoebe added. “From what was said, his invention—the cowboy assistant I think he calls it—worked like a charm, until . . .”
Annaliese’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me it burst into flames like the flame thrower he used a few months back, did it?”
“There were no flames involved,” Phoebe said. “But after he lassoed the thief, the mechanism that was supposed to retrieve the rope did so at a far greater speed than Seth was anticipating, which caused the lassoed thief to get pulled straight off his seat and out of the phaeton.”
“That,” Mabel continued, “left the phaeton without anyone holding the reins. Norma Jean told us that she saw her life flash before her eyes and was sure she wouldn’t live to see another adventure. But then Seth jumped from his horse into the phaeton and saved the day.”
Mabel released a rather dramatic sigh. “There’s just something about a man who knows how to rescue damsels in distress that makes a girl’s heart go pitter-patter.
” She heaved another sigh, this one more dramatic than the first. “But even though Seth is a swoon-worthy gentleman if there ever was one, we girls have come to realize that he might be a tad too old for us. We’ve also realized that, because of the age difference, he probably views us as children.
That right there explains why even though he’s very nice to us when we coerce Norma Jean into taking us over to his house to watch him work on his inventions, he never makes much of an attempt to speak to us about anything other than the invention he’s working on. ”
Phoebe released a snort. “I’m not sure watching is an apt way to describe what most of us do. Ogling would be a better way to phrase it.”
Mabel’s nose shot into the air. “Seems like you might benefit from studying up on lady codes as well, Phoebe, since letting Miss Merriweather know we might delve into ogling Seth McCormick every so often will surely leave her adding a whole lesson regarding the prohibition of ogling into our curriculum.”
“I’m sure Miss Merriweather understands our ogling since she’s probably not immune to Seth’s attractiveness, or charm for that matter, but . . .”
Phoebe suddenly stopped talking and began giving Annaliese a thorough perusal before she smiled. “Have you ever noticed, Mabel, exactly how beautiful Miss Merriweather is?”
Mabel came to a complete halt, jerking Annaliese and Phoebe to a stop as well. “On my word, but you’re right. She is quite beautiful.”
The hair on the nape of Annaliese’s neck began to tingle when Mabel and Phoebe settled overly bright smiles on her.
“Just imagine,” Phoebe began, “if Miss Merriweather and Seth, who is beautiful in his own right, were to make a match of it, how adorable any babies they might have would be.”
“Oh yes, adorable,” Mabel agreed.
Phoebe’s eyes began to sparkle in a more than concerning fashion as she tapped a finger against her chin, then nodded. “We’ll need to call a meeting of all of our friends just as soon as possible to plan out the particulars.”
“Particulars?” Annaliese forced herself to ask.
“Quite right, but no need to concern yourself with those, Miss Merriweather, as you’ll be in good hands with me and the rest of the girls.
” Phoebe sent her a knowing smile. “Why, you mark my words, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re capable of seeing you and Seth married off in no time, and probably before Christmas if we get right down to planning what will certainly be seen as Chicago’s greatest match of the year. ”