Best Friends (6 page)

Nikki Sherman was pedaling fast. She liked the stretch of road that led from the end of her drive, through the countryside, and into Camden Falls, and she was happy for an opportunity to ride her bicycle to Needle and Thread. The sun warmed her hair, making it smell of moss and wildflowers and springtime. On either side of the road, oaks and maples dipped their branches in the breeze, their new leaves a haze of green against the gold of the sun. Nikki felt as if she were flying along through a dreamworld.

She reached the top of a small hill and, as soon as she was coasting fast enough, stuck her legs out straight as she sailed toward the bottom. She considered removing her hands from the handlebars but decided against that, remembering the cautionary tale her mother had often told her and Tobias and Mae about the time when she was eight and decided to coast down a hill with her hands held high — and wound up falling off the bike and breaking her wrist. The thought zipped through Nikki's mind — a blip only — and she turned to other matters, her hands gripped firmly around the bars.

It was a fine Sunday, and Nikki had left a happy household behind. By making a down payment provided by Mrs. DuVane, who was a high school classmate of Nikki's mother and who periodically stepped in (not always tactfully) to help out the Shermans, Nikki and her family were now the owners of their first computer. Nikki was excited, although she did not think that buying things over time was a safe way to shop. She knew too well that payments could mount up and bills could become overwhelming. But her mother had insisted, saying that while she was grateful to Mrs. DuVane for the down payment, she was determined to provide for her family. Nikki could hear her unspoken words as well — that her mother was determined to do what her father had not done.

In any case, the computer was going to be a great help with Mrs. Sherman's résumé, with college applications (if Tobias decided to take that step), and with Nikki's homework and even Mae's. When Nikki had hopped on her bicycle twenty minutes earlier, her mother and Tobias had been sitting together at the kitchen table, studying the computer manual, while Mae played with Paw-Paw.

Her family, Nikki realized, seemed complete without her father, and she hummed as she pedaled toward town.

Flora and Olivia had asked Nikki if she wanted to spend the afternoon at Needle and Thread. The Camden Falls birthday celebration was drawing closer, and preparations were under way at the store for two exhibits: one of antique quilts and one of new quilts to be entered in a contest. Furthermore, Min and Gigi were readying the Needle and Thread float for the town's parade.

Flora was terribly excited about the quilt exhibits. “You should see what people have been making. All these cool patterns — kaleidoscopes and wedding rings, log cabin blocks, all kinds of stars. Some of the patterns are
so
intricate. And the color palettes …”

Nikki tried to look interested when Flora started talking about the quilts, but every time the subject came up, she could feel her mind drifting. The float was a different story. It was to depict colonial women and girls at a quilting bee. So not only did a colonial scene have to be created for the float itself, but colonial costumes had to be made for everyone who would be riding on the float. Nikki liked the challenge of turning the flatbed of a truck into the setting of a seventeenth-century quilting bee. Even working on the costumes sounded like fun.

Nikki zoomed onto Main Street, then slowed her pace and walked her bike along the sidewalk. She waved to the Fongs through the window of their studio. She felt in her pocket for money to buy a soft drink as she passed the grocery store, but her pocket was empty. She peered through the open doorway of Sincerely Yours but saw only a couple of stray workmen, so she continued on her way, past Heaven, past Zack's, and then she was standing outside Needle and Thread. She locked her bicycle to a metal grate under the window and stepped through the door.

“Hi!” called Olivia and Flora.

“Hi!” said Nikki. “I'm here to help.”

Flora remembered how timidly Nikki used to enter Needle and Thread, as if she weren't sure she had a place there. But now she strode inside and flopped down on one of the couches. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Help us with Lacey's costume,” replied Flora.

“Lacey's? Lacey Morris is going to be on the float?”

“Yup,” said Olivia.

“And who else?”

“Min and Gigi,” said Flora.

“Ruby and me,” added Olivia.

“And Mrs. Morris,” said Flora.

“That's a lot of costumes,” said Nikki.

“I know,” Flora replied. “It's going to be a really good float. Annika will be so impressed. When we're watching the parade, I can say to her, ‘I helped to make all those costumes.'”

“You can also say,” said Olivia, “‘My best friends helped me, too.'”

Nikki saw Flora glance at Olivia and frown. “Sure,” said Flora.

“All right. So what are we doing here?” asked Nikki.

The girls headed for the table at the back of the store. Nikki looked at the partially finished dresses and aprons and hats laid out there; at lengths of fabric, some with patterns pinned to them; at cards of snaps and rolls of elastic.

“Did people have snaps and elastic and stuff back then?” she asked.

Flora shrugged. “We want the costumes to be — what's the word?”

“Authentic?” suggested Olivia.

“Yes, authentic,” said Flora. “But they're only going to
look
authentic. We're going to cheat a little.”

“Take a few shortcuts,” said Olivia.

“Speaking of which,” said Flora, “Nikki, let me show you something really cool about elastic.”

Nikki and Olivia smiled at each other. Only Flora could think anything about elastic was cool.

“Okay,” said Flora. “We need to gather the bottom of this cap. I don't know how they did it in the olden days, but we could do it by making a casing using single-fold bias tape. See? You sew the casing down along the sides so that it forms a sort of tunnel. You leave it open at both ends and you thread a short piece of elastic through it — shorter than the rim of the cap. Then you anchor the elastic at each end, and just like that the cap is gathered!”

“Wow,” said Nikki politely.

“Okay. That's cool enough, but watch this.” Flora held a very narrow piece of elastic aloft. “I'm going to sew
this
piece directly onto the edge of this sleeve.
But, Flora
, you're wondering,
how are you going to do that? The sleeve is so much longer than the piece of elastic
.”

Nikki concentrated fiercely on the sewing table, afraid that if she looked at Olivia now they would both start to laugh.

“Well, it's kind of like magic,” Flora continued. “Sewing magic. You just keep stretching the elastic out toward you as you go, and when you reach the end of the elastic and the other side of the sleeve, the sleeve is already gathered. Isn't that great?”

“It's — it's fantastic,” said Nikki, still staring at the sleeve. “But I think that if you want me to do something on the costumes it should be a little simpler.”

“Hmm,” said Flora. “Do you know how to make a hem?”

Nikki thought of the mending basket in their kitchen. Mending was the kind of sewing she did best, having been in charge of the Shermans' mending for many years. Nikki was an expert at letting down the hems on Mae's clothes so she could wear them until she was too big for them or until they fell apart, whichever came first.

“That's what I do best,” said Nikki.

“Oh, good,” said Flora. “Because our machines can do hem stitches, but sometimes you have to turn hems up by hand. Oh, oh! Wait! This is even better. Nikki, do you know how to make a blind stitch?”

“Cover up its eyes?” said Olivia from the other side of the table, and Nikki finally began to giggle.

Flora looked hurt, though, and Olivia said, “I'm sorry. It's just that you get so excited about sewing.”

“Not any more excited than you get about fishers, or whatever those rodents are.”

“They're not rodents, they're from the class Mammalia!” exclaimed Olivia.

“Who even knows about stuff like that?” asked Flora.

“Well, who knows about casing tunnels?”

“They're not casing tunnels, they're just casings.”

“Excuse me,” said Nikki, “but if you two are going to fight, I might as well go home.”

“No, don't go!” cried Olivia and Flora.

“Okay, good, because I thought this was going to be fun. The three of us sitting here working on the costumes together. Please show me what a blind stitch is, Flora, so I can get to work. Okay?”

“Okay,” said Flora.

Olivia brushed her hand discreetly across her welling eyes before she looked down at Flora's nimble fingers.

The newest Row House resident arrived on a Tuesday, two weeks earlier than anyone had expected. When Barbara Fong felt the first of her labor pains, she was home alone, her husband having traveled to Boston for the day. This was not how Barbara and Marcus had planned for the baby to arrive. Marcus was supposed to be at home, ready to rush his wife to the hospital, where he would stay at her side until their daughter was born.

But now here was the pain, and there was no point in wishing things were happening otherwise. Barbara gripped the edge of the kitchen table, then looked at her watch. It was just past three in the afternoon and she needed someone to drive her to the hospital. Who in the Row Houses would be home at this hour? Rudy Pennington and Bill Willet, probably, but if Barbara's husband couldn't accompany her on this extraordinary trip, then what she really wanted was the comfort of another woman, preferably one who had given birth herself. Paula Edwards would be at work now, and so would Min Read. Elise Morris might be at home, but she had young children, and there wasn't time for her to find a sitter.

Barbara picked up the phone and dialed the Walters' house.

“Hello?” said Olivia.

“Olivia? This is Barbara Fong. Is your mother at the store?”

“No, she's right here. Hold on,” replied Olivia.

Olivia held the phone toward her mother. “It's Mrs. Fong,” she said, cupping her hand over the mouthpiece, “and she sounds kind of excited or breathless or something.”

“Barbara?” said Olivia's mother. “Is everything all right?”

Olivia stood inches from her mother, wishing desperately that the Walters didn't have a family rule about eavesdropping on telephone extensions.

“Oh!” said Mrs. Walter a moment later. “All right. First of all, everything is going to be okay. Try to relax. I'll be there as soon as I can, in just a few minutes. I'll call Jackson and ask him to come home from the store. Olivia can hold down the fort until he gets here.… What? Your bag? All right, in that case, I'll bring Olivia with me to help pack. The boys can go to the Morrises' until Jackson gets home. Do you want me to call your doctor? … Okay. See you in a few minutes.”

Olivia felt her heart begin to pound. “Is the baby here? Is she here?”

“Well, almost,” her mother replied. “Mrs. Fong is having labor pains. She could be in false labor, I suppose, but we can't take any chances.”

“Where's Mr. Fong?” asked Olivia.

“In Boston for the day. Hang on a minute while I call your father.”

Mrs. Walter reached her husband, then hung up and said to Olivia, “Okay, your father is going to leave right away. Now, I need you to do two big favors for me, honey. Run the boys over to the Morrises' and ask Mrs. Morris to watch them just until your father gets here. Then meet me at the Fongs' and help me get Barbara ready to go to the hospital.”

“Are you supposed to call her doctor?” asked Olivia, already halfway up the stairs to the second floor.

“No, she'll do that.… Where's my pocketbook? … Oh, here it is. All right. I'm going to drive our car around to the street and park in front of the Fongs'. I'll see you in a minute.”

Olivia ran the rest of the way upstairs, collected Henry and Jack, hurried them to the Morrises' house, and explained to Mrs. Morris what was going on. Then she dashed to the other end of the Row Houses and, finding the front door ajar, let herself inside, calling, “Hello?”

“We're in the living room, Olivia,” her mother replied.

Olivia suddenly felt nervous. She had been only four years old when Jack was born, and she didn't remember much about the event except that Gigi had moved in for several days and had let Olivia and Henry eat pizza every night.

Olivia peeked around the corner. She saw Mrs. Fong sitting on the couch, breathing rapidly, legs splayed in front of her, hands resting on her enormous belly. Mouse and Rosie, the Fongs' young dogs, sat close by, staring into Mrs. Fong's face. Mouse rested one paw on her arm.

“Honey, run upstairs to the bedroom,” said her mother.

“There's a suitcase behind the door,” Mrs. Fong added, gasping. “I'll tell you what to put in it.”

Olivia listened closely, ran up the stairs, packed the bag as fast as she could, and returned to the living room. Her mother had helped Mrs. Fong to her feet and was now leading her to the front door.

“Follow us out to the car,” said Mrs. Walter.

Olivia did so, then ran ahead of them as they approached the sidewalk and opened the car door for Mrs. Fong, tossing the suitcase onto the backseat.

“Olivia,” said Mrs. Fong, “could you feed the dogs before you leave?”

“What do I feed them?”

“There's dry food” — Mrs. Fong stopped to draw in a sharp breath — “dry food in a bag in the cupboard by the sink. Just fill the bowls that are on the floor. I called Marcus on his cell phone and he's already on his way back. He'll meet us at the hospital in a few hours. The dogs should be all right until he gets home. Remember to lock the door behind you when you leave.”

“Okay,” said Olivia. She stood on the sidewalk and watched as her mother helped Mrs. Fong into the car and drove briskly down Aiken Avenue. Olivia returned to the house, feeling very important. She found the dog food in the cupboard, poured a generous amount into the bowls, filled a third bowl with water, then returned to the living room, where Mouse and Rosie were waiting warily on the couch.

“It's okay,” Olivia said to them. “Really. I left food for you in the kitchen, and guess what, pretty soon you'll have a new baby sister.”

Olivia turned the lock in the Fongs' front door, ran through the yards to her house, and immediately phoned Needle and Thread. “Gigi!” she exclaimed. “Mrs. Fong is having her baby! I have to tell Flora!” Olivia repeated the news to Flora, then phoned Nikki. “Nikki! Mrs. Fong is having her baby!”

 

That evening, shortly after Olivia and her father and brothers had finished their dinner, Mrs. Walter returned. Olivia, Henry, and Jack crowded around her as she stood in the hallway.

“Is she here yet?” asked Henry. “Is the baby here?”

“What did they name her?” asked Olivia.

“What does she look like?” asked Jack.

“She looks like a
baby
, stupid!” exclaimed Henry.

“I'm not stupid!”

“Boys,” said their father.

Their mother began to laugh. “Just a minute. Let me hang up my coat. Now, come into the living room with me.” She sat on the couch and Olivia and her brothers piled on after her.

“Okay,” said Mrs. Walter. “No, she's not here yet, but Mr. Fong is at the hospital now, and I think the baby will be born pretty soon. I expect we'll get a phone call tomorrow morning before you go to school. Olivia, I'll need you to walk Mouse and Rosie, since Mr. Fong decided to spend the night at the hospital. Now — homework time and bath time and then into bed.”

 

Olivia felt as if she barely slept that night, and in the morning she was up before her alarm clock went off. She fed and walked Mouse and Rosie in record time and charged back to her house, arriving just as her father was putting breakfast on the table.

“Did they call while I was gone? Did they call?”

Olivia's father smiled at her mother. “Yup.”

“Well, what did they say? What did they name her? Don't keep me in suspense.”

“Mr. Fong said,” Mr. Walter replied in a maddeningly slow manner, “that Mrs. Fong and the baby are both fine, and that the baby's name is … hmm. I seem to have forgotten. Now, what was it? Dear, do you remember?”

Mrs. Walter frowned fiercely.

“Stop kidding!” cried Olivia. “Just tell me!”

“The baby's name is Grace,” said Mr. Walter.

“Grace,” repeated Olivia. “Oh, I like that. And when will she come home?”

“Tomorrow morning, probably.”

“Then I'll get to see her after school. Oh, I can't wait!”

 

Grace Fong had been at home for exactly three and a half hours when she got her first visitors. Olivia, Nikki, Flora, and Ruby arrived at the Fongs' front door on Thursday afternoon, carrying a giant card they had made at Needle and Thread after school the previous day.

Mr. Fong ushered the girls inside, smiling, his finger to his lips, and Olivia and her best friends tiptoed into the living room, where the baby was asleep in a cradle. They stood in a semicircle around the cradle and peered down at the bundle of blankets inside. Grace was wearing a tiny white cap. A fringe of black hair showed beneath it.

Olivia let out her breath. “Welcome, baby Grace,” she whispered.