Hannah's Dream (8 page)

The entries were lined up in the gymnasium and Margaret Mason scrutinized each entry.  She had a keen eye.  She recognized true talent when she saw it and the contest was her idea.  She was a true patron of the arts.  If she found a talented student, she would offer encouragement not only with kind words, but with her pocketbook.

She stopped in front of Hannah's piece.  She studied the lines along the bird's back and noted the fine feathering and rough-hewn driftwood.  It was a nice piece, but not exceptional.  Margaret was disappointed.  She liked Hannah.

She walked past the next two offerings and smiled.  The young men smiled back.  As she looked up at Louise's painting, she stopped.  Her heart jumped in her chest.  The colors and the lines were magnificent.

She had to appear impartial.  She didn't want the parents of the other students to see her reaction.  She was staring at the work of a master-to-be, and she was astounded.  As she looked at Louise, she felt sad.  The girl was so pathetic.  It was clear she had taken time to comb her hair and wear her best dress, but she still looked like a whipped puppy.

Margaret recalled standing next to Patrice, her own beautiful blond sister, as one man after another asked Patrice to put their name on her dance card.  No one asked Margaret.  Patrice had chosen her own husband, with her father's permission, of course, but Margaret's had been an arranged marriage to the son of her father's business partner.  Luckily, he had proven to be a wonderful match, but the sting of being unlovely had left its mark on her.

If the painting had been mediocre, Margaret would have felt sorry for the girl and carried on, but this painting was marvelous.  Margaret tried to focus on the rest of the entries, but she already knew that Louise had won the day.  She looked at Pierre.  She knew he favored the Dawes girl's sculpture.  He had spoken of nothing else since the announcement of the contest.  She looked at him.  He was standing by the gymnasium door and when Margaret walked by, he smiled at her.

She passed each display as she walked to the podium.  She would have to announce her choice.  Margaret stood behind the podium and straightened her back.

"I must say we have a talented group of young people here today," she said.  "I am impressed with all the entries.  It is clear you all did your very best."

Margaret paused while the parents patted their children's backs.

"But one entry stood out above the others and today I am awarding first prize to Louise Weise."

The room grew quiet.

"Who's Louise Weise?" someone said.  Louise blushed.

"Come, Louise," Margaret said.  She didn't look at Pierre.

Louise walked to the podium.  She felt every step.  She hated being the center of attention.

Margaret came around the podium with the blue ribbon in her hand.  She smiled as Louise approached her and put her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"You did a wonderful job, dear," Margaret said.  She pinned the ribbon on Louise's dress and stood beside her.

The applause started slowly.  Louise's cheeks were so red it looked as though she'd been sunburned.  She was trembling.  Margaret took her hand.

"Don't let them know how you feel," she said.  "They want you to feel bad.  Don't give them the satisfaction."

Louise looked up at Margaret.  Margaret winked at her.  Louise was grateful.

"Thank you, ma'am," she said.

"If you need paint or canvas, you come to me.  I want to help you."

Louise smiled again.

"Now, go back to your painting," Margaret said.

Louise walked faster and was smiling.  She saw Hannah's face and felt bad, but Hannah was smiling and clapping.

"Congratulations, Louise," she said when Louise drew near.

She sounded as though she meant it, and Louise almost cried.

Chapter 12

Winter, 1896

Every week, Hannah would receive a letter from John Liberty, and she would write a letter in return.  John was studying medicine.  His father, Malcolm, the druggist, had dreamed of John becoming a doctor.  Surprisingly, John found he had an aptitude for medicine. He was receiving high grades in all his courses and would boast about it to Hannah in each letter.  She was proud of John, and missed him terribly.

Malcolm wouldn't let John return to New Beach during the summer months.  He wanted John to work during the summer so he could contribute to his tuition, and opportunities for employment were greater in New Brunswick than in New Beach.  John was working in a butcher shop on weekends and during the summer and couldn't even come home for Christmas.

On one of their shopping trips to Red Bank, Hannah had stopped at a photographer's studio and had her photograph taken.  When she sent it to John, she asked him to have his taken, too, so she could see what he looked like after being apart for so long.  John complied, and the picture showed a handsome young man with a neatly trimmed mustache, wearing a stiff, buttoned collar, a bow tie, and a stern expression.  His eyes, however, were soft, as were his lips.  Hannah traced her finger over the photograph, imagining John's soft lips on hers.  She blushed, and put the photo back on the mantle in a frame she'd purchased from Straus Company in Red Bank.  The sign said it was silver, but Marian strongly suspected it was painted brass.

"You can't buy a silver frame for fifteen cents, Hannah," she said.

But Hannah didn't care whether or not the frame was made of silver.  She liked the way it curved around John's face and that was all that mattered to her.

Christmas was coming soon and Marian had hired Edward's carriage to take them to Red Bank to shop for gifts.  Jimmy had saved his allowance for six months, and was eager to travel up and down Broad Street on his own and shop in all the stores.  He had blossomed in the last eighteen months, and had grown a few inches.  He was a handsome boy.  The dark circles were gone and his frame had filled out, a bit too much according to Becky, but his health was robust and Marian felt a little meat on his bones was good for him.

Jimmy and Hannah shared a love of art and they would paint together in her bedroom.  The window seat served as a cabinet for their supplies, and all summer they had worked on their projects after spending a day at the beach building sand castles.  Jimmy's paintings were so good that Marian had framed them and hung them in her parlor.  He, like Hannah, loved colors, and would mix his own from the oil paints.  The paintings of the ocean were majestic in deep blues and muted greens, while Hannah's paintings rivaled those of any artist Marian had ever seen.

Becky didn't care much for art.  She was a practical woman and found art to be too frou-frou for her, but she and Jimmy had developed a special bond and for his sake, she would gush over his creations.  After school, Jimmy would sit in the kitchen and tell Becky about what he had learned that day, and she would respond in kind.  She would bake during the day so Jimmy would have a warm cookie, or piece of cake, and he would tell her he believed she was the best cook in the world. Jimmy was the only person who could make Becky blush.

Hannah was in her last year of high school and at seventeen she had developed into a charming young woman.  While she wasn't a beauty in the classic sense, she still drew the attention of the boys in her class.  She was a sweet girl, but when the situation called for it, would fight for what she believed in.  Hannah was no shrinking violet.

She had no problem speaking her mind, and Marian was often called by her teachers, who were concerned over Hannah's lack of self-control.  Marian would politely thank them, and secretly praise her daughter.  She'd rather Hannah be a strong woman able to handle what life threw at her than someone men could take advantage of.

On the Saturday before Christmas, Edward arrived at eight a.m.

"Jimmy, Hannah, Edward's here," she called up the stairs.

They appeared, and Jimmy took the lead by running down the stairs.  Hannah's skirt prevented her from chasing after him, and she thought how unfair it was that women had to wear skirts.  

"Come, we have to get started.  The stores will be crowded and I want to get home before dark," Marian said.

It would be dark at five o'clock that afternoon, so they each felt a sense of urgency and quickly went to the waiting carriage.  Marian had her arms filled with blankets to help keep them warm during the two-hour ride to Red Bank.

"Morning, ma'am," Edward said.

He was standing near the carriage and tipped his hat as he offered Marian his hand.  She took it and stepped up into the carriage, then Hannah took Edward's hand.  Jimmy jumped in on the other side and took the seat opposite Marian, whom he now called Ma.  He didn't mind riding backwards and sitting by himself suited him.

The carriage had a top and isinglass curtains, which kept out the wind.  Marian handed each of her children a blanket and they covered themselves.  Hannah's cheeks were already reddened by the crisp morning air.  She pulled her fur collar up to her ears, and adjusted her scarf around her head, but she still felt cold.  She snuggled next to Marian to keep warm, and Marian felt a glow in her heart.  It wasn't often her independent daughter sat this close to her, and she loved the feeling.

By the time they got to Red Bank, they were all ready for something hot to drink and stopped at the pharmacy.  Marian invited Edward to join them, and he agreed.  He and Marian had a cup of coffee while Jimmy and Hannah drank hot cocoa.  The pharmacy was decorated for the holidays and Hannah loved the colors.  There was also a pine wreath at the door, and every time someone opened the front door, pine-scented air would waft by.

"I love this time of year," Hannah said.

"Me, too," Jimmy said.  "I love getting presents."

Marian laughed.  "And what do you want this year, Jimmy?"

"I need a pocket knife," he said.

"And you, Hannah?"

"You can't buy me what I want," Hannah said.

Marian knew she was talking about John Liberty.

"Perhaps his father will let him come home this time."

"He can't leave New Brunswick or he'll lose his job," Hannah said.

"Well, there must be something else you've been wanting."

"I would like a new set of brushes," she said.

"So, shall we shop together?" Marian asked.

"I want to go alone," Jimmy said.

"Me, too," Hannah replied.

"Very well, we will meet back here in two hours and go to Nielsen's for lunch."

Edward and Marian left in the carriage while Jimmy and Hannah went off on foot.  They parted ways in front of the Red Bank Temple of Fashion, where Hannah wanted to shop for Marian.

"Two hours," she reminded Jimmy, and he waved as he walked away.  "He's going to forget."

Hannah had five dollars with which to buy presents, and she wanted to get Marian a new fur collar.  The Temple of Fashion store's prices were a bit higher, but the quality was better than any other store in Red Bank.  Hannah was able to purchase a collarette for $2.00.  Then she walked to C.I. Stephenson's to purchase a special gift.

The art store was her favorite place to go in Red Bank.  She would walk up and down the aisles where tubes of paint and racks of brushes seemed to glitter in the gaslight.  She would compare brands of clay and see if any new tools had been invented.

Hannah wanted to buy something for her friend, Louise.  She had been helping Hannah with her painting after school and they had become good friends.  She went to the back of the store where the owner kept imported lithographs.  She looked through them and found one called
Margot
by an artist she'd never heard of named Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The painting was of a small beige dog on a blue rug with a black background.  Hannah was taken by the style of the painting.  It was like nothing she had ever seen before, and she knew Louise would like it, too.

As a salesman rang up her purchase, she asked him for the time.

"It's eleven-thirty, miss," he said.

She had to meet Marian at the drug store at one, so she headed to Joseph Salz variety store to find gifts for Becky and Jimmy.

Marian was riding to the art store when she saw Hannah leaving.  She called her name, but Hannah just kept walking.  The breeze off the Navesink River was brisk and Hannah had her scarf wrapped tightly around her head, so she never heard her mother calling her.

"Thank you again, Edward," Marian said as he helped her down.

"You don't need to say it every time, ma'am.  I know."

"I shouldn't be long.  Please wait inside where it's warm."

"I can help you with your bags that way," Edward said.

The salesman showed Marian where to find paint brushes.  She picked out two sets -- one for Hannah and one for Jimmy.  Once they were back in the carriage, she asked Edward to take her to Joseph Saltz so she could find a pocket knife.

Jimmy was having the time of his life.  He had three dollars in his pocket and had only spent two on gifts, so he headed to the drug store early and bought ten cents worth of penny candy and a dime novel called
Rogue's
Revenge
.  He loved the lurid drawing on the cover of a masked man awaiting his victim near the entrance of a tavern.