A Big Year for Lily (16 page)

A
fter supper on Friday, Lily cleared the dishes off the table and took them to Mama at the sink. “I'm going to town tomorrow,” Mama said. “I need to go to the fabric store and thought you might like to come along and choose a fabric for a dress from Grandma's birthday money.”

Lily knew just what she would pick. Purple. Lily would like every dress she wore to be some variation of the color purple: lavender, amethyst, violet, orchid—all the colors of purple that were in her new box of sixty-four crayons.

“Where will the boys be while we are in town?” Lily hoped the boys would stay at Grandma and Grandpa Miller's. It would be much better to go fabric shopping without three little brothers tagging along.

“Papa will stay home with the boys,” Mama said. “He called a driver to take us to town.”

That was excellent news. Excellent. Going to town was
a rare treat. Driving in a car was even more special. Mama didn't like to drive Jim and the buggy to town, not unless Papa was with her. Lily could hardly wait until tomorrow.

The next morning, Lily and Mama hurried to try to get most of the Saturday cleaning done before the driver came. In between chores, Lily kept running to the window to see if a car had pulled into the driveway. At long last, she heard a crunchy sound on the gravel. This time, when she looked out the window she saw Mr. Tanner's big blue car.

“He's here!” Lily called to Mama. She ran to get her big black bonnet and slipped it on over her prayer covering. She tied it as neatly as she could and stood by the door to wait for Mama.

When Mama opened the back door of Mr. Tanner's car, Lily slid onto the seat. Mama sat beside her and closed the door.

“Where to?” Mr. Tanner asked.

“Cloverdale. First, the grocery store and then the fabric shop,” Mama said.

Lily peered out the window as Mr. Tanner drove down the road. It felt as if the car was a boat, sailing on an ocean. Trees and fields whizzed past. Lily barely spotted a horse grazing in a pasture and
WHOOSH!
It was gone. She liked going fast and it meant they would get to the fabric shop much more quickly than with Jim—though she missed all the interesting things to notice from a buggy window. But then she unrolled the window and breathed in the fresh air. Not a whiff of horse anywhere! Her cap strings unraveled and danced in the wind. Lily decided she liked car travel best of all. Fast was fun.

The groceries were quickly purchased and soon they were
at the fabric shop. Lily had been there once before, with Papa last fall, and it still looked every bit as interesting. But this was different. This time, Mama would be buying Lily fabric for her grown-up dresses.

Mama walked to the aisle filled with bolts of solid colors of fabric. She drew out several bolts of blue and green fabrics and another one of black. She told the shopkeeper to cut four yards of each bolt.

Lily wandered up and down the aisle. If she squinted her eyes slightly, the colors blurred together and looked like a rainbow. Then her eyes popped open. There was the most beautiful aqua blue that she had ever seen. It almost shimmered, like a tropical sea. She stroked it. It felt soft and slippery and not like any dress she had ever had. “Look at this fabric, Mama,” Lily said.

Mama came over and looked at it. “It is very pretty,” she said. “But not very practical. It would probably snag easily. And shrink when I washed it. It's almost too bright.”

How could anything be
too
bright? “Oh Mama, it's so pretty,” Lily said. “I could save it to go to church. I would take care not to snag it.”

But Mama was wavering, Lily could see that.

Mama fingered the fabric a little more. “Did you see the nice purple fabrics they have?”

“Yes, but I like this even better.”

Mama sighed. “We can't get both of them. Are you sure you want this blue over any purple?”

Absolutely! “I'm sure.” Lily had never been more sure of anything. This was the most beautiful fabric she had ever seen.

Mama drew the bolt of fabric out and placed it on the counter. “I'll take four yards of this too,” she said. Lily
watched as the shopkeeper measured the fabric and cut it. The pair of scissors slid effortlessly through the fabric, like it was cutting butter. It even sounded different while it was being cut than the other fabrics did.

After Mama had paid the shopkeeper for all the fabric, they walked back to the car.

Mr. Tanner had been reading a book while he waited and set it down when Mama and Lily climbed into the car. “Where to?”

“Home,” Mama said.

Lily was glad. She hoped Mama would start sewing her beautiful new dress as soon as they got home. She would even offer to help, though she didn't like to sew. She planned to wear this dress to church next Sunday—her very first church service as a ten-year-old.

As soon as the car pulled into the driveway, Lily didn't bother to wait for Mama to pay Mr. Tanner. She quickly ran to the house and spread her fabric out on the table. She found a big envelope in Mama's basket marked “Lily's dress pattern, age ten.” She took Mama's good fabric scissors from the sewing table and set everything on the table so Mama could get right to work the minute she got into the house.

Mama's eyes opened wide in surprise when she came inside and saw the table. “I'm sorry, Lily,” she said. “But that dress will have to wait a little while yet. I want to make a black dress for you first. It's always important to have a black dress ready to wear.”

What?
Lily was disappointed. She did not like to wear black. The only time she wore black was at communion or baptism services in church or when there was a funeral. All boring, boring, boring. Wearing black meant solemn occasions. Lily would rather feel light and happy, not sad or solemn.

A few days later, Lily came home from school and found her aquamarine fabric turned into a dress, waiting on her bed. It was so beautiful! Lily hung it carefully inside her closet and closed the door. No—that wouldn't do for such a lovely dress. It was a shame to hide a bright blue dress inside a closet. She
opened the door and took out the dress to hang on a hook on the wall. She sat on the edge of her bed, admiring her choice. The beautiful aqua blue shimmered in the sunlight. She could hardly wait until Sunday.

She spent some time imagining the conversation that would go on about this dress. They would all admire it. Beth and Cousin Hannah would say they hoped their mothers would make one just like it and Effie would sniff and say she was glad she would never wear such a fancy color. Lily knew her well enough to know that was Effie's way of saying she wanted it.

Oh, Lily hoped nobody died before Sunday! How terrible it would be to have to wear black instead of this lovely dress.

Lily counted down the days until Sunday. Every time she heard a buggy on the road, she held her breath until it passed by. Then she knew it wasn't someone coming to visit with bad news about someone dying.

Finally, finally! Sunday morning arrived. Lily slipped into her new dress and Mama helped her with all the pins. Lily loved how the fabric felt. It was soft and slippery and made a swishing noise when she walked.

She sat like a statue on the buggy seat to make sure nothing happened to her dress before they got to church. Papa stopped in front of the house where church would be held. Ever so carefully, Lily climbed out of the back of the buggy and stood waiting until Mama got out with baby Paul in her arms. They walked into the house together to join the women and girls in the kitchen. Joseph and Dannie went with Papa to unhitch Jim. Then they would stand outside and visit with the rest of the men and boys until it was time for church to start.

All of Lily's friends oohed and aahed over her new blue
dress—all except Effie, of course. They pinched her arm lightly just like the big girls did whenever someone wore a new dress for the first time.

Lily followed Mama to shake all the women's and girls' hands. This time, instead of standing next to Mama while they waited until it was time to file to their seats, she went to stand with the girls. Everyone was visiting softly but for once Lily couldn't think of anything to say. It all seemed too strange. Not being with Mama. Wearing her new grown-up dress. She felt odd, like her tummy was doing somersaults.

Benches had been set up in the living room. The women filed in but Lily stood and waited with the rest of the girls until it was time for them to file in. The men came in next, then the girls lined up—oldest ones first.

Once again, Lily was the youngest. She stood at the very end of the line. They filed in front of the ministers and walked along the side of the room and sat on the benches behind the men. Lily's heart felt like it was thumping loudly in her chest—
Ba bump! Ba bump! Ba bump!
Surely everyone could hear it. It all seemed so strange, she almost wished she could turn back the clock a week and be nine years old, seated next to Mama again. But that would never happen. She was ten now. Practically all grown up.

The boys filed in last, oldest to youngest, and sat behind the girls. After everyone had a seat, the bishop cleared his throat and solemnly announced that it was time for church to begin. Always, always so solemn.

The song leader called out the page for the first song. Effie opened the hymnbook and shared it with Lily. Effie was acting very sweet, which Lily thought was a nice surprise for her birthday. Lily tried to hold still and sing but her new dress
was beginning to feel uncomfortable. The apron belt felt pinned so firmly around her waist, like a tight cinch. When she moved too quickly, she felt pricked by the points of pins. How did her friends get used to this? She thought wistfully of her loose, comfortable little-girl dresses. Growing up wasn't quite as much fun as she thought it would be.

After church was over, Lily followed the other girls upstairs to sit and visit while the women prepared lunch. Malinda ran to join them. “Oh, Lily! There is something on your new dress!”

“Where?” Lily asked.

Malinda pointed to Lily's backside. “Where you sit.”

Lily backed up to a mirror and peered over her shoulder to see what was on her dress. A big wad of gum! Her heart sank.

Lily reached back and tried to remove it but it was stuck firmly. Beth and Hannah came over to see what was wrong, but they didn't know what to do about it either. Effie seemed pleased and Lily wanted to smack her. Effie had been chewing a big wad of Bazooka bubble gum before church.

“I'll go get your mama,” Hannah said. She disappeared down the stairs and a minute later she came back with Mama.

Mama looked at the wad of gum and shook her head. “It looks as if you have been sitting on it all morning,” she said. She tried to pick some of it off but only a few little bits came off and the rest stayed stuck tight. “We'll have to wait until we get home to get it out.”

Cousin Hannah offered to walk right behind Lily so nobody could see the gum when it was time to go eat.

Lily was glad when Mama came to say that it was time to go home. She was exhausted. This first day of wearing a grown-up outfit and sitting with the girls had been a huge disappointment.

As soon as they got home, Lily changed her clothes and took her new dress downstairs. “Today is Sunday,” Mama reminded her when Lily asked her if they could remove the gum right away. “We can try to remove it tomorrow, but I'm afraid there will be a stain there even if I can remove the gum.”

Oh no! Lily hadn't thought about a stain. Maybe if she prayed and asked God to make sure the gum would all come out nicely she wouldn't have to worry about it. She was worrying quite a bit about this dress.

When Lily came home from school on Monday, she found Mama at the sewing machine with Lily's dress. Lily was almost afraid of what Mama was doing. She wouldn't look. She wouldn't look. She looked.

Oh . . . no. A patch! Mama was sewing a patch on Lily's dress.