Dawn (13 page)

Maria smiled, “Whatever she wishes to do, we’ll make it work out.”

Dawn noticed a small leather bag on the table by her chair. As she peered at it, Gwen started to giggle at her. “A new set of bells is it?” Dawn guessed.

Gwen nodded enthusiastically.

Dawn opened them up to find a new set of bells, all on white satin ribbons like the set Gwen had showed off at the store. The bells were polished to a brilliant shine and were intricately carved. Each bell was a work of art unto itself.

“
Wow! Um, these look a little pricy for me to be wearing,” gulped Dawn.

“
They are a gift from Gwen. It is up to the giver to determine their value. It’s your job to enjoy them,” said a motherly Maria.

“
Sorry,” she replied, more than a little embarrassed on two counts. Turning to Gwen she said, “Thank you, Gwen. They are very lovely.”

Gwen smiled briefly back at her and then returned her attention to Lily.

“
Oh, before we go,” began Maria as she reached in her pocket, “Llewellyn had a gift for you too.” She produced a small narrow box with a single bow on it. “He said it’s not for the dance, but you deserved it anyway.”

Dawn accepted the box with more than a small amount of curiosity. A quick tug at the ribbon pulled it clear and she opened the box. Inside was a silver key. Key. Dawn’s face lit up, “Is this a key to the library?”

Maria smiled back, “Yes, indeed. Do take good care of it. Honestly, I’m a little ashamed I didn’t get you your own key early on. You are quite the young lady already.”

Dawn looked around hurriedly, “Dad’s gone too? How am I supposed to give him a big hug if he wanders off?”

Maria laughed, “Well, he does come and go quite a bit. He headed out more than an hour ago. You might have noticed, but I do believe that was right when you got back with your new dress in a box.”

Dawn grinned sheepishly, “I guess I was a little preoccupied.”

Maria smiled broadly, “Don’t worry. We’ll probably catch him at the dance.”

Dawn was struck by that, “You mean he won’t be there for certain? I figured he’d dance with one of you at least.”

Maria struck a serious tone, “He’d probably like to. I got the impression that he and Owen were going to be busy tonight. Trying to make sure there isn’t any trouble.”

Dawn nodded, suddenly aware again of the seriousness of the situation.

Maria struck a smile, “Don’t worry, we are all in good hands. Say, why don’t you go put that key up before we go. You don’t want to lose it!”

Dawn smiled and nodded before racing upstairs to put the key in her room. Thundering back downstairs she made the round trip in a flash.

“
If we could bottle that energy,” began Maria, “we’d make a fortune.”

Dawn grinned broadly and fidgeted with the bag of bells. She didn’t want to put them on yet, but her dress had no useful pockets.

“
Oh, just give them to me. I’ll put them in my purse,” offered Maria. “So, we all ready to go?”

Heather suddenly sprang up from the table and ran to the bathroom.

Maria laughed, “Well, better now than later.”

Gwen carefully passed Lily to Maria who tucked the sleeping infant in her sling. They gathered up their bags, and with Heather’s quick return, the five headed out.

The path was so familiar to Dawn now that she easily enjoyed the company and the stroll. Heather was slower than normal; her somewhat restrictive but quite festive dress seemed to slow her down to merely
hectic
rather than
whirling blur
. Gwen walked along with them smiling as always without seeming to pay attention to anyone or anything in particular.

Dawn smiled to herself. Gwen was definitely an odd young lady, but the town accepted her as she was and she always seemed to find her own place. Maybe there was hope for her, as well.

“
Maria?” began Dawn.

“
Yes, dear?”

“
Um, we are all different I understand. But what if someone is
really
different?”

“
What about it? I’m married to a High Silver and some of his best friends are Shukurae. How different do you want?”

Dawn wrinkled her nose, “Well. I don’t know, just
different
different.”

Maria laughed softly, “Different enough to make Llewellyn run away screaming in terror?”

Dawn laughed back, “No! Not that different.”

“
Then why should it matter to me?”

Dawn probed, “So Llewellyn hasn’t told you?”

Maria smiled back, “He doesn’t keep secrets from me. But he hasn’t told me anything out of the ordinary either. So it obviously isn’t that big of a deal.”

“
Yes, but Father has an odd sense of humor, and an even more odd sense of ‘normal.’”

“
Shocking revelation!” Maria laughed before shifting to a more serious tone, “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s all right. Just please remember if you ever,
ever
want or need to talk for any reason, I am here. Any time, any place.”

Dawn hugged Maria, “Things just seem so confusing at times.”

Maria smiled and hugged her back. Unfortunately that woke Lily up and it took no small amount of coaxing to get her back asleep. By that time they could already see the lights for the dance in the slowly fading sun.

Dawn gritted her teeth as they hit the edge of town; there was Kate. She was looking polite enough as she waved and greeted people entering town, but Dawn didn’t trust her. She had
always
been so mean! Dawn took some small satisfaction that Gwen smiled at Kate with her teeth flashing in the vanishing light.

“
Good evening, Mrs. Stratford,” offered Kate with her most practiced smile.

“
Good evening, young Kate. Ready for a night of dancing?” beamed Maria.

Maria and Lily

Dawn was amazed at Maria, she could turn on her charm no matter how muddied the waters. Kate almost seemed to offer a sincere smile back, almost…

“
A long night indeed! Everyone is looking forward to the music that your House is so well known for.” Kate’s smile was holding…

Maria smiled broadly and honestly, “It is always nice to know our House can bring so much joy to so many people! Oh! Speaking of bringing joy: you didn’t get a chance to hold little Lily when were in town last time. Your First Mother seemed to have monopolized the time. Would you like to hold her? She is quite a darling…”

Dawn had to strain from breaking out laughing. It was obvious Kate had
no
interest in holding little Lily. Yet it was polite company to show interest in infants.

Kate, to her credit, was
trying
to present herself in a positive light. Her smile, thoroughly rocked, held fast, if not a little stilted as she replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, “I’d be delighted.”

“
Well if you don’t want to…” grinned Maria as she cooed to little Lily.

“
No…” countered Kate as her face twitched, fighting to maintain a smile. “Please. I’d be… delighted.”

Maria beamed as she passed the infant to Kate. “Your little sister, Astrid, is what, three now?”

“
Yes, ma’am,” replied Kate as she fought to hold Lily correctly. “Astrid is trundling about the house. Quite a handful.”

Dawn would have enjoyed watching Kate squirm, but little Lily was not having a good time of it. Kate did
not
know how to handle infants and any spite on Dawn’s part was replaced by concern for her little sister.

“
Oof! It looks like Lily may be too much of a handful as well,” offered Maria diplomatically. “Here, pass her back…”

Kate smiled politely as she tried to quickly pass Lily back. Lily, on the other hand, was upset and not too shy about telling the world about it. Everyone cringed as little Lily started bawling and it was Gwen that swooped in, carefully cradling Lily and cooing to her. Maria’s pack and purse, however, took a tumble and all of Lily’s effects scattered on the ground. Kate, desperate to recover some dignity, quickly helped Maria repack the errant items.

Heather, for her part, suddenly wanted to see little Lily and Dawn, eager for the distraction herself, picked Heather up so she was eye level with Lily. Heather giggled and grinned at the tyke and the favor was returned! Heather started to squirm and Dawn took that as her cue to return the ever hyper young girl to the ground. Not a moment too soon; Heather was getting heavy!

“
There! All packed back up!” offered Kate with a sincere smile.

“
Why thank you, young Kate. That was most helpful,” offered Maria with a broad smile of her own. “Come on everyone. Let’s all get ready for the dance.”

Kate bobbed politely with a smug grin as they left and Dawn had no choice but to bob politely in return. She may not like Kate, but she wasn’t going to drop her social standards around her. Dawn still felt uncomfortable, but the dance was calling!

All of Dawn’s cares and troubles seemed to fade away as they made their way to the town square. Everything was on a far grander scale than for the last dance and far more festive. There were more people than ever showed up for the market day, and they all seemed to enjoy the carnival-like atmosphere. Dawn was more than a little surprised at the size of the crowd; she had been told there were usually a lot of people for the four big dances, but people must have come from miles around to account for a crowd this size. Even more food and drink of an even wider variety was laid out for the revelers, and frowns seemed to be the rarest thing in town. The five of them threaded through the crowds to make a quick social call on Ivy and the twins. The three were ready to begin playing with their instruments tuned and in easy reach. Expectation seemed to fill the air and it was infectious!

“
Uh, oh,” murmured Maria.

“
What is it?” asked Dawn.

“
I can’t find your bells. I’m sure I packed them.”

Dawn all but panicked; everything had been going so well, “No! What could have happened? Do you think we dropped them out on the trail? When Lily woke up?”

Maria shook her head, “I’ve no idea. We may have dropped them on the edge of town when my purse went flying. But don’t worry, we’ll find them.”

Suddenly someone tapped Dawn on the shoulder, “Miss?”

Dawn turned to find Tobias towering over her. “Yes?” she said meekly.

Holding out her bag of bells, “Someone… someone
found
these. I wanted to make sure they got to their proper owner. Are they yours?”

Dawn quickly looked them over, “Yes, indeed. What had happened? Who found them? How did you get them?”

“
Well, I’m glad you got them back,” he said without offering further explanation. He nodded to the ladies and then dismissed himself, quickly fading back into the crowd.

“
Well, that was good of him,” commented Maria.

Dawn cocked an eye, “That was more than a little weird.”

“
Fishy is the word I would use in your place. But he tried to make things right whatever actually happened.”

Dawn nodded and quickly took a seat and attached the bells. They had a crisp and friendly ring to them, and she had lots of fun just fluttering her toes making them ring. Suddenly she saw Gavin threading through the crowd. He was dressed with black pants and snazzy vest with a white,
white
shirt on. As he got closer she could tell it had the same satin trim as her dress.

“
You like it?” he asked with a smile.

“
It is quite dashing on you. How did you just happen to have the same trim?” she asked, flattered as much as curious.

“
Well, my big sister just happens to be the one who fit you,” he replied.

Dawn laughed, “Well, that would do it!”

“
We’ve a bit of time yet before the first dance. Would you like to hit the refreshments already, or just take a quick walk?” Gavin asked.

“
Actually I could go for a quick nibble. I was so busy with the new dress I didn’t eat as much for supper as I should have.”