A Season of Love by Carla Kelly

Author:Carla Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing
Published: 2017-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

U

Mary Ann could think of at least fifty ways to spend an unexpected seven pence, but she had no trouble leading Beth by the hand right up to a Plymouth stationer’s shop.

Beth got no farther than a small set of watercolors in miniature metal pans. “Mama, you used to paint with these, didn’t you?”

“I did. I am surprised you remember,” she replied. “What I would give …”

She picked up the tin box with wells of powdered colors in red, yellow, and blue and set them on the counter, while the old man minding the store watched them with interest. She selected two brushes, one for her and one for Beth, and two black pencils, and added those to the pile. Finally she stepped back, afraid to ask the price, prepared to be disappointed, and not so certain just what she would do if he named a huge sum. She had schooled herself not to cry over fate, but something inside her wanted to paint, wanted a tiny pleasure, even though she was about to lose her job, and so far, no other employment had wafted down from heaven above on angels’ wings.

Trust Beth. “This really mustn’t be more than a shilling,” her daughter told the shop owner, her eyes anxious, too.

“No, no, seven pence, my dear,” Mary Ann said, unmindful of the man who watched them with such interest. “Five will get us back to Haven on the conveyance. Remember? That was our plan.”

“I can walk, Mama. It isn’t that far, and it isn’t too dark yet. Besides, what road agent is going to accost us?” Beth assured her. “We need this. It would be nice if we had paper, too.”

They both looked at the stationer. Mary Ann felt Beth’s fingers seeking hers and they held hands. She was loath to pray about something so unimportant to the Lord Omnipotent, who had far bigger fish to fry, but she hadn’t asked for anything in ever so long. Please, Father, she prayed silently. Just a little diversion for a change. It’s Christmas.

“I won’t sell it to you without paper, because you need the right kind of rough texture for the colors to stick,” the owner said. He looked from one to the other.

“My father died in the war,” Beth announced all of a sudden. “He never saw my face.”

Mary Ann felt her own face go hot. “Beth, we don’t do that,” she said quietly. She raised Beth’s hand, kissed it and turned toward the door. “We don’t have enough money, but we aren’t pitiful yet.”

“I’m sorry, Mama,” Beth whispered as she opened the door.

“My dears, you haven’t even heard my offer,” the shop owner said. “Come back here, please.”

Too embarrassed to turn around, Mary Ann stood where she was and took a deep breath. “We didn’t mean to trouble you,” she told the half-open door.

“You haven’t. Come, come. Let us consider this.”

As one, they returned to the counter. The man stared hard at the colors, then shook his head. “I could sell you the colors alone for a shilling.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.