The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

Author:Ann Hood [Hood, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780786294381
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Published: 2007-04-18T07:00:00+00:00

Part Six

SIT AND KNIT

To leave your fingers untrained for anything beyond pushing, and perhaps twisting, is like leaving a voice without singing. It is a shame and a loss. Certainly knitting is not the only thing fingers can do, but it is a good thing…

—ANNA ZILBOORG, Knitting for Anarchists

11

ALICE

BIG ALICE’S SIT AND KNIT had saved Mary. She was certain of that. But she wasn’t at all certain that she could help Alice. Still, she agreed to go with Scarlet to see Alice at her little cottage on the beach.

As they drove, Mary spotted a tree whose leaves had already begun to change color, revealing a glimpse of gold or red. Roadside farmstands boasted apples and pears and even pumpkins. The Westport River shone in the afternoon sunlight on their right. The Atlantic Ocean, white-capped and emerald green, lay ahead of them. Nestled between the river and the ocean, among rolling hills and tall cat-o’-nine-tails, sat Alice’s weathered shingled cottage.

As they parked on the driveway made of crushed clamshells, Mary realized that she knew nothing about Alice’s life. Other than a British accent that told her Alice was from England somewhere, and her gray hair and soft wrinkles that indicated she was probably close to seventy, and her love of knitting, Alice was a mystery.

“Is she married?” Mary asked Scarlet.

“I don’t think so,” Scarlet said, pausing a moment to take in the gorgeous view that stretched in every direction. “Funny,” she said. “I don’t know anything about her, really.”

“That’s just what I was thinking,” Mary said.

The air was sharp and salty, the kind that begged for long walks. Alice was bent, working in the garden where the last of the zinnias had turned to dark reds and oranges. Marigolds flashed burnt orange and yellow, and feathery mums bloomed lavender and pink.

Alice turned at the sound of their footsteps, and wiped her hands on her plaid flannel shirt.

“A garden,” she said to them, “can be a full-time job, if you let it.”

Alice wasn’t someone you hugged, and Mary had to resist the urge to throw her arms around her. But with Alice, you let her take charge.

“Well then,” Alice said, “I suppose we should take stock of my disaster.”

She led them right back to Scarlet’s car without even bothering to change her clothes.

“It’s not a funeral,” she said into the silence as they drove.

“It’s a shop, after all. Not a bloody person.”

“Still,” Scarlet said.

“Rubbish!” Alice said sharply. “I have insurance. If there’s anything to salvage, we’ll save it. If not, all that’s left for me to do is decide if I should rebuild or not.”

“But you will!” Mary said, leaning forward from the backseat.

“You must!” Again, she almost grabbed Alice, but caught herself and clutched the side of the passenger seat instead.

Alice surprised her by taking her hand and patting it gently.

“Ah, darling,” Alice said softly, “I’m seventy-eight years old. There comes a time when a person decides she’s done with the responsibilities, the hours, all of it.”

Mary chewed her bottom lip, unable to tell Alice how much the Sit and Knit meant to her.

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.