As they drove home, Corinne explained that while Mr. Old was a very smart man, he wasn’t a nice man with children. Then she said they’d talk about it when they got home. She had spoken very slowly as if she was having trouble deciding what to say.
Once they were home and sitting together on the living room couch, Auntiie began to explain it better.
“Maryanne, it’s difficult to explain about Mr. Old because it deals with something you’re too young to know about now.”
“You mean sex, Auntiie?” Corinne looked at her with some surprise.
“Yes, dear. But where did you ever learn anything about it?”
“Some of us at school were looking in the older kids’ biology books,” she replied. “But what does it have to do with Mr. Old?”
“When people get into their teens, Maryanne, they begin to be attracted to the opposite sex…usually. But in Mr. Old’s case he’s attracted to children. Boys or girls, it makes no difference to him. The trouble is it’s a physical attraction. People want to do things with each other. Mr. Old is sick in the head. He’s not interested in women, or men either for that matter. But he likes doing things with children….naughty things.
“If he had got you inside that room, he would have locked the door and done things to you, and maybe made you do things to him. Thank God I got up there in time to stop him. He tried to keep me busy with a phone call, but as soon as he left the room I told Tom Crawford I’d call him tomorrow and hung up.”
“How do you know that, Auntiie?” asked Maryanne.
“Well, there’s been a rumor about him for years, and I decided not to take any chances. Now we know the rumor is true.”
“He said he was going to show me something interesting,” said Maryanne.
“I can imagine,” replied Corinne.
“Will he call the cops on you, Auntiie, for hitting him?”
“No, dear. All I’d have to say would be the word ‘pedophile’ or show them the photograph I took from his room and his reputation and business would be ruined, and he knows it. There are other men like him around, Maryanne. That’s why you never want to get into a stranger’s car or go anywhere with them, even if they seem like they’re trying to help you. You stay away from strangers unless I’m with you.”
“Yes, Auntiie, I will,” she said. It made her feel scared when she thought how close she came to going into the room with him. But Auntiie knew what to do and came to her rescue. She put her arms around Auntiie’s waist and hugged her.
“Don’t get upset, Maryanne,” said Corinne. “It’s all over now.”
She already had her arm around Maryanne’s shoulders, and now she gave her a kiss on the cheek.
As a boy, Timmy loved his mother. And now, as a girl, he was beginning to love Auntiie, too.
“How would you like to wait an hour and then go to a nice restaurant for dinner? It would help to take your mind off all this.”
“That sounds nice, Auntiie,” she said.
“And now I’ll tell you about the special favor Mrs. Pendergast would like you to do,” said Corinne. Maryanne perked right up.
“What is it, Auntiie?” she asked excitedly.
“In two weeks her daughter is getting married, and Mrs. Pendergast would like you to be the flower girl. Do you think you’d like that? We’ll have to get you fitted for a gown and you’ll have to go to a rehearsal of the wedding to make sure everyone will know what they’re supposed to do.”
“You mean I’ll be carrying flowers for the bride, Auntiie?”
“No, dear. You’ll probably have a little basket filled with rose petals, and you’ll walk ahead of the bride and sprinkle them on the floor.
It’s a very easy thing to do, Maryanne, and you’d look so nice in a pretty gown. And we’d get your hair fixed special for it, too. Would you like that?”
“Yes, Auntiie! It sounds wonderful.”
“That will make Mrs. Pendergast very happy, sweetheart. She thinks you’re so pretty she has her heart set on you being the flower girl.
And after the church service, you’ll have your picture taken with the bride and groom and all the bridesmaids. It’ll be a wonderful memory for you. I’ll call her tomorrow and tell her you’ll do it. She’ll be delighted.
“Now let’s freshen up and get ready to go eat some place nice.”
Later, on the way to the restaurant, Maryanne asked Aunt Corinne some more questions about being the flower girl. How would they pick out a gown? Where would they get it? What did the bridesmaids do?
Corinne smiled at her interest and answered each question for her, and soon Maryanne began to like the idea even more. It really sounded so nice. She felt like she was the one getting a special favor instead of Mrs. Pendergast.
The restaurant they went to was way out in the country. It was a large old colonial building, and had been a stagecoach stop in the old days.
When they went inside, Maryanne saw that the ceiling was quite low with a lot of exposed beams. As they made their way through several rooms there was a separate fireplace in each one. The hostess led them to a table near one of the fireplaces. They sat down and after a minute or two a waitress came and took their order. Aunt Corinne ordered a Chateau-briand for them. While they were waiting for their salads, Aunt Corinne asked Maryanne something.
“Do you like all the old things in here, Maryanne?”
“They’re kind of interesting, Aunt Corinne,” she replied. “Like some of the things you have in your home.”
“Yes, dear, but my antiques are all from the last century. These are from the century before that, the colonial period. See the big covered pan with the long handle near the fireplace? In colonial times they used to lift the cover of it and put hot coals from the fireplace in it and then shut it. Then they’d slide it over the bed sheets to warm up their beds before they got into them.”
“Really, Aunt Corinne?!” asked Maryanne.
“Yes, dear. A lot of antiques were for things that aren’t done anymore. But I like my Victorian antiques from the last century. Before your mommy gets home we’ll go to a couple of antique dealers and maybe to an auction. Maybe we can get you something that you’ll like, and you can keep it to remember this nice time you stayed with me.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget staying with you, Aunt Corinne.”
Corinne smiled at her lovingly. She was so proud of Maryanne. Such a nice pretty girl, and so well-behaved. She was about as much a little lady as Corinne could ever have hoped for. And she knew that a special affection for each other had developed between them. But she wondered what would happen when her sister returned from her business trip. It would be such a waste for Maryanne to become Timmy again.
They had just walked in the door when they got home when the phone started ringing. Corinne nodded at her to answer it. “Go ahead, dear. Maybe it’s mommy.”
“Hello? This is Maryanne,” she said.
“Maryanne! This is mommy. How are you, dear? Is everything alright? I got your pictures in the mail today and you look so nice. I wish I could be there and hug my pretty girl. Are you having a nice time, sweetheart?”
“Oh, yes, mommy,” she replied, “and Auntiie is so nice to me, too.
It’s been a wonderful time staying with her and making friends with other girls. And in two weeks I’m going to be the flower girl at a wedding, too.”
They talked some more for a while, and then mommy told her she wanted to talk to Auntiie for a minute. Corinne got on the phone.
“I told you everything would work out fine,” she said in a teasing voice to their sister. “How are you doing in the city?”
“Fine. I may even get back a day or two early. Oh, Corinne! You’ve made such a nice girl out of Timmy. Does he really enjoy it as much as he sounds?”
“A lot more than you realize,” answered Corinne. “And I haven’t had to use the hairbrush on her bottom either.”
They talked some more for a few minutes, and then Marie said she wanted to say ‘goodbye’ to Maryanne. Corinne held the phone out to Maryanne.
“Sweetheart, I’m so glad you like being a nice girl for Aunt Corinne. I can hardly wait ’til I get back and can hold you. But I have to go now. I’m sorry it took me so long to call you, but I’ve been very busy.”
“I wish you were here, mommy. I miss you.”
“Well, I might finish up here a day or two early and get home ahead of time,” said Marie.
“Mommy! Maybe you could go to the wedding with us!”
“I’d love to, dear. We’ll see how things work out.”
They made their ‘goodbyes’ and Maryanne hung up the phone. She looked up at Auntiie with a smile. “It’s just like you said, Auntiie. She’s very happy about me being a girl now.”
“And so am I, sweetheart. So am I.”
THE THIRD WEEK (STARDUST)
During Sunday breakfast, Auntiie explained that they wouldn’t be going for a fitting for the gown ’til later in the week.’ Today she wanted to take Maryanne to an antique dealer’s shop and explain a few things to her about them. Maryanne thought that would be interesting, but she told Auntiie she really didn’t know anything about them now.
“I know, dear,” said Auntiie. “This will be a type of education you don’t get in school.”
The shop they went to had been a barn that the owner had converted into a antique shop. His name was Mr. Carlow, and Auntiie seemed to know him quite well. She told him she wanted to show Maryanne a few things about real antiques compared to reproductions.
“Glass boots and animals is a good place to start,” he said, and led them over to a section of shelves that had a lot of heavy looking solid glass objects on them.
Corinne picked up a very plain looking glass shoe about four inches long. She turned it over and showed Maryanne the maker’s mark. Then she showed her another shoe that looked a lot like the first one, but the bottom of it had two numbers and an initial imprinted on it. The numbers indicated that it was a ‘run’ of a reproduction of an antique.
“Things like this are easy to tell apart, Maryanne, once you know what to look for. But clothing and paintings can be difficult at times. In a little while we’ll go to an antique clothing dealer and see what she has. I don’t expect you to start falling in love with antiques all of a sudden, but maybe we’ll see something you like. There are some things that stay pretty forever.”
Maryanne was actually beginning to find Aunt Corinne’s talk about antiques quite interesting, but she didn’t understand how they could become a part of her life.
After all, even if they found a pretty antique dress, it wasn’t something you could wear outside every day.
They had a little lunch in a restaurant and then Aunt Corinne drove to a shop that had most of its window space filled by lace curtains. A small hand lettered sign propped up on a tripod was in the center of the window display. It had the single word ‘Sylvander’s’ on it. Once they were inside Maryanne began to look around. The clothes weren’t arranged like they would be in a regular store.
While she was taking her first look around, Aunt Corinne and the owner of the store greeted each other warmly. She seemed to know all the dealers they went to very well. The lady that owned this store was very nice looking. She had her blue tinted hair pinned up in a pretty style with a loose bun and a large black ribbon bow. The blue tint of her hair went well with the blue floral pattern of her dress. She and Aunt Corinne embraced as if they hadn’t seen each other in years.
Corinne introduced Maryanne to the older woman, at the same time asking, “Anything her age now?”
“As a matter of fact, I just finished cataloging the things from a nice estate yesterday,” replied Mrs. Sylvander, “But I haven’t had a chance to wash many of them. There are some nice things in this collection though, including some pieces that look her size,”
“Marilyn, where do you hear about such things?” asked Corinne, shaking her head in wonderment.
“You have to keep your ear to the ground, I admit,” replied Mrs. Sylvander. “That’s my husband’s department. He always seems to hear about such sales before I do. And of course other dealers sometimes spill the beans on themselves as well. Word gets around. And if it’s a really big estate, they’ll break it down into lots and advertise it ahead of time. These things all came from a small summer cottage an old lady used to open up every year about this time. She was 92 when she passed away. Lord only knows how old some of these things are.”
“You mentioned something her size being in the collection,” said Aunt Corinne.
“Yes, it’s an afternoon dress, a sort of child’s tea dress. Very pretty. Lot of detail in the lace. Must have been expensive when it was new. Very good condition from what I can see so far. Just the thing for a nice set of pictures.”
“No, I don’t want to rent it for pictures,” said Aunt Corinne. “I’d like to buy it outright. That way Maryanne can have it as a memento of the summer. Could we see it, please?”
There must have been visions of dollar signs floating . around in Mrs. Sylvander’s head. She lost no time in finding and displaying the dress.
Maryanne’s eyes were popping! It was more like a piece of candy than an item of clothing. It was covered with lace, a pink ribbon running around the neck and also tied in a long dangly bow at her waist. It had three white petticoats that went with it, and when Maryanne came out of the back room dressed in it, she looked like she had just stepped out of the past of a hundred years ago.
Both older women squealed with delight at the sight of her. If anything, it was just a bit big for her.
Aunt Corinne paid for the dress while Maryanne changed back into her regular clothes again. While she was doing that, she spotted something in the back room. After they had said ‘goodbye’ to Mrs. Sylvander and gone out to the car, Maryanne asked Aunt Corinne for something.
“Auntiie…would you be mad if I asked you for ten dollars?”
“My! That’s a lot of money for a little girl,” said Corinne. “What do you want ten dollars for?”
“If I tell you, it’ll spoil everything,” said Maryanne. “Well, I guess we can do it this one time,” said Corinne. As soon as she gave Maryanne the ten dollars, she hopped out of the car and went back into the clothing shop. After a couple of minutes she came back out and they drove home. Corinne noticed her tightly clutching a small paper bag that had been wrapped up and tied with string.
During the middle of the night, a small hand could be seen placing something on the drop leaf of Aunt Corinne’s high glass fronted mahogany secretary that she used as a desk for writing and keeping her papers in order.
The next morning while they were having breakfast Corinne looked over at her niece.
“Maryanne, you still haven’t told me what you did with the ten dollars.” Maryanne giggled, her bright eyes shining.
She got up from her chair and went over and took Auntiie’s hand.
“You bought me such a pretty dress to remember this summer that I wanted to get you something, too. And I saw something in Mrs. Sylvander’s shop that was a real bargain.
I already put it out in plain view, Auntiie. Let’s take a walk and see if you can spot it.” Eventually Maryanne led her into the living room.
Corinne paused, looking around carefully. Then she spotted a solid glass paperweight of a sleeping cat on top of some recent mail she had received.
“Oh, a nice paperweight for my secretary!”
“Yes, and it’s worth more than ten dollars, too, Auntiie,” said Maryanne. “See? It only has a maker’s mark on it.”
Corinne looked down at Maryanne and gathered her into a big hug. “Maryanne, what am I going to do when you go back to living with your mommy? I’ve come to love you so much, sweetheart. But let me show you something about you little kitty.” She let go of Maryanne and picked up the paperweight.
“Honey, the reason it was only ten dollars was because of a common imperfection. See the little bubbles inside the kitty? It is genuinely old, but I’m afraid those little bubbles take away it’s value. But it still looks fine on my secretary. And it makes me love you even more. Some people don’t call them ‘bubbles’. They call them ‘stardust’.” And that became the paperweight’s name from then on.
