Daisy in the Fringe

Dear Diary,

I closed the door behind me, sighed, and leaned against it for a moment.  Then I looked up.

“Well?” said Dusty, sitting on the bed and staring at me.

“Well what?” I said.

“Well just look at the time!  You been out all night!  It’s enough to make a body suspicious, it is.  What you been doing all this time, not that I can’t guess!”

I tried to give her a cold look, but I just couldn’t be cold, not today.  So I rushed to her and hugged her tight, and then I showed her my ring.

She just grinned.  “I told you he was going to propose.  Didn’t I tell you he was going to propose?  You should have listened to me.  Now sit right down and tell me everything!”

There was so much to tell, it was about an hour before I was done and had shared the last of the leftover sweets.  Then we went down for a full breakfast.  Geoffry wasn’t there – Hank said something about him sleeping.  But I showed off my ring, asked Amber to be a bridesmaid (Dusty already agreed to be my maid of honor), and had a grand old time joking and laughing with everyone and wasn’t sleepy at all.

Dutch was there.  He says we got another job from Captain Crispin, we just got to wait til we got a call.  I’m glad for that – I got a wedding to plan, and I want it to be real special, so I sure could use some more money.

I don’t know what we’ll do until we get the call.  Maybe Dusty and me will go out looking at wedding dresses or something, or maybe we’ll get another bath (though I hate the idea of washing away Geoffry’s kisses).  Anyway, it’s a beutiful day, and I sure am happy.  We’ll come up with something.

Dear Diary,

After a moment of forever in Geoffry’s arms, he pulled his head back and looked at me.  “Are you all right?” he asked, and “Yes” I nodded.  He looked so full of compassion and love, and he said, “Perhaps we should have some dessert now.  I’m told that they are known far and wide for the sweets that they serve.”  I nodded again, and he pulled a little chain hanging off the wall and a bell rang in the distance.

I stood up on shaky legs and excused myself for a moment.  The room had its own water closet, and I wiped my eyes with some water and fixed up my face.  When I got back the host was standing there directing two serving girls who were setting out something big and silvery, and he beamed as me as I came out.  “I have just heard the good news,” he said.  “Let me be the first to congratulate you and to wish you a long and happy life together.”  I blushed as he took my left hand and gazed at my finger.  “Ah, it is a lovely ring – one of the nicest that I have seen.  You are indeed lucky to have such a fine provider.”  He released my hand and shook Geoffry’s.  “And you, to have such a lovely young bride.  But let us now leave you alone to celebrate your magical evening.  And if there is anything you desire, you have but to pull the chain.”  He shooed away the serving girls and bowed himself out, and I was left alone with Geoffry and the blindfolded fiddler, now back in his corner and playing his tunes.

Geoffry smiled as he settled me down to the couch and we turned our attention to the dessert.  It looked good enough to tempt a stone: cakes that were a delicate white and others that looked like red velvet, tarts covered with berries, and gingerbread cookies sprinkled with something white, all surrounded by the lushest looking fruits that I ever seen.

But it was the middle of the table that drew the eye.  Standing there was a silver statue of Aphrodite perched on a clamshell and dressed only in long silvery hair.  She was rising from a pillar of chocolate that stood above a creamy brown sea, the chocolate flowing into the sea like a fountain.  My eyes widened with delight, and then I smiled at the goddess and mouthed a word of thanks for all that she had done for me.

Geoffry grinned at the look of wonder in my eyes.  “It looks good, doesn’t it?  Here, try this.”  And he took a spoon of angel-food cake, dipped it under the flowing chocolate, and lifted it to me.  My mouth filled with sweet richness and my eyes widened as the cake melted on my tongue.  Geoffry nodded as he took a bite and said, “Now try a sip of this,” and he handed me a goblet full of golden wine.

The wine was as sweet as the cake, and a warm glow filled my stomach as I sipped.  Geoffry just kept watching me, his eyes warming me more than the wine.  Then he reached for a bit of melon to feed to me.

But the chocolate must have made it slippery, because as he brought it towards my mouth it slipped from the fork and bounced off my hand, leaving a streak of chocolate on the back of my wrist.  “Here, let me,” he said, reaching for a napkin, but I shook my head and instead held my hand towards him like a queen greeting one of her knights.

He raised one eyebrow, then he took my hand and lifted it towards his lips.  The hairs on my arm stood straight as his kissed my wrist clean, and then, meeting my eyes, he reached a finger into the chocolate and used it to caress the inside of my elbow, my arm, and my neck, finally reaching around and leaving a touch on the shoulderblade left uncovered by my dress.

I closed my eyes while he worked his way up my arm, gently nuzzling away the chocolate.  I gasped a little as his lips touched my back, and I sighed as he licked at my neck.  His face now inches from mine, he reached one hand towards the fountain and brought it towards me.  But I caught his hand and held it for an instant, then lifted it to my mouth and sucked at the chocolate running down his finger.  He had a stunned look on his face, so I reached over and dipped a strawberry and used it to dab a small spot on his cheek, a spot that I licked clean like a kitten.

He was practially purring now, lying back on the couch with his lips slightly open, so I took the strawberry and put it between his lips. As he bit into it I leaned my head closer and kissed him deeply.  He shared some of the pulp with me, and my mouth filled with the taste of chocolate and  strawberries and Geoffry.  And then I was lying on top of him as we kissed and kissed and kissed.  One hand held me around the waist while the other, strong and rough, kneaded my shoulder, and I melted into him and wondered if this is what it would be like to be his wife, so safe, so happy, so his, and my heart warmed as I thought that it would not be long before I knew for sure.

We paused then, looking at each other, and it suddenly all seemed so funny that I had to laugh a silent laugh.  He just looked puzzled, so I reached over for a scrap of paper and wrote, “You don’t laugh much.”  He just shrugged.  “Are you ticklish?”  He shrugged again, this time with a smile, so I reached down and dug my fingers into his ribs.  Sure enough, he started in to laughing.  I liked his laugh – it was strong and hearty and filled him from eye to belly, and so I tickled him some more.  Soon he was gasping, and then he lifted a hand and I paused.  He was panting a little, and then he said, “Turnabout is fair play.”  And then he started rubbing fingers like feathers along my flanks.

I just about completely lost control, and he flipped me over on my back and pressed his advantage, his hands darting from my belly to my feet, and if I could have, I would have shrieked.  I was completely at his mercy and surprised at how nice that was.

After one last deep kiss, he shifted off of me to his side and stared deep into my eyes.  He poured me more of the wine and we each tried more of the sweets, but mostly we just gazed at each other and listened to the fiddling and the fountain and our hearts.

I started breathing deeply, and he whispered, “It’s growing late, my dear.  I wonder that they let us stay this long.”  I just shrugged, but he said, “We should probably be going.”  I nodded and reached for my shoes where they had fallen during the tickling.  As I fastened the straps, my eye fell on the ring on my finger, and I warmed inside again as I remembered all that had happened that night.

Geoffry rang the bell and thanked the fiddler, and the host bowed us to our sedan chair, handing Geoffry a little basket.  “A few treats for later,” he said, and then the slaves were carrying us back to the hotel.  But I wasn’t ready for the night to end, so “Let’s go for a walk,” I wrote.  He looked down at my shoes and said, “A walk?”  I shrugged, and he thought for a moment and then said to the slaves, “Take us somewhere pretty where we can sit and watch the stars.”  The lead man nodded, turned down a side street, and carried us up a hill to a small park.

The men placed the chair down on a small grassy hill under a tree, then one opened a drawer in the base of the chair and removed a blanket.  He spread it over a small tuft of grass and indicated it with his hand.  Geoffry and I sat down, and the man brought a pair of cushions and another blanket.  It was getting a little chilly, so I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and stared into Geoffry’s eyes for a while, the slaves withdrawing behind a tree.

I could sense others in the park, but they ignored us as we ignored them.  And there, under a soft blanket and a bright moon, with Geoffry’s arm wrapped around me keeping me warm, we nibbled sweets from the basket and sipped sweet wine and spoke of what it would be like to be married.  He said he didn’t mind that I had no dowry to speak of, and that his parents wouldn’t mind either: they just wanted him to be happy and to find a true partner to love.  He reckoned that we’d travel for a few years before settling down somewhere nice, wherever I’d be happiest.  But the first thing was for him to see my Momma and get her blessing, and then we could start planning for the big day.  We both wanted it to be soon, but he’d leave the details to me.

We talked some of babies.  He wanted them, but thought it would be best if we waited until we settled down.  I couldn’t understand how we’d manage that, not if he wanted me to be a real wife to him and all, but he said that there was pills that I could take that would keep me from getting pregnant.  And then, once we were ready, I could just stop taking the pills and the babies would come.  I was happy for that: I don’t know if I’m ready to be a momma yet, but I would never want to deprive my Geoffry.

We kissed a little more, quiet happy little kisses.  And before long, before I wanted it, the sun rose over the town.  He smiled at me and said, “We have to go back now, you know.”  I nodded sadly, but he said, “It’s all right.  We have the rest of our lives together.  There will be many nights like this, and better ones too, nights when we will return together to our shared bed.”  And with that, he lifted me up, still wrapped in the blanket against the cold, and placed me gently in the sedan chair.

We got back to the hotel and he paid off the slaves.  Then he led me inside.  People were just coming down to breakfast, and a clerk behind the desk looked at me in my evening dress and gave a little smirk.  But Geoffry just walked me up the stairs like the gentleman he is.  We came to the door of my room and he took my hand again and raised it to his lips.  And he said, “I love you, Daisy.  And tonight, you have made me the happiest man in the Empire.”  And with that, I closed the door behind him and said farewell to the best night of my life.

Dear Diary,

You have to excuse me if this is hard to read, but I can hardly see the page for the tears in my eyes.  If Daddy could see me, he’d say I was smiling so wide the top of my head was likely to pop right off.  I didn’t sleep a wink last night, and still I’m so wide awake I feel I could go out and run about a hundred miles.

But let me start back at last night.

It was about time for Geoffry to come get me, and I was just squirting a little perfume behind each ear.  I was starting to have second thoughts about that dress.  The way it clung to me made me feel indecent, but Dusty wouldn’t hear of me changing.  “You just trust me,” she said.  “That’s the dress for you to wear tonight.  Why, I bet that dress is gonna bring you luck.”  I still hadn’t decided for sure, and was going to the closet to see what else I might have when there was a knock on the door.

I figured shucks, there ain’t no time to change now, so I started towards the door.  But Dusty said, “You go into that bathroom and let me get it.  In a dress like that, you need to make an entrance.”  That seemed silly to me, but I let her shoo me away anyway.  And so I stood there looking in the mirror making a couple last fixes to my hair when I heard Dusty talking to Geoffry.

She was just saying, “Now don’t you fret, she’ll be out soon, and well worth the wait,” when I came through the door.  Geoffry looked up at me, and I swear his jaw dropped straight down and hung there for at least a minute, his eyes all wide as he stared at me.  I didn’t know that ever really happened!

I gave him a big smile and felt awfully glad I had listened to Dusty about the dress.  After a moment, he shook his head and said in a hoarse voice, “I swear, Daisy, I knew you were lovely, but I had no idea!”  Then he swallowed and said, “Are you ready to go?”  I nodded, and he held out his arm, only real careful, like he was nervous to be touching me.  And as we headed out the door, Dusty gave me two thumbs up behind Geoffry’s back.

He looked awfully fine in the blue shirt that I made him, with a dark blue jacket and a fancy red tie over it.  His clothes was pressed and his boots freshly polished, and he was holding a fine black hat with a white feather in the brim.  It felt good to be on the arm of such a fancy looking gentleman, and we must have looked awfully good together because people kept stopping what they was doing and staring at us as we walked by.

Outside the hotel Geoffry had a sedan chair waiting for us with two large men to carry it.  He held my hand as I climbed up and then he sat beside me.  It was the first time I ever rode in one of them chairs.  I liked it a lot – it was awfully smooth, not like being in a wagon or on a horse, but more like riding in a boat over a smooth lake.  Geoffry held my hand in his and his eyes glowed as they stared deep into mine.

After a couple minutes of riding he said, “We’re going to the same place we went last night.  I hope that’s all right with you.”  It surely was.  That was about the nicest place I ever ate at, and I didn’t mind another meal there at all.  He nodded and said, “I thought it would be okay.  But tonight I was able to give them more time to prepare, so I understand they will have something special for us.”  If that meal last night was their normal fare, I sure looked forward to trying their special, so I leaned back against his shoulder while them fellers carried us down the street.

We came to the restaurant and Geoffry hopped out and handed me down to the sidewalk.  The host opened the door for us and led us to a nicer room than the one where we ate before.  Somehow it was both bigger and more cozy, and there were flowers everywhere and everything was all lit up with candles.  Geoffry guided me to the couch – this time, there was only one couch for the two of us to share – and we settled down next to each other as a waiter brought in a chilled bottle of white wine.

There was a feller there in a long fancy suit playing a fiddle, only it wasn’t like any fiddle-playing I’d ever heard before.  This was slow and sweet and sounded like love on the ear.  He stood in a back corner wearing a kerchief wrapped around his eyes.  That didn’t make sense to me – it must have been difficult playing the right notes when you couldn’t see the strings.  But if he missed a note, I never heard it: pure and perfect music filled the room, and though Geoffry asked if there was anything special I’d like to hear, no song that I knew was worthy of the player.

The food was just amazing, much better than the night before.  We started with a cold soup that tasted like melons, followed by a salad with the most delicate greens I ever tasted.  There was grape leaves stuffed with olives and sweetbreads and a plate of raw oysters.  I never tasted nothing like the oysters – they felt kind of slimy going down, but they left a delicious salty taste behind.  After that, they brought out a finger bowl to let us rinse our hands, and our fingers slid against each others in the warm water.  Then came the main course, a delicate prairie peacock stuffed with truffles and a meat that Geoffry said was made of larks, with spears of asparagus and something whipped that tasted like potatoes and cinnamon.

At each course they brought out a different bottle of wine, each with a different flavor and each matched to the food it was served with.  I ain’t used to drinking wine, so by the time we was eating the peacock I was feeling like I was floating.  It all seemed like a wonderful dream, what with the soft music, the candlelight, the delicious flavors, and the feel of Geoffry warm beside me.

When they came and cleared out the last plates, Geoffry told the fiddler he could take a break and that they should wait til he rang to bring in dessert. At first I was disappointed: dinner was so good, I figured dessert had to be something really special.  But Geoffry lay there on the couch leaning on one elbow, as close as he could be without our bodies touching, and he reached out a hand and traced a line with his finger from my shoulder down my arm to my hand.  As he took my hand and raised it to his lips, I gave a little shiver and all disappointment floated away.

His eyes glistened in the candlelight, like he knew what was in my heart.  Then he slid down off the couch and dropped to one knee.  I was so startled that I sat right up on the edge of the couch as he took my hand and stared deep into my eyes.

“Daisy,” he said, “I’m a traveling man, and that can be a lonely life.  That’s my calling, and I’m not complaining.  But my life would be a lot less lonely if I had someone as special as you to share it with.”  His features softened as he quietly added, “And maybe, if I had someone as special as you, I wouldn’t need to wander any more.”

He paused here and rubbed a hand through his hair, and I started hearing the beating of my heart.  Then he reached into his pocket and started in to fiddling with a little box and said, “I’m sorry, I seem to be babbling.  The point is, I know I haven’t known you long.  But in that short time, I’ve come to care for you – I’ve come to love you – more than I’ve ever cared for anyone.”  My heart started to pounding, and the blood rushing through me like a galloping herd of horses was so loud that I could barely hear Geoffry say, “My sweet Daisy, will you marry me?”  He had opened the box, and through tears leaking from my eyes I saw a perfect gold band with a great big diamond in the middle.  Somehow, I couldn’t look away from the candlelight twinkling at the heart of the stone.  My mouth was open and my heart so full, and I didn’t know what to do.  But I looked deep into those eyes, Geoffry’s warm, handsome eyes, so comforting and so full of love, and they gave me the strength to bite my lip and nod my head.

A perfect calm came over his face, and my hand trembled in his as he placed the ring on my finger.  My chest felt fit to burst, and I would have broken down sobbing for sure if he hadn’t reached up a soft hand and caressed away my tears.  He then reached that strong, gentle hand behind my head and drew it close to his.  I shut my eyes as his lips brushed mine, and his calm washed over me as our faces rested against each other and I clung to his chest.

Oh Diary, there ain’t words enough to tell how I felt.  The world and all the heavens was singing with joy, and I could hardly believe that the moment was real.  All my dreams have come true, for I am going to be his, and every day of my life I will cherish the memory of the night that I agreed to become Mrs Geoffry Bentry.

• Are you sure?  I don’t got much of a dowry.
• What will your people think?
• When do you want to marry?
• Where do you want to live?
• I like to travel.  I’d like to travel with you.
• Do you want to have babies?
• What if I get a baby?
• I mean, when we’re on the road.
• Should we wait for you know – so I don’t get a baby?
• How’s that work?
• So them pills work even if we do like husbands and wives do?
• I’m so happy!  I love you so much!
• You don’t laugh much.
• Are you ticklish?
• Let’s go for a walk.

Dear Diary,

After we left the temple, I decided I needed a new dress to wear to dinner tonight, so Dusty and me went shopping.  There were a lot of nice shops in town, and I didn’t want to wear the same dress two nights in a row.  Besides, the last few days have been an awful strain, and there ain’t nothing like a new frock to calm a girl’s nerves.

But first I wanted a bathing suit.  I reckon that if I need to go swimming again in front of everybody like I did in the crater lake, I’d want to have something other than my undies to wear.  So I picked out a nice maroon suit with a pretty little flared skirt.  I figured that I wouldn’t feel too funny wearing it in front of everyone, but Dusty took one look and made a sour face.

“You look like someone’s maiden aunt in that old thing,” she said.  “Now that you’re a sophisticated traveling lady with a city fella of your own, it’s time to stop acting like a little girl from the sticks.”  Then she led me to another rack and said, “I’m thinking that Doc would much rather see you in one of these!”

I took a look at the skimpy bits of cloth hanging there, and at first I figured they was underwear.  But Dusty said, “That’s what the city girls wear when they want to catch a fella’s eye.”  I could certainly imagine that happening: if a girl showed up at the watering hole back home wearing only one of them teeny things, she’d catch the eyes of half of the men in the county.  I couldn’t imagine no decent girl going out in public in such a thing, but the salesgirl said it was true, that’s what they wore at the big resorts on the coast.  So I picked out a couple and tried them on.

The cutest one was all pink with white polka-dots.  It fit me well, what there was of it, but it sure was skimpy. Why, the top wasn’t attached to the bottom at all – you could see my belly button and everything in that suit.  If I ever let Geoffry see me in that, I’d have to marry him!  But Dusty just grinned and said, “Now that’s the kind of honey that’ll catch you a fly.”

It didn’t seem no different than swimming in my skanties, but Dusty insisted, so I decided to get it and the one-piece both.  After all, the pink one won’t hardly take up any room in my bag, and I reckon the next time I go swimming I can figure which one to wear.

I was just paying the shop girl when Dusty went back to the rack.  I gave her a curious look and she said, “Aw shucks, I can’t let you bug out all the eyes.  I reckon I ought to bug out a few myself.”  Then she picked a suit off the rack and headed for the fitting room.

Her suit had a powder-blue top and a darker blue bottom, and if anything it was even more revealing than mine.  She laughed when she saw the look on my face and struck a pose that would make Momma blush like a beet.

“But you don’t even swim,” I said.

“This suit ain’t for swimming,” she replied.  “This suit is for sitting on the beach and having fellers fight over who gets to bring me drinks.”  Which if you ask me seems like an awful funny thing to hear coming from someone getting set to start serving Artemis.

After Dusty’d paid for her suit, we got some lunch in a little restaurant where they put tables out on the sidewalks.  Then it was time to look at dresses.  This time there weren’t no hurry and all the shops was still open, so we strolled down that street and looked at most everything.  I saw a bunch of dresses that I liked, but Dusty didn’t seem to think any of them was good enough.  Finally we went to this real fancy shop that had great big windows with statues of ladies in dresses, and we found one dress that Dusty said was just about right.

I had to admit, it looked nice, though awful daring.  It’s cream-colored up at the top, and starts blending to a dark red down in the skirt.  It’s made of an awfully smooth cloth that clings to me when I wear it.  It’s cut a little higher than my blue and white dress in the front, but it only covers one shoulder, leaving the other one totally bare.  It’s cut low in the skirt, almost to the ground, but it’s got a slit on one side that goes up past the knee and shows off my calf.

I felt awful funny in that dress – it clung so close that I felt practically naked – but Dusty said Geoffry would love it.  And besides, I wanted to wear something real nice for tonight, didn’t I?  Because I never did know what tonight might bring, so I better be dressed for anything.

Figuring out what to wear under it was a trial.  It turns out you don’t wear nothing at all up top under a dress like that.  And for down below, they make special underpants out of stretchy lace, because the seams in normal panties will show right through.  “What about me,” I asked.  “Won’t my seams show too?”  Dusty and the salesgirl seemed to think that was about the funniest thing they had ever heard.

I finished it off with a little pair of high heel sandals with patent-leather straps that wrapped around the foot to keep them on.  My toenails and all show in them shoes, and Dusty said it made me look awfully glamorous.  It felt funny to walk in them at first – I ain’t never worn a shoe with heels that high before – but I got used to it pretty quick.

When we was done there, we went to one shop that sold only scent.  We spent a while sniffing at the different bottles, and I finally picked out one that smells like roses in a springtime forest.  I reckon I’ll wear it tonight.  Out in the woods I wore a little vanilla behind each ear that I had in my cooking kit, and I suppose it worked cause Geoffry sure liked sniffing at me.  But I figure he’ll like sniffing the perfume even more.

After that, Dusty and me headed off to the baths.  We got the tub in our room, but after all we been through I figure we deserve something special.  And Dusty seems to think I should look extra special nice for Geoffry tonight, though I don’t see why I need to look any better than I did last night.  But I decided why not, so we got the works: we bathed in all them different pools they have, got a massage (boy, did that feel fine, though it was funny having a stranger rubbing me all over with me wearing nothing but a towel), and got our nails, hair, and make-up done (I had my nails done in red – toes and fingers).  What with all that, and in my new dress, I hardly recognize me at all.  I sure hope Geoffry likes me like this!

Dear Diary,

After Will and Amber left, Dusty said, “Well?”

“Well what?” I asked.

“Did Doc propose?”

Well I don’t know where she got the idea that was gonna happen.  I mean, Geoffry and me only known each other for a little while.  And besides, I ain’t got no dowry to speak of, and no fancy city connections at all.  He likes me, I’m sure, and likes smooching with me.  But he’s way too smart to ever want to marry a poor girl from nowhere like me, and I told Dusty that right straight.

She just laughed and said, “We’ll see.”

(I sure do wish everyone would stop talking about me marrying Geoffry.  It just don’t make sense for him, and all they’re doing is getting my hopes up.  But I suppose you can’t do nothing about foolish gossips, so I’ll just have to ignore all that talk from now on.)

Next morning, we went down to breakfast.  Hank and Dutch and the cousins was there, but Geoffry weren’t nowhere to be found.  Hank saw the look on my face and laughed and said that Geoffry had gone into the city bright and early, that he had important business there.  Then he gave me a wink.

I don’t know what call Hank has to wink at me.  I’m sure I never did nothing to make him wink.  And I don’t know what business Geoffry might have that couldn’t wait until we went through the next town.  I asked Hank, but he just laughed and gave me another one of them winks. I suppose I’ll just have to wait until I see Geoffry tonight and ask him.

We got our first real look at Menelaida by the morning light as we set out to find a temple. I wanted to make nice big offerings to Artemis (whose blessing has served me so well), Aphrodite (who was nice enough to put the spurs to my Geoffry), and Serapis (because I reckon I owe all the gods, and he’s the chief one).  Even Dusty wanted to make an offering: meeting a Goddess was a good influence on her, even if she still can’t seem to keep from squabbling with Hank.

This town is so rich that they got more than one temple, including one to Artemis.  We went there and spoke some to the priestess.  Dusty asked how she might become a priestess of Artemis, seeing as she had met the goddess and all.  But when Dusty heard how much studying it would take, she decided that she’d do better being a servant of Artemis, wandering the world and doing things that the Goddess would want done.  The Priestess thought that was a good idea, especially after she saw the talisman that Dusty got from the Goddess.  (The priestess seemed to think we was lying at first when we told her about meeting the Goddess, but after she examined Dusty’s talisman, she got a whole lot nicer.)

I asked the priestess about something that was bothering me.  See, I got this gift, this ability to learn things without studying or being taught or nothing.  I know that it’s a gift from a God, but I don’t know which one.  I sure would like to show my gratitude, but I don’t know how, or to who.  So I asked the priestess what I should do.

She did a little ritual to try to find out who had blessed me with that gift, but she couldn’t figure it out.  So she said I could make a sacrifice to whoever gave me the gift even if I didn’t know just who that was, and the gods would sort it out the right way.  There was a fellow next door to the temple who sold animals for sacrifice, so I went over and bought the best he had, a little cream-colored calf with deep brown eyes that kept lowing in a happy little voice.  I took it back to the sacrifice pits behind the temple and consecrated it to the god that gifted me, and I felt a little better as I saw the blood flow through the holy sluices and smelt the aroma of burnt flesh go wafting up into the sky.

I still may not know who was nice enough to give me this gift.  But at least now He knows how grateful I am.

Dear Diary,

When I got back to my room, I had a grand surprise waiting for me.  My favorite cousins, Will and Amber Dunn, was there, just chewing the fat with Dusty.  You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw them – I ain’t seen Will since we left home, and it’s been even longer since I saw Amber, her being away at school and all.

Will and Amber is the kids of my Aunt Millie and Uncle Bill.  Aunt Millie’s Momma’s sister, and since Will and Amber lived in a homestead only about a mile or two away from us when we was growing up, we saw a lot of them. Will was just about my favorite cousin when I was a kid – he was quiet like me, and even learned my hand talk so we could talk when Daisy and Momma weren’t around.  We had sleepovers with them a couple times a week most seasons, and it was always grand when all the local neighbors would do the harvesting rounds, going from farm to farm during harvest season pitching in and everyone helping everyone with their crops.  It was always a lot of hard work, but there was dancing and bonfires in the evening, plenty of food to go around, and camping under the stars.  Some of my favorite memories are of them days, and they always included running around with Will and getting into mischief.

Of course, Will got a little odd when he hit his teen years.  Aunt Millie and Momma never talked about it much, but I once heard Aunt Millie saying that Will was starting to hear voices in his head.  I didn’t know about that, but he was always off on his own, and folks said they heard him talking to himself a lot, and he always seemed to know things that he shouldn’t.  Some of the kids would tease him, but I never stood for that kind of nonsense.  Anyway, he’s still my cousin, and I love him, even if he does have his peculiarities.

Amber’s a few years older than Will (who’s just about my age). Back when we was kids, she was often set to keep an eye on us.  She’s a big girl and just about the smartest person who ever came from our home town, and she’s a wizard with wagons and pumps and all kinds of machinery.  A couple years back, Mr Hawkins decided he’d have a scholarship contest for the first bunch of kids who came of age after he took over the local ranches and built up the town.   Amber won it easily, and so she was sent off to one of the big colleges way away in Slag.  Just imagine, going to school off-planet!  It must have been lonely, but what an adventure!

Anyway, she just got back for a while, though she’s talking about going off for more schooling soon.  Even more schooling!  Why, she’s already got the most schooling of anyone who ever came out of our town!  The family’s all awful proud of her, and it sure is nice hearing all her stories of Slag.

Anyway, they’re gonna travel with us for a while, which makes me awfully glad. It sure is nice having family around!

Dear Diary,

We’re in town now, a big place called Menelaida.  It’s at the end of a rail spur, so they got lots of people living here and a bunch of nice shops with all sorts of good stuff.  I like this place: I’m even gonna get to sleep in a bed tonight.  Even better – I was looking forward to being able to use a regular outhouse instead of having to go behind a tree, but they got indoor plumbing – all you gotta do is turn a tap and the water comes right out of the wall!

We first got here just about sunset.  We was starting to pass some farmhouses on the road when we came up over a hill and saw a pretty little town sitting below us.  We all smiled down on it, and Dusty was just saying, “Woo-whee!  Civilization!  I’m getting me a bath!”, when Geoffry turns to me and says, “Now that we’re in town, I sure would like to take you out to dinner tonight.”

Well of course I said yes, seeing as how I been looking forward to us having a proper town date ever since he first started in courting me.  Only his invite put me in what my Uncle Bill used to call a devil of a fix.  I was looking forward to a real special time, but I didn’t much want to spend it wearing one of them two dresses that he’d seen on me over and over again.  And as to my feet, all I had was the boots that I been wearing through all the muck and mess, and they ain’t proper for a night on the town.  Worst of all, a long day of riding and fighting and a bunch more days sleeping in a ditch hadn’t left me what you’d call real fresh.

But things is what they is, and sometimes you just gotta just make do.  So I told Geoffry I’d be real happy to go, but I’d need a couple of hours to get ready.  He was okay with a late dinner – he reckoned he could use the time to get some things set up – so he said he’d pick me up a little after 8.  That still didn’t leave much time, but I figured I’d manage.

We all rode into town and got rooms at the biggest hotel around.  I sure liked my room: it’s got soft sheets and feather pillows and everything, and there’s even two beds so Dusty and me won’t have to share.  But there wasn’t much time to sit around and enjoy, so Dusty and me checked in, dropped off our stuff, and then headed out for the shops.

They had a whole row of stores that we had passed riding into town.  Most was closed, but we found one where the owner was still cleaning up.  She tried to turn us away, but Dusty explained how we had just gotten into town and how they was going to be putting on a special pilgrim’s train coming out here to visit the crater and all (which the shoplady hadn’t heard, though I suppose that’s no surprise), and what most of them pilgrims was going to want was new shoes to walk the holy ground and a new dress to show off in front of the goddess.  We was here putting together a guide book for them tourists, every pilgrim was gonna get one free, and we was checking to find out which was the best shops for our write-up, but if she was too busy we’d just skip on by to the next one instead.  She gave us a great big smile and said that weren’t necessary, we should come right in, and she even gave me a discount.

They had a lot of pretty things there, though there weren’t time to try on many.  I did find a nice dress – all white with big blue flowers and cut like the ladies wear in the city.  The skirt goes down to the knee, which makes it shorter than any dress I wore since I was a little girl, but I figure if this is what the town girls wear, I wouldn’t shock Geoffry too much.  (Course, maybe it will shock him just the right amount!)   It’s cinched around the waist with a bow on back, and it’s cut a little lower than I’d sew it, but Dusty said she reckoned nobody would complain.  There ain’t no sleeves to speak of – my arms and shoulders and neck are all bare when I got it on.  I think it looks fine on me, and Dusty said if I wear it to dinner with Geoffry, he’d be sure to work up an appetite for dessert.

Since that dress would look right funny with me wearing my dusty old riding boots, I just had to get a matching pair of shoes.  I picked out a pair of blue ones with little bows on them and a bit of heel.  It sure will make a nice change to have something pretty on my feet.  And I bought a few other trappings – a girl likes to have something clean and fresh next to her skin, and I didn’t have what I needed to go under that dress anyways.  All my undies are made for working clothes and country fashions, not for them city duds.

After that, we was getting tight on time and I still smelled of the trail.  Momma used to say nobody would pick a flower if it smelled of dirt, no matter how bright the petals, so we rushed back to the hotel and I filled up the tub.

I would have liked to sit and soak for a while, but I had just gotten soaped up when I heard Dusty talking to Geoffry in the other room.  She was saying how I was sitting there all bare in the tub getting myself all primped and pretty, so he’d just have to wait.  I didn’t hear what he said – from what I could make out, Dusty was doing most of the talking – but I did my best to get rinsed and dressed as quick as I could.  That didn’t keep Dusty from sticking her head in every few minutes to see what was keeping me, though.  I wished she would stop that – I had to keep dodging around so Geoffry couldn’t spot me in the mirror – but she only winked when I told her to quit opening the door.

When I came out, Geoffry really seemed to like my dress.  Anyway, he couldn’t keep his eyes off me, which I reckon is a good sign, and he puffed out when I took his arm.

He took me to a real nice place a couple blocks away.  We had a private room with a big table in it all lit up by candlelight, and we laid down on couches right next to each other as we ate.  He ordered me a special ham dinner with taters and apples, and the wine kept flowing through dessert, which was a sweet little chocolate tart.  Our couches was right next to each other, and every now and then he’d rub my hand and tell me how sweet I was.  We talked about the things we’d seen, and how nice the food was, and a little about our families.  Once in a while, when the waiter was out of the room, Geoffry’d just stare into my eyes and even sneak a kiss or two.

I admit I got a little flirty.  Once I speared a piece off his plate on my fork and popped it right in my mouth.  That made him grin, and later on, when dessert came, I made him feed me with his spoon and all.

Afterwards, he walked me back to my room.  He said that he’d been talking to the other fellers, and they all figured we’d take an extra day here in town before moving on and that he’d like to take me out again the next night, if that was all right with me.  Well, I had so much fun I couldn’t hardly say no, and so we agreed to meet again the next night, cause Geoffry said he had business in the big city up the rail line the next day.  He gave me the sweetest little goodnight kiss, and I had stars in my eyes as I went back to my room.

• I ain’t never eaten someplace like this.  I don’t know what to order – will you order for me?
• This is so good!
• I don’t think I can cook this good.
• He passed a few months back.
• He was a lot of fun.  He liked going to the saloon and making everyone laugh.
• Are your folks alive?
• She’s always been delicate.  She mostly stayed at home and raised us.
• That’s why I’m out on the road, so I can send her money.
• My aunt lives nearby.
• She’s real nice.  Works real hard.
• My cousin Will’s about my age.  He’s got some difficulties – spirits bug him.  But he’s still nice.  My cousin Amber is real smart – she went off to Slag for college.
• I ain’t sure, but she’s real good with machines.
• That sure is a great talent.  Healing is about the best there is.