Milton liked the looks of the Underwood Noiseless model, but he also
kind of liked the friendly clacking of the typewriter keys when he got on a
roll with his story writing. The Remington Deluxe was more his style, sleek and
low to the ground. He asked Mr. Williams if he could take it for a spin and Mr.
Williams quickly produced a sheet of paper for practice. Milton only had
to type out one sentence to know that the Remington Deluxe was his new baby. He
left the shop whistling, excited to get home with his brand new typewriter and
a ream of off-white bond paper to hold his words.
When Milton turned the corner and passed the White Jasmine Tea Room,
he couldn’t help but look in the window to see if Mayrose Mayhern was in her
usual spot, although he never knew her to be there any other time than Thursday
mornings at 10:00 a.m. Instead, he saw Llama Trout, or whatever her name was.
Strange lady, he thought. And that was the last thought Milton had about Alpaca
Finn for quite some time.
Alpaca saw Milton walk by and thought she perceived his step quicken a
bit when he saw her sitting in the tearoom. Her list of eligible bachelors was
quickly dwindling, several candidates whom she thought had potential turned out
to be real duds, but Milton, to her mind, still had great potential.
All she had to do was figure out the key to getting his attention. She
would start with making his sister-in-law Celia her new best friend, but first
she had more urgent business to take care of. She needed to find a job. The
money Darrell Davis had given her before she left Saints of the Woods would
soon run out. She probably shouldn’t have taken the money but he felt guilty
about her reputation being ruined when his wife and then, the other ladies in
town found out he had been sneaking around with her. That was the only thing he
could think of to do when he found out Alpaca was leaving town.
Geraldine loved her job at the Loon County Library, but she had worked
there for twenty-five years and every day was the same as the next. The only
new thing in her life was Alpaca Finn’s tea parties. Geraldine loved a good
mystery and her innate curiosity told her that the late Reverend Finn’s sister
was up to something. It kept her coming back. She’d known the other ladies most
of her life and none of them ever had anything new to say at Alpaca’s little
soirees. It was always the same old gossip, but the tea and pastries were
excellent and she enjoyed sitting back and watching Alpaca work the room.
At last week’s tea party, Trachea Carmichael, Old Doc Trueblood’s
nurse had to help doc with an emergency so she didn’t make it to the tea party,
which made her fair game. Everyone agreed they hoped she didn’t bring her usual
dried out baked beans to the church picnic on the 4th of July and
they certainly couldn’t be washed down with the oh so sour lemonade she made.
It tasted like she used one shriveled old lemon for the whole pitcher and salt
instead of sugar.
Geraldine never joined in on the gossip; she also never missed a tea
party because she didn’t want to be the target of their barbs. She enjoyed
sitting back, arms folded, watching Alpaca steer the conversation back to the
menfolk of Chanceville.
“Celia, what is your brother-in-law, Milton’s, favorite pie?” asked
Alpaca.
Celia looked puzzled, but answered, “I believe it’s gooseberry. Why do
you ask?”
“I heard that Sunday is his birthday and I thought I would bring his
favorite pie to the picnic.”
“Sounds good, " said Celia. To Celia’s knowledge, Alpaca didn’t
even know Milton, but she had observed that Alpaca only revealed things in her
own good time.
Alpaca then turned her attention to Geraldine Nurse. Here it comes
thought Geraldine. Alpaca had been buttering Geraldine up ever since the late
Reverend Trout Finn’s funeral. As time went on Geraldine could see that nearly
all of Alpaca’s line of questioning had something to do with the menfolk of
Chanceville. What Geraldine couldn’t figure out was why Alpaca was so nice
to her. She had no brother, dad or uncle and her son, Nathan, the doctor, was
way too young for Alpaca.
“Geraldine, what a lovely dress you’re wearing today. Is that new?”
asked Alpaca as she topped off Geraldine’s tea and offered a delicate flowered
saucer filled with tiny lemon wedges.
“Thanks, Alpaca. It’s not new. I wear it quite frequently,"
said Geraldine as she waved the lemon wedges away, thinking to herself,
“Get to the point, Alpaca”. She knew Alpaca never missed a detail and that her
frequent wearing of that dress would be discussed if she ever missed a tea
party.
“Well, it always looks fresh and pretty on you, dear," said
Alpaca as she set the saucer back on the teacart. “Not like that threadbare
cotton print Annie Pat wears to every function she attends. You’d think wages
at the Shop-A-Lot would allow her to afford a new frock once in a while.”
Geraldine wasn’t going to bite on that one. She knew that Annie Pat
had a brother who couldn’t keep a job and that’s where most of her money went.
She certainly wasn’t one to talk behind people’s backs and Annie Pat was a good
friend of hers and what she did with her money was no one else’s business.
Geraldine sat back, folded her arms, and waited for Alpaca’s next move. She
didn’t have to wait long. Alpaca looked around the room and it seemed that
everyone was happily engaged in conversation and enjoying their tea and ladyfingers.
Alpaca cleared her throat, “How are things going at the
library?”
On the surface this seemed like a casual question, but there was
nothing casual about Alpaca and Geraldine felt the weight of it.
“Quiet as ever,” said Geraldine.
“Well, I certainly hope you’re not working too hard, my dear," said
Alpaca.
Geraldine’s patience was starting to wear thin. She had just about had
all of the “my dears” she could stand for one day and besides, there was no way
she was this woman’s dear.
“No, but I will be getting ready for the annual book fair soon.” And
as soon as she said it, she knew that she had just given Alpaca her in. It was
all she could do to keep from wincing.
“As you know, I plan on making my home in Chanceville and will only be
able to remain in the church parsonage until they sell it. I need to find a job
as soon as possible so I can afford to move. I've had some experience working
in our library in Saints of the Lakes. I would love to come to work for you, if
you think I could be of service," she added looking demurely down at her
well-manicured nails.
Geraldine took a few minutes to mull this over. Her most recent
assistant, MerryLynn Tarmack, had recently decided that the library was way too
quiet for her and had gotten a job as waitress at Tony’s 24 Hour Mechanic
and Roadhouse. Geraldine was in need of help. She needed someone organized and
that seemed to be one of Alpaca’s strong suites. Once, when Geraldine had taken
some of the tea things into the kitchen she had noticed that the spices were
alphabetized. There were also little white labels taped to all the doors of the
cupboards, as if there were hoards of people coming through the parsonage who
didn’t have time to hunt for what they needed. Still, it was a form of cataloging
and that was a good skill for a library worker. But the thing that cinched the
deal was her distrust of Alpaca’s motives and she thought it would be a smart
idea to keep an eye on Alpaca on behalf of the good people of
Chanceville.
