Miss Lydia had been standing near the door as
if afraid to come any nearer to the bed. As the doctor stood to leave, Miss
Lydia made one step forward. “What is wrong with her, Doctor? Bed rest must be
serious?”
The doctor put a finger to his lips to
silence any more questions, and then motioned for Miss Lydia to follow him out
of the room. Victoria turned her head to the wall and sighed. There was no
telling what the doctor would report to the school, but she knew he would not
be able to give a false diagnosis. She knew she was becoming overly upset about
nothing but she knew that she was almost enjoying feeling sorry for herself. She
fell asleep with those very thoughts on her mind.
~
Victoria was startled out her sleep by a
sudden burst of light and a hard slap on the arm. “Time to get up and out of
that bed.”
Victoria tried to focus her eyes and block
out all of the sounds of banging dresser drawers and the clanging water pitcher
on the wash bowl. Her bones refused to move and she turned over to ignore all
of the business in the room. She could tell that whoever was in the room had
walked over to the bed and stopped. Victoria chose to ignore the persistent
silence until she was suddenly drenched in a flood of ice cold water. All the
lazy ones in her body could not speak out against the screaming goose bumps on
her skin. Victoria jumped from her bed ready to throw her fists at her
assaulter, but stopped short when she saw Miss Lydia standing there with
pitcher in hand.
Victoria stood with her mouth gaping and
water dripping from her face. Miss Lydia had a certain look on her face that
suggested that she had found great pleasure in what she had just done. “Good! I
was beginning to worry that you were glued to that bed." Without another
word, Miss Lydia moved to set the water pitcher back on the dresser and then hurled
a towel at Victoria which landed on her shoulder and slipped to the floor. “You
had better find yourself in a nice dress by two this afternoon. Many of the
girls have been invited to a gathering at the Garnett ranch. Personally, I do
not care how you decide to dress or how you feel about it, but I do not give
you the choice to fail to attend.” With one final look, Miss Lydia left the
room shutting the door with a firm thud. Victoria slowly bent to retrieve the
towel as she began to process the event that had just startled her out of a
restful sleep.
~
Several coaches were hitched and waiting near
the entrance of the school to transport the students to the Garnett’s ranch.
Victoria felt less than half-way presentable. Her days in bed had only served
to give her a ghastly pallor and dark circles under her eyes. She despised
being forced to a party and decided that she really had no one to impress. She
chose one of her simple gowns to wear for the party. She did allow Marie to fashion
her hair in a Chignon with curls cascading down her cheeks. It was not the most
fashionable look, but it did well to enhance her rather disheveled appearance.
Miss Lydia waited by the front door of the
dorm when the girls made their way out of their rooms. She gave Victoria an appraising
glance before turning to the other girls. Victoria remained silent in the
carriage and only occasionally glanced out the window at the melting snow.
The ranch porch was lit with candles, and Tom
and Anne Garnett stood at the entrance to greet the guests. Anne looked
exquisite in a light blue, silk gown. The scent of evergreen wafted through the
air and music could be heard coming from somewhere in the house. Victoria
followed the group to a large room which she had not previously seen.
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