I just couldn’t bear to put the boots back on, not when I was clean and fashionably attired. The other option was to go downstairs barefoot. Would Mrs. Penn send me straight back to my room with a sharply worded rebuke for my impropriety? I glanced once more at the dirty and worn out boots that looked ready for the trash heap and shook my head.
No matter the gamble, I just couldn’t put those shoes back on. Resolute, I corrected my posture, something the school principal had always harped on, and made my way down the stairs. I followed the sound of voices into the kitchen, where I found them sitting at the old oak table.
Four heads swung around. Officer Krugle gasped. The boys’ eyes practically popped out of their eye sockets. Mrs. Penn merely smiled.
“Mommy, you look beautiful,” Carlo said.
Frances, who always corrected him when his little brother said that, didn’t utter a word. He was too busy doing a speechless jaw drop.
“Thank you again, Mrs. Penn,” I said, sighing from the pleasure of wearing something new (and being clean.) “The dress fits perfectly, and I’ve never had anything so lovely. The trim around the collar and cuffs is marvelous. I would love to meet the person who embroidered the blue daisies. She’s an artist!”
“It looks like it was made for you — both the color and design. And yes, Corinne is superb with her handwork. I shall introduce you to her. And I agree that everything about that dress is just right for you. Don’t you think so, Frank?”
Officer Krugle had copied Frances’ jaw drop and the boy’s glazed look of astonishment, but he recovered when Mrs. Penn said that. He sighed inwardly, as if he’d just eaten a piece of chocolate and was recalling its deliciousness. “She looks marvelous,” he said, then reddened as if he shouldn’t have chosen that wording. “I mean it’s amazing that she cleaned up so well. Not a speck of dirt on her now.”
It was a good save, but I could see that Mrs. Penn was chuckling over both his expression and his clarification.