The Librarian of Boone's Hollow - Kim Vogel Sawyer Page 0,27

Boone’s Hollow, up the mountain a bit, but he’d never been to their place. He shook his head.

“Then I’ll lead the way. C’mon.”

What had Maw gotten him into? Emmett gritted his teeth and willed the next hour to pass quickly.

Lexington

Addie

ADDIE SET THE scissors aside and massaged her aching fingers. If only she had enough hands to massage her lower back at the same time. How could cutting up fabric tax a person so? The pendulum clock ticking on the dining room wall showed ten minutes past nine. Nearly bedtime. Addie was ready to tumble into bed. But the rhythmic thumps and hum of the sewing machine drifting up the hallway told her Griselda Ann wasn’t ready to stop for the evening.

She sank onto a dining room chair and sighed. At home and even at the college, she’d spent Sundays resting or reading, and the day had seemed to pass more quickly than she wished. Never had a Sunday stretched so long as this one. Tomorrow’s work at the library and the fresh job search would be a reprieve after her hours of standing at the dining room table, snipping six-and-a-half-inch squares from shirts and skirts and britches. Then she’d taken the leftover pieces and cut three-and-a-half-inch squares because four smaller squares could be pieced together to create a six-and-a-half-inch square.

Griselda Ann had cautioned her about using every bit of available fabric, saying, “My mama advised, ‘Waste not, want not.’ Doesn’t it sound like something Benjamin Franklin would say? The folks who gave these items gave with the assurance that their contribution would be fully utilized. Besides, the more squares we have, the more blankets we can make.” Apparently, Franklin was a hero of sorts to either Griselda Ann or her mother, because an intricately stitched sampler with a Franklin quote—“The noblest question in the world is, what good may I do in it?”—hung on the parlor wall.

With the words from the framed admonition and Griselda Ann’s spoken instruction rolling in Addie’s brain, she was compelled to keep cutting, even though her fingers ached and a blister was rising on the inside of her thumb. She searched through the basket of discarded shreds in case she’d missed a piece large enough to create another small square. She located a scrap of yellow-flowered calico from a child’s well-worn dress and laid it flat on the table. Griselda Ann had told her to never cut against the grain or the pieces wouldn’t stay square when sewn. She aligned the edge of the smaller cardboard square with the threads’ direction, then slid the square up and down the scrap until she’d assured herself it was too small to cut a full square.

With a flick of her fingers, she sent the scrap sailing into the basket. As it landed, something touched her shoulder, and she released a squeak of surprise. A chuckle rumbled. Addie whirled in the chair and peered up into Griselda Ann’s amused face.

“Goodness, you were quite engrossed. Didn’t you hear me say your name?”

Addie’s ears still rang with the hum of the sewing machine. She shook her head and stood, stifling a groan when her back muscles pinched. “No, ma’am. I’m sorry. Did you need something?”

“Yes. I needed to apologize for losing track of time. I should have let you retire to your room a half hour ago at least.” Remorse glimmered in the woman’s pale brown eyes. “To be honest, I forgot you were here.”

Considering the short time Addie had resided under Griselda Ann’s roof, she couldn’t be offended by the oversight. She offered a weary smile. “It’s all right. I made good use of the time.” She held her hand to the stacks of fabric squares, arranged by size and color. “I don’t know how many squares it takes to make one blanket, but I hope there are enough here for at least one side.”

Griselda Ann shifted her attention to the cluttered tabletop, and her jaw dropped. “Oh, Addie, you have been busy.” She touched the stacks by turn, running her thumb along the edges as if silently counting. “And it appears you were very diligent in both sizing and cutting on the grain. These will go together smoothly into a new blanket. Having them cut and so neatly organized will be very helpful to me. Thank you.”

Her sincere appreciation made the aches in Addie’s hands and back worth it. “I’m glad to have helped.”

Griselda Ann patted Addie’s arm, then released a huge sigh. “There are so many