A Buss from Lafayette Read Free Page B

days carried embroidered reticules on their wrists instead. But this old-fashioned pocket had belonged to my mother, whose name was Caroline. She had embroidered it with the words, “Carrie, Her Pocket” in the staggering stitches of a young girl. I would never trade it for a fashionable little wrist bag, especially when this cherished pocket might now hold what I needed to fulfill my greatest dream.
    “Actually, besides the ribbon and pennies, there will be another, much bigger gift by Saturday, Clara. It was not quite finished for today, but I think you will like it very much,” Prissy said.
    I could feel my father’s eyes on me, so I managed to say, “I thank you, ma’am. I am sure I shall.”
    I was also sure that no gift, no matter how big, would make any difference at all in how I felt about this woman. How dare she think she could so easily replace my dearest, funny, beautiful, loving mother!

C HAPTER 4
    I was so excited about fulfilling my plan soon that I did not mind at all when Father turned our discussion back to Lafayette.
    Pulling a folded newspaper out of his pocket, he said, “There’s a fine description in the Concord Patriot of the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Lafayette was the guest of honor at the dedication of the new monument there. Nearly a hundred thousand people were in Boston for that ceremony. One hundred thousand! Can you imagine the size of that crowd?”
    His wife asked him where Lafayette was going to visit in New Hampshire.
    Father looked over the newspaper. “Derry today, and then staying tonight in Pembroke. He will travel to Concord for a huge celebration there tomorrow. I wish we could go see him, but with your confinement so near, you must stick close to home, my dear. I do not want to go without you.”
    “I wish you would go, Samuel,” she said. “I do hate for you to miss seeing such a famous man.”
    “Perhaps he will travel through Hopkinton when he goes to Vermont, and we might see him then. No, Priscilla, I will not miss going into Concord in all this heat. I am sure it will be mobbed with people. I will take my chances on seeing him later.”
    “But if he is stopping in Derry, perhaps your brother and his wife will see him. And their daughter, too, of course,” Prissy said. “How thrilling for Henrietta if she catches even a glimpse of such a historic figure!”
    “Oh, yes, thrilling ,” I muttered. “I shall never hear the end of it if she does!”
    Unfortunately, my sarcastic words apparently turned Prissy’s thoughts away from Lafayette and straight back to me.
    “Really, Clara,” she said. “why you are so unfriendly with a cousin so close to your own age is a mystery to me. Henrietta is a most accomplished young lady, and you would do well to be more like her. Her embroidery is exquisite!”
    “Would you be friendly with someone who calls you ‘pumpkin head’ and says you have stringy orange hair and boasts about her magnificent black curls? And who brags about going to that hoity-toity Adams Female Academy instead of to a village school? She knows very well that Hopkinton does not have an academy for older students, and still she makes fun of me. Besides, she’s not anywhere near my age. She’s seventeen. And the only things she cares about are boys .”
    Joss looked offended. “What’s wrong with that? She’s mighty pretty and she knows how to talk to boys right. Not like you.”
    “I really hate her!”
    My stepmother awkwardly got to her feet and started to clear the dishes off the dining table. “‘Hate’ is not a word ladies use, Clara. It is far too strong. It is time you started moderating your language.”
    “Well, then,” I said, standing up to help, “I detest, loathe, and abhor her.”
    Father started to laugh, then choked it off into a cough when his wife gave him a reproving look.
    She shook her head, though whether it was at Father or me was not clear. “I am afraid that’s not much of an