A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones)
side we painted, set up displays, and
generally worked our butts off until after midnight every night. It
was an absolute asset to us that we needed less sleep and could
push our bodies harder than the average person.
    Seven days later A Step in Time opened its
doors.

chapter two
    TIME FOR MAKE BELIEVE
     
    “ What do you want to be, Charity?” Catherine
repeated her question. I had spaced her out the first time. She was
getting angry. I knew this because her original Scottish accent,
which was nearly unperceivable to most people, would thicken and
reappear whenever she was irritated.
    I still couldn’t get over the fact that we’d
been in this town for just a few weeks and already I was getting
sucked into the “community.” There was a Halloween Parade down the
main drag on Saturday, in two days, and then a big Halloween Party
later that evening. All my new friends were pushing for my
attendance at both. James and Catherine were adding to the pressure
so I felt boxed in, forced to comply.
    “ Oh, just give me one of
your dresses from the early eighteen hundreds, one of the ball
gowns. I’ll go as English royalty,” I huffed, not happy with the
situation. I wanted to stay at home and watch movies, like I always
did.
    “ You’ll look beautiful. How
about the cream and gold one? No, the lavender will look gorgeous
on you. You are wearing some of the jewels too. I won’t take ‘no’
for an answer,” she cautioned when I started to frown again.
“Remember, you stick out less when you go with the flow. Plus, this
will be fun for all of us.” Catherine’s eyes pleaded for my
approval.
    “ Okay, Okay, I’ll find a
way to be happy about it!” I cried out. “What are you and James
going to wear?” I asked, hoping to pull her focus off of the
grandiose plan for my attire. I could almost catch sight of it
brewing in her brain.
    “ We are doing the Fifties
sock hop thing. I have that marvelous skirt and petticoat. With a
fuzzy pink sweater around my shoulders and a scarf to tie back my
hair, it will be perfect. James will be the leather clad greaser.
The good girl paired with the bad boy. I love it,” Catherine
bubbled over.
    I had to admit, with Catherine in charge of
costuming, we would look flawless. She had a detailed memory when
it came to fashion and style. If she had seen it once it would be
duplicated with precision.
    “ Not too many jewels, what
if I get robbed? I don’t want to be responsible for them,” I added,
determined to have the last word.
    “ Nobody will think they’re
real anyway,” she smiled.
    When Saturday afternoon arrived, Telluride
was abuzz. The length of Colorado Ave. was filled with people, and
dogs, in costume. I put my foot down, and refused to wear the dress
during the day. I stayed in the boutique and went with the Fifties
theme of James and Catherine. I wore rolled up jeans with a white
t-shirt and a leather jacket. I put my hair in a high pony-tail and
tied a scarf around it. That was the extent of my daytime
costuming. Catherine was going to torture me with hair and make-up
for the party tonight.
    Summer and Rusty popped into the store
around one o’clock and had transformed themselves into anime
characters. They looked so cute together. Delilah came in about
thirty minutes later with Burke in tow. She was the perfect pixie
fairy. Her blonde hair was piled onto her head in an up-do that was
supposed to look like she did it in seconds but she had probably
spent forever on the style. Burke was simply a soccer player. I’m
pretty sure he was wearing his school uniform. They stayed to chat
for a few minutes and made me promise, for the third time, that I
would be at the party that night.
    “ I’ll be there, I promise.
Now go have fun.” I urged them away.
    “ It sucks that you have to
work here today,” Delilah pouted. I had quickly learned that
Delilah loved to pout, and Burke loved to watch her pout. Well,
Burke simply loved to watch her.
    “ Oh, it’s okay.

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