official bell ringer here at St. Antoine de Padoue.â He smiled at the young singers. âWe decided it was only fitting that this person should be chosen from the choir as Marie-Antoinette loves to sing as much as these children.â
Sarah tried to ease her way down the pew away from Windy, who had bragged to the rest of them that heâd feasted on fourteen pickledpigsâ feet last night and that his stomach didnât feel very good. Unfortunately for Sarah, the spare hymnbooks were piled in the pew beside her. She had nowhere to go.
âUntil this week, my choice was easy. Only one brave soul wanted the job.â He smiled at Belle. âBut as of this morning, we have two willing volunteers: Belle Tourond and Sarah Johnson.â The congregation murmured. âChoosing a winner is no easy task, but â¦â He paused, and Belle held her breath. âTo be fair to both young ladies, I have decided to hold a contest. Miss Dorval suggested that each girl embroider a cloth suitable to adorn the altar. The girl whose work is judged the best will be our new bell ringer. Miss Dorval and I will decide on the winner two weeks from today, on May third. Good luck to both young ladies.â
Sarah, still not able to breathe easily, made a face that was as sour as Pierreâs stomach.
Belle tried to look confident, but her heart was sinking fast. She could sing very well, but learning embroidery had never appealed to her.
4
Perfect Stitches and Hidden Ditches
Belle went to work. Why should she worry about Sarah when her own mother was the worldâs best when it came to fancy stitching? Hadnât she embroidered the tiny flowers on Belleâs beautiful Sunday dress and didnât she sew all their clothes by hand?
Belle listened while her mother explained how to do various stitches and then she practiced on an old pillowcase while her mother looked for a suitable piece of material for the altar cloth.
âI know just what design I want to create,â Belle announced to her mother as she finished a rather lopsided French knot. âIt will be a colorful pattern of prairie wildflowerswith big black-eyed Susans, bright blue harebells and pale pink wild roses and happy yellow buffalo beans in a field of brilliant green sweetgrass covering the entire cloth.â
Her mother raised an eyebrow. âMy, that is ambitious!â She looked thoughtful for a moment. âPerhaps a border of sweetgrass with the flowers twined together at the four corners of the cloth would be better, Belle. Embroidery done correctly takes many hours and I know you want to finish in time.â She held up a long rectangle of snow-white linen. âThis was a wedding present from your grandmother. Iâve been saving it for something special.â
Belleâs eyes went wide as she reached out to touch the cloth. âItâs perfect,â she whispered, then she realized how much sewing it would take to cover the entire cloth with her flower design. âOn second thought, perhaps youâre right. A wonderful flower border would be most suitable for the altar cloth.â She ran to her workbook and ripped out a clean piece of paper. On this, she carefully drew the design she had in mind, and her mother suggested which stitches would work best.
âI think this outline stitch will help you make the flower patterns and you can use the satin stitch to fill in the petals.â Her mother showed Belle how to sew the stitches on the old pillowcase. Her fingers flew, and before Belleâs amazed eyes a flower pattern took shape. âTo finish, I think we should use the whipped stem stitch on the flowers to give the design more depth.â With a few deft strokes, the flower came to life and turned into a daisy.
âDo you really think I can do this Mama?â Belle touched the flower with her fingertip.
Her mother laughed. âOf course you can! You just need to practice.â She gave
Jeremy Robinson, David McAfee