Katie Rose Read Free Page B

woman on a mission and she determinedly held out the tongs, which glowed from the fire.
    “Because your hair is as straight as a stick and totally unsuitable,” Penelope replied, not put off at all by Jennifer’s reluctance. “Curled bangs are all the rage, and you would look so much nicer with a little softness around your face. Now put your chin up.”
    “She is right, dear,” Eve said, lending her support to Penelope’s cause. The parrot, a two-foot-high bird that screeched intermittently and pulled on young ladies’ hair, squawked in apparent agreement. Eve was forever trying to coax the bird to speak, but he remained as obstinately silent as ever, even as she offered him a nut. “And you do need to get out more, and meet some nice young men!” she continued. “The Rutherfords’ ball next month will be just the thing! I don’t know how you managed invitations, but all the right people attend, and all of the most eligible gentlemen. I daresay you will have a wonderful time.”
    Jennifer stuck her tongue out at Penelope, but let her apply the little papers to her hair. “The only reason I’m going along with this is for business,” she said stiffly. “We were invited because Mary Forester sponsored us. We’ve gotten quite a few invitations due to her recommendations. She is a wonderful testimonial, and through her I can find quite a few rich new supporters. That makes great sense to me.”
    “She is spreading the word all over town,” Winifred confirmed. Glancing up at Aunt Eve from the text of
The Law Review
, she continued in an emphatic tone, “By the time we get to the ball, everyone will have heard how successful our
performance
was.”
    Jennifer peered up at her aunt, carefully watching her reaction. Aunt Eve offered the parrot another nut, then smiled at her nieces. “I think it’s so nice that you girls are entertaining yourselves with these theatricals. And what a clever idea! Who would have thought that a traditional evening entertainment would yield money? Most young ladies paint china or teach as governesses, but this is so much nicer. I daresay, even
Good Morals and Gentle Manners
would approve.”
    Jennifer sighed in relief, and Winifred went back to her books. The bird watched suspiciously as Penelope applied the tongs to her sister’s hair, and a strange little hiss sounded in the worn parlor. Winifred sniffed, then glanced around the room, her face puckered.
    “What is that odd smell? Aunt Eve, did you leave the teakettle burning again?”
    Penelope gasped as smoke curled from the tongs. She quickly clamped down on the handle, forgetting her mitt, then screeched in pain. Dropping the handle of the tongs, she sucked on her finger, dancing from foot to foot.
    “Will you get these things off me?” Jennifer attempted to do so herself, but only wound up with a scorched finger as well.
    “I’m trying.” Penelope picked up the mitt and removed the tongs. Everyone heard her indrawn breath as she surveyed the damage.
    “Oh, my heavens …” Winifred began, dropping her book. She stared at Jennifer, pity and sympathy written across her classic features.
    “What? What’s wrong?” Jennifer gasped as she picked up Penelope’s mirror. “My hair! Look at it! Look what you’ve done! My poor hair!”
    “I know! I guess the tongs were too hot!”
    “But I thought you knew how to do this!”
    “I saw Margaret Flemming do it, but I didn’t see how long she heated the tongs! Oh Jenny, I’m so sorry! Your beautiful hair!”
    The sisters gathered around her consolingly, while Jennifer surveyed her burned curls. A sob tightened in her throat as she saw the frizzled ends and smelled the horrid stench. Not vain by any means, she was still female enough to feel dismay as her one real beauty lay destroyed, wrapped around the ends of the hateful tongs.
    As her sisters and aunt commiserated with her, the door burst open and a blast of north wind came with it. Aunt Eve shivered and reached for