“You planned, did you,” Grandma said, her mouth creased. “Mrs. Macneill has enough to contend with without you two girls being all silly and under her skin.”
“Mollie told me her mother was fine with it.” This was mostly true.
“Isn’t the reverend one of those Baptists?” Grandfather asked, taking a bite of his chicken.
Maud swallowed the last of hers. She actually wasn’t sure. Religion was important to her grandparents—and to people like Clemmie and her family. She was proud to be Presbyterian, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t listen to other ministers.
“Many people from the congregation are also planning on attending,” she said instead. She had no idea if it was true, but she was sure at least it was mostly true.
“Well,” Grandfather said, “I agree with your grandmother. You are quite impressionable, Maud. Who knows what kind of ideas you’ll come home with.”
“I am not!” Maud practically shouted. Grandfather put down his fork and glared; he didn’t approve of girls being loud.
Grandma sighed. “Let’s think this over. If Amanda and Pensie are allowed to attend, perhaps it is more educational than religious.”
Maud said no more about it, but the waiting was excruciating. She hardly slept all night. But the next morning, Grandma gave Maud the good news.
“Really!” Maud said, clasping her hands in an effort to stop herself from hugging her grandmother.
“There are rules, Maud,” Grandma said, wiping her hands with a dishrag. “You must stay on the main road and wait for the carriages to go before you start walking. It will be almost dark, and you don’t want to get run over.”
“Of course, Grandma,” Maud said, thinking of Nate’s offer to walk her home.
“And do not, under any circumstances, accept any inappropriate requests from boys,” she said.
Maud suppressed a grin. “Of course, Grandma.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was a perfect evening at the Cavendish Hall. To impress the visiting reverend, the Cavendish ladies had baked up a spread of their finest treats and were serving fresh, tart hot apple cider. The hall was decorated with fine white bunting and fall flowers.
The Reverend Mr. Carruthers’s lecture was very inspiring. He directed his talk to the “many young people in the crowd,” saying that just because they were young didn’t mean they couldn’t do important things, be part of the community, be an example to others. He was definitely one of the most animated speakers Maud had ever heard. Usually when she listened to Reverend Archibald’s sermons on Sundays, she was bored, but Reverend Mr. Carruthers spoke with such great emotion that he made Maud want to ask more questions, think more deeply about what she believed.
Maud sat with Mollie, while Pensie sat with Mary on one side and Quill on the other and spent much of the evening laughing too loudly at his obnoxious jokes. After the lecture, Maud overheard Quill ask Pensie why she spent time with people “half her age,” with Mary mimicking his query. Pensie laughed too loudly again, but Maud was not amused.
What was amusing was watching Nate and Jack—well, Nate. They sat a few rows ahead, joking with one another, and a few times she thought she saw Nate turn to look at her. At one point, Nate was whispering commentary to Jack, which caused the reverend at one point to stop talking while “the young men finished.” While Nate didn’t seem to mind one bit, Maud felt embarrassed, as if she herself had been caught talking.
Afterwards, Pensie walked home with Quill, and Maud and Mollie waited outside near the entrance of the hall for the villagers to go so they wouldn’t accidentally get run over by a buggy, as Grandma had instructed. On their way out, Mrs. Simpson and Mrs. Clark greeted them.
“How’s your father, dear?” Mrs. Simpson said to Maud.
Maud stood up straight. She didn’t appreciate Mrs. Simpson’s tone. “He is getting himself settled out west,” Maud said, hoping that she sounded proud of him. And she was, even if he hadn’t written since the summer. But her fifteenth birthday would be in a few weeks, she was bound to hear from him then.
“I hear he’s remarried,” Mrs. Clark said to Mrs. Simpson.
“Yes, another young girl he’s pulled the wool over,” Mrs. Simpson said as they walked on.
How dare these women pass judgment on Father! Maud took a step forward, but Mollie held her back. “Don’t listen to those old crones,” she said. “They are like crows cawing in the wind. It will be lost soon enough.”
Mollie was right, but it didn’t stop Maud from wanting to yank their hats off and throw them into the Gulf.
Mollie put her arm around Maud. “Don’t let them spoil this beautiful night.”
Maud pushed the thoughts of Father—and what those women had said—out of her mind and looked up. The bright moon would guide their way home.
“Shall we try counting stars while we wait?” Mollie said.
Standing a little to the side, across from Nate’s house, they started counting, but after getting to just two or three, Mollie started to giggle, which got Maud going, and then they would have to start all over again.
“We must focus if we’re going to do this,” Maud said.
“Sorry,” her best friend said.
“Maybe if we focus on something, we won’t get distracted.”
“Such as who we want our nine stars to find?” Mollie said, which got them both laughing again.
When they finally regained control, Maud asked, “Is it Jack?”
Mollie blushed and they both turned back to counting. Upon reaching the ninth star, Maud couldn’t help but feel like she was on the precipice of something wonderful.
“We did it!” Mollie said, clutching Maud’s hand and jumping up and down. “I thought we never would.”
“Some of us don’t need to count stars to find husbands,” Clemmie said, as she and Nellie passed by.
“That’s not what I understand,” Mollie said.
Nellie laughed and Clemmie pulled her along the road.
After a few more minutes, Maud and Mollie decided it was safe enough to go down the hill. But as they passed Nate’s gate, which was across the street from the hall, the boys leaped out in front of them. Mollie and Maud shrieked.
“Good evening, ladies,” Nate said, bowing gallantly. “We didn’t mean to frighten you.”
Jack bowed his head slightly and grinned.
Mollie laughed. “You fools!” She pretended to be upset with them, but then smiled.
“Didn’t you miss your house, Snip?” Maud asked, pointing behind her.
“Did I?” Nate shrugged. “It’s such a dark night, we decided it wouldn’t be safe for you two to be walking alone.”
“These roads are in our blood,” Mollie said. “I think we can manage.” Although Maud agreed with her best friend, she remembered Grandma’s stern warning about walking home with boys—and then promptly dismissed it. This was one of Grandma’s old-fashioned notions that had nothing to do with what Maud and Mollie were doing. Nate and Jack weren’t courting; they were all good friends.