Knowing it would hardly benefit her to admit to pupils who seemed to have a problem with authority figures that a lot of people found her odd, Annaliese settled for sending Mabel an inclination of her head. “Onewouldhave thought I’d know such things, but clearly I’m going to need to brush up on lady codes as I was unaware that the topic of dreaminess was deemed prohibited unless one is speaking to very good friends.” She nodded to the turkey leg Mabel was now practically inhaling. “While I’m doing that, I’m going to suggest you brush up on the notes I hope you took during our proper table etiquette lesson last week as I clearly stated that young ladies should never use their sleeve as a napkin, nor should they ever gnaw on bones.”
After licking her lips, Mabel shrugged shoulders covered in a fine wool cloak that, unsurprisingly, had gotten stained with turkey grease. “Honestly, Miss Merriweather, it’s not as if we’re sitting down to a formal dinner. We’re at a fair, and in case you missed it, we passed a pie eating contest earlier where people were shoving entire pies into their mouths.”
“I’m sure that’s simply because those people have never availed themselves of a proper etiquette lesson, but further talk of basic expectations pertaining to manners even when at a fair will need to wait as we really do need to track down Norma Jean and Velma.” She settled her attention on Coraline again. “You’re absolutely certain Norma Jean went off to have a word with her brother?”
It was rather concerning when Coraline adopted the deer-in-the-lantern-lights expression again before she began scuffing her boot in the dirt once more.
“Nothing is everabsolutelycertain when it concerns Norma Jean, but shedidpoint Seth out to me earlier when we were strolling past the steam engine display. She also said somethingabout wanting to have a word with him regarding her need for some extra pin money.”
Apprehension was swift. “Why would Norma Jean be in need of extra pin money at this particular moment in time?”
Coraline paused with the scuffing. “I bet she forgot to bring money with her and wanted to make sure she had a few coins available in case something one of those vendors is selling caught her eye.”
Before Annaliese could point out that Norma Jean had already purchased a questionable-looking hat that had real pieces of fruit attached to it, which would certainly rot within a day, as well as attract bugs, Coraline sent her a bright smile.
“There’s no need for you to be worried about Norma Jean meandering off, though. It’s not as if she’s out there all alone since she took Velma Chickering with her. Velma, if you’re unaware, has a wicked right hook, taught to her by her uncle, Ewart Chickering, who decided he wanted nothing to do with the family pig-raising business and became a pugilist instead.”
“Which is impressive to be sure, but I doubt Velma’s pugilistic abilities will be very effective if they find themselves wandering into an area that’s unfit for young ladies. If you neglected to notice, I’ve made certain to keep us clear of any areas that seem even remotely questionable today.”
Coraline’s smile dimmed. “I wouldn’t think thereareany questionable areas here as the advertisements we saw plastered around Chicago stated this fair was to be a family event.”
“And I’m sure whoever designed those advertisements did so with the belief that parents—or in your case, your instructor—would steer any children around dubious attractions such as the tent I saw that was selling large tankards of ale. That tent was within feet of the mermaid attraction, which is why I said we couldn’t view the mermaid lady today.”
Coraline glanced to Phoebe and Mabel. Some type of look was exchanged, one that probably had some kind of code attachedto it, before she returned her attention to Annaliese. “Given what you just said, which wewereunaware of, maybe it would be for the best if we track down Norma Jean and Velma sooner than later to be on the safe side.” With that, Coraline turned on her heel and began barreling her way through the crowd, moving at a pace that was just shy of a full-out run, which caused the apprehension Annaliese was already experiencing to intensify.
Not wanting to lose track of any additional students in her charge, she grabbed hold of Phoebe’s and Mabel’s hands and bolted after Coraline.
“I don’t think there’s any need for this amount of exertion,” Phoebe muttered before she tried to take another bite of her turkey leg as they dodged their way through the fairgoers. “Norma Jean makes a habit of meandering through the streets of Chicago, and she’s never run into more than a smidgen of trouble.”
“It was more than a smidgen of trouble when she almost got abducted a few months back,” Mabel argued around the large mouthful of turkey she’d just taken.
“I forgot about the almost-abduction,” Phoebe admitted.
“Norma Jean almost got abducted?” Annaliese asked, even though what she really wanted to ask was if Mabel had been sleeping her way throughallthe table etiquette lessons of late because speaking with your mouth full had certainly been addressed, and numerous times at that.
Mabel swallowed and gave a wave of her turkey leg, which sent more grease flying. “Indeed, and it all started when Norma Jean spotted a bright yellow phaeton.” Mabel bit off another piece of turkey, gave a few vigorous chews, and nodded. “Normally such a sight wouldn’t herald an abduction attempt, but Norma Jean wasn’t satisfied with merely watching the phaeton trundle past. She decided she wanted to interview the man driving it because she’d been thinking about adding a phaeton into a play she was writing—you know she longs to become aplaywright someday—which turned out to be a grave error in judgment on her part.”
“In Norma Jean’s defense, she could have hardly known that the man tooling around in that phaeton had recently nicked it from Mr. Ogden’s front drive,” Phoebe argued before she chucked her partially finished turkey leg toward a rubbish bin. After the leg made it into the bin, an impressive shot since they were moving at a rapid pace, Phoebe swiped a hand over her mouth, missing a piece of turkey that was stuck directly to the left of her lips. “Itwasher fault, though, that after she stopped the phaeton by standing in front of it in the middle of the road, and after the driver told her to get out of his way, she made the monumental mistake of not taking that as a firm no and leapt up alongside the driver instead.”
Annaliese slowed their pace, and after checking to make certain that Coraline was still in sight, settled a frown on Phoebe. “Surely you’re mistaken and Norma Jean didn’t truly jump into a stranger’s phaeton, did she?”
“Not mistaken. That’s exactly what she did,” Phoebe said. “And then, after Norma Jean settled herself next to the driver, policemen came barreling onto the scene, having been alerted about the phaeton theft by Mr. Ogden. They were apparently making an awful racket by blowing their whistles, and then they gave chase when the thief sped off down the road. That’s when Norma Jean realized she’d gotten herself into a pickle. She then made the error of telling the thief she was from a wealthy family, and if he’d simply let her get out of the phaeton, she’d make sure he was well-compensated.”
“And he, being a criminal, decided to hold her for ransom instead?” Annaliese asked.
“Too right he did, and who knows what would have happened to Norma Jean if Seth hadn’t arrived on the scene—not because he knew Norma Jean was in trouble, but because his attention had been drawn to the phaeton after he’d steppedout of a general store and saw it careening down the road. He immediately jumped on his horse and took off after it because he’d evidently been itching to get a closer look at Mr. Ogden’s phaeton too.”
“Norma Jean, thankfully, spotted her brother,” Mabel added before she tossed her eaten-to-the-bone turkey leg toward a bin and missed, but was suddenly all smiles when a strapping young lad picked it up for her, placed it in the bin, and then began sauntering their way. He stopped in his tracks, though, when Annaliese sent him her stern look, which must have been sufficiently stern enough as he then turned in the opposite direction.
Grumpiness settled on Mabel’s face. “I must have misunderstood your lesson the other day, Miss Merriweather, because I thought you said that when a gentleman performs an act of chivalry for a lady, that said lady was expected to extend a prettily phrased word of thanks to that gentleman in return.”
“How reassuring to hear that you’ve at least been paying attention in a few of your lessons,” Annaliese said. “However, since none of us have been introduced to that young gentleman, and we have no idea if he’s reputable or not, sending him that smile you sent him was a sufficient thank-you. With that said, though, you might want to practice your smiles in the mirror as the one you just used might have been a tad too welcoming. But returning to your story—what did Norma Jean do after she spotted Seth?”
“She began yelling at the top of her lungs. Seth heard her, then went about the tricky business of rescuing her.”
“He used some new contraption he’d been working on,” Phoebe explained. “He’d apparently visited a ranch and decided ranch hands might find their job easier if they had a better way to lasso errant livestock. He then set about inventing a lasso that shoots out of the barrel of a pistol.”
Annaliese’s brow furrowed. “That would have to be some pistol as the rope needed to make a lasso would take up quite a bit of space.”