Quilt By Association

'What was that?'

'Thanks,” she said in a louder voice. “I said thanks.'

Heather gave her a genuine smile and left the room.

'Well, the dead have arisen,” Mavis said to Aunt Beth as the pair came back into Harriet's room.

Harriet had just finished her hospital breakfast. The scrambled eggs were soft and fluffy, and the toast was crisp and warm. The orange juice tasted like it was fresh-squeezed, or at least was pure juice.

She was lying with her sprained ankle propped up on pillows and her head only slightly raised. She tried to scoot into a more upright position, but the pain in her side stopped her efforts.

'Is my sweatshirt here somewhere?” she asked.

Mavis and Beth looked around the room, and then Mavis got up and went to the tiny closet in the wall opposite the bed.

'Here it is,” she said and brought over Harriet's gray hoodie.

'What are we looking for?” Aunt Beth asked.

'Check the pockets,” Harriet said.

Aunt Beth did as directed and, after one false start, retrieved Rodney's small black notebook.

'What have we here?” she said and riffled the pages before handing the book to Harriet.

'I'm not sure, but I found it in Rodney's pocket. I think it's the same book he had out when we saw him in Tico's making phone calls. Hopefully, it's going to tell us something about why he and Neelie were in Foggy Point.” She opened the book and scanned the first few pages before flipping quickly through the rest. “Well, it isn't exactly a memoir,” she said. “It's names and phone numbers and a very few cryptic notes.'

'Did you really think he was going to carry his ‘dear diary’ around in his breast pocket?” Mavis asked.

'A girl can hope.” She paged through the book again, more slowly this time. She stopped and pointed to a name and its corresponding phone number, tapping the page. “Jasmine. I'm pretty sure that's the person Neelie supposedly was staying with after she left Rodney and before she came here.'

'One way to find out,” Aunt Beth said.

'My purse,” Harriet groaned. “My purse is or was in my car in front of Joseph's house before…all this.” She gestured to encompass the room.

'Don't worry,” Mavis said before she could get too worked up. “Your aunt and I went by Joseph's early this morning and brought your car here. We'll take it home when we leave tonight.'

'And,” Aunt Beth said as she got up and went to the small closet, “we brought your purse in with us, and your cell phone's there on the bedstand.” She brought the purse to the bed.

'We also took the liberty of bringing your stitching bag in,” Mavis added.

'After we gathered up the materials for an appliqued dog block and put them inside,” Beth finished.

'Let's start with the cell phone,” Harriet said. She winced as she leaned toward it. Aunt Beth moved it within her reach. She dialed the number, but the phone sent her directly to Jasmine's voice mail. She left a brief message asking for a call back.

'Well, that's a dead end,” she said.

'She might call back,” Aunt Beth said. “In the meantime, you can rest.'

Harriet started to protest but was interrupted by the arrival of a large spray of yellow flowers that obscured the person carrying it. Phyllis carried the cut-glass vase filled with yellow lilies, roses and sunflowers into the room, staggering a little from the weight, and set it on the windowsill. The fragrance from the lilies immediately filled the space.

'I hope it's okay that I barged right in without knocking,” she said. “That vase is heavier than it looks, with the water and all.'

'Come in,” Mavis said. “Here, sit down and take a load off.” She got up and offered the easy chair she'd been sitting in to her larger friend. “And of course you're welcome.'

'Thank you,” Harriet said. “I appreciate the flowers. You shouldn't have, but I'm grateful that you did.'

Aunt Beth beamed her approval of Harriet's courtesy.

'How are you feeling?” Phyllis asked. “I came over as soon as I heard.'

'Mavis and I have been remiss, as you can see-yours are the first flowers,” Aunt Beth said.

'Just out of curiosity, how did you find out I was here? I mean, I checked in during the middle of the night.'

'If Joseph's across-the-street neighbor hadn't been worried about him and called, I wouldn't have known,” she said, the smile leaving her lips. “That, and the fact Joseph was a no-show again today. I don't mind sharing that I'm really starting to get worried about the boy. His neighbor was afraid something had happened to him, and knew he worked at Little Lamb. Her concerns, coupled with my own, caused me to call the police when I'd hung up.

'I'm sorry you were hurt, Harriet, but I have to say I was relieved the dead man they took from that house wasn't Joseph.'

'Did you know the dead man?” Harriet asked.

'I'd never even heard of him,” Phyllis said. “And I hope the same is true of Joseph.'

Harriet knew it wasn't but decided there was no point in worrying Phyllis any more than she already was. Besides, the flowers were beautiful.

'Can I get anyone some coffee or tea?” Aunt Beth asked. “I'm going to the cafeteria.'

Phyllis and Mavis put in their orders, and Aunt Beth left to get them.

'How are you ladies coming with your quilts for the auction?” Phyllis asked.

'The usual,” Mavis said. “We're behind where we'd like to be, but we'll pull it together by auction time.'

'I don't know how the Stitches are doing,” Phyllis admitted. “I missed our last meeting because of Joseph.” She looked at her hands in her lap. “He's left me in a real pickle, that boy.'

'It'd be a lot easier on all of us if this year's organizing committee hadn't decided on this dog theme nonsense. We'd get a lot more money for the quilts if we'd done it like we always have, with any design being acceptable,” Mavis complained, not for the first time.

'The last block design the Stitches were looking at was pretty ridiculous, if you ask me,” Phyllis looked up when she said this but went back to studying the gold signet ring on her right pinkie finger. “A bunch of dog bones,” she added.

Harriet exchanged a glance with Mavis, but she didn't let on that the dog-bone design meant anything to her.

Chapter 31

'You didn't let on?” Aunt Beth asked, even though Mavis had indicated they hadn't, when they recounted the discussion they'd had after Phyllis had gone back to work. “I talked to Lauren yesterday,” she continued, “after we got home from pizza and before all this. She said she was hidden behind a desk, fixing a loose wire, when Glynnis and Frieda came into the office. It was just as we suspected-they looked around and made sure no one was looking, or so they thought, and then they went through Sarah's bag.'

'We knew they had to be doing that,” Mavis said. “But somehow, I'm still shocked.'

'Is it shock or outrage?” Harriet said. “I hate that we have to spend so much, or even any, time on all this subterfuge.'

'Who are you, and what did you do with my niece?” Aunt Beth asked. “You middle name is Intrigue-or am I mistaken?'

'I may like a good puzzle as much as the next guy, but not where our quilts are concerned,” Harriet protested.

'Be that as it may,” Aunt Beth said, “it's where we find ourselves, so we need to do our parts to make sure the Threads retain their dominance in the event.'

'Can I be dominant tomorrow?” Harriet asked. She yawned. “I think I need a nap.'

As if on cue, Nurse Heather came into the room.

'Time for our patient to get some rest,” she said in a cheery voice.