'I'm still not sure I should be leaving,” she said. “I'm just barely used to being back in Foggy Point. My mail still has yellow forwarding stickers on it.” She paced the length of the workroom.
'Would you settle down? You aren't moving to the other side of the moon, you're just going to a workshop in Angel Harbor. It's only a two-hour drive from here and you're only going for a week.'
'Two hours and a ferry ride,” Harriet began unhooking the tension clips and loosening the roller from a yellow- and-white Sunbonnet Sue quilt on the long-arm machine. Aunt Beth had christened this particular machine “Mabel” when she'd purchased it as a replacement for “Gladys,” her previous machine. Mabel's guide handles and stitching head reminded Harriet of the horned milk cows her boarding school in France had kept.
Aunt Beth had remodeled the parlor of her house to accommodate Gladys when she'd first started the long-arm quilting business more than ten years ago, and fortunately, she'd made the room large enough it had no trouble accepting Mabel's larger frame. The twelve-foot-long table could hold a king-sized quilt with no trouble, and its fifty-two-inch width gave Harriet lots of room to work any pattern her customers could imagine.
She finished unpinning the current project from the frame, spread it on her large cutting table and ran her hand over the surface, looking for threads that needed clipping. She had checked for threads on the back as she'd unrolled it from the machine, but she always checked both sides a second time on the flat table before folding up a quilt and returning it to its bag, just to be sure.
'Well, I'm going down to Pins and Needles,” Beth announced. “Margaret is sending Carla to the workshop, and I want to buy the girl a sewing bag.'
Margaret was the owner of Pins and Needles, Foggy Point's quilting store. She had hired Carla after she'd been laid off from her job at the Vitamin Factory, a business that had been owned and operated by Aiden's mother until her untimely death a few weeks prior. Harriet, too, had noticed the young single mother carried her sewing supplies in a grocery sack.
'Here, let me make a donation,” she said, going back into the kitchen and rummaging in the coat closet, emerging with a black nylon duffel bag. “I got a new overnight bag when I went to Tacoma with Robin and DeAnn last week. Carla will need something to put her clothes in, too. This one…” She held up the bag. “…has a few more trips left in it.'
'That's very kind of you,” Beth said, “I did raise you well, didn't I?” Beth took the bag, picked up her purse and jacket and went out the door.
'Well, Fred, all I can say is it's a good thing Aunt Beth can't read minds, ‘cause she wouldn't think I was so nice if she knew what I was thinking about Lauren. That woman's nuts if you ask me. And I still don't see why we have to go reward her for bad behavior.'
Fred meowed once and went to the connecting door.
'It's not lunch time yet,” Harriet told her furry friend and went back to start on the next project on her to-be- stitched shelf.
Chapter Three
Harriet got up early on Monday morning. She showered and washed her hair before she came downstairs.
'Okay, Fred,” she said when she reached the kitchen, “Aunt Beth will come and check on you this afternoon. Your automatic feeder is full, but don't eat it all in one sitting. Your water bowl is fresh, and Auntie will refresh it every day.” Fred wove between her legs, wiping his face on her slippers. “And I'll leave my slippers by the door and you have my permission to have your way with them.'
'Who are you talking to?” Mavis asked as she came in. Her customary plaid flannel shirt had been replaced by a long, loose jacket in a rust-and-green batik fabric that accentuated the touches of auburn that still streaked her otherwise gray-white hair, worn with wide-legged black pants. “The studio was open, so I let myself in,” she added.
'I was just reviewing Fred's instructions with him.” Harriet double-checked the stove burners and turned the overhead light off.
'Robin's in the drive with the car running. Do you need help with your bags?'
'No, I'm not bringing much. Should I be?'
'Not the first time,” Mavis said and led the way to Robin's blue mini-van.
In spite of her misgivings, Harriet enjoyed the trip to Angel Harbor. The drive through the cool dark forest always seemed magical. She found herself relaxing.
The women got out of the car on the big green-and-white ferry that carried them to Whidby Island. Harriet scanned the shiny water for signs of fins. She'd seen the orcas that swam the waters of the sound when she was little, but was still waiting to see them as an adult. She wanted to see if they were still as awe-inspiring or if her own diminutive size had been a factor.
'I don't know about you, but I've seen enough killers to last me a lifetime,” Robin McLeod said as she, DeAnn and Sarah joined Harriet at the rail and learned what she was looking for. The group was still mourning the murder of their long-time member, Avanell Jalbert.
'Amen to that,” DeAnn agreed. “I think this week away will be very healing for all of us.'
'I've heard this week will be very hard,” Sarah Ness griped. “My friend Lillian took the workshop last year, and she said the teachers are very demanding.'
'Great,” said Harriet, “Something to look forward to.'
The various members of the Loose Threads never failed to give her a look at all sides of any situation that came up. No matter what happened, Robin would exude the calm she gained through her daily meditation and yoga sessions. Sarah, the group narcissist, could be counted on to explain why anything that went on was really being done to her, for her or because of her. Mavis and, by proxy, Aunt Beth would have words of wisdom for her, and as long as Connie was along, she knew she would be well-hugged. Lauren would keep her humble, with her harsh opinions on everything. She didn't know DeAnn very well but hoped to remedy that this week, as they would be roommates. She had to admit, there were advantages to having moved back to Foggy Point, even if the price was giving up her anonymity.
'We better go back to the car,” Robin said. “The ferry's going to be docking soon.'
'Do you think Carla's going to survive riding with Sarah?” DeAnn asked her traveling companions once they were back in the car.
'She'll definitely know more about the life and times of Sarah Ness then anyone ought to,” Mavis chuckled.
The Angel Harbor Folk Art Center consisted of three large pavilions hidden in a stand of old growth forest five miles south of the community of Angel Harbor. The pavilions were large round buildings surrounded by a series of smaller outbuildings. Robin pulled her mini-van into the visitors parking area in front of Building B, the Fiber Arts Center.
'Let's go get our room assignments and keys,” she said and got out of the car.
Harriet followed the other Loose Threads as they picked up their class schedules, room keys and meal tickets and returned to the car. Robin drove them down a narrow lane through the cool dark forest, parking in front of a cedar-shingled building that looked more like a grounded Tree House than a cottage.
'Wow,” she said as she got out of the car and had to tilt her head to see the top floors of the place she would call home for the next week.
'They've really done a nice job of blending their buildings into the woods,” DeAnn explained. “Our dorm is actually called The Tree House.” She breathed deeply of the damp, fragrant forest. “I love spending time here. It's so peaceful I could stay forever.'
Inside, Harriet carried her overnight bag up a series of stairs that narrowed with each flight she ascended. She had checked the box on her registration that said she was able to climb stairs and realized now they were serious when they'd asked.
The rooms were paneled in rough cedar plank and were furnished with two single beds, two desks, night stands and lamps and a row of pegs under the window that looked out into the woods and divided the room into
