‘Oh yes, that would be fabulous!’ Susannah said, relief sweeping through her. She had been so worried about where she was going to live. Frightened she’d have to give up her dream because of it. ‘Thank you so much, Mrs Matlock,’ she said, flinging her arms around the librarian, much to the older woman’s surprise.
‘Well now, dear, don’t you worry, we’ll get it all sorted for you,’ Mrs Matlock said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. ‘I don’t mind telling you I shall miss you a great deal, Susannah.’
‘You’ve been so kind and helpful, Mrs Matlock; I owe you so much.’
‘Not at all,’ the librarian said, her eyes shining with emotion. ‘Do call me Ivy, though, won’t you? You’re an adult now!’
The night before her departure, Kate had dragged Susannah upstairs to their bedroom after dinner. She was all giddy and excited.
‘We’re going to pack your things together,’ she declared, dragging their father’s old suitcase down from the top of the wardrobe.
‘That’s not going to take too long, then,’ Susannah said gloomily, aware of how sparse and boring her wardrobe was.
She was beginning to feel anxious. It was stupid. Everything was organised. She’d timed the ferry to meet a morning bus which would take her all the way to Boston South Station. From there, Mrs Matlock had told her to take the subway Red Line T. On a piece of paper, she had written down directions to the Whittards’ house in Cambridge. If Susannah left on the seven o’clock ferry tomorrow morning, she should arrive at her destination by late afternoon. But it wasn’t the journey which was worrying her. Although she was still cross with her mother, she didn’t want to leave with the way things were between them. Ever since the slap, her mother had behaved as if she hardly existed any more, as if she’d already left.
Kate began pulling things out of their wardrobe.
‘Now, I really don’t know what a girl should be wearing at Harvard this season,’ she mused, giving her sister a cheeky grin and making Susannah laugh despite all her anxiety.
‘What’s all this?’ Susannah asked as her sister revealed her new hoard of clothing.
‘Well, what do you think I’ve been doing at the sewing machine these past two weeks?’ Kate declared. ‘Only making sure you look swell in the big city!’
‘Oh, Katie.’ Susannah felt emotion rise up inside her. ‘I thought you were making them for yourself.’
‘First up though is the black dress Mom made you,’ Kate said, pulling it out of the wardrobe. ‘It’s perfect for any cocktail parties you might be attending.’
‘I’m a freshman at Harvard, not a faculty wife!’ Susannah pointed out.
‘Yes but one day you might well be the wife of an academic, just like Jo in Little Women,’ Kate said, carefully folding up the black dress and placing it in the case. ‘There are going to be so many potential suitors. Mind you don’t be falling for any foreign boys and get whisked away to England or Australia!’
‘No fear of that ever happening.’
‘I hear those Boston winters are as harsh as here on the island, so I’ve made some adjustments to Granny Olsen’s wool suit,’ Kate chatted on.
Susannah remembered their mother wearing the suit once during a particularly bad winter. It had looked hideous on her. Dark grey, heavy and shapeless.
‘Oh Katie, I can’t wear that old thing!’
‘Hold on now, try it on, you’ll see.’
Susannah pulled on the skirt and zipped it up. Her sister had taken it up and taken it in. The wool fit snugly around her hips. But Kate had worked even more magic with the jacket, tucking it in at the waist and adding front pockets, a wide collar and a belt with the extra material. The old black buttons had been replaced by big green buttons with a pattern of tiny gold leaves.
‘Katie, how did you do it?’ Susannah marvelled as she spun in her stockings on their bedroom floor. She felt fantastic in the suit. ‘Where did you get the buttons?’
‘Matthew got them for me in Rockland,’ she said, looking proud. ‘His mom also helped with some old bits of material and wool for other things.’
Kate laid out Susannah’s new college wardrobe on her bed.
‘So, I knitted you this twinset in green to go with the suit. And then a black knit sweater to go with the pants.’
All those sewing patterns Kate had received in the post had been for her! Susannah had assumed Kate had been making clothes for herself.
‘You made pants for me!’
‘Sure, I adapted an old pair of Matthew’s.’
Susannah baulked at the idea of wearing Matthew Young’s old slacks, but Kate had done a wonderful job adding feminine details: tapering them at the ankles, and putting in a waistband with a couple of tucks.
Along with the wool suit, pants and sweaters, Kate had also made a couple of blouses, one circle skirt and a lighter-weight teal blue dress. There was a navy blue scarf and matching hat and gloves. She’d also allowed Susannah’s much-loved denims to go in the case, citing they were now all the rage as long as Susannah turned up the ends, wore a white shirt and tied a scarf around her neck.
‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to go in your old coat,’ Kate said. ‘Ran out of luck finding you a better one.’
Susannah surveyed the colourful collection of fashion spread out upon her sister’s patchwork quilt. For a moment she was so overwhelmed she couldn’t speak. She gave her sister a big hug.
‘You’ve worked so hard; oh Katie, I’m so touched!’
‘Well, just come back at Thanksgiving, mind you,’ Kate said, tapping her shoulder. ‘It’s only two months away!’
Susannah immediately felt guilty. ‘What should I do about Mom?’ she asked, biting her lip. ‘I feel bad.’
Kate put her hand on her shoulder and looked at her with wisdom beyond her years.
‘Give her time,’ Kate said. ‘She’ll come
