Good-bye and Amen by Beth Gutcheon Read Free Book Online Page A

when they get a bigger telescope. Suddenly you can see past your own little galaxy, to the older worlds of astral matter you’re made of. It was always there, you could sort of know that, but it’s different to see it.
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    Monica Faithful We found a snapshot of Eleanor and Bobby on their wedding day in New York. El is wearingdark lipstick and a new spring suit and high heels, very pretty with her small waist and the big gazongas. I remember when that picture arrived at the house. Bobby’s mother sent it. Bobby’s father had been their witness and he was in the picture, and Mother had actually taken a pair of scissors and cut off that side of the picture!
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    Nora Applegate The only person who didn’t seem to be into it was Uncle Norman. I went up to the attic, to look in the maids’ rooms’ closets and under the beds, since Granny Syd had stashed things everywhere, and there was Normal, pacing up and down the hall with his cell phone to his ear. He was listening to someone. He looked startled to see me, and said something like, “Yes, I’m here, go on…” and I waved at him and beetled off to the cedar closet. There were still some boxes up on the shelves that hadn’t been gone through. I found someone’s wedding dress, like from a museum, with little seed pearls sewn on, and a train and everything. I ran to get Mummy.
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    Eleanor Applegate We rushed upstairs. Norman was up there on his cell phone in the hall, oblivious. Nora had found Great-grandmother Annabelle’s wedding dress. I thought at first it was Candace’s but there’s a picture of James and Candace on their wedding day, and she was wearing satin, with no lace or train. And besides, would Mother have kept the dread Candace’s wedding dress if she’d ever had it? This was more froufrou and much older, we thought. The bodice was tiny, too small for Monica or me at any time in our lives, let alone now, but Nora is a sylph. We got her into it.
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    Monica Faithful I do think Mother would have kept Candace’s wedding dress if she’d had it. I think that was always a love-hate thing for her, that she went on hoping until the end of Candace’s life for some sign that her mother actually loved her. But Candace actually didn’t. Sydney just wasn’t her type. Poor Mother. But Nora in Great-grandmother’s wedding dress! Ooh-lala! The sleeves were ivory lace and the veil fastened on with combs, which of course wouldn’t work unless you have long hair pinned up to stick the combs into. We had to improvise. There were about a hundred little pearl buttons that had to be done up in the back. Even the matching shoes were there but those were much too small. Ellie and I hummed “Here Comes the Bride” and carried the train as Nora made her way down the stairs, to show everyone.
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    Eleanor Applegate And as we went by, Norman was still on the phone!
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    Sylvia Faithful You should know, by the way, that the most striking thing about this story is that my father was listening to somebody.
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    Josslyn Moss I was in the dining room putting numbers on things for the lottery when Nora came down in the wedding dress. I ran to get Boedie out of bed. Boedie said, “Nora looks just like Beauty in Beauty and the Beast! ”
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    Eleanor Applegate We did get the lottery going again. Monica came back into the dining room, and before shecould speak, I said I thought she was right, we should save Maine things for the summer. And she said, no no, we should decide about the Rolling Stone , soon it would be time for someone to pay the yard bills. I said, well, Charlesie sort of wanted to take care of the boat himself. He loves to work with his hands. And he really knows that boat, and we thought it would be good for him, to have something of his own to take care of. Monica said, “A wooden boat? How could he do all that himself, with the brightwork and so