“Yes, join us,” Mary said. “I’m wondering when the first one of us will announce we’re with child.”
Alice sat across from her and glared at her. “I thought you were already pregnant. Especially after you were so sick while we were on the trail.”
Blanche wanted to spend time with her friends. She did not want to engage with Alice. So she ignored her.
For the next thirty minutes, the women caught up with one another, their laughter filling the house, while Alice did nothing but stare at Blanche. She said very little.
Finally, Aunt Grace came in and said it was time for lunch. They all stood and strolled into the dining room where they continued to chat over their meal.
All the time, Blanche had an odd feeling when she looked up and caught Alice glaring at her.
After the meal, they returned to the parlor where finally, Blanche stood and opened her bag. “I brought cookies for all of you.” She handed out the small tins of cookies and gave Alice and Rose two tins. “I thought that maybe you might enjoy them on the return trip,” she said.
Alice threw the tins at her. “I’m not eating your cooking. You’re trying to poison me.”
The women in the room gasped and it became quiet as they stared at each other.
Blanche no longer had to put up with Alice’s condescension and ugliness. She’d come here today and even tried to be friends with the woman, but no more.
“Why do you hate me so much? Why do you tell lies about me? Have I done something to harm you?”
The woman stood and approached her. She grabbed the locket around her neck and yanked it off.
Blanche gasped, her hand going to her chest where the missing locket once resided.
“Yes, you stole my necklace. Your mother ran off with my father. Your family has done so much harm to mine. I only came out here with the chance for revenge. And I almost succeeded when you were sick. I thought that I gave you enough poison, it would kill you, but I failed. This time I’m not going to fail.”
The women gasped as Alice yanked Blanche up from the couch.
“Give my locket back. My husband gave it to me. It’s been in his family for generations. Inside is a picture of his parents.”
Alice’s fist flew and Blanche stumbled from the first blow to her face. It had been many years since Blanche had really fought. The last time had been in the schoolyard when someone said that her mother was a whore.
Alice came at her again, but this time Blanche raised her arm, blocking the woman’s punch. Alice copied her move, but Blanche went beneath her upraised arm and punched her in the face. The woman retaliated and kicked her, but Blanche was not giving up. She rammed her fist into Alice’s stomach and watched her stumble backward.
“Hit her again, Blanche,” Daisy cried.
“Give me back my necklace,” Blanche said, her focus on the woman.
“Never,” Alice said almost breathless. “Come and get it.”
In some ways, Blanche’s skirt made it easier for her to maneuver around Alice and she swung again and hit her in the face. Blood spurted from Alice’s nose and she grabbed it, beginning to cry.
Just then Aunt Grace walked in and gasped.
“What is going on?”
Blanche returned to the couch and cradled her eye where Alice had landed a blow. She would have a black eye and Jakob would probably send her packing. Ladies did not fight. Even if it was to save the necklace he gave her. His family heirloom.
“Give me back the locket,” Blanche said.
“Never,” Alice said, growling at her.
“Ladies,” Aunt Grace said, coming to stand between them. “This is not appropriate.”
No, it wasn’t and Jakob would be so upset with her. She had tried so hard to be the lady he wanted and she’d failed.
“Open it and see who is inside. Because when you see it’s not your locket, my husband will be the next person who descends on you. Those are his parents.”
Shaking, Alice opened the locket and gasped.
“Told you so,” Blanche said, leaning back.
Then she sat straight up. “Wait a minute. You said my mother ran off with your father. I’ve never heard this story. How do I know it’s true?”
Alice glared at her. “How could you not know what she did?”
“My father didn’t talk about my mother. I was very young when she left us.”
Alice all but growled her face contorted with rage.
“Your mother ran off with my father and it destroyed my mother,” Alice said, gazing at Blanche like she was a tramp. If she could get around Aunt Grace, Blanche was certain Alice would try to hit her again.
“I don’t believe you. You were wrong about the locket. You’re wrong about my mother,” Blanche said, thinking it couldn’t be true. Yes, her mother ran out on her father and her, but not with someone in town. Certainly, her father would have told her the truth. “Give me proof.”
Alice’s face turned red and she stammered. “My mother said it was your mother. Said she stole my father from her. My father took money, and together, they left to go to New York.”
Blanche had always known that her mother deserted them. She remembered her leaving and how upset her father had been, but she hadn’t known the details.
“If this is true, why am I to blame for this? I had nothing to do with it. My father refused to talk about my mother. You can’t prove this and I don’t know what happened. Why would you go after me?”
The woman seemed to pause for a moment, and she licked her lips uncertainty filling her gaze. “I wanted to avenge my mother. She died a bitter old woman and it’s your family’s fault.”