In Mrs Hammond's other hand was the bundle of cloth and tissue paper. She escorted Mrs Pike to the chair Joan had ready and then she set the bundle down on the sewing table beside her, saying, 'There you are,' and stepping back to see what Mrs Pike would do. Mrs Pike didn't do anything. She looked at the lilac cloth as if she'd never seen it before. 'Well, now,' said Mrs Hammond, and began opening out the bundle herself. 'If you'll remember, you cut this out back in May, before all that business about Laura's wedding came up, and I haven't tried it on since. Joan honey, do you want to bring your aunt some coffee and a roll?'
'I'm not hungry,' said Mrs Pike.
But Joan escaped to the kitchen anyway, while Mrs Hammond went on talking. 'I've been on a tomato diet for three weeks,' she was saying, 'all in honour of this princess-style dress. So now, Lou, I want you to pin it on me again. Don't make it an inch too big, because I want to lose five more pounds, Lord willing -'
Joan took two cups and saucers down and set them on the tray. Then she poured out the coffee, taking her time because she was in no hurry to get back to the parlour. When the last possible thing had been seen to, she picked up the tray and carried it out.
'The older you get,' Mrs Hammond was saying, 'the harder the fat clings.' She had patches of lilac pinned on over her regular dress now, but she was more or less doing it herself. Mrs Pike just kept smoothing down the already pinned-on patches, running her fingers along the cloth with vague fumbling motions. "There's only four pieces,' Mrs Hammond reminded her. 'Plus the pocket. Where's the pocket? You remember that's one reason we decided on this. You could whip it up in a morning, you said. Do you remember?'
In the silence that followed the question Joan set the coffee down by the cake plate and passed the two cups over. Her aunt's she put on the table, and Mrs Hammond's she placed on the chair arm, but neither woman noticed. Mrs Pike seemed fascinated by the little wheel on her sewing machine. Mrs Hammond was waiting endlessly, with her hands across her breasts to keep the lilac cloth in place. She seemed to be planning to keep silent forever, if she had to, just so that one question of hers could be answered. But Mrs Pike might not even have heard.
Then Simon said, 'Um, why Andy Point's parents won't speak to each other -'and Mrs Hammond looked up at him. 'Why they sit in their parlour in chairs faced back to back,' he said, 'all dates back to Sunday a week. Least that's what Andy says. But I couldn't hardly believe it, it was such a little thing that set them fighting.'
'It's nearly always little things,' said Mrs Hammond. Mrs Pike nodded and took a packet of pins out of her spool box.
'They were on their way to church, see,' Simon said. 'Andy was along. They made him come. When suddenly they passed this sign saying, "Craig Church two miles, visitors welcome," Mrs Point she said, "Why, I never have seen that before." Just being conversational. And Mr Point says, "Well, I don't know why not. It's been there a year or more," he says. "No it ain't," Mrs Point says. "Yes, it has," Mr Point says…'
'Well, now, isn't that typical,' said Mrs Hammond. She turned slightly, but Mrs Pike pulled her back again to pin two pieces of cloth together at the waist. Mrs Pike's mouth was full of pins, and her eyes were frowning at everything her fingers did.
'So anyway,' Simon said, 'that was what began it. Andy says he never saw such a thing. He says they've even had to order another.newspaper subscription, because they wouldn't share the one between them.'
'If that isn't the limit,' said Mrs Hammond. 'Ouch, Lou.'
'Oh, I'm sorry,' said Mrs Pike. Everyone looked toward her, but she only went on pinning and didn't say any more, so Mrs Hammond took up where she had left off.
'What doesn't make sense,' she told Simon, 'is Mary Point's nature. She's not the type to bear a grudge.'
'Oh, it won't her fault,' said Simon. 'Andy says she had forgot about it. She just went on into church and never thought a thing about it. But then at dinner, Mr Point wouldn't eat what she had cooked and made himself a sandwich right after. That's a sign he's mad. Mrs Point said, "Andy," she said, "I'll be. Is your daddy mad about something?" And Andy said, "Well, I reckon he's mad you said that sign wasn't there." So she said, "Oh, I had forgot all about that," but then it was too late. Now she's mad at him for being mad, and it don't look like it's ever going to end.'
'You haven't lost a pound,' Mrs Pike said. She had finished pinning the pieces together now, and she was shaking her head at how tightly they fit.
'I have too,' said Mrs Hammond. 'You allow a good inch for the dress I'm wearing underneath it, Lou.' She acted as if it were perfectly natural that Mrs Pike was speaking, but right on the tail of her words she shot Joan a meaningful glance. Joan nodded, although privately she didn't feel too sure of anything yet. But Simon kept on bravely, with his hands clutching the edge of the couch and his eyes on his mother, even though it was Mrs Hammond he was speaking to.
'I asked him,' he said, 'I asked, "Andy, how you think you're going to end it?” And Andy says, "Same way it started, I reckon. By accident."'
'Well, no,' said Mrs Pike, and once again everyone's attention was on her alone. She removed the pins from her mouth and laid them on the sewing table, and then she said, 'It's not that easy. Why sure, one of them might speak by accident. Mary might. Then Sid might answer, being glad she'd spoken first, but by then Mary would have caught herself. She'd feel silly to speak first, and only snap his head off again. It's not that easy.'
'No, you're right,' said Mrs Hammond, and Joan thought she would have agreed no matter what her aunt had said. 'You have to think about the -'
The telephone rang. Mrs Hammond stopped speaking, and Simon leaped over to pick up the receiver. 'Hello?' he said. 'What?' He was silent a minute. 'No, I knew about it. I knew, I just forgot. Well, thank you anyway. Bye.' He hung up.
'Who was that?' asked Mrs Hammond.
'Just that station.'
'What?'
'Just that radio station. They got this jackpot on. They call you up and if you don't say, "Hello," if you say instead, "I am listening to WKKJ, the all-day swinging station – "'
'I've heard about that,' Mrs Hammond said.
'If he'd just called before, boy. It's not me who was prepared for them to -'
Mrs Pike's spool box went clattering on the floor. All the colours of thread went every which-way, rolling out their tails behind them, and Mrs Hammond said. 'Why, Lou,' but Mrs Pike didn't answer. She had crumpled up against her sewing machine, leaning her forehead against the wheel of it and clenching both fists tightly against her stomach. 'Lou!' Mrs Hammond said sharply. She looked at Joan and Simon, and they stared back. 'Did something happen?'
'I said something,' Simon told her.
Mrs Hammond kept watching him, but he didn't explain any further. Finally she turned back to Mrs Pike and said, 'Sit up, Lou,' and pulled her by the shoulders, struggling against the dead weight of her. 'What's the matter?' she asked. She looked into Mrs Pike's face, at her dry wide eyes and the white mark that the sewing-machine wheel had made down the centre of her forehead. 'What's the matter?' she asked again. But Mrs Pike only rocked back and forth, and Simon and Joan stared at the floor.
9
All Tuesday morning, Ansel had visitors. The first one was Joan. She mustn't have stayed long because she came and went while James was emptying the garbage, which only took a minute. When he returned Ansel said, 'Joan's been here,' and then dumped a cupped handful of sunflower hulls into an ashtray and sat down to read the paper.