"The point is," Willard said in low tones, "you are going to have to
have proper clothes to look natural on the street. See if that dress
will fit you."
Maria took the thing distastefully, but it looked to be about the right
length when she held it up against her. The Greenie woman nodded. She
added a sort of full-length flannel slip and a petticoat to the dress.
"Now I know why the Greenie women look so grim," said Maria. "It would
be almost worth dying to stay out of such a rig."
"Hold your tongue!" said Willard.
Maria made a face.
"Present company excepted, of course!" she added.
"Change!" ordered Willard. "We have no time to waste."
He took the mirror and the small case to a rude table under one of
the windows. He opened the box so that Maria caught a glimpse of the
contents, which looked like an actor's make-up kit.
The Greenie woman joggled Maria's elbow and spoke for the first time.
"I must not be long, or it will be noticed," she hinted.
"Give her your clothes to burn and get into the others," said Willard,
bending over the table with his back to her. "As soon as I get myself
fixed here, I'll change your face too."
Maria looked about in a manner to suggest that she hoped they knew what
they were doing. The Greenie woman waited. Maria reached up and began
to unbutton her blouse.
She dropped it across her bag. The woman picked both of them up, and
waited. She looked a trifle shocked at the sight of the thin slip when
Maria unzipped her skirt and hauled it over her head. By the time the
slip followed, she was standing with downcast eyes.
Maria eyed the broad back in the drab uniform as she unfastened
her brassiere. This would make a good story someday, but to tell
it in the wrong company might be to invite catty remarks about her
attractiveness. She could think of other men who might not have kept
their backs so rigidly turned as did Willard. It was almost provocative.
She slipped down the brief panties, stepped out of them, and handed
them over. The Greenie woman pointed silently to the shoes. Marie
kicked them off, and they were added to the pile. She hoped that
whatever was in the chest for footwear would not be too hard to walk in.
The Greenie woman thrust the flannel atrocity at her and left the room
hastily. Maria watched the door close softly, then held the garment
out at arm's length. It did not look any better. She took a few steps
toward Willard.
_I'll bet I could make him faint dead away_, she thought
mischievously. _I'd love to see the look on his face if ... well, why
not? I will!_
"She's gone," she announced in a low voice. "How do I get into this
thing?"
Willard looked around, and the look was nothing she had ever seen
before. His face appeared fuller in the cheeks, his eyebrows were black
and heavy, his nose high at the bridge, and his whole complexion was
darker.
He nodded at her gasp.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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