American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories, American
The hassocks in our pew began to look shabby, and my aunt brought
them home from church to put fresh carpeting on them. They suggested
church, of course, and as she worked on them a great many reminiscences
came to her mind. Here is one: “I used to love to ride horseback, and
grandmother always made father let me, although he was afraid to have
me. Well, one summer evening, right after supper I went for a little
ride, and didn’t get home till about half-past seven. As I rode into
the yard I looked through the open windows, and there was grandmother
putting her bonnet on; and it came to me in a flash that I’d promised
to go to evening prayers with her. I was a grown-up young lady then,
but I was scared! You did what you’d promised grandmother you would,
or something happened. So I just fell off my horse, turned him out in
the night pasture, saddle and all, and ran into the house. Grandmother
was putting on her gloves, and, although she saw me with my great
looped-up riding skirt on and my whip in my hand, she never said
a word nor lifted an eyebrow; just went on wetting her fingers and
pushing the gloves down on them as though I was ready with my best hat
on. That scared me worse than ever. I tore into my room, slipped off my
skirt, put on another right over my riding trousers, slammed on a hat,
threw a long cape around me, and grabbed my gloves. As the last bell
began to ring and grandmother stepped out of the house, I stepped out
beside her, all right as to the outer layer, but with the perspiration
streaming down my face. I’d hurried so, and those great thick riding
trousers were so hot under my woolen skirt! My! I thought I’d die! And
it was worse in the church! Over in our dark, close corner pew there
wasn’t a breath of air. It must have been a hundred by the thermometer.
I was so hot I just had to do something or die! There weren’t but a
few people in the church, and nobody anywhere near our corner, and it
was as dark as could be, back in our high pew. So when we knelt down
for the General Confession I gathered the cape all around me, reached
up under my full skirt, unbuttoned those awful riding trousers, and
just cautiously slipped them off. My! What a relief it was! Grandmother
felt me rustling around and looked over sharp at me, to see what I
was doing. When she saw the riding trousers, she looked shocked, and
frowned; but I guess I must have looked terribly hot and red, so she
didn’t say anything.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account