Whippoorwill Read online

  “Who was that?” Hecubah asked, as they emerged from behind the magnolia.

  “You know as well as I do,” Ceci scowled. “That was my stupid sister Celeste. She’s my daddy’s favourite,” she added sullenly.

  “Oh, and is you hankering to be just like her?” Hecubah observed.

  “Heck no,” Ceci spat.

  “No? Then why you wearing them green eyes?”

  “My eyes are grey,” Ceci remarked sulkily, turning her face away.

  “What happened,” Hecubah continued, allowing her to deliberately miss the point. “When she dropped her handkerchief?”

  “She did that on purpose,” Ceci howled. “That was plain to see. Those fools nearly knocked heads trying to pick it up.”

  “What if I told you,” Hecubah advised her, “that if she’d tied a rock in it and pitched it half way down the lawn, they’d have gone for it like hounds after a possum.”

  Ceci rolled her eyes. “Boys are stupid,” she sneered, “I hate them. The only ones I know make fun of me.”

  “Maybe that’s ‘cos you looks like a scarecrow and smell like a polecat,” Hecubah suggested bluntly.

  Ceci’s jaw dropped, her cheeks beginning to burn. “I don’t smell anything,” she retorted indignantly.

  “Girl, you has to be standing where I am,” Hecubah was unrelenting. “Look,” she continued quickly, taking Ceci’s hands in hers and raising them up. “This thing don’t take a whole lot of learning to figure out. You skin your knuckles and land in a whole mess of trouble, just to break one boy’s nose. All Miss Celeste has to do is bat her eyelids and she breaks a dozen boy’s hearts.”

  Ceci thought about it. “That does sound better,” she began to agree. “No, wait,” she checked herself, “a broken heart ain’t near so painful as a broken nose.”

  “Dear God almighty,” Hecubah reeled back dramatically. One hand on her bosom, the other on her brow, eyes closed, as if she were about to swoon. “Child, you has got so much to learn.”

  Ceci clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Oh, now you’re making fun of me.”

  “I think we’re done here,” Hecubah concluded.

  “I’m hot, I’m tired and I’m hungry,” Ceci complained, as they returned to her room. “Can we eat now?”

  “Soon,” Hecubah prevaricated, “there’s one last thing I has to show you.”

  Ceci slumped, but after a minute of prodding and poking and Hecubah’s hand pushing against her behind, she found herself back in front of the mirror.

  “Now, who is that?” Hecubah asked for a second time.

  Ceci stared wearily into the glass, but try as she might, all she could see was her father, Tilly, her sister Celeste and those men, the heron; and that fish. Her mouth opened and closed, her lips bobbing uselessly together, but, for the third time that day, words eluded her.

  “Ah huh,” Hecubah observed with satisfaction. “Ain’t so sure now, are you?”

  Chapter Two

  “I can’t stand this,” Ceci wailed, as Hecubah entered the room.

  “What’s vexing you this time, child?” She enquired patiently.

  Ceci faced her stiff with indignation. “You make me bathe every day,” she fumed. “I have this stupid ribbon in my hair. I can’t climb trees no more. I ain’t allowed to swim in the bayou. These shoes hurt my feet and this dress is too hot,” she ended her litany of complaints with a petulant toss of her head. “Then, there’s these stupid drawers,” she added disdainfully, grabbing two handfuls of material of the plain brown garment she was wearing and raising the skirt. “Covered in frills and bows. What’s that all about?”

  “They’re called pantalettes,” Hecubah informed her with restraint. “They’re designed especially for young ladies, so that they can feel feminine and pretty right down to their skin.”

  “I wear drawers just to cover my behind,” Ceci sniffed, clearly unimpressed.

  “We all do, honey,” Hecubah replied nonchalantly. “Just don’t go showing them to all and sundry, like you done just now. It attracts the wrong kind of man.”

  Ceci slumped, exhausted by her tantrum. “Oh, what’s it all for?” She implored.

  “What’s it all for?” Hecubah pondered for a moment. “I think you needs some fresh air.”

  Ceci sighed, rolling her eyes. “It has to be ninety degrees outside.”

  “Then, we’ll sit in the shade,” she countered.

  The first lesson Ceci had learned during her brief association with Hecubah was that it was pointless to argue with her. She always had an answer for everything, even the questions she hadn’t asked yet. Entirely against her nature, she had reached the conclusion that, as far as Hecubah was concerned, it was easier to give in.

  “We’re going the wrong way,” Ceci noticed, as they left the main staircase.

  “This is a new way,” Hecubah told her simply.

  The new way took them past her Father’s day room. The door was open. He sat at his desk, working on some papers. Noticing a movement in the hall, he glanced up. “Ah, good morning, Hecubah,” he greeted her, rising, as any southern gentleman would. “Good morning,” he repeated, to include the young woman standing beside her. He paused and looked again, a quizzical frown creasing his brow. “Cecile?”

  “Morning Daddy,” she answered self-consciously.

  “Good God almighty,” he muttered, leaving his desk and crossing the room. “It is Cecile,” he stared incredulously.

  Ceci blushed under his scrutiny.

  “Why, child, you look beautiful,” he beamed. “Just beautiful.” He bent down, cupping her cheek in his hand, dropping a kiss lightly on the other, before rising to face Hecubah. “Excellent,” he told her. “I would never have believed it possible. Excellent,” he reaffirmed appreciatively, before returning to his desk.

  Hecubah glanced down at Ceci. “You still feel hot?”

  “No,” Ceci admitted. “I feel much better now.”

  “Ah huh,” Hecubah mused quietly. “That’s what it’s all for.”

  ***

  “No, like this,” Hecubah demonstrated, impaling a tiny morsel of food on her fork and placing it delicately into her mouth, before returning the fork to her plate. “It’s called etiquette,” she explained. “Which is, the use of fine manners and polite behaviour in company.”

  “But I’m hungry,” Ceci complained.

  “That don’t give you no call to shovel in your victuals as if the house was on fire,” Hecubah advised her.

  Ceci stared sullenly at her plate.

  “Child, is you expecting to die in the next half hour?” Hecubah asked suddenly.

  “No,” Ceci stared, taken aback.

  “Then you got time to eat it slow.”

  “It’ll be cold by then.”

  Hecubah’s eyebrows rose. She took a long hard look at the meal and then a long hard look at Ceci. “It’s salad,” she pointed out. “It’s already cold.”

  ***

  “I’ve asked Miss Celeste to help us today,” Hecubah told her.

  “Oh, not my stupid sister,” Ceci’s face creased, her shoes scuffing at the polished surface of the ballroom floor.

  “Enough of that,” Hecubah wagged a finger at her. “Miss Celeste is taking time outa her busy schedule just to help you. So, you be sweet.”

  Ceci wasn’t sure she knew how, especially when it came to Celeste. Her busy schedule usually involved some stupid man or other. She didn’t think it was costing her stupid sister much to be here. She glanced up, glowering as Celeste entered the room. The two girls exchanged prickly glances, until Hecubah intervened.

  “Thank you for joining us, Miss Celeste. Would you please show us what you can do.”

  Smiling pleasantly at Hecubah, she moved gracefully into the centre of the r
oom and completed an effortless curtsey.

  “Now, what did you see?” Hecubah asked Ceci.

  “Looked like she was going to faint, then changed her mind,” Ceci remarked churlishly.

  “Don’t you sass mouth me, girl,” Hecubah snapped. “You know what you saw.”

  Ceci sighed heavily. “It was a curtsey.”

  “And why do we curtsey?” Hecubah pressed on, intending to teach her a lesson.

  “It’s etiquette.”

  “And what is that?” Hecubah was unrelenting.

  “The use of fine manners and polite behaviour, in company,” Ceci droned.

  “All right then,” Hecubah seemed satisfied at last. “Now, let’s see some.”

  Being admonished in front of her stupid sister was galling, but Ceci had little choice in the matter. She heaved another great sigh. “Thank you for helping me, Celeste,” she managed tonelessly.

  Celeste performed another perfect curtsey, on purpose. “It is my pleasure,” she responded stonily.

  “That’s more like it,” Hecubah approved, choosing to ignore the atmosphere. “Now you try it,” she told Ceci. “Remember what I showed you. Take the edges of your dress in each hand, right foot behind the left and bend your knees.”

  Ceci did as she was told and promptly fell flat on her back. Celeste began to snigger. Hecubah silenced her with a glance.

  “No shame, child,” she told Ceci. “Try again.”

  This time she fell on her face.

  “I knows you can do this, honey,” Hecubah was certain. “You just ain’t putting your mind to it.”

  “It goes like this, Ceci,” Celeste took the opportunity to rub salt into her sister’s wounds, by demonstrating another flawless curtsey.

  Ceci stared daggers at her, her grey eyes flashing green.

  “Thank you so much, Miss Celeste,” Hecubah decided to put an end to the unequal contest. “I think we can manage from now on.”

  Celeste inclined her head graciously towards her, sparing only a frosty glance for Ceci as she left.

  Ceci watched her departure, through narrowed eyes, seething like a basketful of copperheads.

  Taking advantage of the situation, Hecubah sidled up to her, bent down and whispered in her ear. “If she can do it, why can’t you?”

  Ceci stiffened, the muscles in her jaw twitching. Exhaling sharply through her teeth, she marched into the centre of the ballroom, grasped her skirts and produced a breathtakingly faultless curtsey. She dipped so low her forehead almost touched the floor.

  “Ah huh,” Hecubah observed with satisfaction. “Just like a red rag to a bull.”

  ***

  “What’s that?” Ceci stared at the panels of fabric, laced together with ribbon, that Hecubah held.

  “It’s a corset,” she told her.

  “What’s it for?” Ceci frowned.

  “You wears it under your dress, like this,” Hecubah demonstrated, holding it against herself. “To make your figure look nice.”

  “Are you wearing one?” Ceci enquired tonelessly.

  “Yes, I am,” she assured her.

  “Would you be fat without it?”

  “Why didn’t I see that one coming?” Hecubah asked herself. “It ain’t about being fat,” she explained. “It’s about looking pretty.” She held her arms out. “Don’t you think I got a good figure?” she risked the question. “Don’t you think I look pretty?”

  Ceci looked her up and down. “You always look pretty,” she told her honestly.

  Hecubah’s face softened. “Won’t you just try it?” she coaxed. “You is almost fifteen, child. You is gonna need to wear one sooner or later.”

  “Why do I have to wear one?” Ceci sighed.

  “There are three reasons why we wear corsets,” Hecubah told her. “To keep our waists in, our bosoms up and because we drew the short straw in life and was born girls.” She put her hands in her lap and bent forwards. “I’ll make a deal with you,” she offered. “You try this on and this afternoon we’ll go down to the bayou and you can swim for as long as you want.”

  “I don’t care to,” Ceci responded listlessly.

  “Why not?” Hecubah stared in surprise.

  “The water’s dirty,” she shrugged. “And full of gators and moccasins.”

  “Never bothered you before,” Hecubah declared in amazement.

  “It’s all right,” Ceci assured her, still listless. “I don’t mind. I’ll try the corset.”

  Hecubah studied her for a moment. “My my,” she murmured at length. “Things is moving faster than I realised.”

  She helped Ceci into the corset, lacing it up until her adolescent shape more closely resembled that of a woman. “Now, will you look at that,” she hooted encouragingly, as Ceci turned this way and that, admiring her reflection. “What a beautiful young woman. Where’s that skinny little girl I used to know?” She came up behind her, putting her hands on her shoulders. “What’s the matter, honey?” She asked softly. “Don’t you like the way you look?”

  “I like it fine,” Ceci managed a wan smile.

  “Then what’s wrong?” Hecubah began to stroke her hair. “You bin quiet all day. You feeling poorly?”

  “No,” Ceci shook her head, “I’d just like to be by myself for a while.”

  “Sure, honey,” Hecubah agreed. “You take some time. It’s bin a long day.”

  Hecubah gave her an hour then returned, to find her where she’d left her, sitting on the bed, staring out of the window. As she sat down beside her, Ceci turned, burying her head in her breast, beginning to sob.

  “I know, I know, honey,” she comforted. “It’s hard, so very hard. You is at that crossroads now. It’s all very bewildering, but it’ll pass,” she bent forwards kissing her head. “You’ll get over it,” she promised. “Then you’ll get used to it. Then you’ll get good at it.”

  ***

  “Oh please, please,” Ceci begged, “please let me try some.”

  Hecubah looked undecided.

  “Celeste was wearing lip colour when she was sixteen,” Ceci pointed out, hoping to add weight to her argument. “Look, she let me have these,” she indicated an array of jars and tubs on her dressing table.

  Hecubah shook her head. “I declare, you two are as thick as thieves these days. What happened to them two alley cats, always trying to scratch each other’s eyes out? Since you two became best friends, I swear there ain’t bin a moment’s peace in this house.”

  “Oh, please,” Ceci implored, her eyes large and appealing, which always tended to work on Hecubah these days.

  “All right,” she conceded, sitting down beside her. “Beats me why you wants to cover up that pretty face with all this paint.”

  Ceci had already scooped up a brush full of colour, aiming it at her mouth.

  “No, not like that,” Hecubah took the brush from her and scraped half its contents back into the jar. “The idea is to enhance,” she told her, gently applying the colour to Ceci’s lips. “Not to obliterate. You can’t just pile it on, like some ol’ Mississippi, Madam.”

  “What’s a Mississippi, Madam?” Ceci asked, ever curious.

  “I must remember who I’m talking to, before I speak.” Hecubah rebuked herself. “It’s a woman without a reputation,” she explained discreetly, “shunned by society.”

  “Why?”

  “Dear Lord,” Hecubah sighed, “questions, questions. These days, it’s nothing but questions.”

  “How else will I learn?” Ceci asked.

  “That’s another question,” Hecubah pointed out.

  “Why is she shunned?” Ceci persisted.

  “Because she consorts with men for money,” Hecubah continued to be discreet, knowing if she didn’t answer, Ceci would
never stop pestering her.

  Ceci’s eyes widened. “You mean she pays them?”

  “No, no,” Hecubah clicked her tongue in exasperation. “The other way around. Now, quit your wriggling, or you is gonna end up with this lip colour in your ear.”

  “Can I try some rouge now?” Ceci asked hopefully.

  “You don’t need that,” Hecubah objected. “There’s a trick I learned as a girl. I’ll show you.” She gently pinched her cheek between her finger and thumb. “Now you try it.”

  Ceci copied her, wincing a little.

  “See,” Hecubah pointed into the mirror, “that puts natural colour into your cheeks.”

  The two of them sat there, gazing into the glass, until Hecubah nudged Ceci playfully. “Who is that?” she asked.

  Ceci glanced at her smiling, then looked back into the mirror, taking a long look at herself. “It’s me, ain’t it?”

  “Sure is, honey,” Hecubah laughed. “I think you has arrived at last.”

  Chapter Three

  “Lord, I don’t think I shall ever be ready in time,” Ceci fretted, adjusting the ornaments in her hair. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have spent the whole morning gossiping with Celeste, but you know I ain’t seen her in eight months, not since she moved to New Orleans. Don’t she look happy?”

  “Sure does,” Hecubah agreed. “Married life seems to suit her.”

  “Oh, I can hardly believe it,” Ceci breathed, flushed with excitement. “A ball in my honour.”

  “You turned eighteen in the Fall,” Hecubah reminded her. “Now, your daddy wants to introduce you to Louisiana society.”

  “Why, I heard folks are coming from all over,” Ceci informed her. “I believe we will have people here from every state in the Union.”

  “Could be,” Hecubah nodded, “your daddy’s a very influential man. Knows a lot of people. He got friends all over this country. Most of them with sons about your age,” she added quietly to herself.