An Unlikely Friendship by Ann Rinaldi

come then?"
    "I said
if
."
    I waited. You didn't push with Grandmother, and I'd already pushed far enough. I didn't want to paint any more flowers on fences without knowing what I was inviting in.
    "If I come, I speak my mind," she said. "I won't be shackled."
    "Everyone loves you, Grandma. We know you'll make us proud."
    I left without knowing if she were coming or not. She was not without a sense of drama, my grandmother. If she came, she wanted it to be a surprise. She wanted everyone to wonder.
    That's what I told Pa. It was all I could tell him. He only smiled and patted my head. "You make a fine go-between, Mary," he said. "Too bad you aren't a boy. You could be an excellent politician. Someday perhaps you'll make use of your talents."
    A boy,
I thought.
Yes, I'd like to be a boy. I'd run for president.

T HE DAY OF E LIZABETH'S wedding was sky-blue clear, as fine a day as mid-February could offer. Just about spring in Lexington, Kentucky.
    Early in the morning Liz and I went into the room Elizabeth shared with Frances. Mammy Sally had brought up coffee and sweet buns, and as if we'd planned it, we girls sprawled around and had a party, paying homage to Elizabeth's last day at home. Liz was to be in the wedding party, too. As were Ann and Frances and little Margaret. Margaret, just four years old, was my half sister.
    Elizabeth's wedding dress hung in the corner. It had been Mama's, and we looked at it in silent admiration, each thinking our own thoughts.
    "I wish she were here." Elizabeth's voice had a catch in it.
    "She is," Frances said.
    Elizabeth had tears in her eyes. "Is Grandmother Parker coming?" she asked me.
    "Yes," I lied. "She'll be here. She won't let you down. Don't worry."
    We all were going to dress for the wedding together in Elizabeth's room. All around, on the bed and chairs and dripping out of the highboy, were her traveling clothes. Mammy climbed the stairs with her lumbering gait and came into the room to start packing.
    "You want I should help you into your weddin' dress?" she said.
    "Yes, in a minute," Elizabeth said. She was wiping some tears from her eyes.
    Mammy stood before it, touched it lightly. "I 'members the day I helped your own mama into it," she said. "My, she was right pretty. An' I 'spect you'll be just as pretty, Miz Elizabeth."
    "Thank you," Elizabeth said. She brushed some crumbs from her morning robe. There was a moment's silence, and then someone stood in the doorway.
    Betsy. She stood staring at Elizabeth for a long moment. "You'd best dress," she said. "The guests are starting to arrive."
    "Yes," Elizabeth said.
    "That grandmother of yours has not yet shown her face. You'd think, if she was coming, she'd be here by now," she said.
    "She'll be here," I said firmly.
    Betsy looked at me. "We'll see how good your powers of persuasion are. Your father thinks you are so wonderful. Well let me tell you," and she switched her attention to Elizabeth again. "This isn't your day. It's mine. It's mine because I kept this family together after your mother died. I did my duty by you all."
    Grandmother, please come,
I prayed.
Please come. We need you.

    E LIZABETH WOULD PASS under an arch made of forsythia blossoms in the parlor to stand before Reverend Davidson from McChord's Presbyterian.
    I dressed in the pink organdy especially made by Betsy's dressmaker. Pa had brought back yards and yards of it for me and Frances, Liz, Ann, and Margaret.
    Actually it had been a present for me. Every time I had a fight with Betsy, I knew Pa wasn't going to take my side. I didn't expect him to. He might even scold me, but he would always give me presents. Kid gloves or yards and yards of yellow muslin or the latest in bonnets.
    In the kitchen Mammy was now presiding over the food. In the back parlor Ninian Edwards stood with his friends from Transylvania, talking of plays and what horses they wanted to bet on and drinking strong black coffee topped with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. Ninian looked