Emiline dreams of being a fair lady. She longs for drama, fashion, cities and fancy tea parties. But as a twelve-year-old, farm girl in the late 1800's, those things seem to be out of her reach. Meanwhile, a mystery begins to grow as she and her bes...
Emiline was very busy as she sat at home, recovering from her cold. She told her family all about the things she had seen and done in the city, and she took out the flimsy dress Anastasia had given her and got to work remaking it. When Saturday came around, Emma got herself ready for the day in a hurry and then rushed outside. The air was full of the smell of wood smoke that poured out of her neighbor's chimneys. It was chilly outside, but the sun was still hot enough to make the day beautiful and pleasant.
For so many weekends, Emiline had walked down to Susan's spacious home to enjoy tea and cookies in her dining room. But today, the girls had decided to do something better. Just as Emma reached the main road, she saw Susan walking toward her, swinging a picnic basket on her arm.
"Now, this is what I call fun!" Susan laughed joyously, putting an arm through Emiline's as they headed down the road together. In a few more minutes, they had climbed the hill to Dorothy's ugly, little house and gave a tap on her door. The little girl hurried to answer it, and her face lit up with delight when she saw her friends.
"Emma, Susan!" she cried. "I've missed you for two whole weeks! I'm so glad you're back!" She threw her arms around the girls.
"We missed you too, Dotty!" Emiline said, hugging Dorothy tightly. Susan smiled and took the little girl's hand.
"We're going on a picnic!" she explained happily. "And we'd be so happy if you could come!" Dorothy's eyes glittered, and her heart fluttered with joy. They wanted her to come? She had felt lonely for so long, but at last, her heart was being warmed by the love that shined in her friends' eyes. In a second, Dorothy had run back into the house to ask her father if she could go. Then, she came out, beaming with joy and the three ran into the woods like carefree fawns. As they reached a beautiful place, Susan set down her basket.
"This is a perfect spot to eat, don't you think?" she said. They all agreed and with joy and endless energy, Dorothy took charge of setting up their picnic. She spread out the tablecloth just so and then served her friends as if they were ladies of honor. Emiline and Susan tried to do their part, but the girl was always a step ahead of them. It made Dotty's joy complete to do nice things for others, and when she had finished, she sat down with her own plate of food looking as bright as the sunbeams around her.
Emma gazed at Dorothy for a long time. The girl's red, frizzy curls were tangled all around her face, and her bare feet were brown and leathery from walking to school each day. She always looked so unkempt, but for a few days, Emiline had been building a dream.
"Dotty," she began excitedly. "Would you come to my house and stay the night? We'll have so much fun! And tomorrow, we can dress up and go to church together!" The plan made Dorothy very happy. The minute she got home, she asked for her father's permission and without a hesitation he said yes.
Everything was perfectly delightful that day. Emma and her mother made a wonderful dinner for their little guest, and in the evening, Grandma Adler showed the girls how to sew cloth dolls. Emma had never thought much of her grandmother's dolls, but as she watched the old woman stitch away, she admired the beautiful things that she made. Dorothy enjoyed every minute of it. Sewing was one thing that her father couldn't teach her very well, and she soaked in each instruction that Grandma Adler gave her.
Night fell softly around the house, and after Emiline's father had read the Bible to them, Emma led her friend up to the attic room where she and Lizzy had been sleeping. There was plenty of room for the three of them to sleep snugly on the bed, and Emiline had worked very hard to make the attic clean and charming.
"You have a beautiful room!" Dorothy said sweetly, looking around in awe at all of Emma's things. To Dotty, her friend's simple possessions were just as amazing as Anastasia's. The girl had never owned much to call her own. But, when she saw things that were nice, she didn't wish they were hers. She only felt glad that her friend had everything she needed and wanted.
"I have a present for you, Dotty," Emma said as the girls put on their nightgowns and crawled into bed.
"You do?" the little girl asked in pleasure. "Oh, you didn't have to do that!"
"But I wanted to," Emiline explained. "Because I love you, and you're such a good friend! I'm going to wait and show it to you tomorrow before church!"
All night long, Dotty wondered what kind of a surprise was waiting for her. It made her tingle with joy and excitement. But the thing that really made her happy, was the fact that she felt loved.
Long before the sun rose, Emiline and Dorothy were awake. Emma put her Sunday dress on, and unraveled her braided hair. Then, she opened a trunk that lay near the window and pulled out something beautiful.
"This is your present," she told Dotty. She held it up for the girl to see, and the sapphire dress unfolded elegantly. It was nothing like the flimsy gown Anastasia had adored. Emiline and Susan had worked very hard, stitching, gathering and adding fabric until the bold, city dress had become a decent and beautiful gown. Dorothy almost trembled in delight.
"Are you sure?" she asked, touching the soft fabric and feeling her heart flutter. "You've always wanted a dress like this, Emma! Don't you want to keep it?"
"No," Emiline answered, smiling and shaking her head. "I hemmed it just so that it would fit you. Here, try it on!" Emiline focused all of her attention on her friend. She helped the girl slip into the elegant dress and then she spent a long time trying to comb the girl's ratted hair. She didn't get very far with that, but the little girl still looked tidy and nice by the time she was finished.
"There!" Emma exclaimed, stepping back to look at her. "You look beautiful, Dotty!" Dorothy giggled and blushed shyly.
"Thank you," she said humbly.
Emiline took Dorothy to church withpride that morning, almost feeling like the little girl was her masterpiece.But the longer she watched her friend, the more she realized that there was abeauty in Dotty that went far beyond the blue dress and silk ribbon she hadplaced in her hair. The girl was God's masterpiece, because she was radiantwith his love and goodness. Her only desire was to please Jesus, and that madeher more beautiful than any princess. Emma smiled. She wanted to have that samebeauty; the kind that comes from deep in your heart.
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