The Falls > jariana

twenty-two

Justin

It would've made me really happy if Ariana was joking, but the look on her face made it clear that she was dead serious.

I said with exceptional restraint, "Independence Day is barely a week away."

She nodded grimly. "It is fast, I know."

"Fast?" Okay, I was beginning to lose my restraint. "How about insane?"

"Difficult, perhaps, but hardly insane."

"Why do we have to move her so quickly?"

"My mother plans to wed Mr. Shaw on July tenth."

Damn. "Okay, that's a good reason."

Her hands twisted in the folds of her apron, her only sign of agitation. "What have you learned so far?"

"Nothing much." I must be as crazy as she, because I was already sifting through ways to ramp up the speed. "I thought we had months."

"We must look for jobs in a dressmaker's shop, or we may find a large household which requires a skilled needlewoman."

"Right. What, exactly, can a skilled needlewoman do?"

"Embroidery, hemming, and mending."

I snorted. "How large does a household have to be to afford someone who does nothing but stitch all day?"

"Very large. And she would certainly be assigned other duties."

"How many large households will Raleigh have?"

Her face scrunched in thought. "Three or four."

I felt like one of those cartoon characters whose eyes were popping out of my head on threads. "Really? It ought to be easy when I have three to choose from."

"Or four." She ignored my sarcasm. "Phoebe's needlework is truly exquisite. A wealthy family will want her."

Here was the first weird side effect of being with Ariana: the things she needed me to do. Alexis had only asked for trivial stuff. I'd done some of it to keep the peace and blown off the things I really, really didn't want to do. But in Arianaa's case, she asked for crazy-important, scary-as-hell, life-and-death things, which I couldn't blow off.

"Let me make sure I understand. First, I'll find your one-talent sister a job with a rich family living near the state capital. And second, we'll move her there, all within the next week."

"Precisely." She gave me the kind of smile a teacher gives to an idiot who has finally said something smart.

"Okay." Crazy or not, I felt engaged by the challenge. It would be a tough, non-stop push to succeed, but already I could feel the energy flowing. "What's the plan?"

"You should start by checking with your web for large households."

"My web? Great idea. I'll give that a try." I pulled out the print-out from the 1799 Raleigh Register. "As it happens, I did find a family like that. The Etons sound rich. Do you know who they are?"

"Mr. Nathaniel Eton was a great hero in the war. He fought most bravely and will soon serve the people of North Carolina in our new government."

"Sounds like they like to have fun. They throw parties and serve sonker."

Ariana blinked. "Sonker? Are you sure?" She snatched the document and scanned quickly. Her lips moved as she read the article. "How can this be?"

"What's the problem?"