Robin broke in eagerly: "Yeah, at the
country club, no less."
. Cathy resumed quick control by saying
loudly: "They have to know about reser
vations. It's May 17. So will we go?
Daddy and my date can come later you
know, for the dancing."
"Is it important, honey? Is everybody
going? What about you girls?"
"I'd sure like to. I'm going to try to
persuade my mom. She doesn't have a
formal, though." Donna's voice trailed off.
"A formal, huh!" Doris said.
"Hope Daddy'll let me get a new one,
Mom. You know, something real snaky."
Robin clapped noisily and said, "What
you ought to do, Mrs. Healy, is get dresses
alike, you and Cathy. You'd be so cute.
Why," she pronounced with the breathless
air of a discoverer, "you'd look just like
sisters honest!"
Next day Mrs. Healy and her daughter
went into the city to look at "dresses. The
Village Square shops carried nice enough
things, of course, but nothing really
swishy. And if they wanted dresses alike,
they would have to find them in a style
equally becoming to both.
Luckily, Doris caught sight of a pet
saleslady almost the minute they stepped
into the handsome interior of Chez Gallice.
While Doris explained what they wanted,
Cathy peered around curiously. Finally,
she asked impatiently: "Where is every
thing, Mom? Where are all the clothes?"
Doris and the saleslady laughed to
gether. Doris explained gently: "Oh,
sweetie, they don't have their things out
on racks. People paw so. Miss Anderson
will show us what they have."
There were two superbly simple blacks
that would have turned the fair-skinned
Doris into a glittering column of ebony
and ice but, of course, they were far too
sophisticated for Cathy. And there were
the standard bouffant pink and blue tulles
that would have made Cathy a fairy
princess. But there was absolutely nothing
Miss Anderson showed that was remotely
possible for both of them.
Then, just as Doris began gathering bag,
gloves, and coat together, Miss Anderson
said dubiously: "I don't know ... there
just might be this one gown. It's a beauti
ful thing but the color. It's a sort of
electric blue. Do you think it might be
what you're looking for?"
They shivered together at the thought
of nearly having missed it! It was that
right, that sumptuous, that special! Cathy
breathed delight at its unabashed bare
ness. Doris judiciously admired the sculp
tured sleekness of its lines, the newness
of its swept-back hem.
They followed Miss Anderson into the
' fitting rooms. Like a small,
churning windmill, Cathy vigorously
moved arms and legs and, within seconds,
presented herself for inspection. She
looked, Doris thought happily, absolutely
breath-taking. How on earth, she chided
herself, could she ever have thought the
girl might turn into an ambling bullock.
Cathy was, beyond doubt, an authentic
young beauty!
The dress seemed to float about her.
The deep decolletage displayed her white
gold skin, the slender column of her neck,
the delicacy of fine bones covered by
fragile flesh. And the color harsh, indeed,
as Miss Anderson had promised served
only to circle the slim young figure in a
flattering shimmer.
Doris brushed a spontaneous kiss across
the girl's soft, flushed cheek, and breathed
proudly: "That is absolutely perfect on
you, honey. They'll all flip when they
see you at the dance!"
There was a tussle with the zipper in
Doris dress. She stood patiently while
Miss Anderson adjusted it. Cathy stood
silent, watching, suddenly subdued. A
frown, creased her forehead in a mocking,
adult look of worry. Doris said, "Don't
wrinkle up your face, Cathy. It makes
you look ugly."
Finally, Doris was able to step away
from Miss Anderson. She twirled lightly,
loving the majestic feel of the dress.
Slowly, she stopped, smiled fondly at her
self in the great mirrors that stood ceiling
high before and behind her. But the smile
froze on her face while disappointment
seeped slowly into her mind and heart.
For Doris, the dress was awful! The
straight lines poked out at hipbones and
knees. The bare top revealed scrawny
hollows below her throat. And the color
acid, bitter, gaudy turned her pampered,
delicate skin into a jaundiced, fading
parchment.
Doris didn't say anything: she didn't
have to. Cathy and Miss Anderson stood
still, staring silently at her.. As Doris put a
trembling hand behind her, Miss Anderson
leaped to help her from the dress. Shef
said in a low tone of apology, "I'm sorry,
Mrs. Healy. I didn't think . . ."
"It's all right, really it is." Doris spoke
crisply. "We'll just have to look a bit
more, won't we Ca . . ."
The girl stood, poised in the place her
mother had just left. She examined her
self in the mirror wistfully, dreamily.
Doris saw her pat the dress lovingly.
A million years ago, she thought yearn
ing, when I was 16, what wouldn't I have
given for an arrogant, peacocky dress just
like that one. But, she reminded herself
mockingly, you're not 16 any more, but
your daughter Cathy is!
She looked slowly down at the drift of
electric blue at the girl's feet. How right
it was on Cathy! How wrong it was on
her! Vain frivolous woman that she was!
Blindly holding on to the frayed cord of
youth that no longer belongs to you.
Doris made herself step across to Cathy.
She smiled at the girl proudly.
Gently, she said, "Honey, that dress was
made for you but not for me. For me,"
she pivoted swiftly to Miss Anderson,
blinking back the foolish flicker of tears,
"for me well, let's start with those two
black cocktail things you showed me first
You know, Miss Anderson, those smart
. . . matronly . . . things."
roots and all !
mk weeds
In mln fS""
in
OXALIS- PLANTAIN
Hose attachment . tenac,0U8i..Splked , persistent side
makes weeding easy taproot roots
faiiAAriA . n mn i iniflrii Li.inii'Miir tun-'finf 'Tin fi"- fern IMifail irtri!Mifri"iirtiniitii
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long branching
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It's easy with
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Weeds killed with. WEED-B-GON
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the roots up. Tough weeds may
take two applications' but you
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lawn weed control costs less
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WEED-B-GON roots out poison oak and
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V b 3 '
L .A
California Spray-Chtmical Corp,
Richmond, Calif., Washington, O.C.
Family Weekly, April 20, 1958
13
i m. mo. u.t. pat. orr.i son