And the T'wain shall Meet

Mimi took her by the shoulders and faced her, "That’s all the more reason you should dress up. Your husband is becoming more famous with each passing day. And why should you dress fashionably? Because your husband is flamboyant. He dresses to kill. He uses his body and his voice to mesmerize silly women with his blood and thunder sermons."

Hatty looked at Mimi in disbelief. She was taken back by Mimi’s harsh words. She had started to defend him then thought it better to let Mimi talk. Perhaps the girl knew a great deal and would be willing to talk about it.

"How am I supposed to dress?" Hatty puzzled.

"Leave it to me," Mimi smiled brightly, "When I get through with you, that handsome husband of yours will look at you through different eyes and start treating you like a real woman."

‘What was Mimi talking about? What did she know? Did her mother know? What about her brother?’

Her mind was whirling with these thoughts when Violet tugged at her sleeve.

"Auntie, Mimi is beautiful and she’s going to make you beautiful too. Won’t that be nice? Then Uncle Thorton won’t be so mean to you."

Hatty reeled, "Uncle Thorton isn’t mean to me."

"Oh yes he is," Violet cried, "My daddy and mommy hugged and kissed all the time. They went to bed together and laughed and played. You sleep alone at night?"

Hatty’s heart almost stopped beating. ‘What was this child saying? How did she know how Thorton was really treating he? This child remembered a happy time with her parents and was comparing her and Thorton’s life style with theirs.

Panic filled her. Then rage.

She turned to Mimi, "Go ahead, dress me."

Besides hats, Mimi carried a whole selection of high fashion dresses, shoes, and accessories, none of which were on display to the public. This shop catered to a very special clientele.

She selected a whole new wardrobe for Hatty, which transformed the drab, almost invisible girl, into a blooming flower.

On the way to the trolley stop, Hatty, excited and thrilled, her mind dancing with visions of men swooning at her feet, never noticed her brother Joshua entering the shop.

Chapter Five

Baptized Dominique Mc Clure, Mimi was raised on the bleak island of Aran, off the windswept Atlantic coast of Ireland.

The tenth child in a family of thirteen, Mimi’s life was as bleak as the hard scrabble land that was her home.

All the Mc Clure children, except Mimi, inherited the dark hair and coloring of the silkies, a folk lore myth that claimed seals turned into humans when they came ashore looking for their mates.

Blazing red hair and suede gray eyes, Mimi was a presence on that island that could not be ignored.

She was a cardinal in a family of blackbirds.

"Are you sure she is not a creature from the depths of hell?" Locals would ask her tired and overworked parents.