At Dolly’s second Ladies Aid meeting, the ladies gathered around the Wild Goose Chase quilt in Mrs. Fryt’s parlor in the same seats as the week before: Corinne Olson and Dolly faced the window, while Jeannette Wasserman, Thelma Holt, and Mrs. Fryt faced the door. Dolly was quite proud of her first row of stitching, given that this was only her second time quilting, but when Corinne glanced over, pushing back the wisp of silver-blond hair that had again escaped from its twist, she said, “Don’t worry, Dolly. It just takes practice.”

Thelma, looking elegant in a smooth green dress and the same pearl necklace and bracelet, peered across the quilt. “Dolly’s doing fine,” she said. Grateful for Thelma’s warm smile, and for the kindness, Dolly stifled the anger that had flared up in her.

She usually wasn’t so quick-tempered, but as if it weren’t frustrating enough to try to manipulate a minuscule needle through three layers of an uncooperative quilt—in truth, when Dolly glanced at Corinne’s stitches, she saw that her own were at least twice as large, and crooked besides—Dolly was also feeling particularly homesick today for her family and friends back in Battle Point.