Chapter 21
Several of the crafters opted not to take Ruby’s rose bead class, citing allergies or sensitivities to the scent. After Cora and Jane returned from the jailhouse visit, they were surprised to find a group of women in the paper arts room. Annie was there with Vicki and Lisa. Others were in the craft room, waiting for class to start.
The scent of roses was almost too much. Cora’s nose tickled. She loved rose beads and wanted to learn how to make them. She sat down at the craft table.
“You know, I inherited some jewelry,” Vera said. “None of it was worth anything, but it sure is pretty. There were these beads . . . slate blue and just lovely, so delicate looking. My mom examined them and scratched at them, sniffed them. I thought she was nuts. Then she held them up to my nose. They are old rose beads!”
“They’ve been popular at different times throughout history,” Ruby said. “You don’t see them anymore except at craft shows.”
“I wonder why that is,” Vera said.
“I think it has to do with the time it takes to make them,” Ruby said. “And you need a lot of rose petals, say half a shopping bag, to make a small necklace. We’ll just be making a few beads today. I thought it would be fun to learn.”
Lena and Roni entered the room and sat down across from Vera, Jane, and Cora.
“We’ve provided you each with a couple of handfuls of rose petals. Just so you know, if you were making these from roses, the first step would be to pluck and then clean them,” Ruby said. “You’d place them in a colander one handful at a time and rinse them with cool running water, and set them in your pot.”
“It’s a time-consuming process,” Roni said.
“Indeed,” Ruby replied. “Now I have this hot plate here and a pot on top of it. You see, I have a couple of pots here and a food processor. Back when they began making these beads, they didn’t have the luxury of a food processor, which as you’ve noted, Roni, adds to the amount of time you’d need to make these. Speaking of which ... there will be plenty of breaks for this. Feel free to go off and get drinks or food or whatever.”
Cora couldn’t have eaten a thing. Her stomach churned with worry. The visit with Zee hadn’t calmed her nerves about the situation at all. In fact, she was even more confused. If Stan was attacked in the alley and made his way to the theater—at least three blocks away—that was a pretty amazing feat. Someone would have had to see him, all bloody, with a knife sticking out from his chest, and hobbling around, wouldn’t they?
“So, everybody put your rose petals in here,” Ruby said, holding a pot out and collecting rose petals. “I’ll pour just enough water in here to cover them.”
Cora snapped a photo of the pink petals floating in the water. The bright pink against the black pot, with reflections on the water that might make some great pictures for the blog.
“When the water boils, I’ll turn the heat down and simmer for about eight minutes,” Ruby said. “Simmering helps to weaken the cellulose in the petals. This process gives you a nice, smooth paste for forming into beads. Then we’ll need to cool them to room temperature. As I said, there will be plenty of breaks for this class.”
“Where can I get more Bloody Marys?” Judy, the silversmith, spoke up.
“Oh, that sounds great!” Vera said.
Others in the room murmured in agreement.
“I’ll make a pitcher,” Jane said, standing.
“Sounds great!” Cora replied, maybe sounding a little too enthusiastic, trying to keep the mood as light as possible, which completely belied what she was feeling. Dread. Someone murdered Stan. The police had the wrong person behind bars. A killer was loose in Indigo Gap.
Cora stood and went over to Ruby and her brewing pot of rose petals. She snapped a few pictures.
“How did your visit go?” Ruby said in a lowered voice.
“I’m worried.”
“That bad, huh?”
Cora nodded. “I need to talk with a few people.”
Ruby harrumphed, then turned to stir the petals. “You need to stay out of it. I’m sure Cashel has the situation under control.”
“Then why is Zee still being held?”
Ruby offered no answer.
Jane entered the room with not just one, but two pitchers of Bloody Marys. Lena trailed her with a tray of glasses.
The rose petals simmered and the room filled with the scent. Soft, golden-hued light streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“So now, the petals need to cool to room temperature,” Ruby said. “Then I’ll pour them into the food processor and blend on the highest setting. What we are looking for is a fine paste, which will make for some smooth and durable beads.”
Ruby turned her back to the others. “Maybe Zee knows more than she’s telling,” she muttered to Cora. “Something is not right.”
“You’re not suggesting she actually—”
Ruby held up her hand. “No. I’m just saying there’s probably more to all this than what we know.”
“What’s next?” Vera asked, coming over to them with her drink in her hand.
“We’ll pour the pulp into a pan. Now, you can’t use an aluminum pan. The rose petals are acidic and react oddly in aluminum. We don’t have the time to do this properly on this retreat. So what I’ve done is brought this along to show you what to do next.
“I’ve simmered this mixture for about thirty minutes, twice a day, for three days. In between simmering, I set the mixture aside to cool and dry out a little bit. Both the simmering process and the natural evaporation makes the pulp condense into a thick paste that’s ideal for working with beads. The ideal consistency is that of modeling clay, so if you find that the pulp is still too wet on day three, feel free to continue the simmering and drying process until it attains that magical claylike texture.”
Ruby scooped a spoon into the mix. “See?”
“No wonder you don’t find these beads anymore,” Roni said, slurring her words just a bit. Uh-oh. Just how much drinking had Roni done today? Was she getting tipsy? That’s all Cora needed—a group of moms gone wild. Still, the thought of it made her grin. “Who has time to do this?”
“Okay, so that’s the most time-consuming part,” Ruby said. “And the end result is so lovely. Now, what we’ll be doing next is working with this paste mixture. It’s time to make your beads. Roll the mix into little beads, like this.” She showed the class how she rolled the mix between her palms, fashioning a bead.
“Use those needles to poke holes in the center after they’ve sat awhile. I will tell you that they shrink a lot during the drying process, so make the balls bigger than what you want,” Ruby said.
“Bigger balls?” Roni said, amused.
The room exploded in laughter.