Chapter 41
Cora, Ruby, and Jane worked together in the craft room to set up for the felt bead class.
“Why do you look so sad?” Ruby asked Cora as she fluffed some wool.
“I do?” Cora said.
“Yes, I was going to ask you myself,” Jane said as she placed a tuft of sky-blue felt on the table.
“Well,” she said in a hushed tone. “I thought I was a better actress than that.”
“Puh-lease,” Jane said. “Your face always gives it away.”
“It’s the eyes,” Ruby said as Jane and she moved closer to Cora.
“Last night I did some digging around and found out that Roni’s daughter killed herself,” Cora said, voice cracking.
Jane gasped. Ruby placed her hands on her hips and shook her head, eyes downcast.
“How awful,” Jane said.
“Then the bastard had it coming,” Ruby muttered. “Who would hurt a child like that?”
“When she said he hurt her, I don’t think she meant that, Ruby,” Jane said. “Let’s not get carried away.”
Ruby walked off and placed the rest of the felt on the table. A grim stance settled over her.
Crafters trickled into the room, some clutching coffee mugs.
After everyone had settled in, Cora turned the music on a low volume.
“Remember the paper and fabric beading classes and how simple they were? Well, felt beads are just as easy and inexpensive to make. You only need a few grams of merino wool and some soapy water. Combined with glass, metal, or ceramic beads, they make beautiful jewelry, and decorations, zipper pulls, hairpins, charms for phones and purses.” Cora took a deep breath. “I could go on a bit here, but you get the point.”
“This is so soft!” Vera picked up a clump of fuchsia wool. “I had no idea.”
“We’ve placed bowls of warm soapy water in front of you,” Cora went on, hoping she didn’t appear as sad as Ruby and Jane said she did. “When you’re at home playing with this, you can try different shapes and sizes. The tufts we have here are all about five inches long and will give you a bead about the size of a small cherry.”
“May I add something here?” Lena asked.
“Please do!” Cora replied.
Cora noted that dark circles rimmed Lena’s eyes. Even with her makeup on, Lena looked haggard. “If you want to make lots of beads of the same size, weigh the wool so that you know exactly how many grams to use each time,” she said.
“Great idea,” Ruby said.
“Now just take your tufts and roll them up tight,” Cora said, showing the group exactly what she meant.
“Just like you do with Play Doh,” Lisa said.
Cora couldn’t help but laugh. “Exactly.”
“Then after you have your first ball, place it on the bottom of your other tuft and roll them together, starting at the bottom, until you have a rough ball shape. Like this,” Cora said, holding up her ball of purple wool. “Now, take your ball and dip it in your water for a few seconds. Next, when you take the ball out, give it more soap.” Cora held the ball between her fingers and squirted a tiny bit of soap into her palm. She rolled the ball between her palms. “Be gentle here. Use very little pressure when you roll it. If you try to force it at this stage, you will end up with a rough bead that resembles a ‘brain.’”
“We don’t want any brains!” Vera said with gusto.
“As the ball starts to shrink and harden, increase the pressure of rolling until you have a felt bead. The finished bead should be firm but with just a little give so that you can poke a hole through it,” Cora said.
“Like this?” Lisa held up a perfectly round felt ball.
“Great job,” Cora said. “Yes. Now, we’ll rinse the soap off and leave it to dry, then poke a hole through it with a darning needle. You may need pliers to pull the needle through if your bead is firm.”
“So, we need to let these dry awhile, but let’s make a few more so we can make a bracelet,” Jane said. “Or whatever you want.”
“I don’t care for fluffy beads,” Ruby said. “So when we made these last week, I shaved mine, and it worked out well.”
“Yeah, the beads are versatile,” Jane added. “We played with them last week. I made some long beads. You can do that by rolling your beads in one direction rather than round and round. See?” She held up several of her bright blue long beads.
“I also made a few cubes,” Cora said. “I just squeezed it between my fingers and shaped it. You can also fashion a disk by making a round bead and then hammering it. If you’d like to try to experiment with shapes and sizes, feel free, and have fun with it. Or only make enough balls for whatever you want to do with them.”
“You know, I’ve seen these with embroidery on them. Stunning,” Lena said, perking up a bit.
“I agree,” Cora said.
Cora sat back and watched the retreaters as they played with their wool. She tried to gauge their mood. Nobody had mentioned Roni. She hoped nobody would. It was almost like an unspoken message between them all. We are going to make the most of our time here and not dwell on the fact that a killer was here.
Cora’s burning desire to know what was going on prompted her to excuse herself and text Cashel, then Brodsky. After all, Roni was a guest at the retreat, and she had every right to know what was happening. Have they charged her? Was she going to spend the rest of her life in prison?
Cora shuddered to think of it. Roni in prison? She couldn’t visualize it.