"I FEEL SILLY coming without knitting stuff," Tish said, fidgeting with her skirt.
"You're fine," Rachel said again, amused at how nervous Tish was acting. They were meeting up with a knitting club, not a group of sharks.
The night period for the ring had just started, casting the fertile center of the ring into deep shadows. The Northstar Bed and Breakfast sat in the midst of its own wild gardens, in contrast to the more manicured paths of a park sitting to one side of the property and the vast formal gardens of a famous horticulture club on the other. The ground terraced away down to the bottom U-Valley of the ring, the height of the building allowing grand views of the other side of the Ring.
The blue and white two-story gabled building evoked an older time. It should feel out of place in the high-tech environment of Redpoint One, but in the green of the rings it stood tall and proud, a natural part of the landscape.
Once again, Rachel envied Velda being able to live right in the middle of the ring instead of deep inside the station. To wake up to this scenery every day would be divine. Others obviously felt the same thing, as Velda rarely had an empty room.
Rachel hiked up the strap of the bag slung over her shoulder. "I have you covered. Remember, fun."
Before Rachel could ring the bell, the front door flung open. Velda stood in the middle of the opening in all her glory. Bleach blond hair in a stylish bob ending just above the shoulders with the top fluffed high. A red dress with matching high heels and decked out in sparkly jewelry. Makeup done just so. She looked ready to go out to a dinner party.
"Rachel, it's about time. We were about to start without you." Velda stopped, squinting at Tish. "Who is this? Do we have someone new?"
Rachel pulled Tish forward. "Tish Douglas, this is Velda Morgan, the owner of the Northstar Bed and Breakfast. Velda, this is one of our new maintenance engineers."
"The Tish? Arthur's Tish?" Velda asked, her eyes starting to gleam.
"Arthur's Tish?" Eddie asked from somewhere in the room behind Velda.
Eddie and Daisy appeared in quick order, helping Velda to pull Tish inside. Rachel followed, amused at how the women took to settling the new person into a comfortable chair and getting her a hot cup of tea, introducing themselves and basically being the nice gentle pills that the ladies usually were.
"Now, first order of business," Eddie said, settling back into her own chair. "Do you knit?"
Tish shook her head. "Never even tried."
"Do you hear that, Daisy? We have someone to teach," Eddie said with a grin.
Daisy pointed a knitting needle at her. "How can I teach when the two of you haven't finished teaching me yet?"
Rachel settled the bag of knitting supplies next to a chair, accepting a cup of tea herself. On one edge of the couch Eddie wound up a mass of yarn.
A small dog with a pointy nose and a tuft of purple hair on the top of his head falling partially over his eyes emerged from a medium-sized duffle bag with one end open. Standing on thin legs with another tuft of hair at the end of a thin tail, the poor thing looked like an exotic rat who had stuck its head into paint. And maybe its nose into an electrical socket.
He sniffed at each of their legs before hopping up onto Tish's lap. Tish held up her tea out of the way of the curious dog's nose as he began his examination of the newcomer.
"Oh, don't mind Siggy," Eddie said. Siggy tried to reach to his head with a hind leg to scratch, missing completely. He tried again, nearly falling over in the attempt. "Give the poor dear a scratch, would you? He gets a bit neurotic when he can't reach an itch."
Daisy laughed. "Siggy gets neurotic at everything."
"A new member of the knitter's club," Velda started, sitting down in one of the high-backed wood chairs while Tish scratched Siggy's head. The dog leaned into the scratch, falling over in the process. "So nice to have you here. I heard you were from Earth? How did you come to be clear out here?"
Rachel cringed, knowing the story was still a sore spot for her friend, but Tish answered, "I went in for a big operation, and when I came out I decided to make a big change in life. I didn't have a job or anything else holding me back."
"Same with my Sam and I," Daisy said, nodding as she struggled with looping the yearn around the end of the knitting needle. "Wanted a bit of excitement, he saw a posting for a formal gardener, and we've been here ever since."
"Near death can change one's perspective," Eddie said with a nod.
Velda nodded in solemn agreement. "You came to the right place. Redpoint One is just the place to make you feel alive. The crossroads of several trading routes. We see it all. Are you in the theatre? Many traveling shows stop here on their tours."
Before she knew it, the ladies had Tish laughing and sharing as if she'd always been a part of the group. Daisy managed one more row on the scarf she'd been working on for weeks and leaned back in her chair. Siggy left Tish to explore the room before disappearing into his carry case, only to appear a moment later to wrestle and attack a purple duck squeaky toy. Rachel didn't bother getting out her own knitting, but instead relaxed on her part of the couch and enjoyed the conversation.
When Velda went to brew more tea and refill iced tea glasses, Tish leaned over to Rachel to ask, "When do we knit?"
"Daisy was knitting," Rachel said, nodding towards the woman.
Eddie wound up the last of the yarn into the new neat ball, holding it up triumphantly. "Tangles are gone!"
"Very nice," Daisy said. "What are you going to knit with it?"
"Not sure yet. I'll think about it. I'm all knitted out now." Eddie dropped it in her bag.
"Always an excuse," Daisy said with a laugh.
"How much actual knitting goes on in here?" Tish asked, narrowing amused eyes at Rachel. The squeaky toy bounced under the coffee table, and it squeaked again when Siggy pounced on it. Only, somehow, the squeaky toy came out on top of Siggy, making it appear as if the toy were winning the wrestling match.
"We get out the needles once in a while, right ladies?" Rachel asked the room.
Daisy reached over to the bag sitting on the floor next to her chair and pulled out a large wood knitting needle. "I have mine!"
"As do I," Eddie said, waving a thin metal knitting needle in the air.
"And a whole drawer full over there," Velda said, pointing to the drawer of an ornate table sitting next to the wall with a vase of flowers on top of it.
Daisy dropped her needles back into her bag, giving Tish an evil happy smile. "And we use them just enough to keep the husbands believing we are only knitting."
"If you have or want a husband," Velda said as she set down a full pot of hot water in the middle of the coffee table. "Either way, a bit of love and companionship never hurt anyone."
Rachel didn't say anything. She didn't care for the direction the conversation was going. She'd worked so hard to get a distraction in the room for the night, and she wasn't about to let it derail.
"Speaking of husbands, how is your man, Daisy?" Rachel asked.
"Oh, he's fine. Getting into trouble around the house, like usual. I'm about to suggest he start a planter garden on our terrace to keep him busy." Daisy laughed. "Even though it means dirt in the house."
"Which reminds me, Rachel, how are things in your department at work?" Eddie asked while she made herself another cup of tea.
"Overworked with not enough people. Like usual," Rachel said, liking the safe topics of conversation. "Did you go rummage saling this week, Daisy?"
"We thought so. Working yourself to the bone," Daisy said, giving her a slight frown.
Uhoh, Daisy completely ignored her question. Not good. Not good at all.
"We're all working hard. There aren't enough people in any of the departments," Tish said, helping herself to the hot water and another tea bag while Rachel tried to think of a way to get the conversation back on on track. Preferably away from the topic of her life.
"Sounds as if you need an influx of new workers," Velda said. She relaxed into her chair, resting her feet on a low padded footstool matching the chair. "Someone should do something about that."
"Oh no, you didn't," Rachel said with a groan. She couldn't help it. She'd seen this too many times. The ladies decided something needed doing or helping, and they just jumped right in. They were known for it all over the station.
"You know us too well," Daisy said, giggling like a little girl and not the grandmother she was.
Tish followed each part of the conversation, the expression of confusion on her face growing with each moment. "Know what?"
"Unless my guess is drastically wrong, my wonderful friends," and Rachel emphasized the word 'friends,' "have decided to help out at work."
"As maintenance engineers?" Tish looked from one to the other, probably trying to figure out how the older women could do the physically demanding work.
Velda shot up straight in her chair. "Oh my no. I have the bed and breakfast to keep me quite busy."
"I enjoy retirement too much," Eddie said.
"I work in the gardens with my hubby. I'm quite happy," Daisy added.
"Then there is Rachel. Poor overworked, without a free moment of time, in need of some personal excitement, Rachel," Velda said with a dramatic sigh, giving her such an expression of sorrow.
Rachel didn't buy it for a moment. She set her tea cup down and attempted to stare down Velda. Velda met her stare calmly, not looking away for a second.
"Okay, out with it. What did you do?" Rachel demanded.
"Helped you out, of course," Eddie said.
"Took a lot of work," Daisy said.
Rachel was ready to scream. Ask a direct question, and get verbal mud back? "Come on. What did you do?"
"Helped recruit new engineers, of course," Velda said with an elegant shrug of one shoulder. "I believe you are almost alone in your department? Well, we have two interviews for you come tomorrow evening after work."
Tish started laughing, only to laugh harder when Rachel turned a glare at her. She gasped out between laugh, "I'm sorry, but your face!"
"Eighteen hundred hours is the first interview," Velda said, reaching over to the table next to her chair to pick up a flex-paper. "The second an hour later, both here at the Northstar. Good young men with good backgrounds. A lot of potential, and thrilled at the chance at a job."
Siggy gave a high howl and a curious bark before disappearing back into his duffle bag with his squeaky toy. Rachel wanted to hide inside along with him.
"Arthur previews all hires," Rachel started. She knew the reason for the sudden interest in maintenance engineers, and it wasn't about hiring new maintenance engineers. Not a chance.
"I doubt he has time right now," Eddie said.
"If you think they have potential you can pass them on to Arthur," Velda said, sliding the flex-paper across the table towards Rachel. "In the meantime, we'll keep looking."
"It's only a pre-interview," Daisy said.
"Eighteen hundred hours next Monday night," Eddie said. "We'll be here to help you."
"You can use the craft room for the interviews," Velda said, pointing to one side of the house.
"I'm not doing this," Rachel said, refusing to pick up the flex-paper. Did they really think she'd fall for something this obvious?
"Why not?" Velda asked.
"Because I already have a date." Rachel clamped shut her mouth, not believing she'd said it out loud.
The room went quiet. Siggy poked his nose out of his carry case to stare at her out from under purple floppy bangs, cocking his head. Even Tish looked shocked.
Rachel cleared her throat, her mind racing on how she could fix what she'd said. She'd brought Tish along to deflect attention from herself, and ended up as the center of it anyway. "Uh, I mean an appointment. I'm having to work a lot of overtime lately, so I had to put one of them off."
"Oh no, you don't," Velda said, placing her cup on top of a brightly painted coaster on the small table next to her chair. She rose elegantly to her feet, standing firm and strong in heels so high a woman a third her age would have trouble balancing in, and put her hands on her hips. Siggy came out of his carry case, adopting the same stance but while standing on all four feet. "Out with it girl. You have a date? Who is this man? What does he do for a living? Where is he taking you?"