Free The Dance by Barbara Steiner Page A

“Nice background music.”
    â€œJazz with a slow sax. There’s a tidy fortune’s worth of stereo stuff over there by that lamp with the black shade.” Hank laughed softly. “Enjoy it, Mel, but don’t get too spoiled.”
    Jean Whitney joined them. Nicol and Anne sat nearby, sipping cups of coffee. “I was hoping you’d both make it, what with the weather and all,” Jean said.
    Melanie still felt a bit cool toward her, though she wasn’t sure her feelings were justified. She tried to be friendly. “What’s your stone?” she asked.
    Hank coughed and sputtered, then hid a smile behind her cup.
    â€œMy medallion?” Jean replied. Jean patted the necklace, which looked equally as old and expensive as the one Melanie wore. But Jean was wearing a second necklace, the two detracting from each other, Melanie thought. She knew Hank’s cough said she thought so, too. Show-off, Hank would have said. Neither piece of jewelry was complemented by the red jumpsuit Jean wore.
    Jean touched the stone in her medallion. “This is rose coral.” Then she lifted part of the other necklace. “And this is Egyptian gold and lapis.”
    Hank and Melanie exchanged glances.
    â€œIt’s a gift from Madame Leona,” Jean said.
    Hank set her cup on the table with a conspicuous clank. “Actually, Mel, it was originally a gift to Pauline McMasters. Right, Jean?”
    Now it was Melanie’s turn to choke. They were supposed to be subtle about this. Maybe Hank didn’t know the meaning of the word.
    Jean sent a dagger of hatred at Hank. “Well, yes, but that doesn’t matter.”
    Melanie thought it strange that Madame Leona would take back gifts from a girl who had died and give them to another dancer. She knew, though, that Pauline had once had the medallion holding the alexandrite. That was different, since it was attached to the troupe mystique, but the lapis … of course, if it was terribly expensive, Madame Leona might have apologized and simply asked Pauline’s parents to return it. Maybe that was something to check out. She also wondered why Pauline had never showed her the second necklace.
    â€œWould you like to see the rest of the apartment, Melanie?” Nicol interrupted them.
    â€œGo ahead, Melanie.” Hank raised her eyebrows and stood up. Maybe she planned to look in another direction while Mel checked out the rest of the condo.
    â€œYou can come with us, Hannah,” Nicol added. Melanie gave Hank a look that said, “No, you go the opposite direction. We can cover more territory.”
    â€œI need to find the ladies. I’ll join you later.”
    Nicol led Melanie up two stairs then up two more to the third level of the condo. Melanie tried not to gawk like a child in a museum for the first time.
    â€œOh, these are incredible!” She forgot to stay unimpressed when she was confronted by three huge tapestries in the third-level room. They were hung with track lights above them. “They look—they look, medieval.” Melanie gingerly reached out and lightly stroked the material. Each tapestry depicted a garden with fountains, trees, and graceful lords and ladies enjoying each other’s company.
    â€œLook in here.” Nicol motioned Melanie through a door that she pulled open slightly. “It’s Madame Leona’s loom.”
    Melanie noticed a touch of pride in the way Nicol said “loom.” For a moment she was speechless. She took a few steps back and looked again at the tapestries. “Do you mean that Madame Leona did these? These are her work?”
    Nicol nodded and smiled. Melanie warmed immediately without meaning to. She needed to stay neutral to everything. But why had she been thinking of Nicol as hard, brittle, and insensitive? Hank had given her a wrong impression.
    â€œWhy is her loom and her work here and not in her own apartment?” Melanie asked. “If