Free 1929 by M.L. Gardner

you,” Arianna ordered. “It’s very late.” Ava nodded again
and tried unsuccessfully to stand up. Arianna and Maura helped her
upstairs and into bed, leaving her fully dressed. She passed out
before they even left the room. Claire was lying on her back,
singing and waving her arms as if she was conducting a symphony.
Arianna smiled. Despite her less admirable qualities, she did care
for her friends. She felt happy that they would sleep soundly, the
sadness of their misfortune far from their minds, even if only for
tonight.
     
    ∞∞∞
     
    “Arianna, what have you done?” Caleb asked,
with a look and tone that was all too familiar as he surveyed the
room; toppled over glasses, empty decanters, cigarette butts strewn
about, and a very intoxicated Claire lay on the couch. Arianna
turned to see Jonathan, Aryl, and Caleb looking rather shocked in
the doorway of the parlor. Maura excused herself quickly and
hurried toward the door as if she were dodging invisible
bullets.
    “We had a going away party. It was fun. I
wish you could have been here,” she said and smiled
ever-so-innocently.
    “Where’s Ava?” Jonathan asked with a frown,
as he peeled of his coat, now smeared with dirt and bits of
plaster.
    “She’s upstairs,” Arianna answered.
    “C’mon, Claire, let’s get you home,” Aryl
said, pulling her to her feet and steadying her.
    Caleb pulled Arianna aside. “This is not
funny, Arianna. Jon and Aryl have been itching to get home for
hours and not to watch their wives sleep,” he said, raising his
eyebrows.
    “Caleb, don’t you dare scold me. You men have
been busy thinking, running, and doing, and we’ve all been stuck
here with nothing to do but wring our hands and be scared. We may
have gotten a little carried away tonight, but we had fun. This
night, by all rights, should have had us crying ourselves to sleep,
knowing we have to leave our beautiful houses tomorrow.” His face
softened, like it always did, and she snuggled up to him, wrapping
her arms around his neck. “Besides,” she whispered and smiled
seductively. “I’m still wide-awake.” Caleb looked over at Jonathan.
He would make apologies for his wife another time.
    “See you tomorrow, Jon,” he called.
     
    ∞∞∞
     
    “Sounds like you girls had a hoot tonight,
eh, Claire?” Aryl made his way down the street with Claire pulled
to his side.
    “Maura is so funny!” She giggled. “She told
dirty jokes all night. And Ava told us all about her life growing
up and losing her parents to the big flu and how her mean ole
cousins arranged for her to meet that awful man,” she paused to
take a deep breath. “Arianna told us about Paris, the dancing
shows, and the operas and all the fun you guys had there and the
beautiful women that run around scantily dressed.”
    Aryl stiffened. “Oh, yeah? What, uh, else did
she tell you about that?”
    Claire shrugged sloppily and stumbled over a
root distorting the sidewalk. She couldn’t remember many details,
even with the cold wind’s sobering effect. The women had taken
turns bearing their souls to each other during that uninhibited
time between tipsy and thoroughly drunk.
    “Where’s Maura?” Claire asked, looking
around.
    “Charles took her and Sven home. They’ll be
back tomorrow to drive us over to the new place.”
    “Arianna told us that you guys were cleaning
and fixing tonight.” Claire smiled up at him.
    “We were,” he said, helping her navigate her
way up the steps to their front door.
    “That was really sweet of you, Aryl. But we
could have done that tomorrow. You have to leave something for us
women to do.”
    “It wasn’t much. And there’s still plenty to
do. You remember what I told you before dinner about the
apartment?” he asked as they stepped into the foyer.
    “Uh huh,” she said, trying to hang up her
coat but missing the knobby end of the hook. He took the coat from
her, shaking his head with a smile.
    “Let’s get you to bed. I’ll talk to