Free Hannah's Dream by A.L. Jambor, Lenore Butler

Bank, they were all ready for something hot to drink and stopped at the pharmacy.  Marian invited Edward to join them, and he agreed.  He and Marian had a cup of coffee while Jimmy and Hannah drank hot cocoa.  The pharmacy was decorated for the holidays and Hannah loved the colors.  There was also a pine wreath at the door, and every time someone opened the front door, pine-scented air would waft by.
    "I love this time of year," Hannah said.
    "Me, too," Jimmy said.  "I love getting presents."
    Marian laughed.  "And what do you want this year, Jimmy?"
    "I need a pocket knife," he said.
    "And you, Hannah?"
    "You can't buy me what I want," Hannah said.
    Marian knew she was talking about John Liberty.
    "Perhaps his father will let him come home this time."
    "He can't leave New Brunswick or he'll lose his job," Hannah said.
    "Well, there must be something else you've been wanting."
    "I would like a new set of brushes," she said.
    "So, shall we shop together?" Marian asked.
    "I want to go alone," Jimmy said.
    "Me, too," Hannah replied.
    "Very well, we will meet back here in two hours and go to Nielsen's for lunch."
    Edward and Marian left in the carriage while Jimmy and Hannah went off on foot.  They parted ways in front of the Red Bank Temple of Fashion, where Hannah wanted to shop for Marian.
    "Two hours," she reminded Jimmy, and he waved as he walked away.  "He's going to forget."
    Hannah had five dollars with which to buy presents, and she wanted to get Marian a new fur collar.  The Temple of Fashion store's prices were a bit higher, but the quality was better than any other store in Red Bank.  Hannah was able to purchase a collarette for $2.00.  Then she walked to C.I. Stephenson's to purchase a special gift.
    The art store was her favorite place to go in Red Bank.  She would walk up and down the aisles where tubes of paint and racks of brushes seemed to glitter in the gaslight.  She would compare brands of clay and see if any new tools had been invented.
    Hannah wanted to buy something for her friend, Louise.  She had been helping Hannah with her painting after school and they had become good friends.  She went to the back of the store where the owner kept imported lithographs.  She looked through them and found one called Margot by an artist she'd never heard of named Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
    The painting was of a small beige dog on a blue rug with a black background.  Hannah was taken by the style of the painting.  It was like nothing she had ever seen before, and she knew Louise would like it, too.
    As a salesman rang up her purchase, she asked him for the time.
    "It's eleven-thirty, miss," he said.
    She had to meet Marian at the drug store at one, so she headed to Joseph Salz variety store to find gifts for Becky and Jimmy.
    Marian was riding to the art store when she saw Hannah leaving.  She called her name, but Hannah just kept walking.  The breeze off the Navesink River was brisk and Hannah had her scarf wrapped tightly around her head, so she never heard her mother calling her.
    "Thank you again, Edward," Marian said as he helped her down.
    "You don't need to say it every time, ma'am.  I know."
    "I shouldn't be long.  Please wait inside where it's warm."
    "I can help you with your bags that way," Edward said.
    The salesman showed Marian where to find paint brushes.  She picked out two sets -- one for Hannah and one for Jimmy.  Once they were back in the carriage, she asked Edward to take her to Joseph Saltz so she could find a pocket knife.
    Jimmy was having the time of his life.  He had three dollars in his pocket and had only spent two on gifts, so he headed to the drug store early and bought ten cents worth of penny candy and a dime novel called Rogue's Revenge .  He loved the lurid drawing on the cover of a masked man awaiting his victim near the entrance of a tavern.
    I want to draw like that, he thought.
    By the time the ladies and Edward arrived, Jimmy had a sick stomach and couldn't