Ladies Choice
PART 1
“Hey, look at that,”
17-year-old Dan pointed toward the big sign posted in front of Concord’s Town
Hall.
It was mid-afternoon on a
beautiful spring Sunday, when Dan and his best friend, Nathaniel Blake, walked
into Concord to pick up something from the blacksmith shop.
Nat read the sign, “Town
dance Saturday night. Ladies
choice.” He looked up at Dan, “Ladies
choice?” his eyebrows rose. “Meaning
the ladies hafta do the askin’?”
“Look’s like it,” Dan
smiled.
“Never heard of that
before.”
“Hey,” Dan gave Nat a
friendly punch in the shoulder with his fist.
“You think we’ll get asked?”
A slow smiled spread across
Nat’s face as he looked at his friend.
“Maybe. I think we’d better do
some hinting at supper, though, to make sure the girls know about this.”
Dan nodded in agreement, and
they headed toward the blacksmith’s shop.
At the supper table that
evening, Nat kicked Dan in the leg to get his attention. Dan looked at Nat in confusion than
remembered what they had planned to mention.
“Guess what we saw today?”
Dan said cheerfully.
“A lot of things,” Emil said
sarcastically, as he shoved supper into his mouth.
“In town. Guess what me and Nat saw in town today.”
“Nat and I,” Jo Riley, their
schoolteacher, corrected.
“Guess what Nat and I saw in
town today,” Dan rolled his eyes.
“Oh, I don’t know, Dan. Stores, maybe,” Bess teased.
“I get no respect around
here,” Dan said.
“What did you and Nat see in
town, Dan?” Jo asked.
“There was a sign up in
front of the Town Hall.”
“What did it say?” Nick
Riley, Jo’s husband asked.
“It said that there’s a town
dance on Saturday night,” Nat continued.
“Really?” Jo said. “That sounds like fun.” She clasped her hands together in
excitement.
“Hey, Tommy. You can ask that Swanson girl that you’ve
got a crush on to the dance,” Emil picked on the younger boy.
“I do not,” Tommy disagreed,
embarrassed. “Why don’t you ask Miss
“Stuck-up” Simon that you seem to be awfully friendly with?”
“Boys, quiet,” Jo
scolded. “You keep this up and you
won’t even be going. The boys
groaned. They all loved going to the
town dances.
“Wouldn’t matter anyway,”
Dan said. “Because it’s ladies choice,
and no girl’s gonna ask you guys,” he grinned at them.
Nat and Dan looked around at
the surprised faces. They both looked
at the two faces right across from them.
The faces of Bess Laurence and Anthea Harding. They looked even more surprised than the rest. Dan and Nat both tried to stifle their
laughs.
“Well,” Jo finally broke the
silence from around the table. “That’s
a switch.”
