and Bon Appetit!
"This is the best salad. "
Mary dug into Emaline's contribution. "I'm so glad you decided to bring it
instead of dessert."
"Quite all right,"
Emaline muttered, and escaped to the lobby, where tables were set up for
diners.
People were already talking about
going back for dessert when she took the seat next to Roger. Without
enthusiasm, Emaline looked at the contents of her plate. She really didn't care
for plain oil and vinegar dressing, but she forked up a bit of her salad
anyway. A fat caper rolled off her fork and fell to the floor. She looked, but
couldn't see where it had gone.
At least it wasn't as likely to
stain the carpet in here, like the spilled spaghetti sauce had last year.
Conversation swirled around her,
but she found nothing to add. Roger was, for a change, equally silent as he
chased the last bites around his plate. She sampled the mysterious casserole
she'd taken a small spoonful of and discovered it to be a risotto made with
blue cheese. But what was the green and brown topping? Tasty, whatever it was.
Her second bite of salad had a
strange flavor, like nothing she'd put into it. She picked up her napkin and
spat the half-chewed mouthful into it. Turning slightly, so no one would see,
she opened the napkin and looked at its contents. Most of the lettuce had been
masticated into an unsightly mass, but there were some shreds of dark green she
didn't recognize. She sniffed, but smelled nothing beyond greens, so she closed
the napkin around the mass and set it aside. There was so much on her plate,
she didn't really need the salad.
Everyone was happily munching on
dessert when someone cried out, a high, ululating cry that faded off into a
moan in the suddenly silent room.
"Mary! Mary! "
The shriek echoed and re-echoed.