#dimigold

Dimity’s eyes popped open. It took her a minute to place the person who was speaking. “Miss Mould? Is that you?” Gone were the colorful robes and hair that just begged to have fingers tangled in it…. Wait! What? Dimity shook her head, rattling away the image in her mind, focusing on the witch, er… woman in the modest black swimsuit before her. “What a… Well met, sister.” Dimity pressed her hand to her forehead.

“Well met, Miss Drill.” Marigold looked at the water. “I don’t mean to disturb you… I’ll just go to one of the other baths…”

“No!” Dimity sat up straighter. “No need for that…” she gestured at the empty pool. “I hardly think I need the whole thing for meself.” She patted the surface of the water. “Join me?”

Smiling shyly, Marigold stepped into the pool, settling onto the ledge opposite Dimity. “Sooo… how has the rest of the term gone?” She dropped her eyes to the water. “If it’s all right for me to ask. I know… well…” She shrugged. “I know.”

Dimity thought about glossing over it, changing the mood with a wisecrack or two, but she decided against it. “It’s been… trying, that’s true. The girls… the girls have bounced back like you wouldn’t believe. Miss Cackle and HB? It’s been a bit harder. But…everyone is healing.” She looked up as a group of older women made their way into the bath, laughing at the cold, clearly enjoying themselves.

“Hello, loves!” One of them called, “hope you don’t mind a bit of company. They clambered noisily into the water, shattering the quiet of the bath.

Dimity waited until the group had settled, filling the spaces between her and Marigold. She watched as Marigold greeted the women in the Ordinary way, only a little bit clumsily. “Sod it,” she said to herself and pushed off her bench and floated over to sit next to Marigold.

“Hello, there,” Dimity said, once she’d settled next to Marigold. “Didn’t feel like shouting across the pool. This all right with you?”

Marigold looked down, fanning her hand across the surface of the water. “It’s fine. More than fine.” They leaned back, slipping into an awkward silence, letting the other women’s laughter fill the room. “I remember you told me about coming here after Solstice.”

“The night of my birthday party,” Dimity nodded. “We had a good time that night, eh?”

“We did, I did anyway…” Marigold’s face took on a pained expression. “I wish I’d come to my senses sooner. I really do regret that…” She glanced at the women. “You know. I wish I’d figured out what was important sooner.”

“So do I, love.” Dimity crossed her arms over her chest. “My friends were hurt that day, our students were, too.”

“I know.”

They sat in silence for a while until Dimity spoke again. “What have you been getting yourself up to, then?”

“I’m looking for full time work, mainly. I’ve got some part time work, teaching art at a youth center.” She wiped a sheen of steam from her face. “I’ve got a tiny bit of a flat. It’s all right – better than I had any hope of it being.”

“That’s the bats, Marigold.” Dimity bumped Marigold’s shoulder. “Julie Hubble passed along your message.”

“Oh! Good. She, uh… she passed yours along too.” Marigold dropped her eyes to the water, cheeks coloring slightly. “I wish things were different.”

“Me too,” Dimity said, before falling silent again. She swung her legs under the water, enjoying the slight resistance against her muscles. “It’s different now, though.”

Marigold’s head shot up. “Right. I’m…” she lowered her voice. “I’m Ordinary now. You aren’t. That definitely makes things different.”

Dimity thought about what Marigold was saying. She splayed her fingers on the bench between them, her little finger barely touching Marigold’s thumb. “You may be many things, Marigold Mould, but Ordinary isn’t one of them.”

Marigold looked down through the rippling water before she shifted her thumb, just enough to bring it fully into contact with Dimity’s finger. “That’s kind of you, Miss Drill.”

“It’s the truth. Miss Mould.” Dimity leaned closer to Marigold, “I hope that we can—” A burst of raucous laughter erupted on the other side of the pool, causing Dimity to jerk backwards, slamming her shoulder blades into the rim of the pool. “Ow!” She stretched her shoulders. “I think this isn’t what I had in mind for my after-Solstice soak.”

Marigold’s face fell, and she pulled her hand back to rest on top of her thighs. “I understand.”

No, Dimity thought, I don’t think you do. “How would you like to go and get a coffee? My treat?”