Homing

by Grace Livingston Hill

  “Are you sure you could get them then?”

  “Oh, I think so,” said Jane. “I couldn’t bring a trunk with me when I came away. I didn’t know just where I was going, and the people said I might leave it in their attic.”

  “Didn’t it occur to you that something might happen to that house? A fire or something? Didn’t you know that papers like that were very important indeed? Such papers should have been put in a safe-deposit box in a bank for safekeeping.”

  Jane suddenly smiled. His frowning disapproval, and the utter impossibility of safe-deposit boxes in her life before now, made the whole thing seem a farce.

  “Why,” she laughed, “I didn’t have any safe-deposit boxes. I had only the trunk, and no place else to leave it. I couldn’t carry it with me, it was too heavy, and I had a long way to walk, at first anyway, and no money to pay for a deliveryman. But really, I didn’t know those papers were worth anything to anyone but myself. And they were only precious to me because they reminded me of my family who were all gone.”

  The tears all at once welled into her eyes, and she winked them away. Just one slipped down and splashed on her white young hand. And there was a mistiness in Mr. Sanderson’s eyes, too. An unaccustomed one. Kent flashed a look at him, and then his eyes went back to the girl, the young woman who was facing an unknown dread all alone, and with all his heart he knew he wanted to help her.

  “Well,” said Mr. Sanderson, clearing his throat, “well, doubtless you did the best you could. And don’t worry. Of course there will be some way, either to get the proofs or to get along without them. Though I understand that there is a relative by marriage who is endeavoring to find out all about this and try to prove himself an heir. However, we shall find a way, I’m sure. Suppose you tell me exactly what papers you have that show who your father and mother were, and when and where you were born. Can you remember exactly what you have?”

  “Oh, yes,” said Jane in a clear voice. “There is an old Bible. I think it belonged to Grandmother and Grandfather Scarlett. It has the dates of all births and marriages and deaths. And there is my mother’s marriage certificate, and the certificate when I was baptized, and a little certificate of membership in a Sunday school class when I was very young. And then I have an old photograph album with the pictures of my father and mother and my grandparents on both sides, and a number of other relatives. Their names are there, written by my father. I think there is a picture of the old home in that album, too. A snapshot somebody took.”

  “Well, that ought to be pretty good proof, if you could produce it,” said Mr. Sanderson brightening up a bit.

  “Proof of what, Mr. Sanderson?” Jane’s voice was very low, but there was a hint of the anxiety in it that she was feeling.

  “Why, proof that you are who you claim to be.”

  “But I haven’t claimed anything,” said Jane, bewildered. “I just answered the questions that were asked me, and I don’t understand yet why I should have been asked. I don’t see how I could really prove anything, because, you see, I have not had anything to do with any of the family at all since I was a very small child, except just after my mother died, when a great aunt seemed to feel a little responsibility for me for a while and put me in a school where I could work for my board and tuition. But then she got married again and didn’t want to bother about me anymore, so she got me a place to work where they kept summer boarders. You see, I couldn’t really testify anything that would be worth your bothering with me.”

  “See here, young woman,” said Mr. Sanderson getting on his professional roar, “is it possible you don’t understand that we are seeking the heir of Mr. Harold Scarlett, and that if you should turn out to be that heir you would benefit by it?”

  Jane sat staring at him in wonder.

  “Oh!” she said in wonder. “Why, I wouldn’t be an heir, of course, that is, not to any extent, I’m sure. Uncle Harold never saw me in his life, and I doubt if he remembered I was alive. I’m sure he wouldn’t leave anything to me. I didn’t even know where he was, and he wouldn’t know where I was unless Great-Aunt Sybil Anthony told him, and if there was any question of my being an heir she wouldn’t have let him know. She would have thought her daughters would come first.”

  “No!” said Mr. Sanderson sharply. “They would not come first. She was only a half sister of Mr. Scarlett, the daughter of a second wife married late in life. If you were the daughter of Harold Scarlett’s older brother, as you state, you would be next in line. You see, it is the husband of one of these daughters of this great-aunt who is contesting the will, and it is important that your proofs be found as quickly as possible. These more distant relatives will not delay to file their claims, and the man who wants to buy this property must have an answer soon. Would it be at all possible for you to get in touch with this person who cares for your trunk by telephone?”

  “Oh! I don’t know,” said Jane with a startled look. “I have not heard from her for almost a year. I don’t even know whether they are living in the same place now.”

  “Well, if they aren’t, what will have become of your trunk?”

  “Well, I don’t know that, either. I never realized it was important to anybody but myself, and I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it.”

  Mr. Sanderson uttered a sound almost like a growl.

  “Well, look here, young lady, we’ve got to get to work on this thing right away. What was the name of this person who has your trunk? And did she have a telephone when you lived with her?”

  “Her name was Janet Forbes. Yes, they had a telephone when I was there. But they went to Florida for the winter. I suppose they were coming back if everything went well with them. The trunk was left in their attic. The telephone would be in her husband’s name, Aleck Forbes. Blairstown—”

  Mr. Sanderson glared over at Kent Havenner.

  “See if you can get that phone, long distance, Havenner!” he commanded.

  Kent Havenner sat down at a desk and picked up the telephone. His quiet businesslike voice calmed Jane’s frightened heart. She hadn’t yet taken in the likelihood of any advantage coming to herself through all this trouble. It all seemed just another bothersome thing she had to do and get through with to satisfy somebody who wasn’t anything to her.

  But as Kent Havenner talked with the operator, and was at last given someone in Blairstown, Jane’s eyes grew wide. This thing they had fantastically called forth out of the air was actually materializing into something genuine.

  “Is this Mrs. Janet Forbes?” he asked quietly. “Yes, please, I would like to speak with Mrs. Forbes herself. You say Mrs. Forbes is serving dinner? Well, this is a very important matter. I must speak with Mrs. Forbes for just a moment. I won’t keep her long. Yes, please call her to the phone at once.”

  There was a brief wait, and then a sharp voice answered.

  “Mrs. Forbes,” said Kent, “Miss Jane Scarlett is calling about a trunk that she left with you. Just a moment.”

  Jane went forward excitedly as he held the phone out to her.

  “Yes, Mrs. Forbes. This is Jane. Jane Scarlett. Yes, I’m well, thank you, and I have a good job in a store. No, I haven’t written you before because I wanted to get ahead enough to send you the money for the trunk. But now I want it in a hurry, and if I send you money by telegraph would you see that it starts in the morning? Yes, Mrs. Forbes, I want it very much. No, I’m not getting married. I haven’t time for such things. But there are some things of my mother’s in that trunk that I want to use. Yes, surely, I’ll write to you right away, but I’d like the trunk to start in the morning if you can possibly get it off, and by express so it will come quickly. It’s really very important.”

  When Jane finally turned from the telephone she felt as if she had suddenly entered her former life again. How strange things were!

  “She is going to send it in the morning!” she announced to the two who had heard all the transaction. And then a radiant expression came into her face. “I am gla
d!” she said musingly. “There are things in that trunk that I really needed.”

  Grim Mr. Sanderson grinned wryly at Kent.

  “Yes,” he said, “if all you say is true, I think that you will find that there are things there that you need very much indeed. And now, young woman, when can I see you again? You know we haven’t any time to waste. You don’t seem to take it in that you are a very important factor in a matter of really important business.”

  “It doesn’t seem at all real to me,” said Jane with a wide smile.

  “Well, it had better seem so,” said the lawyer.

  “But,” said Jane with a sudden startled look in her eyes, “how much is it going to cost to get this trunk here, and how do I go about it to send that money? Mrs. Forbes said she couldn’t afford to send it herself. Her husband has died, and she’s had a hard summer. But how much will it cost? I might not have enough.”

  “Don’t worry about that, young lady. We’ll attend to that from the office. Havenner, get on the wire and fix that up right away. You got the address and the phone number, didn’t you? All right, get that over with, and arrange about the arrival of the trunk, where it’s to be sent.”

  “You want it at your room, where you went last evening?” asked Kent courteously.

  Jane nodded, half frightened at the thought of taking her precious belongings out of the past into her forlorn little room. But of course it would have to go there. She had nowhere else to take it.

  Kent Havenner went to the telephone in an adjoining room, and while he talked, Mr. Sanderson asked Jane more questions about her father and mother, her visit to the old home, and where she had lived since. Incidentally he brought out the fact that since her parents’ death she had been for a time in a New England school, the very school where the lawyers had been searching for a trace of her.

  Then Kent came back to report.

  “It’s all fixed,” he said. “I wired the money, and then I called up Miss Scarlett’s present apartment and arranged with the landlady to have the trunk put at once in her room when it arrives. Is that all right, Miss Scarlett?”

  “Oh yes,” said Jane looking at him with startled eyes. She hadn’t yet got so far as to plan about the trunk in relation to her present lodgings. But this young man seemed to think of everything and know just what to do about it at once. She was deeply grateful.

  “Thank you,” she said with a shy smile. “And now, is there anything else? When do I come again?”

  “Just as soon as you get entrance to that trunk and can bring me your evidence. Have you the key?” Sanderson’s voice was sharp as he asked the question, as if it were a matter that had almost escaped him.

  “Oh, yes,” said Jane. “I carry it in a little bag around my neck. I was so afraid I might lose it.”

  Her hand went instinctively to her breast, and then suddenly she exclaimed: “Oh, I forgot! I have one bit of evidence with me! I just remembered. My mother’s wedding ring! It has initials and a date! Would that help any?”

  “It certainly would!” said Mr. Sanderson excitedly.

  They gathered around as she drew a fine gold chain from around her neck and brought out a tiny bag of fine white leather that might have been cut from a glove.

  Jane bent toward the light and unfastened two little snap catches that held its top firmly together, and took out a plain old-fashioned gold ring.

  There it was, the initials, “J. R. S to M. W.” and the date.

  Mr. Sanderson examined the letters carefully under a tiny glass, and at last straightened up.

  “Well, I should say you had pretty conclusive evidence there,” he said as he handed the ring back to Jane. “So run along, and don’t fail to let me know by telephone just as soon as your trunk arrives.”

  “Oh, I will,” said Jane earnestly. And still she was not quite sure what it was going to mean to herself, even when the papers should arrive. It all seemed too fantastic to be true.

  “And now,” said Kent Havenner, smiling and looking toward his chief, “I guess that’s about all for tonight, isn’t it? So, Miss Scarlett, you and I will slip out and get a bite of dinner. Good night, Mr. Sanderson!”

  When they were down on the street again Kent hailed another taxi.

  “Oh, but you mustn’t!” protested Jane. “I can perfectly well find my way back to my—” she hesitated for a word—“home!” she finished with a laugh. “It isn’t much of a home, I know, but it’s all I have, so I have to call it that.”

  “Yes, well—but we’re going to have dinner together first,” said the young man, putting her into the taxi, and stepping in after her. “You won’t mind going with me for once, will you? I’m tremendously hungry and I know you must be, too, and besides isn’t the last daily class tonight, and don’t we go to it?”

  Her heart gave a sudden little leap of pleasure! The class! She had forgotten it entirely in her absorption in this strange new matter that had been thrust upon her. The class! Yes, of course! And he was really going again himself!

  “Oh! Yes!” she said. “Of course I’m going to the class. And I’m glad you’re going, too. But you didn’t need to bother about taking me, or getting me dinner. I’m not lost anymore, and I’ll be sure to let the office know when the trunk comes. I’m all excited about it myself.”

  “I’m not worrying about that,” said Kent, “but don’t you realize that I’m sort of your lawyer, and I have a right to take you to dinner once in a while? I know a nice pleasant place where my sister likes to go. I’ll take you there. And it isn’t far to the class after that. We’ll have a little over an hour to eat. I guess that will do. Here we are!” And the taxi slowed down and stopped before a dignified, quiet-looking building, and he helped her out.

  “But, this is a grand place,” said Jane taking in the usual signs of affluence about the building.

  “Not so grand as some,” said Kent in his easy way.

  “But I’m only a working girl, and I’m not dressed up. People don’t go into these places wearing their working clothes.”

  “Oh, yes, they do. I go, and I’m wearing my working clothes. Come on. You’ll find it very low-key.”

  And so he led her to a table, and Jane in a panic of embarrassment entered, looking about, half frightened to death over the quiet unostentatious grandeur.

  “This is just a good home place,” said Kent as he sat down opposite her and smiled.

  “A very magnificent home,” murmured Jane in a low voice, and cast shy glances all about her.

  “Now,” said Kent, “may I order for you? I’m pretty well acquainted with some of the nice dishes they serve here.”

  “Oh, please,” said Jane with relief. “But just something very simple for me. I’m not used to fancy meals.”

  And so Jane was launched on a new experience, going out to dinner with a young gentleman, a real gentleman such as her father had been.

  Chapter 14

  It all went off so very smoothly and pleasantly Jane wasn’t embarrassed at all after the first minute or two. Afterward she thought it over and wondered at herself. How at home she had felt there in that new environment! But after all, she reflected, her father had been a gentleman and her mother a lady, even if she herself did sell buttons and live in a little hall bedroom at the top of the house.

  Kent quietly took charge of things, talking with the waiter as if he were an old family servant, ordering nice usual things, thoughtfully giving her a choice between this and that.

  And they did not have to wait long. The delicious dinner was set before them in almost no time at all it seemed, and they were talking.

  “You weren’t really frightened, were you?” Kent asked when they settled down to eating.

  Jane smiled ruefully.

  “I’m afraid I was, quite a little,” she admitted ashamedly. “You see I didn’t really know what it was all about, and I’m not sure that I do yet.”

  “Well, I’m sure I hope you will be quite happy in the outcome, even though it does
seem like a fairy tale to you now. It’s nice to get real surprises sometimes, and life isn’t always all disappointments, you know. Now, tell me about this class. Did I understand aright that it is only to be held once a week after this?”

  “Yes, it’s only in the summer they hold it every evening. I think they said it is to take a whole hour after this instead of half an hour. But they are going to have a new teacher, you know. Mrs. Brooke is going out West, I think.”

  “That’s too bad!” said Kent. “I had it in mind to attend that class right along, but I don’t know that I should care for a new teacher. I thought she was most unusual. Everything she said seemed to have a greater significance than any preacher I ever heard. Who is the new teacher? But then I wouldn’t be likely to know one from another. Such teachers are not in my line. I don’t remember ever to have had even a Sunday school teacher who interested me.”

  “I never heard anybody teach as Mrs. Brooke does. But she had told us several times that we will like the new teacher better. She says he is wonderful.”

  “A man?”

  Yes. I was sorry for that. It didn’t seem to me as if a man teacher would understand us quite so well. Mrs. Brooke talked like a mother, right into your heart.”

  “Yes, she did,” agreed Kent, watching the lovely light of interest in the girl’s face, and being glad he had brought her to dinner. “Well, if she likes him perhaps he’ll pass. We can give him a try anyway. I somehow don’t feel like dropping it entirely. So this is Mrs. Brooke’s last night! Well, I’m really sorry. Although I haven’t heard her but a couple of times, she really opened up new vistas and possibilities in life to me. I almost feel as if I’d like to tell her ‘thank you.’ ”

  “Oh, and so would I, if I dared. It does seem strange how I happened on that class from a radio notice. I think really God must have seen my need and sent it.”

  Kent grinned.

  “Perhaps you weren’t the only one,” he said. “After all, there’s the Bible and anybody could have had it and read it without a class of course, only we wouldn’t and didn’t until she brought it to our notice. But really it was you that brought her to my notice. I’m quite sure I would never have gone into a Bible class of my own accord for anything in the world. So I’ve you to thank for my interest in this.” Then he got out his little red gospel of John and called her attention to a verse that had been given in the last lesson, and asked if she had the reference in connection with it. Then she pulled out her little book, and they studied it all over, like two university students going over their studies together.