The Song Weaver

by BJ Hoff

  “After Gracie goes to bed,” Maggie said, “perhaps you can have a second piece of pie. I saw the way you were eyeing it after supper.”

  “I was merely remembering how good the first piece was,” he said as he and Gracie settled into the rocking chair.

  “Just be grateful my mother made it,” said Maggie. “Pies are not my specialty.”

  “Indeed? Other than making me happy, what is your specialty?”

  She thought about it. “Warming baby bottles is the only thing that comes to mind at the moment.”

  “Well, that’s certainly important,” he said expansively.

  Gracie hadn’t been down for more than a few minutes when someone stamped his feet out front and pounded on the door.

  Figaro bounded down the steps and stood waiting, tail wagging.

  “Who in the world would be out in this weather?” Maggie said, coming into the hallway.

  Jonathan opened the door on Maggie’s brother, who stood pounding the snow off his high boots as he shook it off his cap.

  “Ray!” Maggie tugged him inside. “This is a nice surprise.” Just as quickly she sobered. “Is something wrong at home?”

  He shook his head, handed over the sack he carried, and then bent to pet Figaro, who was whining with anticipation, his tail whipping about in a circle.

  “Ma sent me round to see how you’re faring. She’s been fussing about the baby and all.”

  “Oh, of course she would be,” Maggie agreed, taking his coat. “Come on into the kitchen. You can have a piece of Mum’s mincemeat pie. I just cut Jonathan a slice. And Figaro—you go back upstairs and stay with Gracie.”

  The big hound gave his equivalent of a frown, but after one last pat from Ray turned and galloped back up the steps.

  “Well, I had some cake at home,” Ray said. “In fact, that’s what’s in the sack. Ma sent you and Jonathan a couple of pieces. And a loaf of nut bread.”

  “You can still have pie,” Maggie said, leading the way to the kitchen.

  “Yeah, I reckon.” He hesitated. “So is Gracie asleep or what?”

  Maggie realized he wanted to see his baby niece.

  “She is. But you can look in on her if you want.”

  “I don’t want to wake her up—”

  “You won’t. She’s a sound sleeper. Jonathan, why don’t you go up with him?”

  While they were upstairs, Maggie started a fresh pot of coffee and set out what was left of her mother’s mince pie, the apple cake slices, and the nut bread.

  Jonathan showed his appreciation when they returned by kissing her on the cheek. Ray eyed the table with a gleam in his eye.

  “She’s grown some already,” he said as he pulled out a chair and sat down. “She looks a lot like Evie, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Even more so when she’s awake,” Maggie agreed, bringing the coffeepot to the table and pouring a cup for each of them.

  “I wouldn’t want her to take after Barlow, that’s for sure,” Ray said. “What are you going to do if he tries to take Gracie back to Lexington?”

  Maggie’s hand trembled as she set the pot on the table. “We won’t let him, of course.”

  “How can you stop him? He’s her dad—” He stopped without finishing, shooting a look at Jonathan as if he feared he’d offended him. “I didn’t mean—”

  Jonathan turned his hand in a dismissing gesture. “I know what you meant, Ray. And you’re right. Barlow may very well try to gain custody of Gracie. It’s up to us to make sure he doesn’t get it. My father and one of the attorneys in his firm intend to prove he’s unfit to raise her. Don’t worry. They’ll know how to deal with Barlow.”

  Ray’s features cleared, and Maggie tried to put the thought of Richard Barlow out of her mind. No doubt Jonathan sensed the need to ease the tension because he quickly changed the subject.

  “This is nice, Maggie,” he said, motioning for her to sit down beside him. “Makes me forget what it’s like outside.”

  “I wish it’d let up,” Ray said. “I haven’t been able to get out to the farm for days now. ’Course, even if I could make it out there, there wouldn’t be much I could do. I hope Cousin Jeff won’t decide he doesn’t need me anymore.”

  Jonathan pushed the last piece of mince pie toward him. “I’ve already had a piece. You take this one, and I’ll tackle the cake. You like working for your cousin, don’t you?”

  Ray hesitated only a moment before digging into the pie. Maggie couldn’t help but marvel at how large her baby brother was these days. He was nearly as big as Da!

  “I like working at the farm,” Ray said. “Working for Cousin Jeff—” he shrugged. “Well, he’s a grouch.”

  “Ray.” Maggie’s objection was perfunctory. Their cousin was a grouch.

  Her brother shrugged again. “He’s talking about selling the farm, you know.”

  “No! Why?”

  “Says he’s tired of all the work. He’s talking about moving to Indiana, out close to where Nell Frances is.”

  “That’ll upset Da. They’re the only family we have around here.”

  Ray nodded. “It’ll upset me too. I’ll miss the farm.” He paused. “And the money. Reckon I’ll go into the mines once the farm is gone.”

  “You will not!” Maggie burst out.

  Her brother gave her a sour look. “That’s not for you to say, Mags. Besides, there won’t be much choice. Da’s going to have to quit before long, and there’s no work of any kind around here for me except mining.”

  Maggie shot a look at Jonathan.

  “I’d hate to see you leave school too soon, Ray,” he said. “Surely we can help you find something other than the mine, should the need arise.”

  “Don’t know what it’d be,” Ray said, returning to his pie.

  “Why did you say Da will have to quit soon?” asked Maggie.

  Her brother looked up. “You’ve seen how he is. I don’t think there’s ever a time his back’s not hurting him. He’s like an old man when he gets home from work.”

  “Oh, I wish he weren’t so stubborn about going to see Dr. Gordon. I know she could help him. She almost said as much to me once.”

  Her brother made a snorting sound. “Fat chance of Da going to a woman doctor.”

  Jonathan nodded. “I tried to talk to him about it once. He put me in my place in short order.”

  Maggie frowned. “You never told me about that. What did he say?”

  “It was a long time ago. Before we were married.” Jonathan gave a rueful smile. “He basically told me to mind my own business.”

  Maggie sighed.

  Finished with his pie, Ray scooted away from the table and stood. “I’d better get back. Ma will wait up till I get home.”

  “You’re welcome to stay over, Ray,” Jonathan offered, also getting up. “No sense in going back out in that weather.”

  “I don’t mind. Besides, like I said, the folks aren’t going to rest until I get home and give them a report.”

  “Mum’s probably afraid we’ll break the baby,” Maggie said dryly, getting to her feet. “I’m still surprised she let me out of the house with Gracie.”

  At the front door, as Ray shrugged into his coat and put on his cap, he turned to Jonathan. “I don’t quite know what to call you now, sir.”

  Maggie hadn’t thought about that. It would be awkward for Ray, his schoolteacher also being his brother-in-law.

  “Why not ‘Jonathan’ with the family and ‘Mr. Stuart’ at school? And for goodness’ sake, don’t call me ‘sir’ here at home.”

  Ray grinned. “That sounds okay to me.” They shook hands, and he went on his way.

  Back in the kitchen, as they put away the leftover food and tidied up, Maggie said, “Ray likes you, Jonathan. I mean, he’s always liked you, but he likes you as a brother-in-law too.”

  “He’s a good boy.”

  “He’s almost a man,” Maggie said. “It hardly seems possible. I still remember feeding him in his high chair.
Next thing you know I’ll be feeding Gracie in that same chair.”

  She went to him, took the dishcloth out of his hands, and put her arms around his neck. “It all goes so quickly, doesn’t it? It seems like yesterday that I was still in school and you were my teacher. And now we’re married. And Ray—just look at him. And before we know it, Gracie will be walking.”

  He laughed at her. “Not anytime in the next few days, I hope.” He kissed her on the forehead. “But you’re right. Life does go fast.” His gaze went over her face. “Which is why we need to make the most of every single moment.”

  He pulled her more snugly into his arms and kissed her again, this time not on the forehead. “That being the case,” he whispered against her temple, “I think we should go upstairs…while we’re still young.”

  Chapter Eight

  A Disappointment

  We look before and after,

  And pine for what is not;

  Our sincerest laughter

  With some pain is fraught;

  Our sweetest songs are those that tell

  Of saddest thought.

  Yet if we could scorn

  Hate and pride and fear;

  If we were things born

  Not to shed a tear,

  I know not how thy joy we ever

  Should come near.

  Percy Bysshe Shelley

  On the Friday before school was to resume, Pastor Wallace paid a visit to Jonathan and Maggie. Usually a visit from Jonathan’s closest friend was an event to be enjoyed. Today, however, Ben seemed uncommonly formal.

  Once they were settled in the living room, Ben held Gracie for a moment. “Isn’t she lovely?” he commented, admiring her one more time before returning her to Maggie.

  They proceeded to make small talk for a few minutes more. Then Jonathan, sensing his friend was unusually ill at ease, moved to diffuse the tension.

  “This is a treat, Ben. It’s officially your first visit since Maggie and I were married. Welcome to our home.”

  The pastor glanced away. “Actually, I’m not here in a…social capacity, but more as president of the school board.”

  “Oh yes. Well, we’ve already got the word that school will take up again on Monday. In fact, we plan to spend the weekend getting things caught up here at home so we’ll be ready first thing next week to start our delayed winter term.”

  “Yes, well, that’s why I’m here.” The pastor paused, casting a look from Jonathan to Maggie. “There’s something we need to talk about. And it’s rather awkward, I’m afraid.”

  Something stirred in Jonathan, something he’d almost forgotten. “What’s wrong, Ben?”

  The pastor let out a long breath. “Apparently, with all that’s happened over the past few weeks—your marriage, Eva Grace’s passing, Gracie’s birth, the bad weather—it seems we slipped up.”

  Jonathan moved away from Maggie’s chair to sit down at the other end of the sofa from Ben. “Slipped up?”

  Ben gripped his knees with his hands and nodded. “You do remember when we talked about the restriction against married women teaching?”

  Jonathan swallowed. Not a word had been said about this issue since a few weeks before the wedding. For a time he’d assumed that Ben had taken care of it. Then, later, what with the turmoil of events, he’d forgotten about it. Until now.

  He looked across the room. Maggie was sitting stiffly with Grace propped against her shoulder.

  He realized now what was coming and knew it was his fault. He’d led Maggie to believe there would be no problem in her resuming her position at the school. He and Ben had foolishly taken it for granted that there wouldn’t be a problem. He’d owed it to Maggie to make certain, but he hadn’t followed through.

  “Surely the board doesn’t mean to hold us to that ridiculous prohibition,” he said.

  Ben nodded. “I’m afraid they do. They insist that with Maggie being married now, she can no longer teach at the school.”

  “Ben, that’s absolutely absurd!” Jonathan shot to his feet. “There has to be a way around this. You’re the president of the board. Surely you can do something?”

  “I’m afraid I’ve done all I can. And it really isn’t the board’s fault. They’re just following the state laws.” He got to his feet. “Jonathan…Maggie…I sincerely apologize for this. I let it go far too long because I thought we could work something out. And now I’ve created a problem for both of you.”

  Jonathan raked a hand through his hair. He didn’t know who to be upset with, himself or the legal system. And yet even though he didn’t necessarily agree with this particular restriction, at least not in all cases, he understood the rationale behind it.

  “This isn’t your fault, Ben. I don’t know why I was so obtuse as to assume this wouldn’t apply to us.”

  Maggie looked to be locked in place. She had stopped rocking the baby and sat staring at him and Ben.

  “Don’t worry, Maggie,” he told her. “We’ll take care of this somehow.”

  “Jonathan.”

  She spoke his name quietly but firmly. “I think Pastor Ben is right. I don’t believe there’s anything we can do. And we should have realized that from the beginning. Like you, given everything else that was going on, I hadn’t even thought about it until now. There’s been so much to do, so much else to think about.”

  She stopped and glanced down at Gracie, who had fallen asleep. “But it’s all right,” she said, raising her head. “Really, it is. Perhaps it’s even for the best. I can be with Gracie all the time, and Mum won’t have to help.”

  Jonathan knew her well enough to know this brave face was for Ben’s benefit. Without answering her, he turned back to his friend. “Ben, I need Maggie at the school. You know what a good teacher she is. The children have come to depend on her. We had this all worked out with her mother. Kate agreed to take care of Gracie while Maggie and I are at the school, and we were going to work out a schedule that would allow Maggie to teach fewer hours so she wouldn’t be away from the baby too long at a time.”

  He paused. “Ben, those children need Maggie, that’s the thing. And I need her. I’m long past the point of being able to run the school alone. There are too many students for that.”

  “Jonathan, we don’t expect you to run the school alone. We’ll begin a search for a new teacher immediately, as soon as the weather breaks.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Jonathan saw Maggie flinch.

  “Meanwhile, I’m to go back to school Monday without a teacher to help? That’s impossible, Ben. They at least have to let Maggie stay on until you find someone.” A thought struck him. “And that brings up something else. They let Carolyn Ross teach on a temporary basis before we hired Maggie. Carolyn was a married woman. Why was that allowed?”

  “That was different, Jonathan. Mrs. Ross is a widow woman and without children. And she merely volunteered to help out until we hired a full-time teacher. We’re not just going to hang you out to dry, Jonathan. I’m sure the board will be willing to let Maggie continue until we can hire another teacher. And, again, I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t get this settled long before now.”

  Jonathan shook his head. “You don’t owe us an apology. It’s as much my fault as yours for not seeing it through when we first talked about it.”

  Ben headed for the door. “I’ll let myself out. You and Maggie will want to talk.”

  Jonathan followed him anyway. After helping him with his coat, he searched his friend’s eyes. “If there’s anything you can do, Ben, I know you will. I understand if you think I’m biased because Maggie’s my wife, but the truth is that she makes a real difference with those children, especially the little ones. She’s good for them. And a town like Skingle Creek won’t attract a teacher of her caliber all that easily.”

  Ben sighed. “Believe me, Jonathan, I don’t like this either. But the law is for the good of women and their families, you know.”

  “When we first talked about this a c
ouple of months ago, you said there ought to be extenuating circumstances,” Jonathan reminded him. “Do you really believe Maggie and I would ever neglect our child? Do you think Gracie will be any less loved or cared for during those few hours a week she’s with her grandmother instead of with us?”

  Ben shook his head. “Of course not. But unless we can think of something else, I can only encourage you to accept things as they are. But I will go to bat for Maggie staying on until we can find another teacher, I promise you that.”

  Distracted, Jonathan gave a short nod. “I’m sorry if I was sharp. I’m hugely disappointed. And I know Maggie is, in spite of that stiff upper lip she’s showing. Ben, you know I want what’s best for Gracie, but I want what’s best for my students too. And Maggie is definitely part of that.”

  His friend nodded. “Let’s pray about it then. Right here, right now.”

  The two men stood shoulder to shoulder as they brought the situation before their God, asking for wisdom they didn’t have, a solution they couldn’t find, and in it all, His best will for Maggie, for Gracie, and for the children of Skingle Creek.

  As they prayed, Jonathan was vaguely aware of Maggie slipping quietly around the corner of the hallway and starting up the stairs.

  Later he found her in the bedroom, looking out the window.

  “Gracie’s down for her nap?”

  She nodded but said nothing.

  He came behind her and put his arms around her. “I hate this,” he said, pressing his cheek against hers. “I should never have let it happen.”

  She turned in his arms. “You can’t fix everything, Jonathan, although I confess I’m always quick to assume you can. There’s nothing you could have done about this. And I meant what I said. It may be for the best. I won’t mind being at home with Gracie all the time. Goodness, I already have my hands full learning to be a mother.”

  He searched her face. “You are a wonderful mother, Maggie. You slipped into the role as if you were born to it. But I don’t want to lose you as a teacher, either. I don’t want the children to lose you.”