by Nann Dunne
"No reason to. Her name's Rusty. She and her brother let me stay with them when I was snowed-in in Wyoming. Rusty took a shine to me and kept flirting, but I told her I was spoken for."
"And that was the end of it?"
"Not quite. One day, she surprised me with a kiss, but like you, I pretended the kiss was from you. That delusion lasted only a couple of seconds, then the ache for you shook me out of it. I pushed her away and told her again that I was committed. After that, she stopped flirting with me and we became friends. She made me the vest as a memento of my time with them."
"Thank God," Faith said. "I'll always be grateful to her for that."
"Me, too. I need to write her and tell her about the vest saving my life."
Faith cocked her head. "Are we all right, now?"
"Not until school's out. But then we will definitely be all right."
Faith made a face. "Did you find any likely spots for us to settle?"
"A few," Sarah said. "There are some beautiful areas in this land of ours. Hey, wait, we got a letter from Velia." Sarah retrieved the letter from her pants pocket and handed it to Faith who read it at once.
"I'm so happy they've found a place to live."
"Me, too," Sarah said. "Maybe we could check it out for us."
Faith's voice sharpened. "I wish we could stay here. I really like this area. I hate to think we're being pushed out of it by some stupid rule proposed by a vindictive, hateful man."
Sarah embraced her again. "I like it, too, but some things aren't in our control, redhead, no matter how much temper you spend on them." She released Faith with one arm and unbuttoned the top of her dress.
Faith grabbed the arm. "No, no, no," she said, adopting her prim schoolteacher voice. "First, we eat."
"That's beginning to be a mantra for you," Sarah said, feigning irritation.
They both laughed when Sarah's stomach was the one that rumbled.
Later that evening, after enjoying supper with Leah's family, Sarah steered the buggy toward the schoolteacher house. Benjamin rode Redfire so Sarah would have a way home.
"I hate to have to take you back to the teacher's house," Sarah said.
"I'm not too happy about it either. Maybe we can sneak some time together during this last month."
"I hope so." Sarah drew her hand across the back of her neck. "Benjamin didn't want to go back at all."
"Yes, I caught part of that discussion you and he had. I'm glad you convinced him he wasn't responsible for your getting shot. I heard him say he wanted to stay and protect you. How did you persuade him to come back with me?"
The buggy hit a rut in the road and jolted its occupants. Sarah switched one rein to the other hand, flung her arm around Faith, and kept it there. She eyed the swinging lanterns attached to each side of the buggy until they slowed to their normal rhythm.
"He wasn't hard to convince. He was torn about staying with each of us. He thinks we both need protection. I told him he had to be with you because I couldn't be. I have Phillip and Leah looking out for me, but you only have him."
"He's so thoughtful."
"Takes after his mama. He's a fine young man. You can be proud of your son."
Faith tucked her hand into Sarah's. "We can both be proud of our son."
Sarah thought her heart might soar out of her chest.
That overwhelmingly good feeling quickly deserted her. As she drove the buggy to the hitching post outside of the teacher's house, a slim man stepped from the shadows into the circle of the buggy's lantern. Shamus McDuff, treasurer of the town council, tipped his hat to them. Obviously ill at ease, he cleared his throat. "Mrs. Pruitt, Miss Coulter. I've been assigned to make sure that no one enters the teacher's house except Mrs. Pruitt and her son, Benjamin." As he spoke, Benjamin rode up on Redfire.
"Hello, Mr. McDuff." Benjamin dismounted and handed the reins to Sarah, who had gotten out of the buggy and helped Faith step down from it. "Can I do anything for you?"
"No, thank you, Benjamin. I'm just here to give a message to your mother."
Faith walked to Benjamin's side. "Please put the buggy away. I'll be finished here in a minute. Say good night to Aunt Sarah."
Benjamin gave Sarah a hug. "Good night, Aunt Sarah. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." He handed one lantern to Faith and led the horse and buggy away into the barn.
"Mr. McDuff," Sarah said in a demanding tone, "do you expect to be here every evening, keeping track of Mrs. Pruitt's visitors?"
McDuff removed his hat and wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his suit jacket. "I'm afraid so, ma'am. A council member will be showing up here every day, including weekends." Sarah flexed her hands, and McDuff replaced his hat and moved a step back from her. He turned toward Faith. "No offense meant, ma'am. I'm just following orders."
"No offense taken, Mr. McDuff." Faith put her hand on Sarah's arm. "Well, Sarah, we'll have to say good night out here, I suppose."
Sarah covered Faith's hand with her own. "Mr. McDuff, I'd be pleased if you would turn your back and give us a moment of privacy." McDuff jammed his hands in his jacket pockets and turned away without a word.
Sarah dropped Redfire's reins on the ground. She drew Faith close and they kissed. "Good night, redhead. I love you," she whispered.
Faith's arms were around Sarah's neck. She pulled Sarah down and kissed her again. "Good night, sweetheart. I love you, too. Stop by tomorrow after school?"
"I'll be here."
Sarah visited each day after school and spent an hour sitting with Faith at one of the schoolyard picnic tables after all the children had gone and before a council member arrived. Two weeks later, on a Wednesday, Sarah had some news. "Sheriff Schmidt wants us to be sure to attend the Town Hall meeting tonight. He said he thinks we'll be interested in what he has to say." She looked around before stroking the back of Faith's hand. The smile it elicited was worth any disapproval Sarah might receive.
"Do you have any idea what it might be?"
"Not the slightest, but if Schmidt wants us there, I'll be there."
"Me, too, of course. We can't come together, though, and that...that..." Faith's breathing increased and her face reddened.
Sarah laid her hand overtop Faith's. "Calm down, redhead. We only have a couple more weeks until school's out, and we can be together forever after that."
It took a few moments, but Faith's breathing evened and she spoke more quietly. "You're right. I guess I can keep my composure until then."
"That's my girl."
Benjamin came running up with Paddy chasing after him. "Hi, Aunt Sarah. Mama, will dinner be ready soon?"
"In about half an hour," Faith said. She and Sarah stood.
Sarah stepped away from the table and leaned to pet Paddy who was jumping on her. "Hey, boy, how are you?" She looked up at Benjamin. "Has he been behaving himself since I last saw him?"
Benjamin's eyes crinkled. "You just saw him a couple of days ago. But look." Benjamin snapped his fingers, and Paddy ran to him. "Sit," he said. Paddy sat immediately. Benjamin reached out his hand. "Shake." Paddy lifted a paw, and Benjamin shook it.
Sarah walked over next to him and reached out her hand to Paddy. "Shake," she said, and Paddy gave her his paw to shake. Sarah laughed delightedly. "Wonderful!" She batted Benjamin's shoulder. "Good trick, Benjamin."
He beamed. "Thanks. He knows more tricks, but I'm saving up to show them to you when our family's back together again."
Sarah raised a hand to her heart and took a deep breath. "That'll be soon," she said in a shaky voice. "Right now, I have to be leaving. Your Aunt Leah will be setting dinner out soon, too."
"I'll see you later." Benjamin ran off toward the house with Paddy at his heels.
Sarah turned to Faith. "Whew. That got to me."
Faith looked at Sarah with moist eyes. "Me, too."
"Oh," Sarah said, "before I forget. I wrote to Velia and told her we were both overjoyed to hear she and her family were doing so well. I also wrote to Rusty and
told her about the vest saving my life. I know she'll be glad to hear that." Sarah could picture Rusty jumping up and down and clapping her hands. The thought brought a small smile.
"I'm sure she will," Faith said. "I know I'm beholden to her for saving the woman I love. I hope I get to meet her someday." She glanced around, stepped next to Sarah, and gave her a quick hug. "I'll see you tonight."
"Okay, sweetheart." Sarah watched her walk away, her dress brushing the grass with the movement of her hips. Every swish increased the ache in Sarah's being. Soon, she told herself. Soon they wouldn't be forced to live apart.
Faith turned and waved to her before entering the house. Sarah waved back, blew her a kiss, and started home alone.
That evening, Sarah dismounted from Redfire, tied him to one of the hitching posts, and looked down the buggy-lined street. The gaslights along the sidewalk gave too dim a light for her to distinguish Faith's buggy, even though Faith had painted a schoolbook on the side panel. Sarah shrugged. Either Faith had already arrived at the Town Meeting or soon would. Sarah went inside, removed her hat, and scanned the room. Sure enough, Faith sat in the third row on the right, wearing her dark green bonnet. No one could mistake the red curls showing below it.
The room was pretty full, with people standing in the back and along the sides of the room. Sarah returned the nods of a few townspeople. She saw Leah waving, and she took a seat next to her and Phillip.
"Hi," Leah said.
Phillip leaned forward and gave her a grin. "Hello, Sarah."
"Hello." Sarah smiled at them. "Thanks for saving me a seat. Quite a crowd. I guess Sheriff Schmidt's posters asking everyone to attend worked."
"I think you're right," Phillip said. "Looks like just about everyone in town is here."
"I wonder what he has to say."
"I'm sure everyone's wondering that." Leah smirked. "Nothing like a mystery to draw a crowd." She turned to look directly at Sarah. "Did you finish the drawing you were working on when we left to do some shopping?"
"I did. That's why I'm later than I expected to be. I lost track of the time." Just as Sarah answered, the gavel rapped and the buzz of conversation quieted down.
Secretary James Melvin, temporarily acting as president of the council, spoke from one of the tables in the front of the room where the council members sat. "Good evening. Let's get the usual business taken care of, then Sheriff Schmidt has asked to speak." They proceeded to a reading of the last meeting's minutes and a treasurer's report. "Any old business?" Melvin asked. "Yes, sir?"
Henri Leveque, a farmer, had put up his hand, and now he stood. "What's being done about the Ku Klux Klan? I thought they were supposed to be a good group, but some of the things they've done without cause are frightening my family. My farm sits away from town, and I'm worried about them taking a notion to do us harm."
Melvin lifted his hand as though to stop Leveque. "Sheriff Schmidt will be speaking on this in just a minute, Henri." Leveque sat down. "Anything else?" Melvin said. No hands went up, so he rapped the gavel again. "On to new business. Your turn, Sheriff."
Sheriff Schmidt rose from his seat in the front row and laid his hat on the vacated chair. He walked to the side of the meeting table and turned to face the assembled people. "I have a few things I'd like to touch on, so please bear with me." He reached into a pocket of his leather vest and withdrew some notes.
"First, to address Mr. Leveque's question. Most of you know by now that Morton Blanton was head of the local Ku Klux Klan. He was killed after shooting Miss Coulter." Schmidt waited a moment for the buzzing this remark caused to die down. "Afterward, I made a point of visiting each man I thought might have been a part of Blanton's group. I told them Congress just passed a law that affected anyone who destroyed property, and if they committed any more crimes in my jurisdiction, I would hit them with the full punishment allowed. I got their word of honor that their Klan days were over." This caused another small buzz.
"But before that, we had another problem. A bunch, apparently Klansmen, robbed the train three different times on its way here. My deputies and I investigated, but we couldn't come up with any clues. They were in the clear until they made the mistake of robbing the train Miss Sarah Coulter was on. She noticed a couple of things that led her to believe Doc Litchfield was involved. When she told me all the suspicions she had, together with some evidence that had been collected, I arrested the doc. He's in the county prison, awaiting trial."
Sarah looked toward Leah. "Where's he going with this?" she whispered, not expecting an answer.
Schmidt continued. "When I spoke to the men Blanton had been leading, they swore up and down to a man that they hadn't robbed any trains, and I tend to believe them. If they're telling the truth, that other bunch must still be around. Let's hope that catching the doc will put a stop to the robberies."
"Good job, Sheriff!" someone called from the crowd, and applause followed.
"Thank you." Schmidt shifted his bulky body and lifted a hand in recognition of the praise. "But I can't take all the credit. Miss Coulter deserves it a lot more than I do. Not only for pointing out Litchfield was the train robber, but also for giving me a lead on some of the people in the Klan. You all saw Ed Putnam limping around awhile ago. Well, the Klan attacked Miss Coulter's hired man, and she saved him by shooting Ed Putnam in the leg. And when the Klan paraded through our town, and the leader kicked Miss Coulter, she noticed he wore the tooled boots that Morton Blanton owned."
Schmidt pulled a red bandanna from his pocket, wiped his face, and returned the bandanna to his pocket. "I didn't catch any of the Klan in their acts of violence. But now that I knew some of them, I could go after them and talk them out of any further damage. You all owe Miss Coulter a vote of thanks for that."
"Good job, Miss Coulter," the same voice called, and a smattering of applause followed this second declaration. Schmidt pointed at Sarah and waved for her to stand. Leah poked her in the side and made the same gesture.
Red-faced, Sarah stood and mumbled, "Thank you." She quickly sat back down amid a few nods and smiles.
"And that," Schmidt said, "brings me to my next piece of business." He hesitated for a moment, and everyone waited for him to continue. "Miss Coulter has helped this community in ways no one else has. And her friend, our schoolteacher, Mrs. Pruitt, has worked so hard to teach our children that they've all improved their grades. You parents out there, isn't that true?" Nods and murmurs of "yes" spread through the group.
"Good job, Mrs. Pruitt!" the same voice uttered, and the audience laughed and clapped. Schmidt gestured to Faith, and she stood, made a small bow, and sat back down. Sarah saw her hand move to her cheek as though to wipe away a tear.
"Now," Schmidt said, "here's the gist of what I'm aiming at. We have a rule on the town council's books that, in my opinion, causes unnecessary hardship on these two people who have contributed so much to our town. One says that the schoolteacher must live in the schoolteacher's house and no one except his or her immediate family can live there with her. I think that's an unreasonable rule to expect a schoolteacher to follow. Besides, it seems to me that the town can save money if the schoolteacher lives in a house of her own choosing instead of one our taxes are paying for. Wouldn't you say so?"
Nods and a chorus of yesses swept through the room.
"I thought so," Schmidt said. "I think Morton Blanton pushed this rule through to force Mrs. Pruitt to move from her chosen home, thereby hurting Miss Coulter because he blamed her for Hiram's death. And I'd also like to point out that the part of a teacher's contract about"—Schmidt read from his notes—'"not consorting with individuals who have been engaged in unlawful activities or any that might border on being unlawful, such as shooting a neighbor, harboring a fugitive, and causing grievous harm' has been misinterpreted to keep Miss Coulter and Mrs. Pruitt from even visiting each other. The fact is, that part of the contract doesn't apply to Miss Coulter at all. As sheriff, I can assure you she wasn't guilty of any of those acti
vities, except in defense of another human being." He stopped for a moment.
"I personally have found her to be a law-abiding citizen and a fine woman." Schmidt's gaze slowly surveyed the room. "In my opinion, we haven't the right to tell anyone where they should live, who they should live with, or for that matter, judge how they should dress. I know some of you feel that Miss Coulter shouldn't dress in men's clothing, but she's not breaking any laws, either of man or of God, by dressing as she pleases. I think, as long as Miss Coulter and Mrs. Pruitt don't break any of the town's laws and can't be proven to have hurt anyone, we should leave them alone to live their lives as they see fit. We're going to lose two outstanding citizens if the rule about the schoolteacher's house isn't changed, so let's change it." He turned and faced the council members. "Right now."
"I move that the rule be stricken," Shamus McDuff said.
"I second the motion," another council member said.
Melvin said. "All in favor say 'aye.'" The ayes sounded. "All against say 'nay.'" A scattering of nays were heard, but not enough to outdo the ayes. Melvin pounded the gavel. "The ayes have it. The rule is stricken."
Schmidt looked back at the crowd. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. You did a good thing here tonight."
"I move the meeting be adjourned," McDuff said. His motion was quickly seconded and passed, and the crowd slowly dispersed, talking animatedly as they left. Quite a few people gave Sarah a smile or tipped their hats as they left. A few turned their gazes away, but that didn't surprise her.
Leah gave Sarah a one-armed hug. "I'm so happy for you both. The folks surprised me. I didn't expect them to be so broad-minded."
"They were fair-minded," Sarah said. "The sheriff was very persuasive." She stood as Faith reached her, and they grabbed each other's hands. Faith was battling tears, and Sarah felt like she could drown in the green depths of Faith's eyes.
"The sheriff was wonderful," Faith said. "The people were wonderful. Now we don't have to move."
Sarah hadn't thought that far ahead. Her mind was on more current results. "Now I can go to your house tonight." She let go of one of Faith's hands and tugged the other. "Come on, let's go thank the sheriff." Before moving away, she turned her gaze toward Leah and Phillip. "I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"