The Artisan's Wife

by Judith Miller

  Ainslee’s head throbbed when she finally stepped down from the train three hours later. Though she hadn’t sent word to Levi of her arrival plans, she’d half expected him to appear. Silly though it was, disappointment descended upon her like a thundercloud. She gestured to a porter and arranged for the delivery of her baggage to the boardinghouse before entering the station.

  Shoulders sagging, Ainslee trudged toward the doors that opened onto the front street. She grasped the door handle and was yanked forward as someone pulled from the opposite side.

  “Levi!” She lost her footing and tumbled forward into his arms. Hat askew and hands trembling, she clutched his arms. “How did you know I’d be on this train?”

  Still holding her close, he grinned down at her. “I didn’t, but I knew you’d return once you received my telegram, so I decided to meet every train until you arrived.”

  A passenger cleared his throat and tapped Levi’s shoulder. “Could the two of you step aside? I need to get into the station.”

  Levi apologized as the two of them stepped away from the doors and onto the wooden sidewalk outside the station. “Wait here. I’ll arrange for your baggage.”

  She shook her head. “There’s no need. I’ve already arranged for it to be delivered.”

  Grasping her elbow, he led her to a waiting buggy. “Do you want to stop at the boardinghouse or go to the tile works? Have you eaten? We can have lunch at the café near the tile works if you’d like.”

  “There’s no need to stop at the boardinghouse. Mrs. Brighton will see that the trunks are taken upstairs to my room, but lunch sounds wonderful. I didn’t eat much breakfast before I left Grafton, and now I’m famished. I’m eager to hear everything about Noah, and I have a great deal to tell you, as well.”

  “Why don’t you tell me your news first? Then we can talk about Noah.”

  She’d been worrying and praying about Noah ever since she’d received word, but she’d honor Levi’s wishes. Perhaps he needed to think about something other than Noah for a short time.

  Ainslee sighed. “So much happened in such a short time that I’m not sure where to begin.”

  Levi chuckled. “Let me help you with a question. Did Mrs. Crothers behave herself like a proper lady while you were in Grafton?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Given what you told me about her past behaviors, I have to admit I thought she might prove difficult for you to manage. I hope Ewan wasn’t angry you’d taken it upon yourself to arrive without giving him notice Mrs. Crothers would be with you.”

  Ainslee shook her head, thankful for his question. To simply blurt out the fact that Margaret was dead would have been cold and unfitting. “Ewan was more than a wee bit surprised to see Margaret in my company when I stepped off the train. However, he treated her civilly and agreed to consider a meeting. After I had a brief conversation with Laura and Ewan, they agreed to meet Margaret for lunch the following day.”

  He helped her down from the buggy and paid the driver. The weather was cool, but they were accustomed to walking the short distance from the café to the tile works or from the tile works back to the boardinghouse before and after work most days.

  Levi held the door and then selected a quiet table in the far corner of the room. The café didn’t boast linen tablecloths or fine china, but it was clean and they served good fare for a reasonable price.

  The wooden chair scraped across the plank floor as he pulled it from beneath the table and seated Ainslee. He dropped into the chair opposite her. “Tell me, how did the meeting go? Is Ewan going to help her get the brickyard back in order?”

  Ainslee didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until she exhaled. “There wasn’t any meeting. Margaret passed away before it occurred. I found her in her hotel room.”

  “You?” Levi’s brow creased with concern. “Are you all right?”

  “It upset me at the time, but I’m fine now.” She forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me. You have enough concerns of your own. As for the brickyard, I’m not sure what’s going to happen in the future. But since Margaret left the business to Ewan, I believe he and Laura will return to Bartlett and move back into Woodfield Manor with Laura’s mother.”

  “Not into Margaret’s fancy home?”

  Ainslee shook her head. “I would be surprised if Laura wanted to live there. I think she’d rather the place be sold and the funds go to Kathleen. Of course, I’m only guessing. Right now, they’re intent upon making the final arrangements for Margaret.”

  They both ordered the chicken and dumplings. Once their food had been delivered, Levi offered a blessing for their meal and asked God to help him find Noah. When he’d completed the prayer, Ainslee looked up at him. “So you haven’t found Noah. Since you were asking questions about Margaret, I thought . . .”

  He shook his head. “No, but now that I know what happened in Grafton, I regret having sent word for you to return. You need to be with your family, not here.”

  “No, I need to be here with you, Levi. Ewan insisted that I return. There’s really nothing I could do in Grafton or Bartlett. Ewan is the one who must make the arrangements and see to Margaret’s funeral and her estate.

  “I want to hear everything about Noah and his disappearance. Tell me who discovered he was missing and exactly when they noticed his absence.” She poured a splash of cream into her coffee and stirred. “Where have they looked and how many people have been searching?”

  He placed his fork on his plate and grinned. “Which question should I answer first?”

  “I’m sorry, but I was thinking about Noah’s disappearance and praying the whole way home.”

  “They realized he was missing the day you left with Mrs. Crothers.” He shook his head. “Can that only be three days ago? Anyway, he’d told one of the orderlies he wasn’t feeling well earlier in the day. Said he didn’t want any lunch and that he was going to lie down. When he didn’t appear for supper, the orderly thought he was still not feeling well. He should have checked on him, but he didn’t. When I went for my evening visit, Noah wasn’t in his room.”

  “So that’s when you realized he’d run off?”

  “No. At first I thought he was somewhere else in the asylum. I began to look for him and asked several of the men who work in the men’s wing, but none had seen him since morning. One of the doctors alerted the administrator, who ordered a search of the entire asylum, including the grounds.” Levi spread butter and strawberry jam on his biscuit. “There was a hasty search of the area outside the fence, but since it was already dark, that search was soon called off until the following morning.”

  “Why would he flee the asylum? It seems he would have given you a hint that something was wrong and he wanted to be discharged.”

  Levi hiked a shoulder. “He may have believed I would object to such a suggestion, and I probably would have. He still needs medical treatment and care before we can assume he is stable enough to live outside the asylum. Running off like this will only make his release less likely.”

  Several workers from the local glass factory sat at a nearby table, and their laughter and loud voices made it difficult to hear Levi. Ainslee scooted her chair a bit closer. “Did you ask if Noah had experienced any problems with the staff or other patients during the days before he disappeared?”

  Levi finished his biscuit and pushed his plate aside. “I did. They said there had been no reports of any problems. I’ve searched everywhere I can think he might hide.” He sighed and folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve run out of ideas, and I can’t continue to spend my days looking for him when there’s work to be done. If we get too far behind on production, there will be no way to catch up.”

  She wanted to assure him they had plenty of time, but Levi had meticulously developed a schedule for each of the tiles that would be created for each room in the museum. He’d begun work on the drawings Noah had completed, with a plan to create the tiles that would be placed in the center room and represent the state of West
Virginia before beginning work on the tiles for any of the other rooms.

  “From what you’ve said, I’m guessing Noah didn’t leave any of his latest sketches at the asylum when he disappeared.”

  Levi’s mouth drooped. “No—which adds to my worry.”

  Ainslee longed to say something that would remove the frown from his face and ease the burden he was carrying in his heart. “Whenever any of us at home would begin to fret and worry, Grandmother Woodfield would pull out her Bible and point us to sixth chapter of Matthew. Do you know what it says about the birds of the air and God’s care for all of us?”

  He nodded. “I do, but it’s hard to think God has time to worry about me and my problems with all the other people in the world.”

  Ainslee longed to ease his concern. “But the Bible says that we should remember that if God cares for the birds, He surely cares for us, too. He’s looking after us. You need to remember that.” She spoke the words with conviction, but couldn’t bring herself to add that what he wanted might not be God’s plan for Noah, or for him.

  A jolt fired through her. Here she sat speaking of God’s will to Levi, when her own faith had wavered when Adaira ran off to wed. She’d never spoken of her doubts to anyone. She hadn’t believed God could be part of a plan to drop her in the middle of a town where she didn’t know a soul and expect her to manage a business for which she held no enthusiasm. But look what He had done. And if He could see her through and change her life for the better over these past six months, surely He would protect and do what was best for Noah and Levi.

  God planned for her to meet Levi and to discover the joy of managing a business. If she’d had her way, none of this would have happened. Gratitude filled her heart until it nearly burst. “God knows what is best for Noah.”

  “I try to remember God cares about Noah even more than I do, but when something like this disappearance happens, it becomes more difficult.” He offered a sad smile. “There are times when I need to be reminded of God’s love, and this is one of them. Having you here helps.”

  “I think we all need encouragement from time to time. I believe God understands that we need others to remind us that He cares about us when difficulties come our way.” She hoped her words would encourage him. “If it helps to ease your concerns, Ewan doesn’t believe progress on the museum will take place as quickly as originally scheduled. If you recall, progress was slow when we were waiting to hear about our contract. I don’t think Mr. Harrington considered the time it would take to gather unanimous decisions from his other investors. The same will be true with the other bids they’re seeking. They’ve broken ground and begun work on the foundation, but there is much to accomplish before they’ll be ready to lay the tiles.”

  He nodded, but his sad look remained intact. “But we shouldn’t depend upon delays in the construction of the building. We need to fulfill our obligation as outlined in the contract, so I believe we should hire more workers before we fall behind. There were a couple of fellows who came in looking for jobs while you were in Grafton. I didn’t hire them, but I think they’d both make good apprentices. One of them worked in the tile business for a time so he at least knows how to work with clay. The other has some artistic talent and I thought I might be able to train him as a cutter for the mosaics. He was excited about learning.”

  “I trust your judgment. If you thought they would be good workers, you should have gone ahead and hired them. We need to have men trained to help you on the mosaics.”

  “Right. Trouble is, the time I spend training them slows me down, but I guess that’s the only way we’ll have skilled workers.” He sighed. “If I’m going to complain about not having enough time to get things done, I suppose sitting here any longer makes no sense, either. Still, I hope you know there’s no other place I’d truly like to be than with you.”

  Her cheeks warmed. “Thank you.”

  Once they’d paid for their meal and were on their way to the tile works, Ainslee asked how she could help in the search for Noah. Levi grimaced. “I wish I had something I could tell you, but I don’t even know what else to do myself. We’ve searched the entire area. There’s no sign of him anywhere.”

  “Did he have any money? Do you think he might have boarded a train and gone to another town—or rented a horse from the livery? Have you checked those possibilities?”

  “I haven’t looked into a train ticket or asked at the livery because he didn’t have any cash or any way to obtain money.”

  Ainslee tugged on his arm, pulling him to a stop near the front door of the tile works. “But you didn’t think he could get out of the asylum, either. Noah was lucid enough that he could have passed himself off as someone visiting a patient at the asylum. He could have requested a ride into town, and be anywhere by now. I don’t mean to frighten you, but I think the search should go beyond the asylum area.”

  Levi turned toward her. “You’re right, of course, but the asylum isn’t going to use their staff to search the entire town. I talked to the sheriff, and he said he didn’t want me saying too much in town about an escaped lunatic, or the whole town would be shooting at every stranger that came near, and the women would be afraid to have their husbands out of their sight for even a minute.”

  Once inside the office, Ainslee dropped her reticule on the desk and removed her brown felt hat trimmed with ecru velvet and pink roses. She despised the ornate hat. However, both fashion and Laura dictated she wear such frippery, especially when traveling. Levi hurried forward to take her matching brown velvet cape and hung it near the office door.

  “Oh, pshaw! If they knew Noah was harmless, I doubt there would be any great concern with the townspeople. Something must be done to find him.”

  “I agree, but other than going against the sheriff’s orders and knocking on doors, I don’t know what it would be. I waver between walking around town looking for him and staying here to work on the tiles. Truth is, I can’t seem to do either thing very well.” He sat down opposite her and leaned forward. “I’m at a loss.”

  Ainslee thought for a moment. “First, we’re going to pray, and then you’re going to go out to the tile shop and set to work. I’m going to send word to those two men you spoke with and offer them jobs so you can begin their training. Then, I’m going to give some real thought to where Noah may be hiding. If I must go against the sheriff’s orders, so be it.” She sat down in the chair beside him. “Let’s ask God to direct our work as well as our search for Noah—and to keep him safe until we locate him.”

  When they’d finished praying, Levi’s lips curved in a warm smile. “Thank you. Having you here means more than you can know.” He cupped her cheek. “I missed you so much.”

  Ainslee covered his hand with her own and reveled in the warmth of his touch. “I missed you, too. We’re all going to be fine, Levi. I’m sure of it.”

  She folded her arms across her waist and watched Levi cross the courtyard before turning back to her desk. A stack of time sheets sat beside the ledgers awaiting entry. Levi had offered his apologies for not entering them each day as promised. In truth, she didn’t know how he’d accomplished any work once he’d learned of Noah’s disappearance.

  While she was entering the men’s hours into the ledger, her thoughts remained on Noah and what might have happened to cause his unexpected behavior. From all reports, he’d been content and happy since beginning work on the sketches, so why would he disappear? Perhaps she’d pay a visit to the asylum herself. There might be something more she could discover.

  Chapter 26

  Levi set to work tamping clay into a plaster mold that had been created from one of his brother’s drawings. The beauty displayed in the details of Noah’s pictures never failed to amaze Levi. There was no doubt his brother had been gifted with far greater artistic talent than his own. Receiving Noah’s agreement to use his designs in the museum fulfilled one of his dreams for his brother. He longed to reveal the depth of Noah’s gift to all who would one day walk int
o Mr. Harrington’s museum. Now he wondered if the entire idea had been a mistake.

  Had the deadlines and number of drawings needed for this project been too difficult for Noah? Had he broken under the strain of trying to meet goals rather than creating pictures he considered worthy of his talent? On more than one occasion, Noah had bemoaned the fact that his drawings didn’t contain enough detail, yet Levi had brushed aside the comments. Instead, he’d encouraged Noah to continue working on the next batch of drawings. Although Levi had explained that not all the details could be included in the tiles, his reasoning hadn’t seemed to appease Noah.

  Levi’s thoughts plagued him while he was scraping the excess clay from the mold. He had only himself to blame for Noah’s disappearance. After removing the last of the surplus clay, he tossed the scraper onto a nearby table, then muttered under his breath when the tool clanged and then dropped to the floor.

  “What’s eating at ya, Levi?” Robert stooped down and retrieved the scraper. He placed it on the worktable beside the mold. “You still worrying over your brother?”

  The sheriff didn’t want word of Noah’s disappearance spreading throughout the town, so Levi had told only Robert and Harold. He’d repeated the sheriff’s warning and asked them to keep the matter to themselves. In truth, he probably shouldn’t have told either of them, but he’d needed someone to talk to. Besides, they’d been good about keeping an eye out for strangers on their way to and from work. Levi had given them a description of Noah, but other than being a stranger in town, his brother didn’t possess any distinguishing features that would set him apart from most other men.

  Levi nodded. “Between worrying over him and worrying over the time limit to complete the tiles, I’m tied in knots most of the time.”

  Robert wiped the perspiration from his brow. “You got your problems and that’s a fact. Don’t envy ya any. Me and Harold are agreeable to help however ya see fit. If you want to teach us how to make the plaster molds or fill ’em with clay, we’re willing, or if you want us to go snoop around in town when we’re not busy, we can do that, too. You just say the word.”