“I just hope I remember everything.”
“You’ll do a wonderful job. If I didn’t believe you could, I wouldn’t have asked for your help.”
The boy’s chest swelled with pride as he followed her downstairs to the gathering room where the musicians began setting up to perform.
Arlan caught her eye and hurried over, kissing her cheek. “My dear lady, you’re the loveliest Christmas blossom I’ve ever seen.”
“More like a prickly weed, but thank you for your kind words. You look quite snappy yourself.” Admiration at the fine figure he cut in his black suit with a charcoal gray striped waistcoat filled her. A cardinal-red tie brightened his ensemble while a smile lit his face.
“I ran into the sheriff on my way over here. He said to tell you there’s a U.S. Marshal on his way to transport the prisoners to Portland.”
Relieved, Alex nodded at Arlan. “That’s wonderful news. Does Mrs. Decker know Fred is at Doc’s?”
“Yes. The sheriff told her last night and helped Doc move the boy home. He’s healing quickly. I stopped to see him and he can get both eyes open now and speak clearly.”
“I’m glad he’s home. I should have thought to visit him this morning, but I wanted to get things set up for the show. He wouldn’t have been at Doc’s anyway.”
Arlan took an envelope from his coat pocket and placed it in her hand. “The sheriff said you more than earned that.”
Alex stared from the envelope to Arlan before opening it to reveal a stack of money.
“It’s the reward for Decker, Widmer, and Mooney’s arrest. Those three are wanted for a variety of crimes throughout a three-state area. We all agreed you should receive it.”
“No, Arlan…” Alex began to hand it back to him, but he shook his head.
“Alex, you keep it because you earned it. If it wasn’t for you, no one would have known what they’d done. The money is yours.”
Grudgingly, Alex slid the envelope into the inside pocket of her topcoat.
Aware of her turmoil over accepting the money, Arlan took a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” Questions filled her eyes as she glanced at him.
“Read it.” Ready to burst from excitement, Arlan couldn’t wait to see Alex’s reaction to the news she held in her hand.
Rapidly scanning the telegram, Alex lifted her gaze to his, unable to believe the words she read. If the message was true, Edna Bevins wed her childhood sweetheart and relinquished her job as the Hardman schoolteacher.
“Miss Bevins, now Mrs. Raglan, couldn’t have sent any better news.” Arlan looked at her with his eyes full of pleading. “Since Edna made it clear she has no plans to return to Hardman, will you please stay, Alex? Stay and teach. Stay and entertain us with your magic. Stay and do nothing at all. Just stay. Everyone loves having you here, especially me. Please stay.”
People began to arrive, so Arlan took Alex’s hand and hurried her down the hall and around the corner, opening the door to a closet meant to house linens. Swiftly pushing her inside, he pulled the door closed and wrapped his arms around her.
His lips brushed along her jaw as he breathed deeply of her scent. “Alexandra, did you give any thought to what I said last night?”
He felt her nod.
“And?” His mouth teased over her chin and captured her lips. She lifted her arms until they settled around his neck and moaned as he deepened the kiss before plunging back to reality.
Pushing against him, she shook her head. “Arlan, we need to get back out there. We both have responsibilities that require our attention and...”
Blatantly ignoring her suggestion, he kissed her again, pulling her so close to his chest, he could feel her heart pounding against his own.
“Arlan…” She pulled back and tried to see him in the muted light creeping beneath the door. “This is ridiculous. We can’t hide in a closet exchanging…”
His lips silenced hers again before he raised his head and opened the door. His eyes sparkled with boyish mischief as he traced a thumb over her just-kissed lips. “I promise to behave until the end of the carnival.”
Once they moved into the hall, she reached up to adjust her hat and remembered she left it in the kitchen. “What about after the carnival?”
“I can’t offer any guarantees.” The wicked grin on Arlan’s face made Alex’s cheeks fill with heat. “Particularly when you appear so enchantingly fetching.”
In need of cool air on her hot cheeks, she followed him back to the gathering room then went outside, walking around the house to the kitchen door.
As she stepped inside, she hoped her entry from the outdoors would explain her red cheeks and lips.
Maura held out her arms, so Alex took her from Dora, kissing the baby’s cheeks and nuzzling her fragrant curls. “You’re just the sweetest little thing, Maura. I could eat you up with a spoon.” She nibbled the baby’s fingers, making her giggle and everyone in the room smile. She handed the baby back to her doting grandmother and swept her hat off the edge of the counter where Filly set it.
“Are you getting ready for your show?” Ginny asked as she walked past her with a heaping bowl of potato salad.
“Tom and I have everything prepared for the performance. I thought I’d peek in on the game areas.” Alex followed Ginny to the dining room then went to check on the games.
Parents of her students volunteered to watch over the various areas so the older children could join in the activities instead of operating the games for the younger ones.
Children filed into the rooms to see what fun awaited them. One room featured checkerboards set up for a tournament. Another had dominoes, and a third had bags of marbles and jacks on the floor.
A group of girls sat in front of a crackling fire in the room that would soon become the library. Alex listened to them play an altered version of the popular game “Cupid’s Coming.”
Instead of Cupid, they substituted Saint Nicholas.
Amused, she leaned against the doorjamb observing the girls play the game.
“Use the letter ‘T,’” one of them said.
“Saint Nicholas is coming,” a second girl spoke.
“How’s he coming?” the first girl questioned.
“Tripping!”
“Trailing!”
“Talking!”
The game stopped as the players waited for Anna Jenkins to think of a word that began with the letter ‘T.’ Alex hurried to her side and whispered in her ear. The little girl grinned. “Traipsing!”
The other girls smiled and went on with the game until they couldn’t think of any more words with the letter ‘T’ then started over with the letter ‘B.’
Alex grinned as she walked back toward the front entry where people from the community poured inside the house. Dora and Greg Granger stood greeting each guest with a friendly smile and sincere welcome.
When the band began to play, Alex stood just inside the doors of the drawing room and listened as Arlan coaxed delightful notes from his trumpet.
From the private concert he gave her, she knew he played well, but it was thrilling to watch him perform with the other musicians. They segued from one song to another with such ease she almost didn’t realize they’d moved on to a different tune until she recognized “Jingle Bells.”
He caught her eye and winked as he played. Content to listen to the music, she felt a tug on her hand and looked down at Percy Bruner. When she bent over, he whispered in her ear and she smiled. She nodded her head and grinned as he scampered off to find his friends.
After an hour of children playing games with several of the adults joining them, Luke called for everyone’s attention. Chauncy offered a brief prayer before those attending filled their plates and found places to sit.
Alex sat on the floor in the gathering room with Percy and Anna on one side while Arlan squeezed his way next to her other. The band planned to eat quickly then return to providing music while everyone fin
ished with lunch.
Percy and Anna asked questions about the house as they ate then switched to asking Arlan about playing the trumpet.
“How can you make music on that thing, Mr. Guthry?” Percy asked, leaning around Alex to look at him. “I tried to blow on one in the store and Ma thought someone shut the cat in the delivery door again.”
A napkin hid Alex’s smile as the boy stared at Arlan, waiting for an answer.
Arlan replied to Percy, but held her gaze when he spoke. “You have to have strong lips and a lot of pucker, Percy. It just takes some practice, isn’t that right, Miss Alex?”
Aware his words carried a hidden message, one referring to their stolen kisses, thoughts of how much she’d enjoyed those lips on hers earlier made heat singe her cheeks.
“Are you feeling okay, Miss Alex?” Percy glanced at her with concern. “You’re face is almost as red as your coat.”
“I’m fine, but thank you for asking, Percy.” Alex smiled at the boy and focused her attention on her plate of food. When Arlan leaned closer to her, she jabbed her elbow into his side.
His grunt made her grin, but she turned to her students and asked them about their plans for Christmas while Arlan finished his meal.
Members of the band began to return to the front of the room ready to play again so Arlan handed her his plate and brushed his lips close to her ear. “Just remember, I’ve got plenty of pucker left for later.”
Her gaze whipped upward as he rose to his feet and joined the rest of the musicians.
The flirty wink he cast from across the room did nothing to calm the butterflies swarming her stomach. When he inconspicuously motioned from his mouth to hers, she hurried to her feet and left the room, taking their dirty dishes to the kitchen.
A group of women under Filly’s capable direction washed and dried dishes, laughing as they worked.
Quietly going out the kitchen door, Alex hurried to the livery where her wagon and horse waited. Speed borne from practice ensured she had Bill harnessed to Gramps in record time. She drove out to the house behind the school and loaded the last of her things then guided Bill to a place she never planned to go - the Decker house.
Chapter Twenty
Determined to do the right thing, Alex set the brake and climbed down from her wagon. Fortifying herself with a deep breath of cold air, she strode down the walk and up the steps.
A crisp knock didn’t garner a response so she tapped again before Mildred Decker opened it.
“Oh, hello.” The woman didn’t seem to know what to say since she had defamed Alex at every opportunity and been nothing but cruel to her.
Filled with a mixture of pity and mercy, Alex smiled at her. “I just wanted to check on Fred before I leave town.”
Mrs. Decker opened the door wider so Alex could step inside. “Are you really leaving?”
“Yes. Right after the carnival ends. Everyone is eating lunch, so I thought I’d pop over and say goodbye to your son, with your permission.”
“Ma! Who’s out there?” Alex heard the impatience in Fred’s voice, glad he sounded stronger than he had the last time she’d seen him a few days earlier.
Mrs. Decker sighed, but a small grin lifted up the corners of her mouth. “Go on and see him. He’ll keep hollering until one of us goes in there. It’s the first door down the hall.”
Alex walked down the short hall and into the tidy bedroom where Fred rested on the bed.
The bruises on his face had started to yellow around the edges and he had both eyes open, watching her as she approached his bed.
“Are you feeling better, Fred?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m glad.” Alex smiled at him, not certain what to say to a boy who had done his best to torment her the past few months. She reminded herself of his father, of what he’d no doubt endured from the awful man, and her heart softened. “I’m leaving today and wanted to say a proper goodbye.”
“Do you have to go?” Fred’s gaze appeared pleading as he looked at her. “If you’d stay, I promise to behave.”
Alex grinned at him. “Regardless of my whereabouts, you better behave.”
Fred smiled then grimaced as the motion stretched the cut skin of his lips. “I’m sorry about all the things I done to you, Miss Alex. It was wrong and I’m… well, I’m sorry.”
“I appreciate your apology, Fred, and you are forgiven. I’m sorry we didn’t get off to a better start.” Alex stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small metal token, sliding it into the boy’s hand. “I’d like for you to hang on to that for me.”
“What is it?” Fred lifted the token and studied it. One side held the word “believe” in a fancy script while the other had a moon and stars.
“It’s something my grandfather gave me a long time ago. He told me it’s a reminder to always believe in myself, in my dreams, and in others. No matter what, Fred, you keep believing in the good. Okay?”
Tears filled the boy’s eyes, but he held them back and nodded his hand. “Thank you, Miss Alex. I’ll… we’ll all miss you here.”
“I’ll miss you, too. You take care and be good to your mother.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Alex backed out of the room and turned to find Mrs. Decker swiping at tears with the hem of her apron.
“Thank you for rescuing my boy.” The woman engulfed her in a hug and Alex patted her back comfortingly.
“You’re welcome.” Alex took a step back and worried her bottom lip. “I’m sorry about your husband. I’m sure it will be…”
“A blessing to know he can’t hurt us or anyone else. Thank you for being brave enough to stop him.” Mrs. Decker squeezed her hand and gave her a smile full of gratitude.
Alex nodded her head and moved to the door. “Take care, Mrs. Decker, and remind Fred to be kind at school. The other students are more than willing to be his friend if he’d meet them halfway.”
Cold air blew around Alex as she opened the door and hurried to her wagon. Driving it the short distance down the street to where the carnival took place left her chilled to the bone. She covered Bill’s back with an old blanket before returning inside and hastening to the gathering room where the auction of the students’ work took place.
The younger students colored pictures or made simple craft items such as pinecone birds to donate to the auction. The older students contributed everything from flour sack aprons and muslin dolls to a beautifully crocheted shawl in the palest shade of yellow and a large wooden tray with carved handles. Blake donated a few of his pieces and Ginny offered two of her paintings.
An essay Tom composed about winter was the one thing Alex knew she had to have. He’d carefully written the words on a background of snow and stars that Alex asked Ginny to paint for him.
When he’d asked if she thought anyone would want to purchase the simple poem he wrote, she assured him someone would.
Even now, the words touched her heart.
Behind the cloak of deepest blue
Where diamonds lay at rest
A treasure awaits the pure at heart
Ransomed by the best.
On winter days of frosty quiet
When earth and man are still
Hope glides down in frosty dreams
Bringing peace and good will.
Not wanting any of the students to be upset she favored one of their projects over another, she asked Luke to bid on it for her when he and Blake helped her set up the auction table earlier in the week.
The bidding for Tom’s piece continued to rise and went past what Alex could afford to pay. Aware that Luke drove the price up intentionally, he placed the winning bid on the piece. After paying for it at the cashier’s table, he wandered around the room before eventually making his way to where Alex stood near the door and handed it to her.
“I… um, I can’t afford this Luke. I’m sorry. I should have told you I had a much more modest limit on the price.” Alex tried to hand it back to him, but he shook
his head.
“Keep it as a gift from us, to say thank you for taking such good care of the school and the students.”
Alex tamped down her tears and brushed her fingers across the frame. “Thank you, Luke. It’s been my pleasure.”
“Are you sure you won’t reconsider and stay here in town?” Luke glanced at Arlan as he helped the auctioneer keep the items straight. “We’d all love to have you become a permanent part of our community and continue as the schoolteacher. Even if you don’t want to teach, we’d be pleased if you’d stay.”
“No, Luke, I need to leave.”
“Can’t you at least stay through Christmas?”
Alex shook her head. If she stayed even one more day, she knew she’d lack the fortitude it took to leave. Filly’s words from that morning played through her thoughts, but she pushed them aside. Arlan would be so much better off with her gone. He deserved someone kind and loving who wanted only the best for him. Someone who could bring grace and tranquility to his home.
That was why she would leave as soon as possible, because the best for Arlan meant a future with someone else.
“No, Luke. It would just make things more difficult.”
She excused herself and took the poem out to her wagon then returned to the house and hurried upstairs. As soon as the auction ended, the crowd would move to the ballroom where she and Tom prepared to dazzle the group with a memorable magic experience.
After checking the curtains they’d set up and inspecting all the props one last time, she smiled encouragingly at Tom as the sound of excited voices floated upstairs and people wandered into the ballroom.
Tom stepped forward once everyone arrived and found a place to sit on the floor or stand. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. Prepare to be astounded by Alex the Amazing, the most beautiful prestidigitator in the world!”
Alex hurried out from behind the curtain and swept off her hat, bending in a regal bow.
She and Tom went through their routine without any mishaps. The crowd gasped in wonder, clapped and cheered, laughing at the jokes she and Tom shared.
The Christmas Calamity Page 22