Sarah's Choice

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  Sarah exchanged only a few words with Clem and kept her mind on the business at hand. She knew how dangerous it could be for a lock tender who didn’t pay close attention to what they were doing. Some lock tenders had gotten knocked over when they tried to get the pin in the wicket with one hand while they cranked with the other. If Sarah said more than a few words to any of the boatmen, it was usually after she’d finished the dangerous details of opening and closing the lock.

  After Bart’s boat passed through the lock, the next one came in, steered by Elias Brooks, the new boatman Sarah had met on his last trip through.

  “My helper said you might have some bread to sell,” Elias called to her.

  She gave a quick nod. “There’s some in the house.”

  “I’d like to buy a couple of loaves if you have any to spare.” Elias pulled his fingers through his thick reddish-blond hair, cut just below his ears.

  Sarah noticed for the first time that he had a large red blotch on his left cheek. No doubt, he’d been born with it.

  She pulled her gaze quickly away for fear that he would think she’d been staring at him. “I’ll get the bread as soon as your boat goes through. If you have time, you can tie up to one of the posts along the bank.”

  Elias looked at Ned, as though seeking his approval. Ned turned his hands palms up. “Guess we’ll have to ‘cause we do need the bread.”

  “That’s what we’ll do,” Elias said with a nod.

  Sarah did her job, and after Elias’s boat made it through the lock, he maneuvered the boat toward the bank, while she hurried to the house to get the bread.

  When she stepped inside, she stuck her head into the parlor. Maria was still on the sofa, and Kelly and Betsy sat in the chairs across from her.

  “Where’s Pastor William?” Sarah asked.

  “He went to get Dr. McGrath,” Betsy replied.

  Sarah had been so busy with the boats that she hadn’t seen the pastor leave her house.

  “I need to take some bread to one of the boatmen,” she said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Kelly smiled. “No problem. Take your time.”

  Sarah rushed into the kitchen, grabbed two loaves of bread, and ran out the door. She was halfway up the wooden plank leading to Elias’s boat when her foot caught on a loose board, and one of the loaves flew out of her hands. She lunged for it, and gasped when it plopped into the canal.

  Elias raced down the ramp and grabbed Sarah’s arm. “Are you okay?”

  Sarah’s face heated as she nodded slowly. She felt like a clumsy fool. “I–I’m so sorry, but I dropped one of your loaves of bread into the canal.”

  Quack! Quack! Quack! A pair of mallard ducks landed on the water and quickly converged on the bread.

  “Well, at least it won’t go to waste,” Elias said with a chuckle.

  Sarah handed him the one good loaf. “I’ll go back to the house and get you another.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” Elias said. “That way you won’t have to come back out here again.”

  “At least not until another boat comes,” Sarah muttered. This had not been a good way to begin her day.

  Elias waited on the porch while Sarah went into the house. When she entered the kitchen to get another loaf of bread, Bristle Face, the scruffy-looking terrier Betsy had given them several months ago, ran in front of her, and she nearly lost her balance.

  Sarah looked at Willis, who sat at the kitchen table with Helen and their cousins. “Would you please hold on to the dog until I’ve gone back outside?”

  “Sure, Mama.”

  Sarah stuck her head into the parlor again. “Is everything okay in here?”

  “Maria’s sleeping,” Betsy whispered. “Are you done outside?”

  “Not yet. I accidentally dropped a loaf of bread into the canal and had to get a new one.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” Kelly asked.

  “I think everything’s under control. Elias Brooks is waiting outside for his bread, and he was very nice about the bread I dropped. I’ll just be a few more minutes.”

  Sarah hurried outside, and found Elias sitting on the porch step, talking with his young mule driver, as well as Sammy, who’d just gotten home from school.

  “Do you get to do much fishing in the canal?” Elias asked Sammy.

  Sammy shook his head. “Used to fish some when Papa was alive.” He glanced up at Sarah. “Mama’s too busy for fishin’, and she won’t let me fish alone.”

  “Sure wish I had time to go fishin’.” Bobby stared at the canal with a wistful expression. “But I guess that’s never gonna happen ‘cause I’m too busy leadin’ the mules.”

  “Maybe some Sunday we can do some fishing,” Elias said.

  Bobby’s eyes lit up, and so did Sammy’s. “Ya mean it?” Bobby asked.

  Elias nodded. “Sure thing.”

  “Can I fish with ya?” Sammy asked.

  “If we’re anywhere near here on a Sunday, we’d be happy to have you join us. That is, if your mother doesn’t mind.” Elias looked up at Sarah, as if to gauge her response.

  “I—I don’t know.” Sarah leaned on the porch railing. She became edgy any time her children got too close to the water. After Sam had been killed, she’d been more nervous than ever.

  Sammy tugged on the edge of Sarah’s apron. “Please, Mama. Can I go fishin’ with Bobby and the nice man?”

  Not wishing to create a scene or embarrass Sammy, Sarah patted the top of his head and said, “We’ll have to wait and see how it goes.” Secretly, she hoped that Elias never stopped anywhere near Walnutport on a Sunday.

  Chapter 6

  As Sarah, followed by Sammy, approached their front door, Pastor William showed up with the doctor.

  “I’m so glad you’re here, Dr. McGrath. As you know, Maria hasn’t been feeling well for some time. Earlier today, she fell and hit her head because she couldn’t see where she was going.” Sarah drew in a quick breath. “I’m really worried about her, and we’ve been trying to talk her into moving to Easton to live with her son, Roger, but she refuses to go.”

  Dr. McGrath nodded his nearly bald head. “Pastor William has already filled me in. So let’s go inside, and after I’ve examined Maria, I’ll see if I can convince her to move.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  As Dr. McGrath and Pastor William headed for the parlor, Sarah ushered Sammy into the kitchen where the other children were playing.

  “Is…is Grandma gonna die, Mama?” Sammy’s chin trembled, and his blue eyes widened.

  “No, son, but she’s losing her eyesight, and it’s not good for her to be here anymore. She needs to be in Easton where she can get help for her eyes and have someone to take care of her.”

  “I’ll take care of her, and I’ll keep an eye on Helen and Willis, too. I can quit school and stay home so I can help with whatever you need to have done.”

  Sarah gave Sammy’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “It’s nice of you to volunteer, but you’re still a little boy. Taking care of Grandma would be a full-time job, not to mention your busy little brother and sister.” She tweaked the end of his nose. “Besides, you need to go to school so you can learn to read and write. You need to get an education so you can get a good-paying job when you grow up—something that will get you away from the canal.”

  Deep wrinkles etched his small forehead. “But I like the canal. Just wish I could go fishin’ whenever I wanted to.”

  “Maybe your uncle Mike will take you fishing sometime, but you’re never to go near the water when you’re alone. Is that clear?”

  He nodded. “That nice man with the red blotch on his face said he’d take me fishin’ some Sunday. Can I go with him, Mama? Can I, please?”

  “We go to church on Sundays; you know that.”

  “How ‘bout after church? That canaler said some Sunday afternoon, so he must’ve meant after church.”

  “We’ll see, Sammy. In the meantime, I want you to go in the
kitchen.” Sarah opened the door. “Now, shoo.”

  “Here you go,” Elias said, handing the bread he’d bought to Ned. “This should last us for a few days, don’t you think?”

  Ned grunted. “I s’pose it will, but after all the time you spent gabbin’ to the lock tender, we’ll be even later gettin’ to Easton with our load of coal.”

  “We’ll get there when we get there.”

  Ned glanced over his shoulder. “Sure is a shame a purty lady like Sarah has to work so hard to provide for her kids.”

  Elias nodded. “Here on the canal, a lot of men and women work hard for a living.”

  “Which is why I can’t figure out how come a smart, school-learned man like yourself would wanna run this here boat.”

  “I’ve told you before… I’m honoring my grandfather’s wishes.” Elias motioned to the trees bordering the towpath along the canal. “Besides, I enjoy it here on the water. It’s peaceful, and the folks who live along here are down-to-earth, not phony.”

  “It ain’t always so peaceful,” Ned said with a shake of his head. “When some liquored-up canaler starts spoutin’ off at some other fella, things can get real loud and ugly ‘round here. Not to mention some of the brawls that take place when someone loses his temper ‘cause they’re tryin’ to beat some other boat through the lock.” Ned cupped his hands around his mouth and turned away from Elias. “Hey, mule boy,” he called to Bobby, “quit draggin’ your feet and get them mules movin’ faster! We ain’t got all day, ya know!”

  Elias’s jaw clenched as he ground his teeth together. Why did Ned think he needed to shout orders at Bobby like that? This was Elias’s boat, and he was the only one who should be giving orders.

  Of course, he reasoned, the boy was walking kind of slow and probably did need a bit of prodding. It just could have been done in a nicer tone.

  “I don’t think you need to holler at Bobby like that,” Elias told Ned. “A little kindness goes a long way, you know.”

  Ned slapped the side of his pant leg and snorted real loud. “A little kindness might go a long way if you’re tryin’ to court some purty woman, but ya need to let your mule driver know who’s boss from the get-go, or he’ll slow ya down. And that’ll cost ya more money than he’s worth.”

  “I’ll take your advice under consideration.”

  When Sarah stepped into the parlor, she stood off to one side with the others as Dr. McGrath examined Maria. When he was done, he took Maria’s hand and said, “Your eyes have gotten much worse, and as I’ve said before, without proper treatment it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be completely blind. I do think you’d be better off in Easton, where you can be seen by a specialist.”

  Maria opened her mouth as if to respond, but Sarah cut her off. “I’m going to send Roger a letter tomorrow morning and ask him to come get you.”

  Betsy stepped forward. “And you don’t need to worry about anything here, because we’ll see that Sarah gets all the help she needs.”

  Tears welled in Maria’s eyes as she slowly nodded. “I’ll go, but I don’t have to like it.”

  Sarah knew she and the children would miss Maria, but it was for the best. She just wished she didn’t have to rely on Betsy and Kelly for help, because they both had busy lives of their own. If only there was some other kind of work she could do to support her children. She just didn’t know what it could be.

  Chapter 7

  One week later, Roger came to escort Maria to Easton.

  As Sarah helped Maria pack her bags, she was filled with a deep sense of sadness. It was hard to let Maria go. The dear woman had lived with them after Sarah and Sam came back to the canal when Sammy was still a little guy. Then when Sam’s father died, Maria had gone to live with Roger and his wife in Easton, but she’d returned to the canal to help Sarah after Sam was killed. Sarah had become dependent on Maria, and the children were attached to her, too.

  “I wish I didn’t have to go,” Maria said. “I wish my eyes weren’t failing me.”

  Sarah took a seat on the bed beside Maria and slipped her arm around Maria’s waist. “I wish that, too, and we’re going to miss you very much, but moving to Easton is the best thing for you right now.”

  Maria sighed. “I know.”

  A knock sounded on the bedroom door. “Are you ready, Mom? We need to get a move on if we’re going to catch our train to Easton,” Roger called through the closed door.

  “Come in,” Sarah said. She closed Maria’s reticule and set it on the floor.

  “Is everything ready?” Roger asked as he entered the room.

  “Yes, her trunk is packed, and so is her smaller reticule.” Sarah swallowed past the lump in her throat. Roger, though a bit taller and a few years older than Sam, looked so much like him. Roger had the same blond hair and blue eyes as his brother, only Roger sported a handlebar mustache, and Sam had always been clean-shaven. Roger worked at Glendon Iron Works, not far from Easton, and his wife, Mary, who was home all day, would be the one responsible for taking care of Maria. Sarah found comfort in knowing that Maria would have good care in Easton.

  Sarah picked up the reticule, and Roger lifted Maria’s trunk. Then they all went downstairs. The children, who’d been eating breakfast in the kitchen, gathered around Maria near the door.

  “Sure wish you didn’t hafta go,” Sammy said, his voice quivering as he struggled not to cry.

  Maria patted the top of his head. “Maybe you can come to Easton to visit me sometime.”

  “That ain’t never gonna happen,” Sammy said with a shake of his head. “Mama has to be here all the time so she can open the lock.”

  “Maybe you can visit us sometime this winter when the canal’s closed,” Roger suggested.

  Sarah bit her lip to keep from saying what was on her mind. With her limited funds, she didn’t see any way that they’d ever be able to afford a trip to Easton. She wasn’t about to tell Sammy that, though. No point in upsetting him any more than he already was.

  “Well, it’s time to go,” Roger said. “If we don’t head out now, we will miss our train.”

  Maria bent to give each of the children a hug, then she turned to Sarah and said, “Take care. I’ll be praying for you.”

  Sarah hugged Maria. “I’ll be praying for you, too.”

  When Betsy arrived at Sarah’s, she found Sarah outside, letting a boat through the lock. “Oh no,” she muttered. “I should have gotten here sooner. I’m sure the children are in the house by themselves, and poor Sarah must be worried about them.”

  Betsy hurried to the house, where she found Sarah’s children sitting at the kitchen table, coloring a picture. “I thought you would have left for school by now,” she said to Sammy.

  He shook his head. “Since there was no one here to watch Willis and Helen, Mama said I should stay until you got here, ‘cause someone has to keep an eye on ‘em.”

  “I’m so sorry. I should have been here sooner.” Betsy pulled out a chair and took a seat beside Sammy. “Now that I’m here, you can go to school.”

  His nose crinkled as he frowned. “I’d rather stay here so I can teach Bristle Face some new tricks. I wanna teach him to play dead and roll over.”

  “You can do that after you get home from school.”

  His eyes brightened. “Since Bristle Face used to be your dog, do ya wanna help me teach him some tricks?”

  “I probably won’t be here when you get home from school,” Betsy said. “Your aunt Kelly will be taking over for me later this afternoon so I can practice the songs I’ll be playing this Sunday at church.” She smiled at the children. “If your mother’s willing, I’d like to have you all over to our house for lunch after church lets out.”

  “Oh, Mama will be willing,” Sammy said. “Now that Grandma’s gone, Mama will be stuck with all the cookin’ whether she likes it or not.”

  Betsy suppressed a smile. Children could be so honest about things. She looked forward to the day that she and William would have chil
dren of their own. Of course, they’d only been married since Christmas of last year, so most folks would say they still had plenty of time. Betsy didn’t see it that way, though. She was thirty-three and wanted some children before she was too old to enjoy them.

  She pointed to Sammy’s lunch pail sitting on the counter. “You’d better head to school now, Sammy, or you’ll really be late.”

  He grunted as he pushed his chair aside and stood. “Okay. I’ll see ya tomorrow, Betsy.”

  “Hey, mule boy, get a move on!” Ned shouted from the bow of the boat. “How come you’re draggin’ your feet again?”

  “I ain’t feelin’ so well,” Bobby called in return. “Think I might throw up.”

  Ned flapped his hand, like he was shooing away a pesky fly. “Aw, quit your bellyachin’ and get a move on now!”

  Elias frowned as he stepped up to Ned. “Stop yelling at the boy. If he’s sick, then we can’t make him work.”

  Ned’s forehead wrinkled, and he popped a piece of chewing tobacco in his mouth. “If that boy don’t keep walkin’, we’ll never get this load of coal back to Easton.”

  “But if he’s sick…”

  “He ain’t sick. He’s just lazy, that’s all.”

  Elias shook his head. “I don’t think he’s lazy. I think…”

  “What in tarnation is that boy doin’?” Ned leaned over the boat and shook his fist. “What are ya doin’ there in the bushes?”

  Bobby, who was now crouched behind a clump of bushes, rose slowly to his feet as he clutched his stomach. “Just lost my breakfast, and I feel kinda weak.”

  “That’s it, we’re stopping!” Elias grabbed the tiller and turned the boat into the bank.

  “What are we stoppin’ for?” Ned grumbled. “We’ll never get to Easton if we stop here.”