by Unknown
Another time he may have contemplated changing his mind, but not this morning. He hated that he’d hurt her feelings, of course, but it was high time she learned she couldn’t always have things her way.
Playing the part of both parents wasn’t easy. Armed with fortitude, he closed the door behind him and headed for the barn.
***
“Benjamin, what in blazes was ya thinkin’ by offerin’ up this place to that new schoolteacher?” Thom Hayes was standing at the top of an unstable ladder handing Ben more roofing supplies.
Ben gazed at him from the roof’s peak. Thankfully, the weather had held off till now, but every minute was touch and go the way the dark clouds loomed. Air so still and close made the warm, early morning temperature seem that much worse.
He gave his friend a rueful smile and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “Thom, I’ve asked myself the same thing more than once.”
“Well, I’d say it was mighty generous,” Willie Jenkins shouted up. Hammer in hand and pocket full of nails, he set out to repair the tiny porch. “A little screw-headed maybe, but downright generous.” Ben chuckled and reached for the additional roofing materials.
“Appreciate the kind words,” he shouted down.
“Mighty sticky this mornin’,” Willie added, staring up at the sky.
“We’re in fer a storm,” said Thom.
“Let’s pray it holds off till I finish the worst of this patching.”
Approaching hoofbeats came over the rise just beyond the creek crossing, putting a stop to the conversation.
“Someone’s comin’,” Willie announced.
“I see that. Anyone recognize them?” Ben asked.
Two men on horseback, saddlebags bulging, galloped into view.
“Looks like Jeb Gunner and Sully Thompson. Word must’ve got ’round that we was needin’ some extra help out here.”
Ben settled into a sitting position and removed his hat to run his hand through his scruffy, longish hair.
“Hullo there!” shouted Willie. “What brings you two out here?”
“What’s it look like?” Jeb asked, his ready grin revealing a few missing teeth. Bringing his horse to a stop, he dropped the reins and slid easily from the saddle. “The missus told me I best get out here to help else she’d consider givin’ my supper to the hogs.” He immediately went for his saddlebag and lifted the flap. “Brought out some extra tools.”
Ben laughed. “Sure are grateful for the offer. As you can pretty well tell, we have our work cut out for us.”
“Whoo-eee!” Sully moaned. “This here is what ya call a project!” Still sitting atop his mount, he repositioned himself in the saddle and scanned his surroundings, lazily resting a hand atop the saddle’s horn. Rotted and warped floorboards, already pulled up from inside the house, lay scattered about the ground, while fresh cedar boards stood neatly stacked against the house. Here and there lay bits and pieces of debris that someone had tossed haphazardly, knowing there’d be a huge bonfire later. Taking off his hat, Sully slapped it hard against his knee. Even from his place on the roof, Ben could see the dust fly helter-skelter. Among other things, dust was something all farmers had in common.
“Looks like you spared no expense on them boards,” Jeb noted, glancing at the fresh cedar slats.
Ben couldn’t explain himself, but when he’d gone to the sawmill and seen the puncheon floor boards, mere split logs with their faces a little smoothed over with an axe or hatchet, stacked beside the smooth cedar, there’d been no contest. How could he expect a prim little schoolmarm to walk barefooted across boards that would fill her feet with splinters? To think he’d gone soft was a fear he harbored, so he hoped the matter would pass over quickly.
“Got a decent price,” he mumbled.
“Yeah? You got cedar floors in yer own house?” Jeb asked the question, but all the men waited for his reply.
Ben exhaled noisily. “No, I don’t have cedar flooring. I have oak slats. What difference does that make?”
A lifted eyebrow on Sully’s crusty face hinted at amusement. “Yer awful touchy on the subject. It was a simple ’nough question.”
Ben could have kicked himself for his overreaction. Maybe it was because he wasn’t completely sure himself why he’d splurged. “I suppose I’m feeling the pressure of getting this place finished. We all have crops that need our attention. I figured if I purchased quality stuff I’d be less likely to have to make repairs on the place later.”
“Makes good business sense,” Willie muttered.
“Yer right about us all havin’ crops that need tendin’,” Thom said. “I got fences to mend on the east side of my property, an ailing horse, and cabbage fields what need weedin’.”
Each one added to his personal list of ongoing tasks until they’d exhausted the subject. Sully finally climbed down off his horse and headed inside the house. “This pump work?” he called from the kitchen area.
“Well’s good, pump needs priming,” Ben answered. “Water’s probably rusty from lack of use.”
“Cupboards are hangin’ crooked. Chimney got any cracks?” he asked.
“Not that I know of.”
“Sink’s black. Ceiling looks a little warped.”
Ben smiled. “Did you come out here to work or to grumble? We already know this place is a shambles without your rubbing it in.”
“Just pointin’ out a few things.”
“Yeah, well, you’d do well to get to work. Never know when that schoolteacher might show up. Wouldn’t set well with her if you didn’t look busy,” Ben said, setting a roofing nail in place.
“You met her yet?” Jeb asked after hauling out the old three-legged table and adding it to the pile of rubble.
“I have.” Best to keep his answers short, he determined.
“What did you think?” That from Jeb Gunner.
Ben smiled to himself. “What does it matter?”
“Just curious. She look tough enough to handle the likes o’ them Hogsworth twins or Rufus Baxter?”
Ben laughed. “That remains to be seen. She doesn’t appear to be much taller than my Lili, but I have a feeling she’ll give them a run for their money regardless of her size. She struck me as a regular spitfire.”
“That’s so.”
“Well, now, ain’t this interestin’?” Sully chimed from below.
“What’s that?” Ben hollered back.
“Just found me a brand new picture fer hangin’. ’Twas stashed on the top shelf of this here wardrobe. Nice country scene with a river runnin’ through, pretty mountains in the background. Words inscribed on it are Patience Is a Virtue.”
Ben set to driving each nail faster and harder. He should have left the picture at home. He might have known someone would come across it, even if he’d done his best to hide it.
“Where’d it come from?” Willie asked.
Ben yanked a few more nails out of his hip pocket and fastened another shingle in place.
“Ben?”
“What?”
“You buy this picture for the schoolmarm?”
“No, I bought it for the cabin,” he clarified.
“Ah, the cabin,” Sully said with a chuckle. “Mighty nice gesture.”
Chapter Five
Liza trudged through mud up to her ankles on her way out to the necessary behind the little schoolhouse. Why nature seemed to call at the most inopportune times she couldn’t say. Drenching rain soaked through to her scalp and saturated every inch of her clothing. And it was not the sort of rain that looked as if it’d be letting up anytime soon. At least it had held off until mid-afternoon, giving her plenty of time to walk to the school, survey the surrounding properties, and wash the six classroom windows from the outside. She’d spent the rest of the afternoon inside her classroom taking inventory of her stock, meager as it was, dusting shelves, rearranging books, and going over class lists.
Two little white sheds, one with the word Girls painted in black on the door
and the other, Fellows, stood at the back of the property. Hurrying along the beaten path, she glanced out over the open fields before throwing wide the door, thinking she had glimpsed two shadows lurking behind some trees, but too distracted to pay the matter much attention.
Moments later, muffled footsteps approached. Disconcerted, she waited for any kind of clue to the indistinguishable sounds but came up with nothing. She thought about asking who was there, but the very notion seemed silly, if not downright awkward. Perhaps whoever passed had no idea she was even inside; thus, asking would bring about undue embarrassment. No, it was better that she wait things out. In time, they were sure to move on. Besides, who would linger long in this rain?
But as the minutes ticked away and she continued to hear scuffling sounds and quiet movement, it appeared whoever was out there was up to no good. They seemed to be running around the outhouse and every once in a while tapping against it.
“Hello?” she finally called out, standing and straining to find a crack in the wall where she could get a bird’s-eye view. Unfortunately, they’d built the structure in such a way as to ensure total privacy. Liza found herself cursing the good craftsmanship. “Who’s there?”
Rain continued pelting the roof, but it didn’t blot out the stifled giggles and guffaws coming from the other side of the outhouse. She knew without a doubt that some kind of plan was in the making. She also knew it was the sort she wouldn’t approve of.
“What’s going on out there?” she demanded. Still no verbal response, just quiet laughter, the kind that came from rascally boys. Somewhat afraid for her safety, yet confident someone was playing a simple, harmless prank, she pushed at the door, intending to face the troublemakers head-on. However, the thing refused to budge.
“All right, this has gone far enough. Open this door,” she said, exuding all the authority she could gather.
More spurts of laughter.
“Apparently you find this funny,” she said. “I can assure you I will not punish you if you simply let me out. In fact, we’ll all have a good laugh. How does that sound? Are you my future students?”
No answer. Even worse was the pounding of retreating footsteps and continued distant laughter.
“Hey, where are you going?” she called out, as if they would pay her any mind. “Come back here.”
Frenzied, she pushed and pounded on the door, even called out to anyone who might be passing by despite the rain. Although embarrassed by her situation, she did not relish the thought of spending the night here. Surely, someone would come along.
As the perpetrators’ laughter disintegrated, she found herself standing in stunned silence, the onslaught of rain somehow lending to her sense of isolation and despair.
With a frown, Liza closed her eyes to ponder her situation and then spun in a circle as if to stir up her thinking capacity. But thinking was not that easy in the confines of her odor-filled environs.
***
“Will Miss Merriwether be at Miss Browning’s Boardinghouse, Papa?”
“I would think so, pumpkin. It’s well after supper. Unless she’s gone out calling.”
“Has she made lots of friends?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
With the rain coming to a stop, Lili had talked her father into allowing her to ride into town with him to gather up a few supplies. Molly bounced happily on his knee as they rolled along. In her finagling, Lili had also managed to convince him to take her to visit Miss Merriwether. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the sun had peeked out, the air had dried and cooled considerably, and Molly was in chipper spirits, he’d have frowned at the notion. However, he did need more roofing nails for the cabin, additional screws, and some different hinges for the new door he was installing. He just hoped old Mr. Johansson was still open for business at the mercantile. The man kept the strangest hours.
“What color is her hair?” Lili asked out of the blue.
“What?”
“Miss Merriwether’s hair.”
Uncomfortable with trying to explain the teacher’s fair looks, he said, “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Don’t you even know?” she asked, eyes filled with disbelief. Molly sang a happy tune of her own making as the wagon took each bump and curve in the well-traveled road.
Ben kissed Molly on the top of her blond head and smiled down at Lili. “I told you everything I’m going to tell you, sugar. You will have to make your own conclusions as to your teacher’s looks when you meet her.”
“Oh, I just know she will be pretty,” she cried, exuding excitement.
Sighing, he asked, “Lili, what does it matter how she will look?”
“Mama was pretty. I just want to look at another pretty lady.”
Ben’s heart fell clear to his toes then crawled slowly back into position. How should he respond to a remark like that? Lili rarely talked about her mother, although he’d certainly never discouraged her. Sometimes he wondered if she’d put her mother out of her mind completely. A child’s early memories didn’t often stand the test of time, but Lili’s comment eased his mind on that theory.
“Well then, I suppose you won’t be disappointed,” he managed to say.
The town was bustling with activity for early evening. Perhaps it was the fact that the hot temperatures had let up, lifting folks’ spirits. Several men stood clustered on the sidewalk in front of the post office, conversing, while their womenfolk carried on their own conversation in front of Flanders’ Food Store up the road.
A couple of dogs chasing after a cat crossed in front of the wagon, and Ben had to pull back on the reins in order to allow their frantic passage. He passed by Sam’s Livery and waved at Rocky Callahan, who was just leaving. Rocky was an old friend who’d come upon some hard times of his own, having lost his wife to smallpox some three years ago; and, as if one loss wasn’t enough, his four-year-old son had died from a high fever mere months ago. The man’s face never had regained its ready smile. It was one thing to lose a beloved wife, but a child as well? Rocky had stopped coming to church altogether, making Ben wonder if he’d lost his faith along with his family.
Johansson’s Mercantile bore a Closed sign, but the man himself sat on a rocker outside his establishment. Ben drove his rig up to the hitching post, climbed down with Molly in his arms and Lili close behind, and then wrapped the reins around the post.
“Mind if I pick up a few supplies inside?” Ben asked.
“Sign says closed,” Eldred Johansson said, pointing.
“I can read,” Ben said with a grin, “but I thought since you were sitting right here that perhaps you wouldn’t mind…”
“Well, now that you put it that way, I suppose I could open for a few minutes more. Just for you, mind you.”
“Much obliged, Eldred.”
The aged man stood to his feet, then delivered a mischievous look. “’Sides, I do think I have a few extra candy sticks in my drawer just longing to go to some sweet little girls.”
“That so?” Ben asked, playing along.
“Papa…” Lili whispered, squeezing his hand.
The wagon filled with supplies to last at least a few more days, the Broughton family headed in the direction of Emma Browning’s Boardinghouse. Lili sucked daintily on her strawberry candy stick, while Molly went at her orange one with a vengeance, slobbering and wiping her sticky fingers on Ben’s Levi’s every time the need arose.
At the front door, Emma greeted the three of them with a smile. Wearing a plain gown that gathered at her trim waist, she wiped her brow with the back of her hand and laughed as soon as she laid eyes on them. “Well, my, my, look who’s here. How ya’ll been?”
Ben returned the smile, suddenly and unexpectedly nervous at the prospect of asking to see Miss Merriwether. He didn’t want any rumors passing about him coming to call on the new schoolteacher. “We’re just fine, Emma. You?”
“Me? Gracious, I’m good as can be considerin’ I got me a crop o’ hooligans stayin’ under my
roof. Sure do wish I could get some decent men to come and stay for a change.”
Ben laughed. “You could always say no to the worst of them.”
“Oh, I do, believe me. I weed through ’em much as I can. Matter o’ fact, I sent old Ezra Browning on his way the other night. Sent him off to Guttersnipe’s place. That man was just a swimmin’ in his ale. Couldn’t have made it back to his own place if he’d had a rope tied around him and someone pulling him there.”
It amazed Ben how she referred to her drunken father as if he were just another lout off the street. He’d heard tales of her upbringing, even remembered as a kid the cuts and bruises she’d endured at her father’s cruel hand. But the truth was she’d come through it tough as nails and with a seemingly good-natured outlook.
Of course, she was standoffish with men, and with good right. To his knowledge, she’d never courted a single soul, although she certainly was pretty enough to win most any man’s notice. Most had come to accept her for who she was—engaging from a distance but downright lethal if you got too close.
Ben, however, rated differently. He’d never approached her on any level but friendly. Thus, she’d let down her defenses with him, allowing for a sort of affable alliance between them.
“Would you like to come in?”
“Is Miss Merriwether here?” Lili shot out before Ben even had the chance to explain their sudden appearance on Emma’s doorstep.
“Lili, I was getting to that,” he said, laying a hand on Lili’s head and willing her to keep quiet. Then, giving Emma an apologetic look, he said, “Lili’s been very excited about meeting the new schoolteacher.”
Emma smiled and bent down so her face came within inches of Lili’s. “Why, look at how you’ve grown. I hardly even recognized you, honey.”
Lili smiled and stood tall. “Thank you, Miss Browning. Is she?”
“What? Oh, Miss Merriwether?” She stood back up and lent her index finger to Molly, who hadn’t stopped working on her candy stick for one second. Molly spared a sticky hand for Emma’s finger and passed her a quick smile that revealed two front teeth the color of her orange stick. Emma smiled at Molly, then turned a serious eye on Ben.