Kiss Of The Night Wind

by Taylor, Janelle

  As if reading her mind, Martin remarked, “I’ll have a carpenter work on it next week. We don’t want parents blaming you for an accident.” He pointed to a partially fenced area and informed her, “That’s where the children play during recess. The boards near the ground keep out snakes and other undesirable creatures. It also keeps the children in an area you can control. Let’s go inside.”

  There was no moisture on Carrie Sue’s face, but she felt as if her clothes were getting damp. Obviously the man’s warning about the climate here was accurate, something to remember. The shade of the schoolhouse felt good to her flesh and eyes. She let her gaze grow accustomed to the lack of glare before looking around. There were twenty student’s desks placed in rows of fives, all facing the lengthy wooden desk upon a raised section of flooring. On the wall behind the teacher’s desk was a chalkboard, flanked by shelves on each side. A long pole sat in one corner for pushing up and pulling down the two high window sashes. In the other stood an American flag with its thirty-seven stars. The bell rope was wound about a peg near the door, and she had a mischievous urge to ring it. On one side of the doorway was a bench, and on the other side was a row of pegs for winter garments.

  The floors, desks, window sills, and shelves were covered in dirt. The window panes were so clouded that seeing outside was nearly impossible. It appeared as if the school hadn’t been cleaned in months, and the windows had been left opened during a violent dust storm. This meant she had a lot of sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, and polishing ahead of her. Perhaps she could hire Maria to help with the first cleaning.

  Carrie Sue approached the shelves behind her new desk. Small chalkboards, boxes of chalk, pencils, paper, books, and other items were stacked there. “You furnish such supplies rather than the families?”

  “The parents pay a small fee which makes up that supply budget I mentioned earlier. It’s easier for everyone if the teacher provides them on the first day of school. When it closed, the children were asked to leave them here so they wouldn’t get lost while we sought a replacement for Helen Cooper.”

  “What happened to Miss Cooper? Did she move or retire?”

  “I’m afraid Miss Cooper met with a terrible accident.”

  “What happened?” she pressed.

  “Mining’s a big part of our territory, so she wanted to teach the children about it. She asked to take them out to the one I own. I agreed to let her visit first to make certain she knew what she was doing. Once we got inside where it was dark and narrow, she panicked and started running for the entrance. She fell into a pit and broke her neck. Since it was my mine and she was in my care, I’ve taken a responsibility to help replace her. If you get the same idea, I’ll have to refuse your request. But I can send one of my men here with samples to give a lesson.”

  “That’s very kind and thoughtful, Mr. Ferris. Shall we begin our tour of your town?”

  As they were leaving, he said, “I’ll have notices sent out to all parents to let them know we have a new teacher and school will open again on June fifth. That is, if you’ve found everything agreeable today.”

  “Everything is fine with me, Mr. Ferris.” Actually, she was getting excited about this new challenge.

  “Excellent, Miss Starns. I promise you’ll love it here.”

  As they rode past homes and businesses, Martin Ferris told her who lived there or owned them, and sometimes their history. His driver took them to where the streets Calle de la Guardia and Calle Real met near the entry to the Presidio. He helped her out of his carriage and told the driver, “We’ll walk a spell.”

  As they did so, he pointed out the size of the old Spanish fort. The adobe wall was twelve feet high and ran for about seven hundred and fifty feet on each side. He explained how the soldiers and their families had lived inside the Presidio and how settlers had lived and farmed beyond it. He pointed out where the fiestas were still held on special occasions, and she could almost hear the music and laughter and smell the Mexican foods. She saw the home built by Edward Nye Fish and the one beside it which belonged to Hiram Stevens, his friend.

  She was shown La Casa Cordova, one of the oldest buildings in Tucson. She saw the unusual outside of Leonardo Romero’s home which was built over part of the Presidio wall. He told her that Soledad Jacome’s residence had been completed only last year, that it had saguaro rib ceilings, expensive woodwork, and several corner fireplaces.

  She noticed people of many races and cultures, living and working as if no one here was aware of any differences between them. Shops with Spanish and American names and goods were located here and there, and she was amazed by what this walled area contained. She studied its columns and arches, its highly decorated facade, the tile roofs, and traditional canales: drain pipes to allow water to flow off the flat roofs. Most of the private homes had been built ten to fifteen years ago, but some were much older. It was a splendid blend of cultures.

  “How do you like Tucson so far?” he asked.

  “It’s breathtaking and amazing,” she commented.

  “Just as you are, Carolyn,” he murmured.

  As if she hadn’t heard him, she glanced his way with an innocent expression and asked, “What did you say, sir?”

  “I said, I promised you would love it here. We’ll meet a few people, then have some dinner. It’s already three o’clock. You must be famished. I didn’t mean to starve you during our tour.”

  This man could be very charming, she concluded, but deceitfully so. She had been so engrossed by the scenery that she had forgotten about time and business, and his company. “Learning new things is always fascinating to me, so I forget everything else. Lead on, Mr. Ferris,” she teased, having decided to spend more time with him to observe him. Too, she might encounter T.J. Rogue along the way. Her handsome rescuer had told her he would be in town for a while, and he did know where she was staying and working. Surely he hadn’t already dismissed her from mind.

  After meeting the other members of the town council, Carrie Sue sat down in a nice restaurant to eat with Martin. They were served baked chicken, rice with gravy, biscuits, jam, and canned carrots. The delicious meal was finished off with dried apple pie and coffee.

  Carrie Sue shifted in her chair and sent him a rueful smile. “I must get home now, Mr. Ferris; it’s late and I’m exhausted. I can see that my unpacking will have to wait another day.”

  “If you’ll call me Martin, I’ll escort you home this moment.”

  “As you wish,” she responded with a lightness which she didn’t feel.

  Mrs. Thayer met her in the front parlor and asked, “Are you all right, Miss Starns? I was worried about you when you missed dinner and supper is nearly ready to go on the table.”

  As she removed her hat, she explained, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Thayer, but Mr. Ferris practically refused to return me home until I knew Tucson by heart and had met everyone he called ‘important.’ He insisted we stop to eat at four-thirty. He’s a most persistent man and I didn’t want to offend him so soon after my arrival.”

  “I thought I saw a twinkle in his eye when he arrived this morning. Be wary of him, Carolyn,” she advised, switching to her first name and lowering her voice to prevent being overheard. “He’s a rich and powerful man, and he likes to have his way.”

  “Did Helen Cooper live here, too? Did he pester her like this?”

  Mrs. Thayer’s smile faded completely. “She moved here about a month before her death. She saw him now and again, but she seemed afraid of him. He always sent his carriage and driver after her, didn’t come himself like a real gentleman should.”

  “He said she had an accident in his mine. Is that true?”

  “She left here to visit it with him, but she didn’t want to go. She’d been feeling poorly ever since she moved in. She never came back. He told everyone she got scared inside the mine and took a fall while trying to get outside.”

  “You sound as if you don’t believe his tale.”

  “I’ve talked too much as
it is. Just keep this between us, but watch him with a tight eye. And stay out of that dangerous mine,” she warned like a frightened mother. “I have to get back to work.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Thayer. I’ll be careful.”

  The older woman smiled at her and tweaked her cheek. “I know you will, girl. You’re smart and brave—noticed that right off. Helen weren’t nothing like you. She was weak and scared. Can’t blame her; she needed this job to keep her out of the whorehouse. There ain’t many jobs for a woman alone, ‘specially if she ain’t got no money. Maybe it’s best she went to her final resting place. She couldn’t get enough sleep, tired all the time, tired and nervous and sick. Didn’t a morning pass that girl didn’t empty her stomach into her potty.”

  Carrie Sue noticed how the woman’s speech pattern became rustic as she spoke hurriedly, apprehensively. She wondered if the woman realized what sickness she had just described: pregnancy. Was it, she asked herself, a coincidence that the single and expectant Helen Cooper was seeing a man she disliked and met with death in his mine?

  “I suppose you won’t be needing supper tonight since you just ate, but I’ll save some pie and coffee for you later.”

  Carrie Sue impulsively hugged the older woman. “You’re wonderful, Mrs. Thayer. I’ll get my hair washed; it feels awful.”

  Carrie Sue sat on the floor in her bedroom with her long hair hanging out the window so it could dry before bedtime. She had unpacked a few things, taken a bath, scrubbed her head, and consumed the pie and milk which Mrs. Thayer had brought to her room.

  Her lids kept closing as her mind drifted lazily. How she wished her brother was here to enjoy the sweet taste of freedom.

  Another safe day had passed. Tomorrow, she would visit the school again and the laundress. And she might stroll around to see if she could sight T.J. somewhere. Of course that presented the risk of running into Martin Ferris and being unable to get rid of him.

  “Who knows?” she murmured. “Perhaps he would make a powerful ally if trouble struck. If I can use him without being used!”

  The following morning, Maria delivered a package to her room. When Carrie Sue unwrapped it, she found a lovely parasol and a note from Martin Ferris. She read it:

  Carolyn,

  To protect that beautiful head from our hot sun. Please join me for supper tonight. I’ll send for your answer at noon.

  Martin Ferris.

  Carrie Sue hurriedly rewrapped the package and retied the string. She seized her hat, purse, dirty clothes, and the gift and rushed downstairs. She found Mrs. Thayer in the kitchen and explained her dilemma. She entreated, “Please put this somewhere. When Mister Ferris or his man arrives at noon, tell him I was gone when it arrived and you don’t know when I’ll return today to get his message.”

  The woman grinned with anticipation of their ruse. “It’s done, Carolyn. If you see his carriage waiting outside, slip in the back and up to your room. I’ll bring your meal there later. Be careful.”

  “I will. But don’t worry about me. We’ll think of some plausible excuse tonight.”

  Carrie Sue followed Mrs. Thayer’s directions to the home of the laundress. The sturdy woman agreed to do the redhead’s washing and ironing each week. Carrie Sue was to bring it to her each Monday and pick it up each Thursday, unless she had a special need of a garment.

  Carrie Sue walked to the schoolhouse. She did not open the windows or leave the front door ajar, just in case Martin Ferris came by. She examined the room again and mentally made notes about its cleaning and preparation. She sat at the desk; she walked back and forth on the raised flooring; she pretended to write on the chalkboard; she imagined herself teaching a room filled with children.

  Anticipation surged through her as she decided this job would be fun and challenging. She would be filling young minds, making friends, and earning respect. She wanted these people—especially the children in her class—to like her, to trust her, to want to learn from her. She recalled her school days and teachers in Georgia. Having loved school, she remembered a great deal about them, memories which would aid her now.

  The room was getting hot. Carrie Sue realized she had to open the doors and windows, or she had to leave. The noises of an approaching carriage caught her attention. She grabbed her purse and hid under the lengthy desk, relieved that the front and sides were enclosed so she couldn’t be seen from the door. Nor could she be sighted if Martin walked around the building, as the back window was too high.

  She heard the carriage halt. She controlled her respiration so it wouldn’t expose her presence. The steps creaked as Martin mounted them and opened the door. There was momentary silence as he must have glanced around the large room. She heard him swear irritably. Then, she sighted another peril…

  A Bark Scorpion was clinging deftly to the underside of the desk, poised there and ready to strike an unsuspecting leg or hand. She was lucky he hadn’t attacked earlier when she was sitting in the chair with her legs near his hiding place. He was about two inches long, rather slender, straw colored, and had two dark bands along his back. His pinchers were moving in a threatening manner, as was his raised tail with its venomous stinger. It was said that more people died from its sting than from the bites of all poisonous snakes combined!

  Carrie Sue remained motionless, keeping her full attention on the scorpion, who seemed content to hold his position for the time being. She was crouched on the other end, but her feet and legs were beneath him. If he released his hold on the wood and dropped to them…She knew Martin had not closed the door and left. If she scrambled from her position, her ruse would be exposed. She waited; the tiny foe waited; and Martin seemed to stall his departure for some reason.

  A horrible thought entered the lovely desperado’s mind: what if the scorpion had family or friends nearby, such as behind her? She dared not turn her head and look. She kept her hands in her lap with her purse. There was nothing within reach to use for a weapon. Despite her fear and peril, she knew it was best not to alert Martin to her ruse. She had been in tight spots before, so she could endure this one.

  Finally she heard him close the door and descend the steps, but he walked around the schoolhouse, even called her name several times. Perhaps he thought she was in the outhouse. The scorpion took a few menacing steps forward. Carrie Sue held her ground. She kept her respiration slow and shallow to prevent as much motion as possible. She wondered if the deadly creature could sense her fear, perhaps smell it as she had smelled the passengers’ terror during the holdup.

  Even when she heard the carriage leave, she remained in her hiding place for a time, her gaze glued on the arachnid. Martin Ferris was sneaky, and could be standing outside to see if she suddenly appeared after his departure. The scorpion began to make his way in her direction. She had no choice but to wiggle cautiously from beneath the desk. The moment her dress cleared a spot, the venomous creature dropped to it with stinger and pinchers lifted ominously.

  Carrie Sue seized a heavy book and dropped it on the scorpion. She placed her foot on it and shifted her weight. When she heard a “crunch,” she leaned against the chalkboard and took a deep breath. Her shaking ceased, and she went from window to window making certain the persistent man was gone. No doubt he would return later to look for her again when she failed to appear at the boarding house.

  She left the school and went to visit a seamstress which Mrs. Thayer had recommended. She didn’t need any new clothes for a while, but it would take time to meet the woman and to chat for a while. Carrie Sue did not plan to alter Carolyn’s image until she was assured of her unquestionable acceptance here. Then, Carolyn could buy and wear some prettier and nicer clothes. After subtracting her monthly expenses, she would have thirty-five to forty dollars left over to save or to spend.

  One thing she needed to do was conceal money and supplies in her closet, just in case she had to flee in a hurry. And it might be a good idea to do the same outside of town, in case she couldn’t get to her room following her unma
sking. A horse for a quick getaway was a good idea, and it shouldn’t arouse suspicion for Miss Carolyn Starns to own and ride one in this western town.

  Carrie Sue made a lengthy visit with the seamstress who was close to her age, the widow of a soldier from Fort Lowell nearby. She revealed that she wanted lovelier and better quality clothes, but she had to wait a while because people had a preset idea of how a teacher should dress. The woman had laughed and understood.

  Afterwards, Carrie Sue strolled down backstreets where she assumed she was safe from Martin Ferris’s seeking gaze. She realized that Tucson was a rapidly growing town of very wealthy people and very poor people. Some of the poverty she observed tugged at her heart. She saw homes which were little more than adobe or wooden shacks with dirty children playing around them in near rags.

  The air was hot and dry, yet she smelled a variety of odors of which Mexican food was most noticeable. The people seemed to move and work slowly in the heat of the day, aware of the demands of their harsh climate. Carrie Sue’s body was warm and her clothes were damp. She knew she should get out of the unrelenting sun for a time.

  She sighted a Mexican cafe which looked clean and safe for a lady to enter, as she had learned to judge places fairly well during her years on the trail. She entered it to find only a few customers present. She took a seat near a window for fresh air.

  A plump Spanish woman took her order with a smile, and returned shortly with her meal: refried beans, browned rice, a floured tortilla rolled with a chicken filling, and coffee. Carrie Sue ate slowly to enjoy the tasty meal and to waste time. She wished she could order a few sips of tequila to calm her nerves, but she dared not.

  She watched Martin Ferris’s carriage go down the street and wondered how long the man would search for her. Perhaps, she fretted, his patience and persistence would rival Quade’s! Unable to hold another drop of coffee or food, she paid the woman and left.