The School Mistress (Emerson Pass Book 1)

by Tess Thompson

  “I cannot wait to meet them.” Tomorrow would be a day for assessing abilities and combining them into learning groups. I had a feeling there would be an eclectic mix of ages and abilities.

  He met my gaze before walking over to the set of windows that looked out to the schoolyard. “I’m afraid your time here is going to test your very soul, as it has mine.”

  I came to stand beside him. His sadness seemed to emanate from his body. I absorbed it as I might a scent. This man and his family should mean nothing to me, but they lived inside me already.

  Lord Barnes put his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Opening a school has been a dream of mine for a long time. Now, however, I wonder if it cost Samuel his life?”

  “Why would you say such a thing?” I asked.

  “Because I made it clear in town that the Cole children would be attending right along with all of the others.”

  “I see.” Somehow, this had not occurred to me when Pamela Lind and I were speaking. Had Lord Barnes’s stance on this been the reason for Samuel’s murder? And if so, what did that mean for Rachel and her children? What did that mean for me? “How come you didn’t tell me?”

  “Frankly, it didn’t occur to me.”

  I sorted through what this meant as we stood there looking out the window. The Barnes children were building snowmen. These frozen men stood in a row, like guards of the school. Was it a premonition of what was to come?

  I couldn’t turn away any child, regardless of the color of their skin. Not from my classroom. If I’d been born a different color, I’d still be the same inside. People who didn’t understand that baffled me. Growing up poor with uneducated parents had marked me. I knew what it was to be set aside, thrown away, as if my life didn’t matter because I was poor.

  “You won’t turn them away, will you?” he asked.

  My eyes stung as I turned to face him. “I can hardly call myself a teacher if I’m unwilling to teach anyone who wants to learn.”

  “Because you know how it feels to be kept out.”

  I stared at him, probably looking like a hooked fish with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wild. “How did you know I was thinking just that?”

  “Your expressions betray your thoughts,” he said. “This face of yours is like reading a book.”

  “I won’t take up poker, then,” I said.

  He gave me a sad smile. “Do you know what I thought when I first came to America?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I thought here the circumstances of your birth don’t matter—everyone had the opportunity to make the life they wanted for themselves. Except it’s not true, is it? If you’re poor or the wrong skin color, there are no opportunities.”

  “America’s a contradiction of ideals and actual practices,” I said.

  His face twisted with emotion as he took in a ragged breath. “I underestimated people’s hatred. I’m afraid I’ve gotten my friend killed over my ideals.”

  “Then we mustn’t let them win by succumbing to their will.”

  He swept his finger across the windowsill. “Miss Cooper, you’re either brave or foolish.”

  “My father always said God had no use for a coward,” I said.

  A low chuckle came from his chest as he wiped the corners of his eyes. “Harley and I will keep watch during the day.” He gestured toward the main street of town and accidentally brushed my shoulder. “I work in an office just over there.”

  Even through my coat and dress, my skin tingled from his touch. I had to stay focused on what was important. A man was dead, mostly likely because of bigotry, and here I was wondering what Lord Barnes’s mouth would feel like on mine. I’d only ever been kissed once, nothing more than a chaste brush of lips that had left me unmoved. I strongly suspected I would like Lord Barnes’s kiss. He was my employer, I reminded myself. A man of money and prestige. I was a poor schoolteacher, at the mercy of his kindness. I must remember this and not let my romantic mind wander.

  The children had finished their snowmen and were now giving them faces with pieces of bark and fir branches.

  “When I think about Samuel’s children, I feel like I can’t breathe.” Lord Barnes choked on the last part of the sentence and stopped to gather himself. “I promised Samuel I’d make sure they were all right, and I intend to do so.”

  Involuntarily, I brushed the sleeve of his jacket with the tips of my fingers. “Is it hard to carry the weight of the world, Lord Barnes?”

  He tilted his head to look at me. “Yes. But as you say, God has no use for a coward.”

  I wanted to say, Let me carry the burden with you. Instead, I smiled up at him, hoping to convey more courage than I truly possessed. “We’re stronger together. Let them bring their hatred. We’ll fight it with love.”

  He nodded as if he agreed, but I could see by the sadness in his eyes that he did not believe. I would have to believe for both of us.

  Chapter 10

  Alexander

  When we returned from town, I saddled up Twist and headed out to the Coles’ place. The sun glistened on the newly fallen snow as I crossed the meadow toward the thicket of trees that hid his house. Our valley dwelled between the sister mountains, making the ideal spot for a town. There was no better view of the white-shawled mountains than the one from my own meadow. When I reached the end of the flat land, the terrain dipped into a creek bed. Samuel had built a covered bridge over the high, wide creek that divided our properties. Twist trotted right in and through to the other side. About a hundred feet from the bridge, a deep pool provided both a swimming and a fishing spot.

  From the time I’d moved here, Samuel and I had come to the creek to talk through troubles or share gardening advice or just be quiet while we fished. He was the better gardener and fisherman and knew this land like the back of his hand. I’d learned much from him.

  The first time we’d met, he’d looked me up and down and shaken his head ruefully. “You won’t last a winter.”

  “Watch me,” I’d said. By spring, I’d earned his respect and his friendship.

  Fighting the weight of my grief, I nudged Twist to continue into the trees. The dense forest made this section of the property dark even in the afternoon sun. In the summer, the shade from the trees served as a respite from the heat. This time of year, under the branches laden with heavy snow, the temperature seemed to drop. Despite my gloves, the tips of my fingers were numb. Twist shook his mane and neighed when we came out of the trees. He knew where we were and that an apple was probably waiting for him in the barn. Samuel had loved his horses and mine.

  The house that Samuel’s father had built from logs and river rock sat on a flat section of land. A covered porch ran the length of the front of the house. Puffs of smoke rose from the chimney.

  I put Twist in the barn with the Coles’ horses, Lucy and Bell. They whinnied to Twist as if he were a long-lost friend. Samuel kept a bucket of bruised and fallen apples from his orchard in the shelf near the stalls. Had anyone thought to give one to the horses since yesterday? God, I thought, who is going to take care of these animals and the rest?

  His place had been a source of pride with Samuel. No one worked his land but him. Things had changed in the second that bullet entered his chest. His desire for complete independence could not be continued without him. We would have to hire a man. Maybe two. Samuel had done the work of at least that many.

  I gave Twist and Bell apples and nuzzled their noses. When I offered one to Lucy, she ducked her head and made a mournful noise. Did she know Samuel was gone? Or was she asking where he was?

  I took off my hat and leaned against her strong neck as a wave of grief nearly knocked me to my knees. We stood like that, the magnificent horse and me, as tears from my eyes bled into her mane. She whinnied again and in that high-pitched cry, I heard a message as if she’d spoken words to me. He needs you to take care of his family.

  “I’ll do my best, old girl.” I gave her one last stroke and let go. “Thanks for the talk.” I put on my h
at and walked outside.

  The world seemed too still. I had the eerie sensation of isolation, as if I were the last man left in the world. I walked past the woodshed where Samuel’s blood stained the snow. Averting my eyes, the images from the night before played through my mind. Samuel with a hole where his chest used to be. Rachel keening over his body. Harley arriving with a coffin he’d made in an hour attached to our sleigh. Jasper leaning against the shovel, panting from the exertion of digging a grave in cold dirt.

  Rachel had refused to leave Samuel. While we dug through the snow and then the frozen ground, she’d sat beside him in that cold, dark night. It took us hours to make a shallow grave. We’d lifted Samuel from where he’d fallen and placed him inside wrapped in a quilt his mother had sewn from scraps of his baby clothes. “He’ll want it for the journey to his mama,” Rachel had said.

  I fought against the awful ache in my gut. The living needed me. I had to get on with things. I knocked on the front door and waited. Susan opened it a minute later. Small and quick, Susan had kept the Coles’ house since it was built. At sixty, she’d lost a few inches of height, and gray had replaced the brown in her hair. Still, she moved around like a young woman. Today, her eyes were red and puffy.

  “Good afternoon, Lord Barnes. Come in.” Susan twisted her hands around and around. “She’s in his study. She won’t eat or sleep.”

  “Did she tell the children?”

  Susan nodded and dabbed at her eyes with a hankie. “Terrible thing. They all just sat there lined up on the bench and didn’t make a peep. I’m not sure they understand.”

  A memory came to me of Josephine at the bottom of the stairs when I’d brought Ida’s body in from the snow. She hadn’t moved a muscle, her expression stoic. “She’s dead then?” Josephine had asked.

  I’d nodded and stood there, helpless with my wife’s body in my arms until Jasper came inside carrying Theo.

  Theo. My little boy who had found his mother frozen to death ten feet from the house.

  The living. Take care of the living.

  “Can I see her?” I asked Susan.

  “She’s expecting you.” Susan lowered her voice.

  I thanked her and went to the study. Wearing black, Rachel was as straight-backed and elegant as always. The woman with the blood-soaked dress was not visible today.

  “Alexander, you didn’t have to come.”

  “Nonsense.”

  She patted a book on the desk. “He left notes about everything in here, along with his instructions for you and me.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “He left instructions for the children to go to school,” she said. “Can you believe what a fool he is?”

  I sank into the chair opposite the desk. “He told me as much. You don’t agree?”

  “I did not agree. We fought about it the day before he died.”

  “Do you think he suspected trouble?” I asked. “Had someone threatened him?”

  “I’ve no idea.” She placed her hands on the desk as if she needed an object to ground her to the earth. “We had an agreement from the first. I didn’t leave the property. When the kids came, I made the same rule for them. If he hadn’t gotten this stupid idea that they should go to school, we would not be here today.” Her eyes flashed with anger. “If it weren’t that I’m obligated to go through you for what should be rightfully mine, then I’d ask you to leave my house and never come back. I blame you as much as I blame him. You and your righteous indignation.”

  I flinched, as if her rage were a physical blow. “Rachel, I’m sorry. Samuel wanted them at school. No one could have convinced him otherwise.”

  “He was the most stubborn man that ever lived. That quality got him killed.”

  “He was a man of principle. It mattered to him that his children were treated the same as the others. Do you really disagree?”

  “I surely do. My children’s safety is more important than a damn principle.”

  “If we don’t fight for what’s right, who will?”

  She made an impatient noise in the back of her throat. “I don’t give a damn. This is my house now. My money. My children. I’ll do as I please.” She stood and smoothed her hands over her skirt. “I’m not sending them to that school to end up the same way as Samuel. People forget what they don’t see. I want them to forget we’re even out here.”

  I could hardly argue with her. What other conclusion could she come to? If it were my children in danger, I would do the same. Protect them within the walls of my home. Anyway, she blamed me for Samuel’s death, and she was probably right to do so. Advice or interference from me was the last thing she wanted.

  “You need to hire someone to take care of the place,” I said.

  “I’m sending for my brother. He’s the only one I trust.” She slid an envelope across the desk. “This is a letter for him. Will you mail it for me?”

  I agreed with a nod of my head.

  “Rachel, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s too late for that. When Wilber arrives, I’ll send him over to meet you. I’m having him take over the running of the estate. I don’t want to have to look at you ever again.”

  “After everything we’ve been through together, you’re dismissing me from your life?”

  She glared at me with cold, angry eyes. “That’s right. Now, please, just go.”

  With my hat in my hands, I walked to the doorway and turned back to her. “Don’t forget to feed the horses.”

  “Goodbye, Alexander.”

  I sat in front of the fire in the library, still reeling from my encounter with Rachel. She’d never been what I would describe as a warm person. Yet she was always polite and accepting of my friendship with Samuel. Occasionally, the children had been allowed to play with my brood, but I could tell it made Rachel nervous.

  A horrible thought came to me then. What if Rachel had killed him over the school argument? Maybe she was that desperate to keep them safe?

  As quickly as it came to me, I dismissed the idea. Rachel loved him. Even if they’d argued bitterly over whether the children should go into town for school, she would never hurt him.

  “Lord Barnes?”

  I looked over to the doorway to see Miss Cooper. She’d changed from her blue dress into a drab brown. Even an ugly dress couldn’t make her look bad.

  “Have you seen Jasper?” she asked.

  “He went into town,” I said. “Do you need something?”

  “No, I wanted to thank him. He found a book in your library that I’d asked him about and left it outside my door. So kind of him.”

  I waved her closer. “Come sit with me. I’m having a drink and nursing my wounds.”

  “Are you all right?” Her gaze swept over me.

  “Yes, these are wounds of the heart from my visit with Rachel.”

  She sat in the chair next to me, then folded her hands in her lap. “How was the poor woman?”

  “Angry.” I proceeded to tell her the entirety of our conversation. “I should have known she’d be furious with me. It was the only time Samuel had ever disagreed with what she wanted for the kids. She sees me as a conspirator.”

  “Will she be all right by herself?”

  “She’s sending for her brother.” I shared with her the details of my arrangement with Samuel about his estate. “As you know, she couldn’t own property without him leaving it all to me. This was Samuel’s way of making sure they were taken care of in case anything happened.”

  “How smart.” She pinched her lips together using her thumb and finger and stared into the fire. This, I’d learned already, was her thinking face. “Do you think she’d consider sending the kids to school if I talked with her?”

  “Not yet. For now, I’m going to leave her alone. Hopefully, at some point, she’ll forgive me, and we can resume our friendship.”

  She cocked her head to the side, watching me. “For your friend to have that much trust in you says a lot about your character.”
<
br />   “I’m not perfect, but I’m honest.”

  Footsteps on the stairs from the third floor warned me of the impending pack of my children. I’d waited until now to tell them about Samuel. They hadn’t known him well but were fond of him. I worried it would be upsetting, given their own mother’s death.

  They filed in and sat on the couch. “I have bad news,” I said. “My friend Samuel has died.”

  “Those poor kids,” Josephine said.

  “Did someone kill him?” Flynn asked.

  “Why would you ask that?” I asked.

  “Because he’s married to a brown lady,” Flynn said as he glanced at Josephine.

  “Someone shot him,” I said. “We don’t know who or why.”

  “How will you find out?” Theo asked.

  “I’m not certain,” I said.

  “Can we go now?” Flynn asked. “I want to finish my snow fort.”

  “You may go.”

  Flynn tugged on Theo’s shirt. “Come on.”

  Theo nodded and the two jumped up from the couch as if it were on fire.

  “Can I come?” Cymbeline asked.

  “No. This fort’s only for boys,” Flynn said.

  “That’s not fair,” Cymbeline said. “Papa, make them take me.”

  “Stay here with me,” Josephine said to her sister. “I’ll play checkers with you.”

  Cymbeline, mollified for the time being, stuck her tongue out at her brothers as they left the room. “And you can’t let me win on purpose, Jojo. We have to play for real.”

  “I didn’t let you win last time,” Josephine said. “You beat me.”

  “Are you sure you aren’t fibbing?” Cymbeline said.

  “Of course not, goose.” She patted her sister on the head before she turned to me. “Papa, I’m sorry you lost your friend,”

  “Thank you, dearest one,” I said, drawing her close. “I’m sad, but I have a lot of happy memories of our time together.”

  The little girls rushed over and fought for a place on my lap. I settled each on a knee. “We love you, Papa,” Cymbeline said.