[2016] The Precious Amish Baby

by Faith Crawford

  The train lumbered over a mountain, blowing billows of smoke, which the wind blew into the carriages. A buzz went round the carriage and Fiona cocked her ear. It seemed they were only a few minutes from Peak’s Point, the first stop in the State of Colorado. She settled back happily and ignored the stabs of pain shooting up and down her back. Sure enough, in half an hour she saw the outline of a town in the distance. Fiona felt like squealing and jumping up from her seat.

  With a series of honks, the train pulled into the station at Peak’s Point. Fiona was one of the first passengers to disembark. The skies were dark, a sign that it would rain later, but the faces on the platform wore looks of suppressed joy as they waited for their loved ones. Fiona looked up and down, searching for Donald’s face, and when she realized how impossible the task was she made for the luggage compartment.

  Her black trunk contained everything she owned in the world, and she grasped it and walked with it to the waiting area. Soon the platform would empty out a little and it would be easier for Donald to find her. Only when the platform emptied, Fiona found herself alone in the station, apart from the station master, who peered at her from his glass office at the front of the waiting area.

  She shifted about uncomfortably. Donald was late! She fought down her irritation, telling herself that he probably had a very good reason for his tardiness. The wind had picked up and it now blew across the station, taking bits of paper and other trash with it. A slight rain began to fall and to Fiona’s dismay she saw that darkness was not far away. What was keeping him?

  “Miss, are you alright?”

  Fiona had not seen the station master approach, so engrossed was she in her thoughts. She looked up, startled.

  “Not quite. I’m waiting for my fiancé to pick me up and I’m worried that something might have happened to him.”

  “Perhaps I can help,” he said, “I know almost everyone in Peak’s Point. What’s his name?”

  “Oh, thank you,” Fiona gushed. “His name is Donald Newton,” she informed him, with a touch of pride.

  She waited for the smile and the compliments of what a wonderful gentleman her Donald was. Instead, the station master frowned.

  “Donald Newton, you say?” he said, then shook his head. “There’s a Newton family and Gregory Newton is the name of the man of the house. He’s married with a family so he cannot be the one you mean. I’m sorry young lady; perhaps you got the wrong town.”

  Chapter Two

  Fiona blinked rapidly as she stood in front of the nondescript building where the station master had directed her. It was a boarding house, and she could not bring herself to walk in. She felt numb with fear. She was miles away from home and she knew no one here. She could not bear to think of Donald and so she thought only of the minutes ahead.

  Her feet felt heavy and the trunk had doubled in weight, though Fiona was a strong girl. She stared unseeing until the tears blinding her eyes fell down her cheeks. How could she be going to a boarding house rather than her farm house? She had told the station master everything and as she spoke she had seen pity cross his face.

  She knew pity when she saw it. He had offered her a sad smile and then rubbed her back. He had fumbled for words and then had told her that she was not the first mail order bride to be taken in by a swindler. There was no Donald Newton. Fiona’s heart constricted and she was unable to breathe. A lady walked out of the boarding house, clutching an umbrella above her head.

  She stared Fiona up and down, jolting her from her living nightmare. Fiona grasped her trunk and marched into the boarding house.

  “Good day,” a merry woman of indeterminate age said to Fiona.

  “Good day,” Fiona mumbled and then repeated herself on realizing that her voice has inaudible. “I’d like a room, please. The station master said to tell you that he sent me.”

  Her face broke into a wide smile. “Oh, Mr. Simon is a wonderful man. If you have his recommendation then you’re very welcome here. I’ll give you the best room and for a good rate. How is that? Oh, and I’m Mrs. Chalmers. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said, winking at Fiona.

  Fiona managed a ghost of a smile and introduced herself. The station master had also urged her to speak to Mrs. Chalmers about any openings for employment in the area.

  “May I intrude upon your hospitality, Mrs. Chalmers?” Fiona begun, twisting her hands furiously. She had never asked for a job. The one she had in New York had been found for her by the nuns.

  “Sure honey, go right ahead. If I can help I will, if I can’t I shall say so.”

  “Well, I find myself in rather unfortunate circumstances, as I know nobody in Peak’s Point. What I mean is, uh, that I need some form of employment.”

  Mrs. Chalmers screwed her eyes at Fiona.

  “You look mighty young,” she said.

  “I’m twenty-one,” Fiona informed her.

  “Let me see your hands,” the other woman commanded.

  Fiona obediently stretched out her hands. Mrs. Chalmers looked at Fiona’s hands and then nodded.

  “I don’t know why but I feel you’re a good lass and my instincts are never wrong. The Burk’s estate is in need of a housekeeper, though I must warn you that they never seem to stay. Why, this year alone there have been three housekeepers! What does that tell you about Mr. Burk? I don’t know much about him myself, them being classy and all. Still, if you’re desperate…”

  Fiona nodded eagerly.

  “In that case, you can go there tomorrow, and make sure to say that I sent you,” she said, and then looked at Fiona’s clothing critically. “You will be sure to clean up, won’t you?”

  Fiona blushed as she looked down at her creased and soiled dress.

  “Yes, of course I shall. The train journey was long,” she mumbled.

  “Alright. Your room is at the very end of the corridor. Room fifteen. Here’s the key.”

  Tears sprung to Fiona’s eyes at the kindness that she had experienced from the station master and now Mrs. Chalmers. “I can’t express my gratitude…” Fiona began.

  Mrs. Chalmers waved her away. “Thank me after tomorrow. Go on now, you look like you could do with some rest. Breakfast at seven and supper at six.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am,” Fiona said before picking up her trunk and heading to her room.

  Once the door to the room shut after her, Fiona’s emotions, which had been swimming on the surface, burst from her like a dam spilling over. She threw herself on the small bed, face down, and cried her heart out. Having her dreams taken away from her, she felt as though someone had pulled the ground from underneath her feet.

  Underneath her shattered heart was a cold fear. Anything could happen to her here in Colorado and nobody would ever find out. Then it hit Fiona that there really was nobody who cared what happened to her. She had nobody in the world and whereas it was not something she had given much thought to back in New York, now it left her trembling and with another wave of tears.

  Blasted Donald Newton! Why had he picked on someone like her who had no family or close friends to comfort her and to run back to? Despondency covered her like a heavy blanket. The world now seemed a dark and frightening place.

  The tears soon dried up and she was left with an empty, cold feeling where her heart should have been. How could there be no Donald Newton? He had been so real to her, and so had their farm house. The numbness soon ebbed away to be replaced by a searing anger. First, it was directed at Donald Newton, and then at herself.

  How could she have been so foolish to so easily part with her hard earned money? How he must have laughed at her naivety! Then she thought about the future which had been so clearly mapped out in her mind. The children they would have together and, oh, her vegetable garden. It felt as though she was mourning someone as she thought of the abrupt end of the life she had envisioned.

  Fiona skipped dinner and spent the evening lying on the bed and staring at the discolored ceiling. Finally she fell into a restless sleep, on
ly to wake up and find that daylight had come. The events of the previous night came to her mind and she shut her eyes. Every muscle in her body ached and she wanted to cover herself up and never wake up.

  She did so for a couple of seconds and then threw off the covers. Fiona considered herself a pragmatic person and now she chided herself. Hiding away from the truth would not make it any less painful. But Lord, it hurt. The pain was almost physical and her body felt as if it had been assailed by an illness. She washed her face in a small sink by the corner of the room and then used her washcloth to clean herself. Five minutes later she walked out of the room, clad in a neat beige dress she had sewn herself and a brown winter coat.

  “Good morning, Ms. Brown. Had a good sleep, did you?” Mrs. Chalmers called out cheerfully from the reception desk.

  Fiona attempted a smile. “Yes, thank you.”

  “You’re late for breakfast, but we’ll forgive that today. Go on into the kitchen, Sybil will prepare you something.”

  “I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” Fiona said.

  Mrs. Chalmers waved her away. “Never mind. It’s a long journey from New York.”

  Fiona snapped her head and stared at Mrs. Chalmers. Her eyes blazed with sympathy. Oh Lord, did everyone now know that she had been swindled and lied to? She blinked back tears of humiliation. She turned slowly and dragged her feet towards the kitchen.

  “Good morning, Ms. Brown,” a thin woman in an apron said to her. “That’s who you are, right?”

  Fiona nodded and searched the woman’s eyes.

  “Well, there’s a whole lot of things you can pick from….”

  To Fiona’s relief she saw no sign that the cook knew her background. Her appetite returned and her stomach growled. She served herself from the trays of food laid out on the counter. As she wolfed down her meal in the dining room, she mused over her situation.

  She had no choice really but to go about seeing whether she would get the housekeeper’s job. Fiona knew she should be grateful that there was a chance she could be employed, but it still hurt that she was in Colorado seeking employment rather than getting married.

  The tea was hot and sweet and it warmed her cold bones. Only a small part of her body remained immune to the warmth of the tea and Fiona knew it would remain cold for a very long time. She might have been naïve and foolish when in New York, but not anymore. She vowed to herself that no man would ever take advantage of her naivety again.

  Chapter Three

  “Do you know how to mind house and children?” Mr. Burk asked her, glaring at her as if she had already committed a misdemeanor.

  “Yes, sir. I grew up in a poorhouse and was used to seeing to the housework.”

  “I’d hardly call that housekeeping,” he retorted.

  What would you call it then? The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Fiona desperately needed the job.

  Had she not been desperate, she would have turned back as soon as Mr. Burk had opened the intimidating, heavy oak door. On first glance he was a handsome man, with shiny black hair parted at the center and penetrating dark eyes that gave Fiona the shivers.

  “Yes?” he had barked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

  “Good day, sir?” Fiona had begun.

  He had ignored her greeting, and her nervousness had doubled. She had stuttered her explanation of why she had called, and after looking her over he had gestured with a sharp thrust of his chin that she should follow him in. Now they sat in what appeared to be a library and office.

  The situation reminded her of the one time she had been summoned to the Mother Superior’s office. Hysterical giggles rose up her throat at the comparison between the stern Mother Superior and Mr. Burk.

  “And what might be so amusing?” he barked.

  Fiona quickly sobered up. She badly needed this job, even though her mind had not grasped just how much.

  “Mr. Burk, I am very good with children and I understand that you have three. I’m also very organized and I promise that I’ll see to the smooth running of your home.”

  He gazed at her fixedly and she stared right back at him. He nodded.

  “You’ll do. Go into the kitchen and ask Mrs. Irwin to show you to your quarters and where everything is,” he instructed in a dismissive tone.

  “Thank you, sir,” Fiona gushed, grateful for the job. “I will do my very best.”

  She was not sure he had heard her. His nose was buried in a sheaf of papers. After one last look at her new employer, Fiona left. The house was a maze of corridors and rooms and it took Fiona a good five minutes before she found her way to the kitchen.

  “Mrs. Irwin?” she called out, peering into the big kitchen.

  “In a minute,” a girlish voice called out from somewhere in the room. Moments later she made an appearance, and it took a while for Fiona to put together the girlish voice and the plump woman.

  She smiled broadly at Fiona, revealing two missing front teeth.

  “Why, what a pleasure to see a pretty face at this time of the morning,” she pronounced.

  Fiona blushed. “My name is Fiona Brown and Mr. Burk told me to come to ask you to show me round.”

  Mrs. Irwin stretched out her hands in a welcoming gesture. “Then you must be the new housekeeper. You look a little young but I’ll tell you this, the children will take to you.”

  “Thank you,” Fiona said. “Where are they?”

  “They would be with their teacher now. She comes every day except for Saturday and Sunday. Poor things, they really do need a stable hand after their mother went to be with the Lord, bless her heart.”

  The piece of information caught Fiona by surprise. She had assumed there was a Mrs. Burk somewhere. Suddenly, her own problems shrunk when she thought of the three motherless children. She knew how lonely it was to grow up with a deep longing for a mother.

  “Mr. Burk is a good man,” she continued. “His bark is far worse than his bite, I assure you.”

  Fiona thought of the intimidating, stern man she had just met. He had a way of looking at you as if he was about to scold you. She swallowed hard and comforted herself with the thought that their paths were unlikely to cross much.

  “Come, I’ll show you round,” Mrs. Irwin said to her. “This here is the larder. Every Friday we shall come in here together and you will take note of what is needed. Brian, the coachman, will take you into town and you can shop for what we need. Keep an eye on Mr. Mathews, the butcher. He’s not averse to slipping a rotting fish in if you’re not keen.” She said this with a chuckle.

  Fiona felt dizzy just from looking at all the foodstuff in the larder. She had never seen so many items except in a store. Fiona followed the cook into the various rooms downstairs. There was the formal dining room, the drawing room and of course the library and a mud room.

  “For sure there should be more hands to keep this house going, but there’s only Mr. Burk and the children,” Mrs. Irwin chatted as they toured the house.

  Fiona let her hand slide up the fancy woodwork of the staircase as they made their way up the stairs. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets at the size of the house.

  “Don’t be frightened off,” Mrs. Irwin continued, as if reading her mind. “There’s a maid who comes in daily from the town. She sees to most of the cleaning.”

  The stairs led to a wide, long hallway, which was eerily quiet and devoid of the children’s voices Fiona had expected to hear.

  “The family sleeps on this floor,” Mrs. Burk said in a much lower voice.

  She showed Fiona each of the girls’ rooms. The beds were big and the decoration told her that their mother had taken a lot of time with each room. To Fiona, though, it seemed lonely to sleep in such a large room alone. The three girls were in a room at the end of the hallway. It was a study room, complete with a long table and chairs along its length. They looked up when they heard footsteps.

  “Sorry to interrupt you, girls and Ms. Viola. This here is Fiona Brown, she’s th
e new housekeeper. That’s Emily, Harriet and Emma.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Fiona said, her eyes drawn to Emma, the youngest of the three girls. Her gray eyes, which resembled her father’s, widened and then she gave Fiona the most glorious smile. Fiona itched to hug her and smooth back her hair.

  The middle girl, Harriet, who looked to be about six years old, gave her a small, unsure smile. The oldest one, whom Fiona guessed to be about eight years, did not smile at all. She looked at Fiona with indifference and then returned her attention to the book in front of her.

  Ms. Viola wore a frown and a look that clearly said she did not appreciate the interruption. Mrs. Irwin must have seen it too, for she quickly ushered Fiona out.

  “Not much cheer in that one,” she commented once they were out of earshot.

  Fiona giggled. She already liked Mrs. Irwin. She spoke her mind and Fiona liked nothing better than people who said what they thought. After the tour and a rundown of her duties, Mrs. Irwin dispatched the coachman to take Fiona back to the boarding house to get her trunk.

  On the way she thought of the family whose employment she was now under. She felt sorry for the girls, especially the oldest one, who must feel her mother’s absence the most. As much as she felt frightened of Mr. Burk, she had felt drawn to the girls and she promised herself to care for them as though they were her own.

  Only later, when trying out her new bed in the servants’ quarters, did Fiona realize that she had not thought of Donald Newton once all morning and afternoon. There was something to be said about keeping busy. And she would be busy enough, what with the size of the house.

  Fiona had never thought that she would be living in such a grand house, even as a housekeeper. Her room was medium sized, with a wash basin in the corner and a chest of drawers for her clothes. She liked it, Fiona decided, settling herself between the sheets. Mrs. Irwin’s quarters were a door away and she could hear her bustling about in her room.