The Librarian of Boone's Hollow

by Kim Vogel Sawyer

  The two scampered out, holding hands.

  He looked at Addie. “You stay close in case she’s woozy. We don’t want her to fall.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The doctor took hold of Miss West’s arms and pulled her to her feet. Addie slid her arm around the woman’s waist, and she and the doctor eased her into the waiting chair. Doc Faulkner resumed his hands-on-knees position and peered into Miss West’s face. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine, Doctor. Thank you.” She put her fingers under her sleeve cuff, but there wasn’t a handkerchief. “Oh…”

  Addie spotted the square of cloth on the floor. She snatched it up and placed it in Miss West’s hand.

  Miss West offered a wobbly smile. “Thank you, dear.” She patted her throat.

  Bettina took several sideways steps from the table and then hurried out the door.

  Addie suddenly realized she’d left Mr. Gilliam’s horse standing in the middle of the street. She should check on Russet and let Miss West and the doctor talk privately. “Excuse me, please.”

  To her relief, Russet had joined the other horses at the trees near the library. Bettina stood in their midst, rubbing their noses by turn. The girl’s face had returned to its normal color, but her hands still trembled. Addie’s heart went out to her. She’d worked for Miss West for a year already. Finding her lying on the floor must have frightened her badly.

  She moved close and touched Bettina’s arm. “I’m sorry you received such a shock this morning.”

  Bettina jerked away from her. “I’m fine.”

  Addie laughed softly and folded her arms. “I wouldn’t be fine if I’d come in and found someone lying on the floor. I would’ve screamed, too.”

  “That was Glory, not me. She’s such a fraidy-cat.” Bettina shifted her attention to Alba’s horse. “Only thing worries me is if we’ll be able to go out today. We don’t deliver an’ pick up books, I might not get paid, an’ I need the money comin’ in.”

  Addie suspected Bettina’s brave front was only that—a front. But she wouldn’t shame the girl by calling her on it. She imitated Bettina’s ministrations and rubbed Russet’s nose. The horse snuffled her neck, and Addie smiled. “Are you saving up for something special?”

  A huge smile burst over Bettina’s face. “I sure am. My weddin’.”

  “Oh? You’re engaged?”

  “Mm-hmm.” She nodded big, pressing her cheek to Glory’s horse’s jaw. “Me an’ my beau, we’re in the courtin’ stage, but won’t be long now an’ we’ll set us a date.”

  Addie wasn’t surprised. A lot of girls married young. According to the records the orphanage had given Mother and Daddy, her birth mother was only seventeen years old when Addie was born. Bettina was probably seventeen or eighteen, a marriageable age. But she didn’t wear a ring or other piece of jewelry. Did girls in the hills receive some symbol of betrothal? Maybe Bettina had one but didn’t wear it on her rides.

  “That’s wonderful. What’s your beau’s name?”

  Bettina’s smile turned cunning. “Why, Addie, you already know. It’s Emmett.”

  Addie drew back. “Emmett? You mean Emmett Tharp?”

  “Mm-hmm. We go way back, him an’ me.”

  “But—”

  Glory and Alba appeared, bare feet pounding. The horses milled, and Addie automatically ran her hand down Russet’s nose. Glory held up a large yellowware bowl. “We got the stuff Doc wanted. Well, sorta. Belcher’s didn’t have no copper bowls, so I got this instead.”

  Alba patted the folded towel draped over her arm. “Least he had good cotton towels. This’uns big enough for Miss West to wrap herself up in if she wants to.” Alba looked from Addie to Bettina. Her fine, pale brows pulled low. “What’sa matter with you two? You’re all red faced an’ twitchy.”

  Addie hadn’t realized the shock of Bettina’s announcement showed. She forced a smile. “We’re fine. Just worried about Miss West is all.”

  Bettina’s lips formed a wry grin. “Yeah. Worried about Miz West. That’s all.” She nuzzled her mule’s cheek.

  “Girls?” The doctor beckoned them from the stoop. “C’mon in here. Miss West needs to talk to you.”

  Bettina

  “COMIN’, DOC.” BETTINA DARTED TOWARD the library building. She sent a sly glance over her shoulder. Yessir, she’d got the new book gal’s attention. That oughta keep her from getting all chummy with Emmett. Finding out they’d been at that college together kinda shook Bettina’s confidence, but see how it’d worked out? She’d just keep the two of them apart, and she’d have Emmett all to herself.

  Miz West sat at the table in her usual spot. She held her handkerchief in her fist and her fist against her chest, like she was fixing to take a vow. Bettina took the other chair, and Alba, Glory, and Addie crowded close, too.

  Doc Faulkner went down on one knee beside Miz West’s chair, almost like a man asking a woman to marry up. Bettina couldn’t wait for Emmett to kneel in front of her that way. Her heart fluttered, and she released a soft, airy giggle.

  “The bowl from Belcher’s won’t hold heat like a copper one would,” the doctor said to Miz West, talking as if the girls weren’t even in the room, “so you’ll have to keep water boilin’ an’ ready to go. But do like I told you—lean over the steamy water with the towel makin’ a tent for you an’ the bowl, and breathe in that steam at least ten minutes every hour for the rest o’ the day.”

  “Yes, Doctor, I will, as soon as I’ve finished speaking to the girls. Thank you.”

  He stood and picked up his bag off the table. “I’m right next door if you need me.”

  Bettina leaned sideways on the chair and watched the doctor leave. He didn’t so much as pause and look back. When he’d come to their house to see to Maw’s bad hurting in her belly, he’d stopped in her doorway and stared at her in her bed for a long time before taking his leave. Bettina’d never forgot it. If the doc left so easy now, he must not be too worried about Miz West.

  Bettina’s worry faded fast away, and she turned to the librarian. “Who’s gonna take Addie around today? We’re late settin’ out. Folks’ll be lookin’ for us.”

  Miz West gave Bettina a stern look. She was real good at those stern looks. But this one seemed a little sad around the edges. “You’ll set out when I send you.” She sighed one of her usual sighs and put her head down. “I’m afraid I have some unsettling news.”

  Addie moved in closer and put her hand on the librarian’s shoulder. “Are you dreadfully ill, Miss West?”

  Bettina almost rolled her eyes. Doc had left, hadn’t he? Sure, Miz West had a spell that morning, but she was fine now.

  “I’m afraid I’m more ill than I’d realized.”

  Bettina sat up.

  “Apparently, the pollens in the mountains are different from those in the city. I’ve always had a few attacks during the fall, especially when the goldenrod is blooming, but managed fairly well the other seasons of the year. That hasn’t been the case since I arrived in Boone’s Hollow, though. Doctor Faulkner believes tree pollen is to blame for today’s attack, which was particularly severe.”

  Glory nodded so hard her frizzy hair bounced. “Like to scared the stuffin’ out o’ me to see you all laid out that way. I thought you was a goner, for certain sure.”

  Miz West squeezed Glory’s hand. “I’m sorry to have frightened you. To be honest, it frightened me, too. I feared I might die then and there.”

  The girls gasped. Alba wrung her hands, leaning in. “That ain’t gonna happen again, is it? Now that the doc seen you an’ told you what to do, you’ll be all right, won’t you?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  Bettina nodded, her chest pinching like somebody had wrapped a rope around it and pulled. The doc coming didn’t mean things got fixed. Maw being in the ground proved it.

  “
Doctor Faulkner has advised me to leave the mountain for the sake of my health. I told him I would make arrangements. I should be gone by the end of the week.”

  Glory and Alba grabbed each other in a hug, and Addie blinked fast, the way folks did when they were trying not to cry. Bettina gritted her teeth real hard. If Miz West left, there’d be no more book routes. Bettina was losing her job, losing the money. Pap would have a conniption fit when he found out. But at least this book gal who’d gone to college with Emmett would get herself out of Boone’s Holler. Bettina didn’t wish ill on Miz West, but she wouldn’t be sad to see Addie Cowherd go away.

  Lynch

  Emmett

  THE GLOVES HELPED. Emmett scooped another shovelful of coal and flung it into the cart. Without his hands slipping up and down the length of wood, he developed a steady rhythm of scoop, fling, scoop, fling.

  After his supper last night, Maw had dropped a handful of wintergreen leaves into a tub of hot water and made him soak for a good long while. Then this morning, she rubbed wintergreen oil all over his shoulders and back. Emmett had massaged the oil into his leg and arm muscles, too. Maw claimed it would help ease the pain and stiffness. When he asked where she’d gotten the medicine, she put her finger on her lips and shook her head. That told him all he needed to know.

  Every muscle in his body still ached like a stubbed toe, but maybe the oil had helped more than he realized because he could swing the shovel in spite of the pain. And he sure smelled good. When he’d gotten on the wagon that morning, the other fellows asked if he was going courting. Even Shay joked with him about it, and Emmett had begun his day laughing. A good start.

  Scoop, fling, scoop, fling…

  The dust was awful, so thick it blurred his vision and made him sneeze. But if he kept his pace and held his position, he rarely let so much as a single chunk of coal bounce over the edge.

  Stead ambled up and watched Emmett for several seconds, tapping his leg with his ever-present clipboard. “You got a good aim, Tharp. Keep goin’ like you’re doin’ now, an’ you’ll have a full cart by midmornin’.”

  One of the other shovel men, nicknamed Pumpkin Pete for his curly orange-red hair, lobbed a grin in their direction, his shovel still swinging. “Sure, an’ he’s doin’ fine fer someone who smells like he’s been rollin’ in pine needles.”

  Emmett waved away dust and barked a laugh. “If you can smell my wintergreen oil with all this coal dust being sucked up your nose, you should rent yourself out as a bloodhound.”

  Pumpkin Pete roared with laughter, and Emmett couldn’t stop grinning. It had taken three years in his fraternity to feel comfortable enough to josh with his fellow Delta Sigma Phi brothers. Only his second day here, and already he was one of the boys. An unexpected benefit.

  Stead smacked Emmett’s shoulder, gave a nod, then headed on up the tunnel. Emmett returned to his steady scoop, fling, scoop, fling. His muscles screamed in protest at every motion, but he was finding out how tough he was. He grinned and kept going. He could hardly wait to clang the bell and let everyone up the line know he’d filled another cart.

  Boone’s Hollow

  Addie

  ADDIE SKITTERED BACKWARD several feet, then caught her balance. She stomped her foot and huffed. “Why is this so hard? I was able to mount the pony at the fair without a bit of trouble.”

  Bettina leaned on her saddle’s horn and smirked. “An’ just how big was that pony?”

  Looking through six-year-old eyes, it had seemed enormous. But when she remembered the photo in the parlor, it was probably more the size of a Great Dane. She groaned. “Less than half the size of Russet.”

  “Try again. Poke your foot in the stirrup, grab hold o’ the horn, an’ pull.” Bettina punctuated her instructions with sharp jabs of her finger.

  Addie gritted her teeth, took a firm grip on the horn, and tried once more to slide her foot into the dangling stirrup. Russet shifted sideways a few inches, and Addie’s foot went all the way through the opening. She lost her grip on the horn, flailed for another hold, found none, and landed hard on her bottom, her foot still caught in the stirrup. Russet snorted and pawed the ground.

  Bettina swung down as quickly as a snapping turtle lunged. She grabbed Russet’s reins and looked at Addie, eyebrows high. “That’s a good way to get yourself dragged.”

  Addie shook her fists in the air, wishing she could shake Russet instead. The animal would not cooperate. “Maybe I need a different horse.”

  “What you need is differ’nt shoes. Them little things with no heel ain’t gonna stay put in a stirrup.”

  Addie twisted around and freed her foot, certain she was showing off everything she’d put on under her dress that morning. Thank goodness the other girls had already left for their routes and she and Bettina were still half-hidden by the trees outside the library. She’d rather not have even Bettina as an audience, but at least the entire town wasn’t observing her ineptitude.

  She stood and brushed dirt and grass from her skirt. “You’re barefoot—no shoes at all!—and you don’t slide out of the stirrup.”

  Bettina scowled. “Never mind about my feet. Ain’t we lost enough of our day with Miss West’s troubles? Stop yammerin’ an’ try again.”

  Addie stared at Russet’s regal profile. “I don’t know, Bettina. It’s already awkward enough thinking about straddling the horse when I’m wearing…” She batted at her rumpled dress. “I must, at the very least, have secure footing or I won’t be able to…to…remain proper.” She gave Bettina’s overalls a quick examination. “Does Belcher’s sell britches like you’re wearing? Maybe I should buy some.”

  A gleam entered Bettina’s hazel eyes. “Why, sure, Belcher’s sells britches. We can go over there right now an’ find you some. Prob’ly should fix you up with a pair o’ boots, too—some with a heel that’ll catch on the stirrup an’ keep you from slidin’ through an’ fallin’ flat on your rump again.” She snickered. “ ’Less you wanna be like me an’ go barefoot.”

  Addie had gotten a peek at the bottoms of Bettina’s feet before she hopped down from her horse. Her soles appeared as thick as leather. She could probably walk through sticker patches and come out unscathed. Addie’s feet, always appropriately clad at Mother’s insistence, needed protection. “I’d like to look at both overalls and boots.”

  “Well, c’mon, then.” Bettina slung herself into her saddle, still holding Russet’s reins. She urged her mule into motion and led the sorrel.

  Addie hobbled after the pair of animals, face flaming. If Miss West hadn’t promised the girls another director would be assigned to the Boone’s Hollow post, she wouldn’t waste her money on clothes and shoes she’d likely never wear outside this community.

  But Miss West had said, “President Roosevelt is determined that the hills people are given every opportunity to better themselves, so the council in charge of the packhorse librarians program will hire a replacement for me. While you wait for the new director to arrive, you girls must continue your routes with all due diligence.”

  Miss West’s insistence inspired Addie to do the job for which she’d been hired. As soon as she could get up on Russet’s back.

  Bettina hopped down, looped the animals’ reins around a porch post, then gave a little leap onto the long covered porch in front of Belcher’s store and sauntered to the door. Addie stepped up with less grace. Her backside still hurt from her thump on the hard ground. Bettina waited at the screen door, snickering, but she didn’t say anything as Addie limped into the store.

  Whirring ceiling fans and light bulbs at the end of twisted brown wire hung from the high beamed ceiling. She’d presumed Boone’s Hollow was without electrical service since the library had none. The touch of civilization gave her an unexpected lift. As did the variety of goods available for sale. Units of unpainted freestanding shelves stood in rows from one end of the interior
to the other. Handwritten signs tacked to the shelves advertised sales on canned peas, yard goods, Dreft detergent, and Post Toasties.

  “This way.” Bettina led Addie toward the rear of the store. “Clothes’re back here. Belcher’s don’t keep dresses an’ such—ladies sew their own or order from the Sears an’ Roebuck catalog. A few of ’em go into Lynch to the minin’ store. But you ain’t needin’ any more dresses.” She humphed and turned a corner, then pointed to folded stacks of blue, tan, or railroad-striped overalls. “Reckon you need a shirt, too. Unless you wanna stuff that skirt into your britches.”

  Addie had no intention of stuffing her dress inside a pair of britches. She ran her finger down the stack of tan bibbed overalls. “What size do you wear, Bettina?”

  The other girl folded her arms over the bib of her faded blue overalls. “Why you wanna know?”

  Why was she always so defensive? Addie drew in a slow breath, praying for patience. “Because it will help me know what size to buy. I’m a little taller—”

  “An’ wider.” Bettina looked Addie up and down, one eyebrow higher than the other.

  What an impolite thing to say, even though it was true. Bettina was as slender as a willow branch. Addie sighed. “Yes. I thought if I knew your size, I’d just go up a size or two and we could save the time of my trying them on.”

  Bettina smacked her finger down on the tag attached by a string to a pair of blue overalls. “That there’s what I wear.”

  Addie added two more numbers, slid the tan overalls from the stack, and tucked them into the crook of her arm. “Now, boots.”

  “Them are in a bin near the front counter.” Bettina headed off, and Addie followed. A woman and a little boy were at the bin, pawing through the boots, and Bettina hurried over to them. “Miz Tharp! An’ Dusty. Hey, how you doin’?”

  The woman turned and wrapped Bettina in a hug. “Why, Bettina, what are you doin’ in here? Shouldn’t you be on your delivery route?”