Elizabeth's Flight: a tale of loving discipline out west

by Susan Thomas

  Chapter 4

  Beth had been astonished at the events of her arrival and the discovery that she was a twin. The next day was also astonishing. She was taken to the brand new school house to meet the Town Council but it seemed to her the whole town was there. It was almost a party atmosphere as the parents and their children were all anxious to meet their new teacher. The story of Beth being Emily's twin sister had spread quickly and also drawn the merely curious as Emily was well known and loved. Beth met so many people she had no chance of remembering them all and she was relieved when at last the Town Council proudly took her in to the school house. A lot of care and thought had gone into both the building and equipping of the school. They wanted the best for their children.

  There was a large stove in one corner, for the winter weather, and rows of desks with metal frames, each with its own bench, as well as a separate teacher's desk. All were brand new. A blackboard was at the front and stacked around the room unopened boxes waited like Christmas presents. Beth could see from the labels they held books, slates and slate pencils, globes and maps and all manner of things to provide the best for the children. There was even a large cupboard, as yet empty, for storage. Outside they had built separate privies for boys and girls and another for her.

  Beth marveled and praised the council for the work they had put in and begged to be left to begin unpacking and sorting out what would be her workplace. When everyone had gone she put on an apron, rolled up her sleeves and set to work. She was hard at it when Sheriff Henry Flight arrived.

  "Pardon me Miss Franklin, I came to offer my services. There's a lot to do I can see. Of course you may wish to be alone so I'll not take offence if you want rid of me but I've brought my hands and my tool box if it is needed."

  Beth found the tall lean sheriff rather attractive. He had frightened and bewildered her when she got off the train but he had apologized and her sister was, after all, married to his brother. She put him to work pinning up some large pictures from a box of classroom illustrations. He was close to her when she opened another box of assorted goods and found a sturdy oak paddle.

  "Would you like me to hang that on the wall by your desk?"

  "No thank you. I'll put it in the back of the cupboard and forget it's there."

  "A teacher that doesn't paddle the kids?"

  "If I can't teach the children without hitting them I'm not worth the money the town pays me."

  Henry smiled at her but what he meant by it escaped her.

  ---oOo---

  Beth made her mark the very first day the children arrived. They went home that afternoon telling their parents all about how they had helped make the classroom rules and how they all had to support and help one another. They buzzed about how interesting, how kind and how funny Miss Franklin was, and it seemed to the parents that somehow Miss Franklin had made each child feel special. Beth used the older ones to help the younger and the more able to help the less able and quickly made her classroom a place of happy learning. She had no idea how she did it. She had read no books on teaching nor had any training. She simply followed her instincts and it seemed to work and she began to enjoy her days in the schoolroom and the hours of preparation she put in at other times.

  Beth marveled at how well she settled into her new life. John and Mary Spencer treated her as if she was their daughter and were extraordinarily kind to her. Arthur too was treated as a son and it was common to find John Spencer playing checkers (and often losing) with the boy or teaching him how to do something. Beth quickly realized she had no household skills: she couldn't cook, had never cleaned and the only housewifely thing she was any good at was sewing. She was the product of a household rich in servants. Mary began to teach Beth how to cook simple things and found her to be a quick study. Mary loved having Beth and Arthur to look after and made no secret of it.

  One Friday afternoon Beth was seeing the children off home; she hoped to get herself sorted out quickly so she could run home and help Mary prepare the evening meal. Now she was safely away from Rankin Blake she was nurturing her dreams of one day getting married and having a large family. She would fill her house with all the love and warmth that was missing in the Jones' household. One loving little girl had just given her a hug and run off when she saw a farm wagon approaching driven by a woman with a small boy sitting beside her. The boy looked scared to death.

  The woman and boy climbed down from the wagon. "Pardon me ma'am but are you the school teacher?"

  "I am indeed. Miss Franklin is my name."

  "I'm Eileen Hancock and this is my boy Timmy. He's nine, ma'am. We farm out near Hollow Ridge. My Timmy goes to school there. He's a bright boy ma'am. When our old clock stopped working Timmy took it to pieces and cleaned every part, oiled it and put it all back together and it works just fine now."

  Beth smiled at the lad, "My, that is clever. I'd not be able to do that."

  "But he finds readin' and writin' difficult. He's real slow at it. The teacher at the school shouts at him. She makes him stand on a stool and tells the whole class how stupid he is and he don't want to go now." Beth went very stiff and tried not to show her displeasure. "My husband says Timmy ought to learn to read and write. He don't care if he ain't real good at it but he ought to learn. We heard you're a real good teacher and wanna know if he can come here. One of us would bring him in the wagon each day cos it's a fair stretch."

  Beth wasn't at all sure what to do. The town paid for its own children but not others. In the end she said that Timmy could come if the Hancocks paid in regularly to the town funds. Either they were reasonably well off, or very keen on education, because Mrs. Hancock gave her a sum of money immediately. Beth said Timmy could start straight away. Mayor Spencer approved the arrangement and Timothy Hancock started after the weekend. By the end of the week he was a happy smiling boy. He and Arthur were great friends and already bemoaning the fact they lived so far apart. On the Friday afternoon Mr. Hancock himself came to pick the boy up in his wagon.

  "Miss Franklin, I'm real grateful to you. My wife has baked this pie for you and I want you to know anything I can ever do for you and it's done."

  Beth wondered if she really deserved their enthusiastic gratitude. Timmy was easy to teach, he wanted to learn; he just needed kindness and the tasks broken down into small steps. That the very bright Arthur had latched on to him showed that Timmy was also bright with just some sort of problem in learning to read and write.

  ---oOo---

  Beth had fallen into the habit of spending the best part of Saturday morning working in the school, setting things straight for the following week and preparing. She was hard at work one Saturday when Henry Flight arrived. Beth found him very attractive and guessed he liked her though he had made no approach other than being helpful. She looked up with a smile which quickly died at the stern look on his face.

  "You have lied to us and deceived us all, Miss Elizabeth Franklin Jones."

  Beth said nothing and Henry waved a paper at her. "I get bulletins in my role as sheriff and here is a notice that one Miss Elizabeth Franklin Jones has run away from her parents taking with her a neighbor's boy against his will. That boy is named as Arthur Blake. I am disappointed in you Miss Jones. I'm a simple man. I'm honest and try and keep the Ten Commandments. I go to church regular and I don't like lies or swearing. You've lied to us all, and taking a boy from his father is wrong. In my book a young woman like you that lies needs to be punished and I intend to do just that. Before I do anything else I am going to take that paddle out of the cupboard, put you over my knee, and wear your behind out with it."

  Henry had expected protest and tears but what he got surprised him. Beth lost her temper, something she rarely did.

  "Oh, of course you will. You are Sheriff 'I am a Righteous Man' Flight. You know everything don't you. You know all law from those of the Medes and Persians right up to our own time. You know all about being a young woman whose parents want to marry her off to a cruel man who may well have ki
lled his first wife. You are well qualified to be my judge, jury and executioner. Of course I kidnapped Arthur; you can see he is only here because I have him tied up in a corner. Look there he is." She waved a furious hand at an empty corner and stamped her foot in fury. "You stupid, stupid, arrogant man. Why, have you even talked to Arthur? Well, why should you? You know everything don't you. Your silly bit of paper told you."

  Henry's temper flared in response. "How dare you speak to me like that after you've lied the way you did? But you're right, I've never said two words to young Arthur. You come with me now while I do so, and then, when I've heard what he has to say, you are getting the spanking of your young life."

  Henry seized her arm in a firm grip and practically dragged her out of the school house and stalked off towards the Spencer home. Beth had difficulty keeping her feet moving at his speed. Arthur was outside. He loved doing chores. Other boys might fret at them but Arthur was really happy with the Spencers and if they said he should cut kindling then he would do so with enthusiasm. He was doing the job carefully, as John Spencer had shown him, when Henry turned up.

  Henry had calmed his flare of temper by the time he arrived. It wasn't Arthur's fault he had been taken against his will. Henry gave him a 'Hello' and reached out to ruffle his hair. He was shocked when Arthur flinched away from him, jumped back and held the chopper up in a defensive way.

  Beth pulled herself free of Henry and put her arm around Arthur. "It's alright Arthur. Sheriff Flight was just going to ruffle your hair. Men do that with boys to show friendliness."

  "That's right Arthur. I wasn't going to hurt you but I have discovered that you are really Arthur Blake..."

  Henry would have said more but Arthur held the chopper up aggressively and shouted, "I won't go back. I'll run away again. You can't make me."

  Beth stood smirking at Henry's dumfounded expression.

  "Arthur, it says in my bulletin that Miss Jones here took you against your will."

  "No she didn't! That's a lie." Arthur had the huge indignation that only a child outraged by adult injustice can have. "I ran away. I knew she was going to run too so I followed her and she only found me by an accident."

  "Why did you run?" Henry couldn't understand why both of them should have run away.

  "My father whips me."

  Henry laughed, "All boys get the seat of their pants dusted from time to time. It's part of growing up."

  Arthur gave him a look of contempt and turned to Beth. "Will you look away please Beth and don't look back until I tell you."

  Beth reluctantly did as she was told and heard Arthur taking off some clothes. Suddenly she heard a sharp intake of breath from Henry. She heard his voice sounding grim and angry. "Your father did this?"

  "Yes."

  "Get dressed boy. I've seen enough."

  "But you haven't heard enough. You think we shouldn't have run? I told Beth not to marry him. I used to hear my mother screaming. She'd scream and scream but he never stopped and the door was always locked when that happened. One night I heard her screaming worse than ever. I tried to get in but the door was locked and I was too little. None of the servants would come. In the morning the doctor came for my mother but she died. He'd have done that to Beth too."

  Tears were running down Arthur's face as he said all this and Henry looked horrified. "Who is this man?"

  "Rankin Blake," Beth answered. "My parents are dead set on me marrying him. I don't know why. He has been giving me looks that chilled me since I was about twelve or thirteen. He's rich and powerful and I am officially engaged to be married to him."

  "I don't hold with lies or deceit but I can see you had little choice. I give you my word I will do my utmost to protect you both. However, I'll not have John and Mary Spencer deceived. We must go and tell them the truth now. They'll not give you up, they're good people."

  John and Mary Spencer heard the news and showed no surprise. "We pretty much guessed all that," said John. "Mary has seen Arthur's back and rear end and there were so many holes in their story you could have used it as a sieve. We made our own judgment and have no intention of letting Arthur go back to his former life. We regard him as our son now. As for Beth, well any father that would make her marry a man like that isn't fit to be called a father. She stays as Beth Franklin."

  Mary's quiet voice interrupted, "You may call me a foolish woman but I think this is all arranged. I think Arthur's mother is looking down from heaven and protecting him and Beth too. She didn't just make sure they ran away she made sure they came here, where Emily is, and where we can look after them. You may smile at me if you wish but they were meant to come here."

  ---oOo---

  Emily was delighted that the truth was out even if Charles was a little hurt she hadn't told him the full story. He explained how he had written to the orphanage and was expecting newspapers from Beth's home town. It would be interesting to see what reports were circulating there. Had Rankin Blake admitted his son had run away and if so how was he handling it? Had Beth's parents made public the departure of Elizabeth and were there any clues as to their plans?

  The new relationship between Emily and Beth was strange: it was as if they had never lived apart. They finished each other's sentences, always seemed to know just what the other was thinking and feeling and giggled and laughed together. It made others smile but they just seemed to find it normal and natural.

  When Charles received a letter from the orphanage it was to say that Emily had been left by one Mr. Isaac Franklin Jones. The note in the register said that Emily was the daughter of a woman who had died in childbirth and that as a single man he was not in a position to care for her. Since Beth knew his marriage to her mother predated her birthdate that whole story was suspicious. Charles also revealed that no notice had appeared about either Arthur or Beth in the local newspaper from her home town. The three were obviously keeping the fact of their flight a secret.

  Both Flight brothers, Emily, Beth, Mayor and Mrs. Spencer and even Arthur met to discuss what they should do. In the end they decided they would do nothing. There was no need as clearly Blake and Beth's 'parents' had no real idea where they might be. They all relaxed but that happy state of affairs did not last for long.

  One Friday afternoon as Beth was seeing the children off on their way home Eileen Hancock arrived with a small wagon to pick up her son Timmy who was playing with Arthur. The two boys were now inseparable and if not making something were tumbling and doing handstands or climbing trees together. The farmer's wife got down from her wagon and came over to Beth who thought she probably wanted a report about Timmy's progress.

  "Timmy's coming along fine Mrs. Hancock. Slow but sure. I can see he's a smart boy but he does find reading and writing hard. I have no idea why but he works hard and it's coming."

  "Yup he's doing real well and loves comin' to yer school. It's summing else. I've heard from folks over in Hollow Ridge they've had a stranger looking for a young woman maybe with a boy named Arthur. I've not seen him but he's been nosing. I thought you might like to know."

  Beth went very stiff. "Do you know if anyone has sent him in this direction?"

  "They wouldna give him the time o' day if they had it. He was a ways too smarmy but he's still digging. You needn't worry about me and mine. He won't get nuttin out o' us. I was sent by the orphanage where I wos raised to a farm. They said I was indentured. Slave would be more like and I had things done to me that no girl child should have done. I ran away and but for my Bill I'd ha' ended up bad. I don't know what you and Arthur are runnin' from but I can tell you are cos I done it. Reckon you've got good reasons."

  Beth realized that Mrs. Hancock was no fool and was grateful for the warning. Inside she was panicking. Hollow Ridge was too close for comfort. She had to find out more if for no other reason than to protect Arthur. She decided to say nothing to the Spencers but also that she would go and find out for herself. That he was at Hollow Ridge indicated he must have some idea of the area she had gon
e but just not where. She didn't go home to help Mary with the meal; instead she stayed and did all her preparation that evening. Early the next morning she went down to the livery stables and asked Joe Foster if she could hire a buggy. He was none too sure how good she was at managing horses but gave her a placid old mare and an old buggy at reasonable cost. Beth had never driven so far and never on her own but she gritted her teeth and ignored the loneliness of the rough road.

  Hollow Ridge was much smaller and clearly poorer than Kirkham. She avoided the saloon but at the blacksmith's shop found a woman bringing her man some food.

  "Excuse me ma'am I hear there's been stranger around looking for a young woman with a boy." Even as Beth said this she began to realize it had been foolish to come.

  "Yup. Some city type. All suit and smarm. Jethro, you spoke to that city feller. What he want?"

  "Looking fer a young woman wot run away. Forgit wot name but she might have a boy with her name o' Arthur. Give me his card. A fancy detective he was all the way from Washington itself. Sent him on his way."

  Beth asked around but discovered very little more. While they warmed to her they had not warmed to him and either didn't know anything or lied to him. The valuable information was he had gone off in a different direction to Kirkham altogether. She decided it was a fishing trip but of course when you go fishing you sometimes catch fish.

  Chapter 5

  It was late and dark by the time Beth drove the buggy back into town. She returned the hired vehicle and Joe Foster warned her. "They're all lookin' fer you Miss Franklin. Ya' shuld a told where yer wus goin'."

  Beth hurried back to the Spencer house to find Mary and John Spencer in a state of agitation. "Where have you been Beth? We've been so worried about you."