The Fire (Northwest Passage Book 4)

by John A. Heldt

  "Is that the only reason?" Kevin asked with a sly smile.

  Sarah blushed.

  "You can wipe that grin from your face at any time, Mr. Johnson."

  Sarah stifled a smile as they crossed the intersection with Bank Street. She knew she had a duty to publicly protest his forward comments, but she was not about to object to them privately. She savored every word that came out of his mouth and every second she spent in his company.

  "I'll try, but I can't make any promises. You make me smile."

  "I'm happy to hear that I serve a useful purpose."

  As they passed a barbershop, a clothier, and a newsstand, Sarah noticed that several other couples were out and about in top hats and parasols. She knew most of the couples and knew that most were married. She wondered what it would be like to enjoy the love and stability so many seemed to possess.

  "Is there any place in particular you'd like to go?" Kevin asked.

  "No. I'm content simply to walk around town," Sarah said. She looked at him thoughtfully. "I do enjoy your company, Kevin. Thank you for coming to dinner. I wasn't sure you would accept my invitation, much less actually show up."

  "Why would you say that?"

  "I was afraid you might be scared off by Preston."

  "I thought you said you two were just friends."

  "We are. Well, let me rephrase. I consider him a friend. I believe he considers me more than a friend. He has become rather possessive in the past few weeks."

  "Has he mistreated you in any way?"

  "Oh, no," she said. "It's not like that. He's been a gentleman from the start, but he doesn't care much for competition. I dare say he wouldn't care much for you walking me down the street. I dare say he wouldn't care much for you at all."

  "I'm not surprised. Our meeting at the bank was not a particularly pleasant one."

  "I've heard as much."

  "What have you heard?"

  Sarah paused to choose her words carefully. She didn't know all the reasons behind Kevin's heated exchange with Preston Pierce, but she did know that he had come to the rescue of a local girl who worked at Maggie Ryan's house of prostitution. She had learned from two friends that he had paid off the girl's debt to the tune of fifteen hundred dollars.

  "I've heard that you helped an orphan in distress by retiring her father's debt."

  "Her name is Sadie Hawkins," Kevin said. "She owed Pierce a large sum and I paid it off."

  "Was she someone you knew?"

  "No. She was a total stranger."

  Sarah looked away for moment. She hadn't heard that part.

  "If you don't mind me asking, why would you do that for someone you didn't even know?"

  Kevin stopped and turned toward Sarah.

  "I did it because she needed help and because I had the means to help her. I couldn't stand to see someone like Pierce abuse a girl over a debt her father had incurred," he said. "I know most people wouldn't do something like that, but I'm not like most people."

  Sarah smiled and tightened her hold on his arm.

  "No, you're not. You're not like most people at all, and I'm glad you're not," she said. "What did you do after you settled her finances?"

  Kevin chuckled.

  "That's easy. I found her a job. She works as a housekeeper for Maude Duvalier. I've been staying at Maude's as a boarder since my first week here."

  "Well, I, for one, find your actions noble. You are changing my opinion of men with money. Wallace is lucky to have you."

  "Thank you," Kevin said, "but I really don't want to talk about me. I'd much rather learn about the woman on my arm."

  Sarah smiled sadly.

  "Let's keep walking," she said.

  They continued in silence for a minute or two until they turned west on Pine, a block shy of the river. When they passed a hotel and a livery, Sarah spoke up.

  "What would you like to know about me?"

  Kevin looked at her thoughtfully.

  "I'd like to know everything. I'd like to know the particulars of your childhood, your reasons for becoming a teacher, your dog's name, maybe even your favorite color."

  Sarah laughed.

  "That's a tall order. I'll see if I can fill it."

  Sarah glanced at Kevin and continued.

  "I was born and raised on a farm just outside of Clinton, Indiana. My parents raise corn and potatoes and some pigs, though not the kind with apples in their mouths."

  Kevin grinned.

  "You're not going to let me live that down, are you?"

  "I may, but only if you treat me to ice cream this week."

  "It's a deal."

  She paused to let another couple pass.

  "As I was saying, I grew up on a farm and lived there until I enrolled in the teacher's college in Terre Haute. I decided to become an educator because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of young people."

  "Do you have any siblings?" Kevin asked.

  "I have two sisters and two brothers. One is a surgeon in Indianapolis."

  "What else?"

  Sarah smiled and raised a brow.

  "My dog's name is Willie and my favorite color is green."

  "I feel I know you already, Miss Thompson. I think we're done."

  Both laughed.

  "I'd like to believe that, but I know you have more questions."

  "I do. I have a lot of questions, including a big one."

  "You may ask."

  "Why does a young woman leave her home in Indiana to teach school in Wallace, Idaho?"

  "I left because of a man."

  "You came all the way out here to see a man?"

  "No," Sarah said with an ashen face. "No. I came out here to get away from one."

  "I'm not sure I follow."

  Sarah tried to gauge his interest by studying his eyes and determined that he would not cease asking questions until he had every answer. After a moment of thought, she decided to tell all.

  "Last May, shortly before I graduated, I received a marriage proposal from a man ten years my senior. We had dated for only a month and hadn't had the chance to get to know each other well, but he was handsome, wealthy, and kind, so naturally I considered his offer."

  "Did you accept?"

  "I did. I told him I would marry him if he first allowed me to teach for a year. I wanted to at least get a taste of the profession before settling down and raising a family."

  "Let me guess. He refused to budge."

  "Actually, he did budge. Mason accepted my condition, and we set a date, but no sooner than I made plans to teach in Terre Haute, he insisted on getting married immediately."

  Sarah sighed.

  "I broke off the engagement and told him I didn't want to see him again, but he refused to honor my wishes. He pestered me for days and said he would use his influence to keep me from getting a teaching position in Indiana. When things reached a breaking point, I checked the listings at the college for opportunities in other states and learned there was a great need for teachers in Coeur d'Alene. I boarded a train five days later."

  "So why aren't you in Coeur d'Alene? Why are you in Wallace?"

  "I'm in Wallace for the same reason you are: an opportunity opened up here just as I was passing through. Jane Pickering, an English teacher, left the high school in June to get married. I interviewed with Principal Morrison and two members of the board and was hired on the spot. I moved in with the Marshalls the next day."

  "Did you ever hear again from Mason?"

  "No, thankfully. Nineteen hundred miles proved to be a sufficient buffer."

  Kevin chuckled.

  "So now you're here."

  "Now I'm here."

  "Well, I'm glad I met you," Kevin said. "You're one of the most interesting women I've ever known – and definitely one of the prettiest."

  Sarah smiled as her face turned red.

  "You're incorrigible, Mr. Johnson."

  "I try."

  An hour later, the incorrigible Mr. Johnson walked the int
eresting and pretty Miss Thompson to the front door of the stately mansion at Seventh and Garnet.

  "I had a great day, Sarah. I'd like to do this again."

  "It would be my pleasure."

  Sarah considered asking him in for a brandy but decided to save that invitation for another day. She liked this man and wanted to get to know him better, but she didn't want to rush things. She had not proved to be the best judge of character in assessing potential suitors.

  "Well, I should go," he said. "Believe it or not, I . . ."

  Kevin cocked his head.

  "Is something wrong?" he asked.

  Sarah looked over Kevin's shoulder to the far side of the intersection, where two men who looked vaguely familiar stared at the Marshall mansion. Neither looked particularly friendly.

  "Do you know those men?" she asked.

  Kevin turned around.

  "I've never seen them before. Who are they?"

  "I'm not sure, but I think I've seen them before at the bank," Sarah said.

  "Should I be alarmed?" Kevin asked with a laugh.

  Sarah glanced again at the intersection. She saw the taller of the two men touch his hat before turning around and leading the other man toward the center of town.

  "I don't think so," she said. "It looks like they're leaving."

  "Thanks again for a lovely Easter, Miss Thompson. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

  "Goodbye, Kevin," she said. "Have a nice walk home."

  "I will."

  "Be careful."

  CHAPTER 35: SADIE

  Tuesday, March 29, 1910

  Sadie stared out a living room window and watched rainwater form puddles on King Street. She couldn't imagine a better metaphor for her social life than this wet, gray day.

  "It's hopeless, isn't it?"

  "Nothing is hopeless, dear, but I admit I've seen more promising situations," Maude said as she put a hand on her housekeeper's shoulder. "Give it some time. You never know what the wind will bring in."

  Sadie thought she had given it time. She had given Kevin more than a month to demonstrate that he liked her as much as she liked him. She had encouraged him with words, both spoken and written, and with deeds, but he had still cast her aside. She wondered what, if anything, she could do now to gain and hold the interest of the man who had saved her life.

  "What I don't understand is why he was so kind to me, even when he didn't have to be. If he didn't consider me more than a friend, then why did he spend so much time with me?"

  "I wish I knew, Sadie. I admit I'm as perplexed as you. I've seen him look at you in a way no man looks at a friend. He does like you. I'm sure of it."

  "Then why does he favor Sarah Thompson?"

  Sadie didn't require input from Maude on that. She knew deep down why Kevin favored Sarah. The teacher was beautiful, charming, kind, and educated, a woman who would never in a million years turn to prostitution to pay a debt. She was, in a word, better.

  "I should have let him kiss me."

  Maude laughed.

  "I'm sorry, but do you have something to share?"

  "I should have let him kiss me on the rock. Two weeks ago we went for a walk on the trail on the south hill. There's a boulder that overlooks all of Wallace. We climbed up on the boulder and he looked at me like he wanted to kiss me, but I said something that stopped him."

  "What did you say?"

  "I said, 'Thank you for moving slowly. Thank you for being a gentleman.'"

  "That'll do it."

  Sadie looked at Maude with annoyance in her eyes.

  "I'm sorry, dear," Maude said. "I'm sure you had a reason."

  "I did. I did have a reason. You know how he found me. You know where. I wanted him to think of me as someone he had met in church and not in a 'gentlemen's club.' I don't want him to ever think of me as someone other than a woman with standards and morals."

  Sadie stepped away from the window and picked up a copy of the Saturday Evening Post that someone, probably Andy, had left in a chair. She placed it in a magazine rack. When she returned to the chair and sat down, she saw that Maude had already taken a seat on a sofa.

  "I know this probably sounds a bit strange, but I can relate to your situation."

  "How is that so?" Sadie asked.

  "I was twenty-one when I met my husband, a twenty-one-year-old who performed burlesque on the Denver stage because that's how pretty girls from one-horse Colorado towns got noticed by rich men who could offer them something bigger and better than what they had."

  Sadie sat up and leaned forward.

  "It was nice at first. Marcus brought me to Wallace, built me this big house, and bought me a wardrobe that would make a duchess green-eyed and greedy. But no matter how many fine clothes I wore or fine parties I hosted, I was never able to shake the feeling that I didn't deserve them. I was never able to convince myself that I deserved Marcus. I was still a tramp from Kit Carson County."

  "But at least you had your husband for a few years. You have all this," Sadie said. "I'm back to where I started before my father died. I have no beau, no prospects, and not much of a future."

  Maude stared at a painting on a wall, a picture of a visibly carefree woman strolling on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She walked to the painting and straightened the frame. When she turned back to Sadie, she did so with a smile that looked forced.

  "You have your job here. I know it's not much, but it's a start."

  "I'm not complaining. You've been oh-so-very kind to me. It's just that . . ."

  "It's just that you want more," Maude said. "I understand. You want more."

  "I do want more but not necessarily material things. I don't need all of this."

  "Then what do you want?"

  "I want Kevin. But if I can't have him, I want someone like him. I want a man who treats me with respect and encourages me to do more than cook and clean," Sadie said. "Do you know that he encouraged me to go to college? Me! He actually said I would make an incredible math teacher. Those were his exact words. No one has ever said something like that to me. Not my mother. Not my father. Not anyone."

  "You probably would make an incredible math teacher. Is that what you want to do?"

  "I don't know," Sadie said as she lowered her eyes. "It doesn't really matter. I don't have the money to go to college. I don't even have books I could read that would make me seem more educated. The library's not much help either. Most of its books are out of date."

  Maude got out of her chair.

  "Let me ask you something. What if I provided you with a means to become educated right here in Wallace? It wouldn't cost anything but your time. Would you be interested?"

  Sadie lifted her head and looked at her landlord, employer, and friend.

  "I would."

  "Then let me show you something. Follow me."

  Sadie followed Maude up the stairs and down the hall to a locked second-floor room that none of the boarders had entered and none, to her knowledge, had even asked about. When Maude turned a key and threw open the door, Sadie's eyes lit up.

  "What's this?"

  "This room is, or rather was, Marcus Duvalier's den. I keep it locked because I don't want anyone, even people I trust, to enter a room and ask questions about a man I still consider a philandering skunk."

  Sadie stifled a laugh.

  "As you can see, my dear dead husband was quite a pack rat. He acquired and kept thousands of books, periodicals, maps, and records. New books and magazines still arrive in the mail each month. I haven't gotten around to canceling all of his subscriptions."

  Maude smiled and put her arm around her housekeeper.

  "This was Marcus' private library, Sadie. It's now your ticket to a better life."

  CHAPTER 36: KEVIN

  Friday, April 15, 1910

  On his seventh Friday of his third run through 1910, Kevin thought of taxes. It was April 15, after all, and he had not yet collected his W-2 forms and filed with the IRS. Then he realized that h
e didn't have to file with the IRS. The United States didn't have an income tax in 1910, or at least the kind Kevin's parents had complained about all his life.

  He also thought of two women. As he leaned back in his chair and watched his last-period students finish an assignment, he thought of the woman he wanted and appeared to have and the one he no longer wanted but couldn't quite purge from his mind.

  Kevin couldn't have asked for a better start with Sarah. In three weeks, they had gone from acquaintances and colleagues to something that approximated a couple. He had taken her to shows, on walks, and even to church picnics. He had not yet mustered the courage to kiss her, but he would soon. He understood that 1910 was a different time. Gentlemen proceeded slowly with gentle ladies, and Sarah Thompson was most definitely a gentle lady.

  Kevin couldn't have asked for a worse finish with Sadie. In three weeks, they had gone from affectionate friends to fellow boarders who exchanged pleasantries at breakfast and supper. He had not handled the transition in their relationship well. He had tried to mend the rift caused by Easter but had failed miserably. He had hurt her deeply and had come to the conclusion that there was probably little he could say or do to make things better.

  When the final bell sounded, more than twenty science students placed papers on Kevin's desk and filed out the door. Several wished the new teacher a nice weekend. One asked for help on a problem. Another, Josie White, flashed a mischievous smile and skipped out of the room.

  Kevin laughed to himself. What was that all about?

  When the last student walked out the door, Kevin assembled the papers and placed them in a folder. He was tempted to start grading them immediately but decided to hold off. He had nothing planned for the weekend and figured that the papers, on what students thought the world would be like in the year 2000, might make interesting reading on Sunday.

  He got up from his chair and walked to the far front corner of the classroom, where he had placed his Stan Laurel jacket on a hook. He grabbed the jacket, straightened a desk in front, and returned to pick up the file of papers. When he looked at the door, he saw a familiar smile.