"Please tell me you're not in a hurry to start your weekend, Mr. Johnson."
"What if I am? Would that pose a problem, Miss Thompson?
"Actually, it would."
"Why is that?"
"It would pose a problem because I have scheduled some fun for us this afternoon."
Kevin smiled. He didn't know what she had up her sleeves and wasn't sure he should ask. Sarah had already pushed him out of his comfort zone once by insisting that he make a special guest appearance at the Wallace Sewing Council.
"Does this fun involve leaving town?"
"No," she said. "It doesn't even involve leaving school."
"Now you have my attention. What would you like to do this afternoon?"
"Come with me. I'll show you."
Kevin put his jacket and the papers on his desk and followed Sarah out the door and down two hallways to a part of the building he had not visited. When they passed through yet another door, he saw something he had seen many times in his life but never on the campus of an American high school. He saw a bowling alley – or rather two regulation lanes, complete with all the trimmings.
"You have to be kidding me."
"I don't kid, Kevin, though I am working on improving my sense of humor."
He laughed. She didn't need to improve a thing.
"Why haven't I seen this?"
"I don't know. Perhaps you should step out of your classroom more often. This is one of the most popular spots in school. There is usually a crowd here this time of day."
"So where has everyone gone?"
"I don't know. I guess they've gone to wherever they go when a teacher tells them she wants to use the bowling lanes for two hours."
Kevin smiled.
"So we really have this to ourselves."
"We do, for the most part."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Let me introduce our pinsetters. I believe you know the first. Josie, you can step out now."
Josie White popped up from behind a set of pins at the end of Lane 1 and waved.
"Hello, Mr. Johnson!"
"Hello, Josie."
"Our other assistant today is Sally Payne. She will set the pins in Lane 2."
Sally stepped into the open and waved.
Kevin waved back and laughed.
"Did you promise them an A for staying after school?"
"I didn't promise them a thing," Sarah said with a wry smile. "They volunteered. Several girls volunteered when I told them after class yesterday what I wanted to do. I had to pick from several enthusiastic parties."
"Well, you should at least give them something. I can imagine more pleasant ways to spend a Friday afternoon then setting bowling pins for others."
"I have that worked out."
"You do?"
"I do. I plan to take them out for ice cream tomorrow. I understand that ice cream is an ideal reward for students who go beyond the call."
"I'm impressed, Sarah. You're amazing."
She reached out and grabbed his hand.
"I'm not amazing, Kevin," she said with a smile. "I'm a very ordinary woman who is trying to impress a very extraordinary man. Now, why don't you pick up a ball so we can get started?"
"OK. I'll do that."
Kevin walked over to the left side of Lane 1 and examined his choices. All ten balls were the same size, same color (black), and same weight (eight pounds). He quickly discovered that the holes in the balls had been drilled to the same specifications.
The time traveler, however, was not about to complain. He appreciated this gift as much as any he'd received in twenty-two years. Sarah was not just expressing interest in the new teacher in town. She was staking her claim.
So, for nearly two hours, two teachers threw eight-pound balls at three-and-a-half-pound pins and learned a lot about each other. Kevin learned that Sarah had ridden a horse but never a bike. She loved to swim but feared deep water. Sarah learned that Kevin hated spiders but liked snakes. He also liked cherry pie. She promised to bake him one at the earliest opportunity.
They learned as well that they had many things in common, like a love of impressionist paintings, candy apples, ice fishing, and Mozart. The discoveries reinforced a belief Kevin had held for weeks. He had done the right thing by returning to 1910. He had done a very good thing, and he wanted to enjoy this very good thing for as long as he could.
Kevin insisted on bowling until five, when Josie and Sally had to abandon their stations and return to their homes for supper. He gave each three dollars to spend on something they didn't need but always wanted, sent them on their way, and turned his attention to the woman who had beat him three games to two.
"If I didn't know better, Miss Thompson, I'd say you had set this up to show me up."
"I've been practicing," she said with a hint of amusement. "I hope losing to a woman does not cause you unbearable distress."
"If it does, I know a good shrink."
Kevin winced when he saw Sarah's puzzled expression and mentally berated himself for using a modern reference. He had done a fair job of speaking in the language of the early 1900s but knew it was only a matter of time before he backed himself into a corner.
After putting their balls away and turning off the lights, the two returned to the main part of the school building and walked to Kevin's classroom. They found his jacket and the student essays where he had left them.
"Do you need to get anything in your room?" Kevin asked.
"I have everything."
Sarah smiled and grabbed his arm.
The couple walked out of the classroom, waved to a janitor who regularly closed the building at six, and proceeded down the corridor to the exit. When they walked out the door, they walked into a refreshingly warm spring afternoon. They also walked into Preston Pierce.
"Preston," Sarah said. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to pick you up at 3:15, but I was told you were occupied."
Kevin looked at Pierce and saw anger build in his eyes. He could only imagine what he thought of his lady friend holding the arm of a man who had embarrassed him publicly.
"I was occupied."
"We need to talk, Sarah."
"No, Preston, we don't."
Kevin resisted the urge to jump in. He wanted to stand in front of Sarah, get in Pierce's face, and make the diminutive banker soil himself in real time, but he decided to let things play out.
"Yes, we do."
Sarah looked up at Kevin and frowned.
"Can you give us a moment?"
Kevin nodded and dropped his arm. He watched Sarah walk over to Pierce, out of earshot, and begin an animated conversation. Three minutes later, the combatants parted and headed in opposite directions. Pierce scowled at Kevin as he returned to his carriage. Sarah forced a smile as she returned to the school's front steps.
"Is everything all right?" Kevin asked.
"It's as well as it can be," she said.
"What does that mean?"
"It means Preston doesn't consider this settled, even though I told him that I want nothing to do with him. It means also that we will both have to be vigilant. He is vindictive and petty."
Kevin fumed a second time when he thought of what had transpired. He wanted to put the hurt on Pierce, who seemed to relish bullying and manipulating others, but he decided that this was not the time or place.
Sarah made sure that his anger didn't have the chance to build. She grabbed his arm, lifted her head, and kissed him tenderly on the cheek.
"Let's talk no more of that man," she said. "Let's talk instead of dinner."
CHAPTER 37: SADIE
Saturday, April 16, 1910
Sadie sat on the porch swing facing King Street and watched three children interact in a nearby lot. Two girls, maybe six years old, argued over which of them would get to ride bicycles with a boy their age. There were three kids, two bikes, and one problem.
"You like her, don't you?"
"Yes, I like
her. I like you, too, Sadie," Kevin said from the other half of the swing. "I've never stopped liking you, but I can't date two women at the same time. I won't. It wouldn't be fair to you, it wouldn't be fair to Sarah, and it would complicate my life beyond measure."
Sadie looked at Kevin and smiled sadly. At least they were talking now. For three weeks they had done little more than offer each other "good mornings," "good days," and "good nights," as if simple greetings would allow them to maintain a friendship that had become the most important thing in the world to her.
"Is it because of who I am or what I was about to be?"
"No, Sadie. It's not about either of those things. If I cared about any of that I would have never come back from Montana. I would have never spent time with you."
"Then what is it?"
Kevin sighed.
"I don't know. Sarah and I just seem to have more in common. We're both teachers. We work at the same place. We have similar backgrounds."
Sadie figured as much. She might be able to overcome the day at the brothel, but she would never be able to measure up to a woman who was just as pretty, just as smart, and a whole lot more cultured and educated. She began to make an observation about the children in the lot when Andy O'Connell walked out the door.
Andy stopped at the edge of the porch, turned to his friends, and laughed.
"Well, aren't you two a sight?"
"Hi, Andy," Sadie said.
"Where are you going?" Kevin asked.
"I'm off to the Standard. My editor wants some local reaction to the comet. It's coming next week and the hysteria has already set in."
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? You've been spending too much time with that teacher. Half the town thinks it will strike us dead. The other half hopes it will strike us dead, or at least create the kind of fear that makes nervous investors poor and cautious investors rich."
Kevin laughed.
"There's even a death watch going for Mark Twain," Andy said.
"Is he ill?" Sadie asked.
"He's as healthy as a horse, as far as I know, but he made a prediction last year that some are treating like a proclamation from the Almighty Himself."
"What prediction?"
"He said that since he came in with Halley's comet, he would surely go out with it."
"You can put money on that one," Kevin said. "It's a done deal."
"Is that so?" Andy asked.
"That's so."
"I may hold you to that, Kevin. Unfortunately, I must run. I'll see the both of you at supper. What's on the menu?"
"I'm fixing corned beef and cabbage."
"I could kiss you now, my dear. You'll someday make some lucky lad a happy man."
Sadie blushed.
"Thank you, Andy."
Andy grabbed a satchel he had placed atop the railing and hurried down the steps. He ran across the street, past the no-longer-bickering children, and quickly disappeared from sight.
"He's not the only one who likes your cooking, you know," Kevin said. "You have a real gift when it comes to preparing food."
Sadie looked at Kevin wistfully.
"Thank you."
Kevin leaned back on the swing, extended his arm, and stared into space as the two settled into one of those moments where not a lot is said but a lot is communicated. A moment later, he picked up the conversation.
"Have you given any more thought to going to college?"
"I have."
"I meant it when I said you'd be an incredible math teacher."
"I know you did, but . . ."
"But you're still thinking about the cost, right?"
"That's one thing."
Kevin turned toward Sadie and looked at her in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable and decidedly breathless. Was he going to kiss her?
"I've been thinking about this lately, Sadie. I've been thinking about it a lot," he said. "If money is the only thing keeping you from college and pursuing your dreams, then I'll give you some money to at least get you started."
Sadie slid farther away.
I don't want your money. I want you.
"Did I say something wrong?"
Sadie sighed and shook her head. It was petty, she decided, to punish him for a decision that ninety-nine out of a hundred men would make. He had already done much for her. The least she could do was act like a grown-up and show some gratitude.
"No. You said something right. I'm sorry I've kept to myself the past few weeks. I've missed our talks and our chess games."
"I have too," Kevin said.
He pulled her close and kissed her on the top of her head.
"Thanks, Sadie."
"Thanks for what?"
"Thank you for being understanding and for being my friend. You're one of the best friends I've ever had."
Sadie turned toward Kevin, took a breath, and held back the tears. She looked at this kind and thoughtful man with love and admiration and, for a moment at least, forgot that she was his second fiddle.
CHAPTER 38: KEVIN
Wednesday, April 20, 1910
The last hour began, as always, with a vocabulary lesson. Kevin walked to the front of the classroom, picked up a stick of chalk, and wrote P-E-R-I-H-E-L-I-O-N on a blank blackboard.
"Who can tell me what this word means?
The teacher scanned the class of twenty-four. He had hoped to see at least a few raised hands but saw only one, belonging to the usual suspect. The freshman, sitting in the front row between four seniors, threw up an arm and waved it like a pennant at a football game.
"Josie?"
"It's when Halley's comet is closest to the sun," she said.
"You're on the right track," Kevin said. "A perihelion is the point in an orbit of any comet, planet, or asteroid at which it is closest to the sun."
Josie beamed.
"Can anyone tell me why this is important to know now?"
Fred Simpson raised his hand.
"Fred?"
"It's important because Halley's comet is getting close to the sun."
"It's more than getting close. It's already there. It's sitting on the sun's front porch and getting ready to say goodbye. Halley's comet reached its perihelion today. The comet will now move away from the sun and, fortunately for us, become more visible at night."
Another student raised a hand.
"James?"
"Will it be brighter than the one in January?"
Kevin knew the answer but kept it to himself. He didn't want to douse his students' enthusiasm for one of the most famous celestial events of all time. He chose his words carefully.
"We won't know for sure until it gets closer. One thing I can tell you is that you are very lucky. Many people don't have the chance to see a bright comet in their lifetime. You all will have the opportunity to see two of the brightest comets ever in the span of three months."
Kevin walked to the right side of the blackboard, drew a fuzzy circle the size of a basketball, and then sketched a tail from the circle that extended to the left side. When he was finished, he wrote the letters A, B, and C at different places on the board.
"As you may know from your readings, a comet has three primary parts. Does anyone want to take a stab at identifying these parts?"
Kevin looked at the front row, smiled, and pointed at a student.
"Part A is the nucleus and Part C is the tail," Josie said. "I'm not sure what Part B is."
"You're correct about A and C. Can anyone tell me what Part B is called."
The teacher again surveyed his domain and again saw mostly blank faces.
"Part B is the coma. It is a diffuse cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the nucleus. The coma is the brightest part of the comet, the part we can see easily from here on Earth."
Kevin walked to the front of his desk and sat on the edge. He knew it wasn't good form, but he wanted to rest his bum while he engaged his students for the open-mike segment of Comets 101. He grabbed a pen and a pad and
set them to the side.
"Now is the part of class where you can ask me questions. I will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Halley's comet but were afraid to ask."
Kevin looked around the room.
"John?"
"My father says that Halley's comet is a big ball of fire. Is that true?"
"No," Kevin said. "I'm sure your dad's a very smart man, but comets are not balls of fire. They are celestial objects made of ice and dust. They are not unlike the dirty snowballs you kids throw at each other in January and February, except that they are as big as cities and move at speeds of up to 150,000 miles per hour."
Another hand shot up.
"Mary?"
"Will we all die if Halley's comet hits us?"
Kevin smiled.
"That's a great question, Mary. First, let me say with absolute certainty that this comet will not hit us. It won't come even close to hitting us. I know that some of you have read reports that the earth will pass through the tail of the comet sometime next month. That will, in fact, happen. We'll discuss what that means in a few weeks."
Kevin paused for a moment and then continued.
"Now, let me answer your question hypothetically. Would many people die if a large comet or asteroid hit the earth? The answer is yes. Large objects have hit us many times in the past and will undoubtedly hit us again, but I can guarantee that you will be able to sleep soundly tonight and for many years to come."
Kevin saw relief sweep over two dozen faces.
"Are there any more questions?"
Several more hands went up. Apparently convinced that the big snowball in space would not turn Wallace into a crater, the students went about satisfying their intellectual curiosity.
Kevin answered their queries for thirty more minutes. He cut off the Q and A at three when he took a final question from Josh Miller, the boy who had sketched the flying saucer.
"Josh?"
"Mr. Johnson, do you think we will ever put a spaceship on a comet?"
Several students laughed.
Kevin wanted to rush to Josh's defense with things he knew. He wanted to tell the class about the Rosetta mission, an international effort to put a probe on a comet in 2014. He wanted to show Josh the film Armageddon just to keep his fertile mind from going to seed. He loved kids who asked so-called stupid questions. They reminded him of him.
The Fire (Northwest Passage Book 4) Page 16
