by Cassie Hayes
As silly as he thought the stringent rules were, they’d just have to abide by them until they were free of their contract — or until they saved enough money for Poppy to survive on her own and for him to go back home where he belonged.
He could curb his use of native words to soothe nervous children, but Poppy…he knew her well enough by now to know that nothing would deter her from doing what she thought was right. If he couldn’t stop her — which he had no hope of doing — he at least needed to figure out some way that she wouldn’t risk their positions.
Mustering his most charming smile, he clasped her cold, thin fingers in his hand.
“Of course, you’re right, Mrs. Austin. I do apologize for my part in breaking the rules. It won’t happen again.”
“And your wife?” Reverend Austin asked.
Matthew sensed the man was in a more reasonable state of mind than his wife, which gave him some hope that Poppy wouldn’t be summarily fired.
“Reverend, my wife has a big heart and, if I may be so blunt, an even bigger mouth.”
The reverend chuckled while his wife loosened up and smirked slightly.
“She means well, she truly does, and I know she loves the children with all her heart.”
They nodded, eager to hear what he had to say. They’re circling the bait…
“I just wonder if she might be better suited to…oh, never mind. That’s ridiculous.”
He turned and started tidying up from the last patient. Wait for it…wait…wait…
“No, please go on,” Mrs. Austin insisted.
They took the bait.
“I just wonder if there might be an opportunity for her to — and I don’t know if there is, so please forgive my stupidity…”
“Spit it out, son.”
Time to set the hook.
“It seems to me that a woman of my wife’s passion might be better suited to outreach work, rather than being cooped up in a school where she will undoubtedly, if unknowingly, cause issues.”
Time passed slower than the nights in Alaska in December — something he’d grown very familiar with. The beating of his heart pounded in his ears as he waited for them to react. Only when Mrs. Austin broke out into a beaming grin did he realize he’d been holding his breath.
“Oh, what a splendid idea,” she said, clapping her hands. “She could see to the Indians at the Rancherie and try to recruit new students.”
“And distribute blankets or whatever is needed to see them through the winter,” the reverend added.
As they prattled on with ideas for Poppy’s new duties, Matthew leaned back and smiled. She would be so pleased to be out from under the watchful eye of Mrs. Austin, not to mention to work directly with the Tlingits at the Rancherie. Eddie had dragged her down there several times and the silly girl had already made friends.
Maybe she’d be so happy that she’d give him a kiss.
Chapter 10
“Thank the good Lord above that you’re finally out of that stodgy old school.”
Eddie ambled alongside Poppy, leaning heavily on her cane, on their way to visit some families at the Rancherie. Poppy was grateful for the company on her first day of ‘outreach’. A skinny dog ran past, chased by an even thinner boy. But instead of trying to hit the dog with a stick when he finally caught it, like the boys back home would have done, he hugged and petted it while the dog licked his face clean.
“The Austins aren’t really as awful as you led me to believe,” Poppy chided. “I think they genuinely care and want to help these children, many of whom are actual orphans, you know.”
Eddie huffed at her.
“Never said they didn’t care. But you know how their parents died, don’t you? Diseases we brought with us.”
“It’s terrible, I agree, but the question is, what do we do about it now? Pretend they don’t exist?”
“Of course not! But I’ll be hanged if I’ll help you drag away anymore children from their parents, Poppy. Don’t even dare to think of it or I’ll hit you with my cane!”
“I would never dream of it, you know that. In fact, I’d like to use my position as outreach liaison, whatever that means, to teach the children at the Rancherie. That way they wouldn’t have to leave their families, even the orphans living with aunts and uncles. Of course, if the families want them to go to the school, I’ll help arrange it but wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could stay together?”
“The good reverend and his wife would never allow it.”
“I’m not saying it’ll be easy, or even happen quickly, but it’s a worthy goal to work toward, isn’t it?”
Eddie gave Poppy a shrewd look.
“If you don’t watch out, you might just become the next headmistress out there.”
Poppy laughed at the ridiculous comment. They’d already demoted her from teacher to ‘outreach liaison’, thanks to her willful nature and sassy mouth. She’d be lucky to last another month, if she didn’t take Matthew’s warning to watch herself.
“One of the things I’d like to start with is making sure all the children out here have warm clothes. One of my students gave his hat to his brother, leaving him without one. Why should only the school’s students have warm clothes?”
“Sounds like you have something in mind?” Eddie was a sharp old lady.
“Well, the steamship will get here in a couple of days. If I were to place an order for children’s clothes then, it would be at least a month and a half or more before they arrived. Now Vladimir has a nice selection of wool fabric in his shop, but I obviously can’t afford to buy any and I can’t ask him to just give it to me…”
She gave Eddie a sly smile, batting her eyes for the full effect. The older woman cackled at her ridiculous attempt at manipulation.
“Child, you’ve got a lot to learn about the art of subtlety. But you got me. I’m in. You get Vinchenko to sell you the goods at cost — and make him show you the invoices — and I’ll foot the bill.”
They visited five families in the Rancherie that day, including Kalemste’s family, and Poppy loved every minute, even if the families were a little standoffish. The homes the government built for them were large, by her standards, and built as one open room. Eddie explained that’s how the Tlingits lived before the Russians came — longhouses, they were called — and the design was the only one the natives would live in. Sleeping benches lined every wall, and in the center was a large fire pit.
Snow a few inches deep covered most of the landscape, except down here by the Rancherie. The houses sat so close to the water that most of the snow refused to stick to the ground, not that there was much ground between the tightly packed homes for it to stick to. What was there existed in an almost permanent state of mud.
The ladies picked their way through the mud-field, skirts lifted obscenely high, and Poppy couldn’t help laughing.
“What would Matthew’s mother think of all this?”
She loved Eddie’s laugh, and how free she was with it, like it didn’t cost her a thing to offer it up.
“Child, every summer I see the blue-blooded snobs who traipse around town, thinking they’re on some grand adventure, wrinkle their noses at the people who live in the Rancherie, calling them savages or worse. Not a single one would be where we are right now — not that I think we’re something special, mind you. The way I see it, it’s my duty as a Christian woman to help those who need and want it, no matter the conditions.”
By early afternoon, they headed back down Lincoln Street toward the mission while light was still in the sky. Aside from following all the school’s rules, the short days had been the hardest thing for Poppy to adjust to. Once she recruited enough students to hold classes at the Rancherie, she’d have to check out a buggy from the school’s stables so she could stay later.
“So how’s that handsome husband of yours,” Eddie asked, eyeing Poppy in a way that made her skin itch with awkwardness.
“Shh.” She looked around to make sure no one could hea
r their conversation. Keeping her voice low, she said, “You know very well what the situation is, and you promised not to blab it all over town.”
Eddie pretended to be shocked and offended, but Poppy thought maybe she needed the lessons in being subtle.
“I was simply asking about Matthew’s well-being, child. Has he learned to love Sitka as much as you and I do?”
A gloom whisked away the joy she’d been feeling after connecting with so many Tlingit families. It pressed down on her until she felt as if she would choke on it.
“No, he still can’t wait to go back to Massachusetts.”
“Will you go with him?” The twinkle in Eddie’s eye irritated her. Nosy ol’ busybody! But she’d somehow wormed her way into Poppy’s heart, becoming something like a grandmother to her. The closest thing she’d had to a grandmother was Old Lady Johnson, the neighbor who taught her to read.
“Of course not. This is my home now. It’s only been a month and I’ve never been happier in my life, Eddie. The scenery, the people, the quiet solitude.” She stopped on the boardwalk and caught her friend’s gaze. “I never want to live anywhere else.”
A touch of sadness colored Eddie’s smile.
“Even if it means doing so without him?”
It felt as if a heavy weight was pressing on Poppy’s chest, making it harder to breathe. But she refused to show such weakness in front of anyone, even Eddie.
“I’ve lived this long without a man to take care of me, Eddie, I think I’ll get along just fine without him.”
Tears prickled behind her eyes, and she was glad for the gloam of dusk to hide her pinkening nose. Over the last month, she’d grown to enjoy Matthew’s company. In the evenings, after the rest of the staff had retired, they would talk late into the night, sharing stories of their lives. She laughed at the high-fashion mishaps he suffered through at balls and galas, and he gasped in horror at some of the tamer stories from her tenement days.
They’d even exchanged Christmas gifts during the mission’s big holiday dinner. She gave him a new shoe polishing kit because he was forever buffing and cleaning his footwear, and he gave her a shiny new chain for Ma’s locket. It now lived nestled against her heart, a constant reminder of her mother.
She had to admit that, for the first time in her life, she counted a man as a friend. Naturally, every time he talked about going back to Boston, a part of her ached to ask him to stay, but that would be pointless. Why would he?
“Child, you’ve suffered through more than most people ever have nightmares about, and you came out the other side for the better. You’re strong and independent, just like me. It’s why we get along so well.”
It was her turn to stop walking. Her expression was full of love and understanding, and it made Poppy want to run for her life.
“I know you don’t need a man, dear, but you obviously want one.”
Poppy opened her mouth to protest but Eddie put a finger to her lips and winked.
“One in particular.”
* ~ * ~ *
Matthew couldn’t help smiling as Poppy prattled on and on about the people at the Rancherie. This new outreach position really suited her. She’d taken to teaching more easily than he thought but the school’s rules were rubbing her raw. Now she had free reign. It was nice to see her happy. If anyone deserved a little happiness, it was Poppy Adams…er, Turner.
“And then the mother, I think her name was Savak-tla, waved me over and gave me a bowl of something hot.” Her cheeks glowed with excitement and he honestly couldn’t wait to hear the rest of the story.
“What was it?”
“Dried salmon stew! Matthew, I swear, it was better than just about anything the cook here has made since we arrived. It was a small bowl, and I didn’t want to eat up all their food, but I certainly could have had seconds, it was that delicious.”
“If they have so little to eat, why did you accept the food at all?”
A wrinkle gouged the spot in between her eyes. For a moment, he worried that his question was too forward, that he’d offended her. After a rocky start, they settled into a comfortable friendship and he didn’t want to rock the boat. Then she answered.
“Because to do otherwise would have been unthinkably rude. Many cultures around the world have a similar custom. If you go to someone’s home and are offered food or drink, you accept. Period. To refuse would imply that you either don’t think they’re worthy or that they can’t provide. Either way, you accept. If they offer a second round, it’s then acceptable to politely decline. You didn’t know that?”
He laughed at her surprise.
“Poppy, I grew up in the upper crust of Boston society. We traveled to Europe one year, but we stayed at hotels and ate at fine restaurants. Never once, that I can remember, were we invited into anyone’s home.”
Her perfect, plump lips curved into a smile and a few stray auburn curls bounced as she shook her head. He couldn’t stop the mental image of her hair cascading around her shoulders, and his fingers twitched with a desperate need to touch them.
“Who would have thought I would know more about the world than you,” she said, ducking behind an ornate Oriental screen to change. Vladimir gave it to them once he heard about their situation. Matthew had objected to telling the man he’d once blamed for his family’s downfall, but Poppy sniffed at his concern, insisting that Vinchenko was as good a man as she’d ever met.
What about me? Will she ever think I’m a good man?
The thought had been popping up more frequently lately and no answer comforted him. He’d lied to her on multiple occasions and made it clear that her needs were secondary to his own. Plus there was the whole ‘deceiving the mission’ thing with his plan to skip out on his contract.
Part of him wanted to point out that she’d deceived Mr. Horton back in Seattle about being a teacher, but the reality was that almost anyone who could read could teach. As it turned out, Poppy happened to have a knack for it. Naturally, she’d charmed all the children, even breaking through to the wildest of the bunch, a feat no one had thought possible. For a lowly, uneducated seamstress from the poorest part of Lawrence, she’d certainly created a fulfilling new life here in Alaska, a place she very clearly loved with all her heart.
“Did you see the auroras tonight?” she asked while she changed into her nightclothes.
He always tried to avert his eyes when she went behind the screen, not so much to preserve her privacy — the screen was very effective — but because even a glimpse of her arm poking above it or her bare toes peeking out from under it sent his pulse racing. It was a short journey from there to thinking about their lone kiss, the way her lips softened under his and how she pressed into him.
There you go again!
“Mmmhmm,” he mumbled, trying desperately to clear his mind of the images flitting through it by pulling his sleeping palette from its hiding place under the bed.
“Weren’t they just breathtaking? I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life, have you?”
Poppy rounded the screen dressed neck to toes in a thick pink flannel nightdress, ready for bed. Her hair tumbled down in waves that caressed her neck in a way that made him envious, her eyes bright with excitement. Her simple beauty took his breath away, but he managed to croak out a single word.
“Never.”
Chapter 11
Vladimir’s nephew scooted past Poppy and Eddie as they entered the dry goods store early the next morning, running down the boardwalk as only a boy on an adventure can run.
“Alexander,” Vladimir shouted from inside, “only few minutes with silly dog, then school!”
The women entered laughing at the eternal struggle between children and their guardians over going to school. Vladimir greeted them with open arms and light pecks on each cheek.
“Poopy, Eddie, what nice surprise. Come. You want to place order? I get new shipment tomorrow of many pretty things when steamer arrive.”
The arrival of the monthly win
ter steamship was a big event for the residents of Sitka. Instead of bringing the summer tourists and their fists full of greenbacks, it brought not only much-needed supplies, but also eagerly anticipated news from the outside world. Poppy was hoping for updates from her friends, though her heart really ached for a letter from her mother, as unlikely as that would be. Her father would certainly rather put the two cents a stamp cost toward a bottle of redeye than waste it on a letter to her.
“Not today, Vlad,” Eddie said, perching her large bottom on a stack of Oriental rugs to take the load off her arthritic knees. “Although I’d take a snootful of that ‘woodka’ stuff you drink.”
“Da,” he said, pulling a bottle from behind the counter. “What can I do for you, pretty ladies?”
The women outlined their plan to help the under-clothed at the Rancherie as Vladimir listened, arms crossed and expressionless. When they finished, he didn’t speak, just stared out the window. Had they overstepped?
Over the last month, he’d gone out of his way to make her and Matthew feel welcome, helping them whenever he could. His generous and respectful demeanor made her suspicious at first, but he showed the same respect to every single person who walked in his doors — man, woman, white, Tlingit, it didn’t seem to matter to Vladimir.
But his silence caused a fog of worry to bloom in her heart that perhaps she’d misread the man. Eddie seemed nonplussed as she sipped her vodka, waiting patiently. Finally, Vladimir sniffed and wiped at his eyes.
“You—“ his voice cracked with emotion and he shook his head. Was he crying? “You ladies do wonderful thing. So many need so much.”
“So are you in?” Eddie asked bluntly, as was her habit.
“Da. Yes, very honored. Alexander has family in Rancherie. He always take food when he visit. Now he take clothes, too.”
They spent the next hour picking out warm fabrics, settling on the most needed items, and filling out an order for more supplies. With any luck, the goods would be sent back up on the next steamer in a month’s time.
