A Dogtown Christmas

by Callie Hutton

  Miss Cochran smiled and shook her head at his comment. “I had no idea how to handle a bear. To think I did all that climbing, and I only had to yell at the poor creature and toss a few pebbles in its direction.”

  He reached for more books. “That’s because it was a black bear. They’re pretty harmless unless they’re cornered or protecting their young. Now if a grizzly walked onto your property, climb as fast as you can onto that roof.”

  “Are there grizzles around here?”

  “Not likely. They haven’t been spotted in this area for a long time.”

  They’d been working all morning, once he’d gotten her down from her roof. He hadn’t lied when he told her he was impressed with the amount of books and other school supplies she’d brought with her. He would have bet good money that all those trunks he’d hauled from the mail coach stop had been filled with clothes and other folderol. It turned out only one held her clothing. The rest were household items and school supplies. Their little schoolhouse had never been so well supplied. But then they’d never had such an esteemed teacher either.

  As hard as he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Miss Cochran would turn tail and run within the first few weeks. For the sake of the town and its children, he hoped he was wrong, but everything about her screamed privilege. The people of Dogtown were anything but privileged.

  He dusted off his hands and stood, stretching his back muscles. “What do you say we take a break and head to the restaurant for lunch?”

  “There’s no need for that. I have plenty of food that someone from the town—I assume it was you—stocked my house with. I would just need about an hour to put together a pot of vegetable soup and make some biscuits.”

  He reached for her elbow and helped her up. “Nope. My stomach wants food now.”

  “All right. I must admit, I’m hungry myself.”

  They left the schoolhouse and took the short walk to the same restaurant they’d been to the day before. Of course, for now anyway, it was the only restaurant in Dogtown. Something Mitch hoped to correct when he could convince an investor to build a hotel and restaurant in town.

  The town council had been working on getting the railroad to add a spur to Dogtown along its Denver line. So far they hadn’t seen the need for it. More people, more businesses, and then they would do it, they’d said. He’d been working hard to attract farmers and businesses so their town could grow. It had become important to him to see Dogtown go from the tent town it had been when he’d arrived as a child to a respectable place where families wanted to raise their children.

  Once they settled at the small table, Mitch said, “Tell me, Miss Cochran, now that you’re here—and it appears the town has more confidence you’ll stay than I do—what made you decide to leave a comfortable home and work in an out-of-the-way place in the Rocky Mountains?”

  She scowled at his remarks but answered anyway. “I love teaching. My mama and my cousin Ellie are both teachers. I honestly believe wanting to share knowledge with children is a passion you’re born with. I know it’s been something I’ve wanted to do all my life.

  “The reason I chose Dogtown was twofold.” She began to draw little circles on the red-and-white checked tablecloth. “I love my family.” She looked up. “I truly do. But I needed to put some space between them and me. As I told you, I have four brothers, but also four cousins whom my parents raised, their spouses and children, and they all live within blocks of us and each other.”

  “To my way of thinking, it sounds like a wonderful way to raise a child. I often wished Ian had more family around.”

  They both looked up as the waitress approached. “Good afternoon, folks. Would you like the special today?”

  “What is it?” Mitch asked.

  “Liver and onions.”

  Mitch and Miss Cochran both shook their heads. Something he apparently had in common with the new teacher. “I’ll have a ham sandwich.” He turned to his companion. “Miss Cochran?”

  “A ham sandwich sounds good to me, too.”

  The waitress left them with their coffee cups filled and returned to the kitchen.

  Miss Cochran shook out her napkin and placed it on her lap. “In response to your observation, I must agree it was a wonderful way to grow up. But when you have that many people ‘loving’ you, it gets smothering at times.”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “So we were your escape. Why Dogtown?”

  “Would you laugh if I told you I loved the name?”

  He laughed. And found himself actually enjoying Miss Cochran’s company. While she’d been anxious to get away from those who loved her, he’d been feeling a lack of connection to other people. For years it had been just him and Ian. He’d made plenty of friends, but with his gun shop, parental duties, and time spent working on the town council, he’d had no time for courting.

  Not that he was anxious to marry again, but it did a man good to occasionally spend time with a person owning a female voice, engaging laugh, and strong, womanly curves. All the things the town’s new teacher possessed.

  Best to get his thoughts away from that direction. Even if she did stay in Dogtown—which he doubted—she was so far above him as to make any thought of them courting ridiculous. But he had to admit she sure was certainly easy on the eyes.

  “See, you laugh, but I do love the name Dogtown. It appealed to me right way.” Her eyes sparkled and she waved her hands around, excitement in all her movements. “And it’s exactly as I pictured it. Small, but friendly. Growing. Parents anxious for their children to learn. Nothing is more discouraging to a teacher than to have parents who are only sending their children to school because the government requires it.”

  “And is that what you have in the schools in Guthrie?”

  “Not enough to discourage a teacher, but when you advertised for a teacher to come to Dogtown, I heard the passion in your words, how you wanted the children of your town to have a good education.” She stopped and gave him a piercing look. “I can provide that.”

  “If you stay.”

  She raised her determined chin. “I will.”

  Priscilla thanked the waitress as she placed the sandwich in front of her. She still had a hard time believing Mr. Beaumont had spent the entire morning helping her set up her schoolroom. She still sensed suspicion and disapproval in his comments, but she had to admit he’d been a great help. And that didn’t even count him chasing the bear away and getting her off the roof.

  Instead of climbing back down the tree, he’d had her slide to the edge of the roof and drop into his arms. Once she landed, they’d stared at each other, leaving her wondering if she looked as surprised as he had. His eyes had widened when she licked her dry lips before he quickly placed her on her feet.

  The last thing she wanted was to be attracted to a man who practically held her in contempt. He was only waiting for her to pack up and leave. Well, she had no intention of doing that and would love to have him apologize five years from now when she was still in Dogtown.

  “What does Ian do all day with no school?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “He has chores, and I assign him schoolwork. He helps out in my store a few hours a day, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday he delivers the Denver newspapers from the mail coach to the stores and homes.”

  “It’s good that you assign him schoolwork. I’m anxious to see where the students are in their education. I imagine with the sketchy learning they’ve had so far, I will have a lot of work to get them caught up.”

  Mr. Beaumont cleared his throat. “Miss Cochran—”

  “Perhaps we can do away with the formalities? You may call me Priscilla.”

  He tilted his head. “Priscilla suits you, you know.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I’ll take it as a compliment.”

  He dipped his head. “That is how it was meant. And my name is Mitchell, but you may call me Mitch.”

  “Mitch suits you.”

  “Ah
. Our respective progenitors will be pleased.”

  “What?”

  He waved in her direction. “Sorry. A word I read once. It means parents.”

  “No, I know that. I’m just surprised to hear you say it.”

  His eyes snapped. “I’m sure you are.” He collected the check from the table and stood. “Are you ready to return to work?”

  She stared at him as he pulled out her chair. Mitch Beaumont was a puzzle. However, not a puzzle she was interested in solving. She had a job to do and that came first.

  This time as they walked back to the schoolhouse, there was an air of tension between them. Perhaps she had insulted him at her surprise at his use of the word progenitor. She really must stop assuming things if she was to be a success in Dogtown.

  “What I intended to ask you back at the restaurant is if you would like to accompany me to the church social this Sunday afternoon. It would give the parents a chance to ask you more questions. Lunch follows the morning service, and it’s the time of the year the good Reverend Thatcher will be doing his usual begging for volunteers for the Christmas pageant.”

  “Oh, I would like that! My family was very involved in our church, and I had intended to ask about services. And to be involved in the pageant would be such fun.”

  “If you’re still here, that is.”

  Her temper flared. “I will be here. You don’t seem to understand, Mr. Beaumont. I am here to stay and you better get used to the idea.” She muttered under her breath, “Je vais vous prouver le contraire.”

  They stopped in front of the schoolhouse. “I’m afraid I will have to leave you to our own devices this afternoon. I can trust Ernest to run my store for a short period of time, but by now he’s probably caused some type of disaster that will need fixing.”

  She nodded, still annoyed at his continued distrust. Nothing in her life had prepared her to deal with such suspicion. “Thank you for your help. I’m very excited at the idea of setting up my own classroom and preparing for the children to arrive Monday morning.”

  “Haven’t you done this before?” he asked.

  “No.” She gave him a smug look. “This is my first teaching assignment.” She waved and hurried into the schoolhouse, leaving Mitch with his mouth hanging open.

  Mitch sat at the supper table, still smarting from his exchange with Priscilla. Despite what she’d mumbled in French, she would not prove him wrong. He would prove her wrong in the end. He was sure of that. The winters in Oklahoma were nothing like the winters in the Rockies. Once she got snowed in for three or four days, he would bet she’d be packing those trunks and heading out on the next mail coach. A French-speaking, high-class city girl would never last in Dogtown.

  Ian helped himself to a serving of fry bread and dipped it into his bowl of stew. “Pa, don’t you think Miss Cochran is pretty?”

  Mitch stabbed a piece of meat with his fork. Did the woman have to invade his home, too? He shrugged. “She’s all right.”

  “Nah. She’s pretty. I’m glad she’s our new teacher.”

  Mitch had spent too much time thinking about the new teacher, and how pretty she was. He didn’t want to notice her looks or even think about her. “I just hope she stays long enough to keep the school opened at least until Christmas.”

  “Why do you think she won’t stay?”

  He looked into the very young and trusting eyes of his son. “Come on, Ian. She’s young. She’s pretty. She comes from an important family. She’s college educated. She’s…” He couldn’t help but think the words he spoke were for his benefit, not his son’s.

  Ian shrugged. “I like her.”

  “I didn’t say I don’t like her. She seems to be a nice person. I just have my doubts that she’ll last the winter.”

  Ian popped the last of his fry bread into his mouth. “I forgot to tell you, Miss Cochran wants me to come to school tomorrow.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s testing all the students before school starts on Monday. My time is tomorrow at ten o’clock.”

  “Don’t forget Mr. Boswick brings the newspapers tomorrow. Everyone will be looking for theirs.”

  “She said it won’t take more than an hour. I’ll have plenty of time.”

  Mitch nodded and picked up the bowls and placed them into the sink. What would it be like to have a woman in the house? Someone who fixed the meals, cleaned up afterwards, sat with them in the parlor at night, sewing or reading a book? Funny how he’d never felt the lack of female companionship before now. When he felt the need, he’d make a trip into Denver to visit a widow friend of his for an overnight stay. Even those visits had dwindled down to only a few times a year.

  More than a woman to cook, sew, and read, the idea of having a warm, soft body wrapped in his arms when he fell asleep at night and then awoke alongside in the morning had him wishing for things he had no right to wish for. The woman who’d made him long for things he hadn’t thought he wanted was too far above him and his life.

  The nightly chores he’d done alone since Polly died seemed harder somehow tonight. Was he lonely? He hadn’t questioned that for a long, long time.

  His marriage to Polly had lasted less than a year, and most of that time she’d been sick with her pregnancy. Why he was thinking now about a woman in the house disturbed him, certain Miss Priscilla Cochran prompted those thoughts. Memories swamped him of her soft body pressed up against his chest when she’d dropped from the roof into his arms. The fresh scent of lemons surrounding her. The sparkle in her hazel eyes. The plump lips she’d licked that he’d wanted to cover with his own.

  Feeling like the fool he was, he stomped to the shed to settle the horses for the night. Keeping busy would stop his thoughts from traveling in a direction they had no business going. Sure, he’d invited her to church and the social afterward, but that was only because it was his responsibility to see that the new teacher was settled and familiar with the town and its inhabitants. He would have done the same for the plump fifty-year-old spinster he’d expected to arrive on the mail coach.

  Yeah, but would I have looked forward to it as much?

  Ian rounded the corner of the schoolhouse and came to an abrupt halt. Miss Cochran stood, feet apart, both hands gripping what looked like a Colt M1911 semi-automatic pistol. She released the safety, and, taking aim at tin cans sitting on a wooden fence running along the back of her yard, she slowly squeezed the trigger. And picked off all seven cans in rapid succession.

  “Wow, Miss Cochran, that was great.”

  She lowered her gun, engaged the safety, and spun around. “Goodness, Ian, you startled me. You shouldn’t do that to a person holding a gun.”

  He walked up to her. “I know guns. If that’s a Colt M1911, it holds seven rounds.”

  “Yes, I guess you would know guns.” She placed her hand on his shoulder and walked him back toward the schoolhouse. “This will be our little secret, all right, Ian?”

  “You’re a great shot. Why don’t you want anyone to know?”

  “I’m not sure how proper it is for the teacher to have such a talent.”

  Ian shrugged. “All right. If that’s what you want.”

  “Thank you.” As they entered the schoolhouse, she placed the gun in the top drawer of her desk. She waved him toward the bench in front of her desk. He was such a pleasant boy and as handsome as his father.

  Now where did that thought come from?

  “I have a test here that I’m giving to the children around your age. It’s both arithmetic and reading. This will tell me what we need to work on.” She handed him a sheet of paper that he took and sat back down.

  Priscilla returned to sorting books into grade levels. She looked up after about ten minutes when Ian stood next to her. “Do you have a question about one of the problems?”

  “No, ma’am. I’m finished.”

  She frowned and looked at him, taking the paper he held out. Every problem was finished and correct. “Did you read the passages for the read
ing part of the test?”

  He nodded.

  She quizzed him on the passages and he answered all those questions correctly as well.

  “My goodness. You are certainly more advanced than I thought.” She headed to her desk and pulled out the arithmetic sheet for the high school-aged children. “Here, try this. It will probably be too hard, but let’s see how far you get.”

  Ian settled on the bench with his pencil and the paper and bent his head. She returned to her work, wondering how she would place the children in the classroom. The school she had done her training in had classes divided into two grade levels each. It would be a challenge to have all grades in one room. She looked around the space and decided dividing the benches into grade levels might work. Especially if she put the oldest children next to the youngest ones so they could help.

  About half an hour after Ian had started the test, he returned it to her desk. All thirty problems had been completed and were correct.

  She looked at the paper with amazement. “Ian, who’s been teaching you?”

  “My pa. He also taught me history, geography, and literature.”

  “Indeed?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She tapped her pencil against her lips, a slight smile teasing her mouth. It appeared Mr. Mitch Beaumont was not at all the man she’d believed him to be.

  Chapter Five

  “Hi, Miss Cochran.” Ian gave Priscilla a bright smile as she left her house to join him and Mitch in their buggy. Since she’d been watching for them before Mitch had a chance to fetch her, she was already next to the buggy. She was very excited to attend the church service and the social afterward.

  “I imagine automobiles are the main mode of transportation in Guthrie,” Mitch said as he helped her into the vehicle.