Western Christmas Brides

by Lauri Robinson

  “I am twelve years old, Miss Marnell. Well, almost twelve. My birthday is in December, so I won’t really be twelve until almost Christmas, but...” Her lovely face lit up in a smile. “I promise I will act like I am twelve.”

  Ivan stepped forward. “Miss Marnell, I may speak in private?” He took her elbow and conducted her into the school yard outside. “I tell you some about Anna. I have not seen her for almost five years. When I came to Oregon after my father died, Anna was only six years old.”

  “Has she been attending school in New York?”

  Such a look of pain crossed his face that she bit her lip.

  “After I leave New York, Anna’s mother, who is my stepmother, died and Anna... My poor sister went to live in orphanage. I work hard to bring her here to Smoke River and live with me. I am her only family.”

  “And it has taken you five years to do this?” Christina said. “You must have worked very hard.”

  “Yes. I build house for us to live in. That took a long time.”

  “Can Annamarie read and write?”

  Ivan laughed. “Anna can read anything in print, and afterward she can write it all down from remembering.”

  Christina nodded. This girl would be a challenge for Sammy Greywolf. That should prove interesting, since Sammy’s primary pesterer was Kurt Jorgensen, who had taken one look at Ivan’s pretty, dark-haired sister and collapsed into his seat.

  “There is something else,” Ivan added. “Anna is very smart, and she loves books, but...she does not need much education.”

  Christina frowned. “Oh? And why is that?”

  “She will grow up very beautiful and she will marry. In old country, a wife does not need much education.”

  “What?” She almost screeched the word. “Ivan, that is outrageous! If your sister is gifted, as you say, she will want more for herself than just being a wife.”

  “No. Being a wife, it is enough.”

  Christina clenched her fists. “You are wrong, Ivan. Very, very wrong.”

  His dark eyes narrowed. “I am not wrong. That is how all girls are brought up in my father’s family, and in my father’s father’s family.”

  “Where was this?”

  “In Ukraine. And also in New York, when my father left Ukraine to come to America.”

  “What about your mother? Did she believe this?”

  “My mother, yes. And Anna’s mother, my stepmother, she obey my father’s wishes.”

  Christina felt an explosion building inside. “Thank you for bringing your sister to school, Ivan. I will look out for her. But I must warn you that I will also fight your antiquated ideas about education for girls. I will oppose that with every ounce of strength I can muster.”

  His jaw tightened, but he said nothing. Then unexpectedly he grasped her hand. “Thank you, Christina. You will do what is right for my Anna.”

  She turned away. “I will look out for her, Ivan. Do not worry.” She stomped back inside to find an unexpectedly quiet classroom. For once Kurt and Adam sat without sneaking punches at each other across the aisle or dipping one of Roxanna Jensen’s long blond braids in the inkwell. Instead, both boys were staring in dumbfounded admiration at the new student, Annamarie Panovsky, who still stood uncertainly before Christina’s desk.

  “Please take a seat, Annamarie.”

  The girl turned and then stood scanning the available spaces. Most of the older girls had a desk to themselves; three or four of the younger girls shared seats. Christina watched with distress as the older girls—Sally Lynford and Edith Ness, spread their skirts wide to take up more space. Roxanna curled her legs under her to leave no room at all.

  Annamarie stood still, assessing the situation, and then Manette Nicolet scrambled out of her seat. “Come and sit here with me. I have plenty of room.”

  Annamarie smiled at the little French girl and settled herself beside her.

  “Thank you, Manette,” Christina said quietly. Then she moved on to the day’s geography lesson, pointing out where Russia and the Ukraine were. She assigned the advanced group a difficult set of long division problems. Annamarie and Manette worked together on one slate, and Christina quickly saw that Ivan’s sister would become one of three girls in the advanced section, along with Noralee Ness and Roxanna Jensen. And she would make certain that Ivan knew of it.

  By lunchtime it also became clear that Annamarie was reading at an advanced level. She would be the only girl in the advanced group; the others were Sammy Greywolf, Teddy MacAllister and Adam Lynford.

  After their reading recitations, Christina released them for lunch and sank onto her desk chair to eat her sandwich, idly watching out the window as the students milled about the school yard.

  She did not like what she saw. The boys were engaged in a rough-and-tumble game of kickball; Manette and Roxanna were jumping rope, and all the other girls had formed a tight circle apart from them. Annamarie stood alone in the middle of the school yard, twisting her hands together and staring at the ground.

  Christina’s stomach tightened. How cruel young girls could be! What got into children that made them so mean to one another? Was it something they learned from their parents or from their brothers and sisters and the other students? She debated whether she should walk outside and reprimand them, and she was halfway out of her chair when something unexpected happened.

  Little Manette dropped her jump rope, marched straight over to Annamarie and took her hand. Oh, bless her sweet little heart.

  Annamarie smiled down at the girl, and after a moment the knot of older girls broke up and sashayed past the rope jumpers. When they entered the schoolhouse, Christina could scarcely stand to look at any of them. Her heart ached so much she couldn’t have spoken if she had wanted to. She shook her head. She would never understand such behavior. Never.

  * * *

  Late that evening a soft knock sounded on her door, and when Christina opened it Iris Ming stood before her. “Charlie and I wish to invite you to supper tomorrow night,” she announced with a broad smile. “And Ivan and his sister, Annamarie, will come, too. To make her feel welcome.”

  Christina hesitated. Whenever she was around Ivan she felt unsettled inside. She had no idea why, but the thought of sitting down to supper in the same room as Ivan Panovsky left butterflies careening around in her stomach. And after this morning’s conversation about his sister’s education she was so furious with him she didn’t think she could be civil.

  But she couldn’t refuse Iris. She would simply conquer her butterflies and her anger and try to be a polite guest.

  * * *

  Christina tapped on the white-painted front door of the frame house opposite the back entrance to Uncle Charlie’s bakery. The door swung open and a smiling Annamarie drew her inside. “Uncle Charlie is in the kitchen with Mrs. Charlie, so I am answering the door.” The girl leaned toward her. “My brother is already sitting at the dinner table,” she whispered.

  Christina removed her blue wool shawl, squared her shoulders and followed the girl into the pleasant dining room. Instantly Ivan Panovsky jerked up out of his chair and stood beside the lace-covered dining table, smiling at her uncertainly.

  “Good evening, Miss Marnell.”

  He looked so stiff and ill at ease in his dark trousers and crisp blue shirt that she wanted to smile. “Good evening, Ivan.”

  In the silence that fell Christina found her gaze drawn to the man standing next to his sister. She was trying hard not to like him with his outdated ideas about education for girls and his plans for his sister, but when his gaze met and held hers, for a moment she forgot to breathe. His eyes were an odd shade of green, like forest ferns, and so clear and steady she felt a shiver crawl up her backbone. He looked...tired. Distressed in some way she couldn’t explain. His expression was guarded and intent at the same time
, and she found the combination oddly unnerving. Maybe he was afraid of her because she had made no secret of her opinions about education for girls.

  And then his mouth curved into a smile and a fist slammed into her chest. Suddenly there wasn’t enough air in the room. A soft, insistent thrumming rose in her ears, and she realized that she was hearing her own heartbeat.

  What was the matter with her?

  Annamarie chattered away as if nothing unusual was happening. But something was happening. Something extraordinary that she had never experienced before in all her twenty-three years. It was like being filled with sunshine.

  “Miss Marnell? Miss Marnell?”

  Christina jerked back to awareness. “Yes, Anna?”

  The girl’s voice was hesitant. “I wanted to ask you about school.”

  “What about school? I think you will do very well, Anna. You appear to be ahead of most of the students.”

  “It...it’s not about that.” She shot a glance at Ivan. “It’s about the other girls. Do you know why they don’t like me?”

  Christina drew in a long breath and flicked a look at Ivan. He had an odd, puzzled expression on his face. “Anna, I think people, young girls especially, are wary of things that stand out, things that are different from them. I don’t know why this is so, but I know it is true because it happened to me.”

  Ivan reached for his sister’s hand. “Go on,” he said quietly.

  She drew in a long breath. “Well, I was twelve when I was crippled on my way home from school one day. I was walking across a narrow bridge, and a horse and buggy ran me down. My ankle was crushed. From that day on, I walked with a limp.”

  “And the other students were unkind?” he asked.

  Christina swallowed. “Yes, they were. Extremely unkind. But even before I hurt my ankle, my classmates, especially the girls, taunted me because I preferred books and spent so much time at my studies. After my accident, it was worse.”

  “The other girls won’t talk to me,” Annamarie said. “And...and...” Her voice choked off.

  Charlie shot to his feet. “That not fair! Look same, talk same, no different.” He crooked a finger at her. “You come to kitchen, help with birthing day cake?”

  When Annamarie disappeared into the kitchen, Ivan leaned forward. “Can you help her to fit in?”

  “I can certainly try, Ivan. But...there are two things I cannot change. One is that Anna is by far the prettiest girl in school. And the other is that she is smarter than most of the other students.”

  “Those are not good things?” Ivan questioned.

  “Those are very good things, Ivan. And I have an idea that may help.”

  Chapter Ten

  “Ivan?”

  “Yes, Anna?” They had just left the bakery, carrying two loaves of day-old bread and a dozen chocolate cookies.

  “You like her, don’t you?”

  He frowned at his sister. “Who? You mean Mrs. Ming, Uncle Charlie’s wife?”

  “No, I mean Miss Marnell, my teacher.”

  He drew in a careful breath. “What makes you think I like her?”

  Annamarie gave a peal of delighted laughter. “Because every time you hear her name, you twitch.”

  “Twitch? I do not twitch! Anna, you read too many books.”

  “No, I don’t. I am just very observant.”

  Ivan suppressed a groan. His little sister was more than observant. She was...she was intelligent far beyond her eleven years. Whatever he had revealed to Annamarie about his feelings, he prayed it was hidden from Christina. Annamarie had sensed something, but the thought of anyone else sensing it made him nervous.

  * * *

  The following day was Saturday, the air clear and crisp, and Christina persuaded Annamarie to accompany her to visit Verena Forester.

  “You didn’t tell me why we are visiting the dressmaker,” the girl pointed out.

  “No, I didn’t, did I? You must wait and see.”

  When they entered the dressmaker’s shop, Verena was arranging new pattern books on the counter. Her dark eyebrows rose when she spied Christina. “Well, now, Miss Marnell. Surely you haven’t worn out your new shirtwaist already?”

  “No, of course not. But now I am in need of a dress or two. Something in a soft blue, perhaps? And a nice calico print.”

  “I thought you preferred dark skirts and plain white shirtwaists,” Verena snapped.

  “I do. The dresses are for Miss Panovsky here.”

  “Oh?” The eyebrows climbed another notch.

  “Oh!” Annamarie gasped. “Oh, no, Miss Marnell.”

  “Oh, yes, Anna.” She leaned down and spoke in the girl’s ear. “You should look more like the other girls.”

  “But Ivan—”

  “I have made an arrangement with your brother, so it will do no good to argue. Now...” She turned to the dressmaker. “What would you advise, Verena? A lightweight wool challis?”

  The three women pored over dress patterns and fingered bolts of fabric for over an hour until a decision was made—a gored skirt in blue wool, two pale blue shirtwaists with ruffles at the neck and cuffs and a pretty dress of rose challis. After all the measurements were made, Annamarie turned to Christina and her eyes filled with tears.

  “Oh, thank you, Miss Marnell. I have never had such beautiful things to wear!”

  When they left the shop, Annamarie impulsively took Christina’s hand. “Ivan will be so proud of me!”

  “Ivan,” Christina said, suppressing a smile, “is a man. And because he is a man, he will most likely not notice.”

  “But he notices you,” Annamarie said.

  Christina stopped short in the middle of the sidewalk. “What?”

  “He notices you all the time, Miss Marnell.”

  An inexplicable bolt of pure joy shot into her chest. “That is pure nonsense!” she protested. But she found she had to work to keep her voice steady.

  “No, it isn’t, Miss Marnell. I am very observant. Ivan does notice you, he really does. Just you watch him.”

  Watch him! She would do nothing of the kind. She needed to change the subject immediately.

  “Anna, when are you moving into your new house?”

  “Tomorrow, after church. Ivan is installing the windows today. We don’t have very much furniture, but Ivan is building me a canopy bed. Just imagine! With a real curtain all around it, made out of printed flour sacks from Mr. Ness at the mercantile. And we have a big stove like Mrs. Charlie’s, and next week he is building a table and some chairs.”

  “I am glad for you, Anna.”

  “Aren’t you glad for Ivan, too? He has worked so hard! I think that’s why he is so thin. He hasn’t been eating enough. But now... Oh, Miss Marnell, now he can eat anything he wants, not just stale bread and cheese. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  Christina stared at her. Ivan Panovsky was a good man, even if he did have old-fashioned ideas. She admired his perseverance and what he had accomplished. He cared about Annamarie, and it showed.

  They parted at the bakery, and Annamarie skipped across the street to Ivan’s room above the feed store. Elated, Christina climbed the stairs to her small apartment to work on lesson plans for the coming week. She could hardly wait for Monday morning. Verena had promised that Annamarie’s blue wool skirt and one shirtwaist would be ready.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ivan pounded another nail into the bottom bed slat, then muscled the structure into the room he’d planned for Annamarie. He had painted it her favorite color, a pale blue. All his hard work, the grueling shifts at the sawmill and the long hours at Stockett’s Feed & Seed had taken its toll, but it had been worth it. Annamarie was here now. He would install the last window in the small front parlor, and then he and his sister
would move into their new home.

  He smiled as he drove in the last nail. He was bone tired and thin, his body well-muscled but undernourished for so long his clothes hung off his body, but he didn’t regret it. Annamarie still thought he was her handsome older brother, so what did loose trousers matter?

  He wished that Christina would also think he was handsome. No matter how tired he was after work at the sawmill each day, he always looked forward to cutting firewood for the schoolhouse. He would bet a week’s wages Christina didn’t care if he was handsome. From what he had observed, she judged people by what they were like on the inside, not how they looked. At least he hoped that was true. Many things about the schoolteacher were puzzling; for one thing, he could not understand why she was so dead set on Annamarie’s education. His sister was smart, yes. And beautiful. She would marry early, as her mother had.

  Every male in town thought Christina was the prettiest girl in Smoke River, but it was puzzling that she showed no interest in any of them. One of her students, Kurt Jorgensen, the lad who occasionally helped him stack firewood, practically saluted when Christina spoke. She must be very strict to frighten a strapping boy like Kurt into behaving.

  He could understand that. He himself was a little frightened of Christina Marnell. He did a lot of thinking about her, but he had to admit he did not know how to talk to her. Every time he looked at her his mind went fuzzy and his tongue seemed to freeze.

  * * *

  Christina shoved another chunk of firewood into the potbellied stove in the corner, brushed the loose bark off her hands and limped back to her desk. When nine o’clock came, students began trickling through the door in twos and threes. They seemed in high spirits for a frosty Monday morning; the two oldest boys, Kurt and Adam, shadow-boxed their way to their desks and sent sidelong glances at the girls who were finding their seats.

  Roxanna Jensen scooted inside just two minutes after nine. “Teddy is still unsaddling his horse,” she panted as she removed her knitted scarf. “And that new girl, Anna, is petting him.”

  “Petting Teddy? Or petting the horse?” Christina’s question was met with a spatter of giggles.