Rather than acknowledge the hostile woman’s comments, Alex pointed to the desk in the front corner. “Fred, you may take your seat. We’re working on spelling words right now. The words you should study are listed on the blackboard to the left.”
“I done told ya already, teacher, I ain’t sittin’ in the front.” Fred’s lewd glare left Alex ill at ease, but she hid it well.
With determination, Alex pointed to his desk again. “You’ll sit where you are assigned or not at all.” She turned to Mrs. Decker with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re welcome to stay for the lessons, Mrs. Decker, but please take a seat at the back of the room. It isn’t fair to the rest of the children that one student should disturb their studies to this extent.”
“Well, I never!” The woman turned around and stomped her way to the door. “You mark my words, missy. This is the last day you’ll be teaching in this school.” The door slammed as Mrs. Decker lumbered down the steps and back into town.
Battle weary, Alex gave Fred one last warning glance. “Please take your seat, Fred, or leave.”
He glanced to the back of the room at his friends. The three boys kept their gazes fastened on their slates, ignoring him.
Without any support from his former allies, Fred’s shoulders drooped and he slunk to his desk.
Alex ignored him as she worked with the students on their spelling lessons.
She gave them a short recess before they started working on history. Fred cornered Tom and the other boys but they appeared disinterested in what he had to say since they walked off, leaving him fuming by the school step. Alex pretended she didn’t see what transpired outside the classroom window, but hoped she wouldn’t have more problems with Fred before the day was through.
After lunch, she cleared the front of her desk and took a series of cups and balls from her small trunk. Setting them on her desk, she smiled at the children.
“As soon as you all finish the math problems on the board, I’ll share something fun with you.”
Anxious to discover what the cups and balls meant, the students hurried to complete their math assignments.
Alex walked around the room, helping some of the younger students and keeping an eye on the older ones, especially Fred. He hadn’t caused any more trouble, but he hadn’t done any lessons either.
Sulky, he either glared at her in disgust or stared at his friends.
Once, he stood and started toward the back of the room, but Alex blocked his path, motioning for him to regain his seat.
He sneered and started to step around her, but she looked him in the eye and pointed toward his desk. “Sit down.” Her voice was quiet, but laced with authority. Much to her surprise, Fred obeyed.
When all the students finished their math problems, Alex returned to the front of the room and sat at her desk.
“Can you all see my desk?” She glanced around the room and noticed a few of the students straining to see. “Why don’t you all come up here?”
The students hurried to gather around her desk, forming a semi-circle with the smallest pupils in the front.
“What are you doing, Miss Alex?” Percy asked, watching as she set five small balls on her desk and covered each with a red-painted cup.
Quickly, her hands moved the cups around on her desk and the students watched as she stopped and lifted each cup, revealing the balls had disappeared.
Some of the students clapped and begged her to do it again.
“Let’s work on our math.” Alex grinned as she began moving the cups again. “You count how many balls you see.”
She moved the cups again and showed one ball, encouraging the youngest students to count.
“One plus…” Alex lifted a second cup and revealed another ball. “One is?”
“Two!” The first-graders happily cheered.
“Very good. Shall we try another?”
“Yes!” Several students clapped.
Rapidly moving the cups on her desk, she had the older students run through their multiplication tables as she worked.
“This is the last one. Whoever guesses where the ball is receives a prize. Are you ready?” Alex smiled at the students, pleased by their interested gazes and bright eyes.
The cups slid swiftly back and forth across her desk until she lined them up in front of the students. “Where do you think the ball is?”
One by one, the students guessed and she lifted the cups, revealing they all were empty.
Tom, who’d remained unusually quiet, pointed to her right hand. “Is it in your hand, Miss Alex?”
“You guessed right, Tom. Excellent!” Alex opened her desk drawer and removed a peppermint stick, handing it to the boy. His neck turned red, but he accepted the candy with a nod.
“Everyone return to your seats and we’ll work on reading for a while. The older students should turn to where you left off yesterday while I work with the first-graders.”
Alex cast a glance at Fred. Aware he watched as she played with the cups and balls, he now sprawled in his seat and glared at her.
She knelt by her youngest students and listened to them read, encouraging them as they struggled with new words before moving on to the grade behind them and working her way back to the older boys.
Thankful when the clock showed it was almost time to dismiss the students, Alex returned to the front of the room.
“Thank you all for working so hard today. I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Go outside and enjoy this beautiful afternoon. Class dismissed.”
Eager to escape into the warm autumn sunshine, the students rushed outside, except for Fred.
“You may leave now, Fred. Have a good evening.”
“No. I think I’ll stay here a while.” Fred crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her.
“Suit yourself.” Alex turned her back to him and cleaned the blackboard. When she finished, she sat at her desk working on a lesson plan for the following day. All the while, she could feel Fred’s gaze boring into her.
Wary of the boy, she finally stuffed papers into a leather satchel, pulled on her gloves, and pinned on her hat then turned to Fred.
“I’m leaving so you’ll have to go home now, Fred.”
“Maybe I don’t want to. Maybe I want to stay here.” The boy got to his feet and walked over until he stood toe to toe with her. “Maybe I’ll make you stay here, too.”
A voice from the door drew both Fred and Alex’s attention. “And maybe I’ll haul you down to the jail until you learn some respect.”
Arlan stepped inside the classroom and gave Fred a threatening glare. “You heard Miss Alex. It’s time for you to leave.”
“Yes, sir.” Fred ducked his head and shuffled out the door without a further word or glance.
Relieved by Arlan’s sudden appearance, Alex also experienced a jab of annoyance that he felt the need to step in and protect her. She’d held her own against any number of grown men. One smart-mouthed boy wasn’t going to get the best of her.
“I had the matter well in hand.” She picked up her satchel and walked to the door.
Arlan stared at her and shook his head before following her outside.
Alex Janowski was unlike any woman he knew. Miss Bevins would have dissolved into a fit of hysterics the moment Fred stood from his desk. His own mother, bless her soul, would have refused to go back after dealing with Fred the previous day.
Seemingly unaffected by the boy’s threats, Alex appeared confident and in control as she strolled down the boardwalk.
“What brought you to the school today?” Alex finally asked as she crossed the street and headed toward the blacksmith shop.
“Mrs. Decker has been in twice today voicing her opinion to Luke about your teaching abilities. I just thought you might like some company walking home. That’s all.”
“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Guthry, but I assure you there is nothing you can do to improve the situation or provide assistance. I’m more than capable of
taking care of myself and have done so for quite a while.”
“Noted, but I know what it’s like to be on your own.”
Numbly nodding her head, Alex didn’t want to soften toward Arlan. It would be all too easy to care for the gentle-hearted man.
With the knowledge that another woman held him in high esteem, she couldn’t show any interest in Arlan. She wouldn’t steal another woman’s man, especially when she’d already taken over Miss Edna’s job, albeit temporarily.
Rather than give in to the temptation to ask Arlan more about his past, to share some of hers, she hurried into the blacksmith’s shop and greeted Douglas with a smile.
Chapter Five
A plate of squishy, cold eggs and hardened toast provided undisguised evidence that Arlan’s thoughts lingered far away from the plate in front of him. With a sigh, he pushed the untouched food aside and stared out the kitchen window.
In the last few weeks, he’d experienced more sleepless nights than he had in the rest of his life combined. Visions of Alex dressed in her flashy show attire with a curtain of silky dark hair spilling around her haunted his dreams. The images also pervaded his waking hours with increasing frequency.
He often found himself walking to the school once he closed the bank for the evening just to make sure she was well.
After passing her trial period with the school board, despite Mrs. Decker’s complaints, Alex moved into the small house behind the school. She settled into a teaching routine, agreeing to fill the position until school released for the Christmas break. Miss Bevins planned to resume her placement in the position after the holidays.
Thoughts of Edna made Arlan’s stomach burn. If she’d been in a snit from the few moments he’d spent with Alex before she left town, she’d have an absolute conniption fit if she discovered how often he visited the magician.
Why he felt compelled to spend time with the enticing woman, Arlan didn’t know. He realized if he didn’t stay away from Alex, tongues would start to wag. That wouldn’t bode well for future relations with Miss Edna.
However, if Arlan cared to admit the truth, which he didn’t, he preferred Alex’s company to Edna’s.
Comparisons of the two women riddled him with guilt. Measuring Edna against Alex was like comparing a frightened little bird to a sleek panther.
Arlan had no doubt Alex could be every bit as detrimental to his well-being as the dangerous cat if he continued to let her beauty and engaging personality beguile him.
He had to get control of his thoughts and settle his focus on Edna. When she returned in January, it would be to a faithful suitor awaiting the opportunity to pursue a relationship.
Traitorous notions of turning his efforts from Edna to Alex made him rise from the table and dump his food into the slop pail beneath the sink.
Hastily brushing the crumbs from his hands, he washed the dishes and dried them then hurried out the door toward the bank. Laboriously balancing the accounts always cleared his head and his early arrival would give him a solid start on the day.
His long legs strode down the boardwalk as a quote from Ben Franklin floated through his mind and spilled out his lips. “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
“And here I thought ‘the early bird catches the worm’ provided a good mantra. What do you think? Does the early bird need to be wealthy or is wise and healthy enough?”
Arlan stopped and stared at Alex as she stood outside the mercantile, holding a bag of candy in her hand.
“I think it’s prudent for the early bird to be all three.” He smiled at her and glanced at the candy she held. “Have you developed an incurable sweet tooth?”
“No. But I’m not above bribing the students. The promise of a treat or a prize inspires them to do their best.” Alex opened the bag and offered Arlan one of the lemon drops. He accepted and popped one into his mouth. After he began sucking on it, he recalled he wasn’t fond of the lemon flavor.
The intriguing woman standing with the morning sun highlighting her creamy skin and red lips left him so befuddled, he’d do well to remember his full name.
Frantically grasping for a neutral topic, he mentioned her magic. “I thought it was the hope of witnessing another magic trick that keeps your students in line.”
Several parents trailed into the bank in the past week, informing Luke their children excitedly went to school in hopes the teacher would perform one of her many illusions. To keep the students interested, she didn’t do them every day, but randomly added them to her lesson plans, cleverly tying them into learning.
Arlan wished he could sit in the back of the class to watch. Alex performed a few tricks one Sunday afternoon when she joined him for lunch at the Granger House. Although he knew there were simple explanations for each of her illusions or conjurings, it didn’t lessen his enjoyment in observing each one.
When her lips broke into a smile, Arlan experienced the most unreasonable desire to kiss them.
Disturbed by the intensity of his feelings, he tipped his hat to Alex and took a step back. “Have a pleasant day, Miss Janowski. May your students all be eager and well behaved.”
Before she could respond, he hurried down the street and unlocked the bank’s door. Arlan tossed his hat on the rack by the door then sank into his desk chair.
As he tapped his palm to his forehead, he repeatedly uttered, “Edna, Edna, Edna,” in a feeble attempt to chase away his growing attraction to Alex.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t hear Luke walk in until a chuckle tugged him back to the present.
“Will saying her name over and over make her appear?” Luke teased as he lifted the shades on the windows and let morning sunshine spill into the space.
“I should hope not.” Arlan realized how his words sounded, wishing he could pull them back.
Curiously glancing at him, Luke sat down on the edge of his desk. “Have you heard from Miss Bevins?”
“Not yet.” He entertained the idea that perhaps Edna hadn’t been that interested in him, using him as a diversion or source of entertainment in the small town. Then again, she was probably busy caring for her mother and didn’t have time to write letters.
Luke swung one foot back and forth as he studied Arlan. “I could be wrong, but I had the impression you hold more than a passing interest in a beautiful magician, recently turned schoolteacher.
Arlan’s head snapped up and he stared at Luke. “What makes you say that?”
“Oh, nothing in particular.” Luke grinned and stood. “It just seems like she suits you better than Miss Edna. Why would you want to hitch your horse to a prickly, poky little cart when you can have a phantasmagorical wagon?”
Arlan chuckled. “I think you try to work ‘phantasmagorical’ into your conversations because you like saying it.”
Luke unlocked the safe then looked over his shoulder. “Maybe I do, but I still think you should take advantage of Edna’s absence to explore all the options available. It’s not like you’ve proposed to the woman.”
“No, I haven’t.” That fact left Arlan extremely grateful for his caution in matters of the heart.
Arlan’s day passed quickly, working on account books and assisting customers. He pondered Luke’s advice and decided he needed to become better acquainted with Alex. Other than her name, that she liked children, could perform magic, and made learning fun, he didn’t know much about her.
Time spent in her presence would allow him to make an educated decision about his future. If he could be so easily distracted by and attracted to another woman, perhaps Edna wasn’t right for him.
Settled on a plan of action, Arlan stopped by the post office on his way home. He smiled as the clerk handed him two letters and the latest copy of a mathematical magazine.
He briefly entertained the idea of eating at the restaurant for dinner, but instead continued home. Hurriedly changing out of his suit, he brushed it down and hung it up before dressing in a pair of worn pants and a
cotton shirt.
A simple meal of soup and biscuits filled his empty belly as he sat staring at the magazine and two envelopes.
As soon as he finished eating, he washed his dishes then retired to his sitting room where he lit a lamp and sank down into a rocking chair.
The first letter was from his brother. Adam lived in Portland, embracing all the wonders the place offered.
Arlan visited him there once, but preferred the quiet, friendly atmosphere of Hardman to the constant busy motion of the city.
Leisurely reading the letter, Arlan laughed at the jokes his brother shared. He pictured the adventures Adam experienced in his job as a pilot of a boat on the Columbia River and wished his only sibling lived closer.
Setting aside Adam’s letter, Arlan slit open the other envelope and gazed down at the feathery, feminine script.
Miss Edna wrote him a letter.
Swiftly reading the few paragraphs then reading them a second time, relief flooded over him at her assurance her mother would recover. She would arrive in Hardman in January, “ready to resume life as it were.” Her words hinted at a hope he would continue to call once she returned to town.
Pleased Edna hadn’t forgotten him, Arlan retrieved a pen and paper then sat down at the table to respond to her note. He also replied to his brother’s letter, slid the letters into envelopes, and addressed them before opening his mathematical magazine.
Normally, he read it cover to cover. Much to his dismay, he found it hard to focus his attention on the articles. Instead, it continued to dwell on how Alex looked that morning with sunlight caressing her face.
Finally giving up on the magazine, he set it aside and lifted a coin from the table beside him. He rolled it around in his fingers, attempting to imitate the motions he’d observed Alex perform.
Although he had yet to make the coin disappear, his ability to roll it quickly over and under his fingers increased each day.
While he practiced, his thoughts lingered on the lovely girl with the tempting lips and captivating eyes.
The Christmas Calamity Page 5
