The School Mistress (Emerson Pass Book 1)

by Tess Thompson

  I crossed my arms over my chest and answered with the confidence I didn’t feel. “This is my school. I make the rules. All children will have a desk in this classroom. All children will be treated with respect.”

  She tugged off her gloves without taking her eyes from me. “What makes you different?”

  I fingered the edges of my necktie. “I’m a teacher, Mrs. Cole. Anyone who wants to learn is welcome in my school.”

  “There’s another family like us,” she said.

  “Pardon me?”

  “The Chinese family who live down at the old mill by the river.”

  I stared at her. “Alexander hasn’t mentioned them.”

  “They’re kin of the original miners who came here in the sixties. I don’t know much about them, other than they’re a woman and two children. They’ve been ostracized from the rest of the community. Samuel told me they stay away from town.”

  Why hadn’t Alexander told me of them?

  “My husband used to take them wild game he trapped or killed. Without him, I don’t know what they’ll eat this winter.” She looked toward the window, as if she were expecting someone. “I’ve been preoccupied with my grief and forgot about them. I woke in the middle of the night and remembered they’re all alone out there.”

  I nodded as my mind whirled with this new information. “Does Lord Barnes know about them?”

  “I’m not sure. If he did, Samuel never mentioned it.”

  Harley was outside the door stomping snow from his boots. He stepped inside and flashed a smile at Mrs. Cole. “Good evening, Mrs. Cole.”

  “Harley.” She nodded at him. I couldn’t be certain, but I thought she softened slightly. “Thank you for your help with the animals.”

  “My pleasure,” he said. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “Wilber’s here now. We’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ve decided to send my children to school.”

  “Between Lord Barnes and me, we keep close watch on Miss Cooper and the students,” Harley said. “We’ll be sure to keep watch for yours.”

  “Thank you, Harley.” She turned back to me. “Will there be a desk for them? There are three. Two sons and a daughter.” She went on to tell me their names and ages: Noah, age eight; Roman, age seven; and Willa, age six.

  I gestured toward the desks. “There is room for all, Mrs. Cole. I assure you.”

  “Very well.” She nodded and turned to leave, her long skirts swishing around her legs. As the door opened and closed, I caught a glimpse of a gentleman in a tall hat sitting at the helm of a small sled. He must be the brother who had come from Chicago to look after them. He leapt from the driver’s side to help Mrs. Cole onto the seat, then joined her. I watched as they drove away, bells on their sleigh ringing in the cold night air.

  I turned to Harley and Merry, who were huddled near the stove. “Will we have trouble over this, do you think?”

  Harley rubbed the palm of his hand against his chin. “I’m not sure.”

  “But you’ll still let them come, won’t you?” Merry asked. “Even if you’re scared?”

  The trust on her face was such that even if I’d wanted to, I could not disappoint her. She believed me to be honorable, and I would be, even if it caused difficulty. My father had said no one ever made a difference in the world unless they were willing to face controversy. “I’m terrified, but I’ll risk my life for their right to come to school.” I walked over to the window and stared out into the blackness. Was there danger lurking out there?

  “Is she right about the others?” I asked.

  Merry nodded. “We see glimpses from time to time. It’s only women and children down there from what I know. They have no one to turn to if they’re without a man.”

  “Even if they would come to town, could they?” I asked. “I mean, how would they get here?”

  “I could bring them,” Harley said. “If Lord Barnes agreed to it.”

  “I’ll talk to him,” I said. “For now, we’re focused on this evening. If anyone shows.”

  “We’re here,” Harley said.

  “If it’s only you two, we could have stayed home and been warm,” I said, smiling as I walked over to stand by the heater.

  Merry took my place by the windows. “Here comes someone,” she said. “Two actually. The Higgins brothers.” She pressed her nose closer to the glass. “Oh no, I think they’re leaving. They turned around and are headed the other way.”

  I rushed over to stand by Merry. She was correct. They each carried a lantern. In that dim light I saw fear on their faces. These giant men had risked the wilderness to come west but were too intimidated to come inside a schoolhouse?

  “I’ll change their minds,” Harley said. He threw open the door and called out a hearty greeting. “Hey there, Wayne and Clive. You’re going the wrong direction.”

  They stopped and slowly turned toward us. Clive raised his arm. “Evening.”

  “Come on in,” Harley said. “Miss Cooper won’t bite.”

  Wayne nodded and tugged his brother’s arm. “Right, yeah. We can’t stay the whole time, most likely.”

  “No problem,” Harley said, and held the door open wider, which was making it even colder.

  “Tell them to get in here before we all freeze to death,” Merry said. Always practical, I thought. And she was right. The stove was no good in this kind of cold.

  The Higgins brothers stomped onto the porch. I went to the doorway to greet them. “Come in, come in.”

  “Miss Cooper,” Wayne said, tipping his hat.

  “Thanks for having us,” Clive said.

  The two men plucked their hats from their heads and held them to their chests as they wiped their boots on the rug.

  I told them to keep their coats on for now. “You’ll learn faster if you’re warm.”

  They shuffled to the middle of the room and lowered themselves into the desks. “Told you we’d look ridiculous,” Clive muttered to his brother.

  I bit back a smile. They were awfully large for the desks.

  The next arrival was Mrs. Cassidy, a pretty woman with light red hair and a narrow face. Like me, she wore a threadbare coat and boots that had obviously been polished in an attempt to hide their age.

  I welcomed her with a smile that I hoped conveyed warmth. “Keep your coat on,” I said. “We’ll need to stay warm.”

  Mrs. Cassidy took off her hat and hung it on the rack, then took a seat with the gentlemen. Merry and Harley took their seats as well, and I went to the front of the classroom. “And so we begin.”

  Harley made sure Merry and I were safely inside before driving to the barn to put away the horses. What a long day the young man had, I thought as I followed Merry into the house. The ride home had chilled me to the bone. If I’d been willing to spend money on myself instead of sending it all home, I would have bought myself a new wool coat and a pair of boots that hadn’t worn thin.

  Oh well, I was home now. The day was almost done. Lord Barnes would be waiting up for me. It was nearing nine, so the children would be in bed already. As much as I enjoyed our nighttime routine, I was grateful to have no one but myself to put to bed. Mostly, I would be glad to spend time with Lord Barnes.

  He appeared in the foyer. “Good evening, ladies. How was it?” He helped me off with my coat and hung it in the closet. I inwardly cringed when his fingers lingered on the threadbare fabric of my coat’s elbows.

  I busied myself unpinning my hat. Why was it that poverty made one ashamed? It wasn’t that I hadn’t worked hard during my adult life and even before then. I put that thought aside as Merry answered Lord Barnes’s question.

  Her eyes shone as she took the pins from her hat. “It was just as I imagined. The desks and books and the smell of chalk.”

  “Did you have a good showing?” Lord Barnes asked.

  “Besides Harley and Merry, there were three others.” I told him about the Higgins brothers and Mrs. Cassidy.

  Lord Barnes nodded, obviou
sly delighted. “Clive and Wayne showed? I wasn’t sure they would.”

  “They almost ran away.” Merry giggled. “But Harley convinced them to come inside.”

  She spoke Harley’s name as one would describe their favorite meal. They’d been sweet tonight, huddled together over the same textbook.

  “You’ve earned the rest of the night off,” Lord Barnes said to Merry. “Lizzie made a fire in both our rooms.”

  Her eyes glistened. “Thank you, Lord Barnes. For everything.”

  “Off with you now,” he said.

  “Good night, Merry,” I said. “I’m proud of you. It’s not easy to do something new.”

  She flushed. “I’m proud of you, Miss Cooper. Oh, Lord Barnes, you should have seen her up there. The way she made it all seem so easy. Even for slower people like me.”

  “You’re not slow,” I said firmly. “You’re as quick as they come. One can’t be expected to know academics if one’s never had the opportunity for school. You remember that.”

  “Yes, Miss Cooper.” Merry ducked her chin, shy, but I knew my words pleased her by the slight upturn of the corner of her mouth. She would come to learn her value at some point. These transformations didn’t happen overnight. My job as her teacher was to keep reminding her. She was the type of student who thrived under praise. “Well, good night then.” She scuttled away, still smiling.

  “Are you cold?” Lord Barnes asked. “Lizzie left a pot of hot tea for you.”

  “I’d love tea.” I rubbed my gloved hands together. “The night is frigid.”

  “There are biscuits too,” he said, gesturing toward the library.

  Lizzie’s cookies, which Lord Barnes and all the children called biscuits, were already etched into my consciousness as the epitome of comfort. “Sounds heavenly. Teaching works up an appetite.” I moved past him toward the library. What did he see when he watched me from behind? Did he see anything he liked, despite my lack of curves?

  “I sent Jasper to bed early, so we’re all alone,” Lord Barnes said as we reached the library.

  I hesitated at the doorway. It wasn’t appropriate for us to be alone without Jasper to supervise. Yet I wanted desperately to spend time with him.

  He laughed as he sat in his usual chair by the fire and picked up a glass of whiskey. “Come on, now. I won’t eat you up.”

  “You know it’s not proper.” A trail of fire raced up my back and flooded my face. I sounded ridiculous. There was something about this uninhabited land that made the rules from home seem outdated.

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” he asked.

  The worst? An image of him grabbing me in his arms and kissing me flashed before me. That would be bad. And very good. I didn’t think it was possible, but I flamed hotter.

  I clutched the tie around my neck and shook my head to dispel my traitorous thoughts.

  “Miss Cooper?” Lord Barnes asked, with a teasing lilt to his voice. “Are you all right? You’ve flushed quite pink. Are you ill?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Does that mean you’ll come in and have tea?” His eyes danced with amusement.

  “Yes, I suppose it’s all right just this once,” I said.

  I sat in the chair closest to the fire and allowed him to pour the tea. My mother had taught me that tea was a woman’s task, but Lord Barnes didn’t seem to know that convention. Or perhaps, like so many things, he didn’t care. After taking a sip, I directed my gaze at him, then lost nerve. Was letting my mind wander to the idea of us foolish? He was an aristocrat, rich and unbothered by such petty details as to where or even if the next meal would come. This library with its shelves of books and posh furnishings and expensive liquor was the world of Lord Barnes.

  “What is it?” His eyebrows raised and he grinned, looking very much like Flynn. “Am I in trouble?”

  “Should you be?”

  He looked over the rim of his glass as he took a sip of his whiskey. “Not at the moment, no.”

  “Sometimes it seems like you’re silently laughing at me. Why am I so amusing?”

  He grinned as he crossed one leg over the other. “You amuse me for several reasons.”

  “And what are those?” I asked, grinning back at him despite my best efforts to remain aloof.

  “You’ve got spunk. And you know how to laugh at yourself, which I think is a wonderful quality. Watching you struggle to be proper makes me laugh, because inside that perfect little shell of yours is the heart of a rebel. And by shell, I mean your outer beauty, which in my opinion is unparalleled.”

  “Lord Barnes, you are full of nonsense.” My heart raced at such a speed I was afraid it might explode from the exertion.

  He pressed his hand to his chest. “I speak the truth.”

  I smoothed my skirt and drank from my cup. The warmth of Lizzie’s expertly brewed tea traveled down my throat and into my stomach.

  “You won’t fall in love with one of those handsome chaps, will you? If you fall in love with one of them and not me, you’ll break my heart.”

  My hand trembled as I set the cup back in its saucer. “Lord Barnes, be serious.”

  “I’m quite serious.” His eyes no longer sparkled with amusement. In fact, they glittered with a raw intensity that made my stomach bubble like champagne in a crystal flute. “Your presence here has brightened our lives. My life.”

  I must change the subject, I thought. Get us back to the task at hand. “Rachel Cole came to see me tonight. She’s changed her mind about school.”

  He rose from his chair and crossed over to the liquor cabinet. “She came to see me the other day and said as much. I wasn’t sure she wouldn’t change her mind.” He returned with a glass of whiskey and sank heavily into the chair. I’d reminded him of his burden and loss by mentioning her. For a moment, I wished I’d kept it to myself for a few more minutes and enjoyed basking in his smile.

  “She said she wanted to look me in the eye and decide for herself what kind of person I was.”

  “That sounds like her.” He smiled as he drank from his glass. I watched, temporarily distracted by the way his lips puckered when he swallowed. “She must have liked what she saw in those eyes of yours.”

  I chuckled. “She said I was either naïve or brave.”

  He rose from the chair and ambled to the fire, then poked the logs with the iron rod. The flames rose high, warming the half of my body that faced the fireplace. He placed his forehead against the mantel. “God, I hope this is the right thing to do. I promised Samuel I’d keep them all safe.” He turned away from the fire to face me. “Not to mention your safety and that of the other children. How far will these men go?”

  “We can’t back away from what’s right, even if we’re frightened.”

  “I don’t want you to be scared,” he said softly. “In fact, I deplore it.”

  “A man’s dead because someone didn’t want the Cole children in school. I’m frightened, yes. But the test of courage is to do that which we know is right even if there are consequences.” I looked at my hands, knowing I needed to broach the subject of the Wu family. If he knew about them and had made a conscious choice to exclude them from the community, I would be crushed. Women and children should not live in shacks without food or warmth. Not in the society Lord Barnes said he believed in and was actively building. Not in any community. I didn’t care about the color of their skin or whether their ancestors were buried in these parts or in another land across the sea. Would he agree with me? Was it only because of his alliance with Cole that he’d been willing to include children of a different color?

  I elongated my neck, hoping to portray confidence. The palms of my hands were damp with perspiration, and the pulse at my neck quickened. “Did you know there’s a Chinese family living in the old mining camp?”

  “What did you say?” His voice sounded dry and strange.

  “Mrs. Cole said there’s a Chinese family living down by the old mining site—a woman with children. School-aged
children. Samuel took them fresh meat on a regular basis. They’re afraid to come to town. Did you know about them?”

  He rocked back on his heels, silent. The click of the second hand on the grandfather clock marked time as I waited for his answer. “I’d heard rumors. Samuel never said anything to me. I’m not sure why that would be.” He said the last part under his breath.

  “Maybe he thought you wouldn’t share his sympathies.”

  A muscle above his right eye twitched. “Did he think so little of me? Do you?”

  “Shouldn’t a rumor of this kind be investigated?” A swift anger rushed through me. “I’d have thought your ideals would have encouraged you to look in the shadows.”

  His face reddened. “Isn’t that a little quick to judgment? You’ve no idea what I’ve done or not done for the poor in this community.”

  “What have you done?”

  “I’ve given them work,” he said. “They’ve earned their own way instead of accepting charity.”

  “Charity?” I was hot as the fire poker now. “If they’re ostracized from the community, how are they supposed to get work? The kindness of community is all that will separate them from either freezing to death or going hungry.”

  “Why are you angry with me? I can’t give someone work I didn’t know existed. I’m not clairvoyant.”

  “They might starve if we don’t do something,” I said. “Do you understand that?”

  “I’m quite aware of the winters here,” he said.

  We glared at each other for a good five seconds before he broke the tension with a low chuckle. “Listen, tiger, we’re in agreement. If anyone in this community needs help, I’m willing to provide it. However, I need to understand the situation better first.”

  “What’s there to know? There are children who need help. And stop laughing at me. None of this is funny.”

  “I’m not laughing.”

  “You are. Inside. I can see it in your eyes,” I said, still furious. “I don’t appreciate being dismissed.”

  “I’ve done nothing of the kind.” He held up both hands. “Before you lambaste me further, did she give you any other details?”

  “No, only that they live in the abandoned shack.”