Pearl (42 page)
Raised voices drew them to the schoolroom.
‘‘Then you came all this way for nothing.’’ Pearl stood behind her desk, glaring at the man who had his back to them.
‘‘Pearl Hossfuss, I order you to pack your things. Since there will not be another train until late this afternoon, you have that amount of time to pack. Or you can leave everything here, and we will replace them.’’
‘‘Father, you are not listening to me. I have a job here, a contract for the year, and I am not leaving.’’
‘‘Now, you listen here.’’
Carl and Rand strode forward in lockstep. One on either side of Jorge Hossfuss, they turned to him.
‘‘You heard the lady, sir.’’ Rand nodded toward Pearl.
‘‘She does not wish to leave.’’ Carl stepped slightly closer.
‘‘And who do you think you are, accosting me like this?’’
‘‘These men are my friends, Father.’’
‘‘You have strange friends then, one more reason why you will come home with me.’’
‘‘Nei, she will remain here—with me.’’ Carl spoke with a quiet authority that surprised Rand, let alone Mr. Hossfuss.
Rand looked to Pearl who quickly snapped her mouth shut. ‘‘True?’’ he mouthed.
Pearl shrugged.
Rand watched Hossfuss and Hegland square off.
‘‘How about we teach this gentleman the Little Missouri Quickstep?’’ Rand took one arm and signaled for Carl to take the other.
‘‘Let go of me, you ruffians!’’
‘‘Thank you, my friends. I think he gets the point.’’ Pearl rolled her lips to keep from laughing. Rand could tell by the glint in her eyes.
‘‘I need to call my students in from recess. Father, if you would like to join me for supper, that will be served at six. If you’d like—’’
‘‘I’d like nothing more than for you to come willingly, otherwise I’ll—’’ ‘‘You’ll what?’’ Carl and Rand could well have rehearsed this scenario three times over, they worked so well together. They took Mr. Hossfuss’s arms again and half walked, half carried him out the door.
‘‘He’ll be waiting for you outside, Miss Hossfuss,’’ Carl said, then added under his breath, ‘‘Unless we have to throw you in the river for a cooling off?’’
‘‘You worthless young rabble, I’ll see you—’’
Rand leaned in toward Pearl’s father. He intended to be firm but not threaten. ‘‘You’ll see us nothing, Mr. Hossfuss. There is no law here in Little Missouri save what we handle ourselves, and near as I can see, we just foiled a kidnapping. Yes, sir, that’s the way I see it. And I’m sure others of the town will see this the same way. Now, if you are lucky, you might find a bed at Dove House. If not, you can borrow my bedroll, for I do have a bed here.’’ Rand stopped and looked to his comrade-in-arms. ‘‘You have anything to add, Carl?’’
‘‘Not a thing other than I have to get my worthless hide back to work. I won’t need to take time off again, will I, sir?’’
If Hossfuss didn’t pick up on the smiling menace that fenced him on two sides, he’d have been far less astute than the two gave him credit for.
‘‘You’ve not heard the end of this.’’
I’m sure he hasn’t spluttered like this in years,
Rand thought.
‘‘Good day, Mr. Hossfuss. Care to play a game of cards tonight?
It’s one of our few entertainments. Unless, of course, you would rather visit with your daughter.’’
Telling Ruby all of this will be a
great story
. ‘‘See you, Carl.’’
‘‘At supper.’’
‘‘With Miss Hossfuss?’’
‘‘And her father, perhaps.’’
The two men went about their business, leaving Hossfuss fuming in the middle of the so-called Main Street.
When Rand walked up to the back door, he heard feminine laughter, the doubling-over kind. Including Pearl’s.
‘‘Thank you, Rand.’’ Ruby met him at the door. ‘‘This story will grow more priceless with each telling. Did you really carry him out?’’
‘‘Me and Carl.’’ He tipped his hat back with one finger. ‘‘He’s not too happy. Hossfuss, I mean, not Carl. I think Carl meant what he said, Miss Hossfuss.’’
‘‘What’s he talking about?’’ Ruby turned to Pearl, whose cheeks pinked most becomingly.
‘‘I think Carl Hegland is smitten with our Miss Hossfuss,’’ he said in
sotto voce
.
‘‘Oh, really?’’ Ruby turned to Pearl. ‘‘Whatever gave Rand that idea?’’
The bell on the counter in the dining room dinged insistently.
‘‘Do I find him a bed or not?’’ she hissed at Pearl.
‘‘I have to go teach.’’ Pearl fled the room to the tune of Ruby’s and Rand’s laughter.
It’s well into November, and I still don’t have an idea for the Christmas
program
. Pearl stared at her image reflected back in the window. The first snowfall of the season was on the ground, and instead of being outside walking under the streetlights of Chicago, she was here, where it was too dark to step off the porch.
And cold. The cold seeped in through the windows and curled like a snake around her ankles. She wore a shawl most of the time. And this was only November. What would January be like?
‘‘It’s awful cold,’’ Ruby said when Pearl asked her about it. ‘‘We keep the stoves roaring, and the heat going up the stairs heats the floors above, but our bedrooms get frost on the inside of the windows. This isn’t bad yet.’’
‘‘I ordered a box of books for the schoolroom as my Christmas present to the children,’’ Pearl said. ‘‘Someday when we have a school building, we’ll have to use one room for a library, and all the people around could borrow books.’’
‘‘What a great idea. You ought to tell the marquis about that. He’s interested in whatever will make this area more hospitable to families.’’
‘‘Have you seen Mr. Hegland lately?’’
‘‘Not often,’’ Ruby said. ‘‘Why?’’
‘‘Well, he’s not been to supper much of late.’’
‘‘Probably working hard to finish something up at the Chateau.’’ Ruby didn’t tell her that Carl was taking a dinner box with him to work so he could eat over there. Since Christmas was coming, there were many secrets floating in the air.
One day she had walked into the storeroom, and Cimarron let out a screech. ‘‘You can’t come in here.’’
‘‘Pardon me. Maybe we better make it a rule to knock on all closed doors before entering.’’
Her curiosity was killing her.
When Ruby entered the kitchen the next evening, Pearl sat by the stove writing furiously.
‘‘What are you working on?’’
‘‘The Christmas program. Do you know anyone who has a donkey?’’
‘‘No, not around here.’’
‘‘I thought we could use live animals for the manger scene, and Mary could ride in on a donkey. I’m going to ask Atticus Grady if he’d like to be Joseph and ask Edith Robertson to be Mary. Do you know anyone who has a newborn baby?’’
‘‘No, sorry.’’
‘‘You don’t know much tonight, do you?’’
‘‘I know that there are more secrets flying around here than there were mosquitoes this summer. Pearl, I’m trying to figure how to get everyone involved for Christmas. Now that Belle is gone, who is going to play the piano?’’
‘‘I can play easy things.’’
‘‘You better start practicing then, because you’ve just been hired.’’
Ruby spent a good part of the week getting Belle’s room cleaned out, scrubbing it from ceiling to floor, and then rehanging the brushed and aired curtains.
When the room was ready, she consulted Charlie. ‘‘You think we should divide this room in two or turn it into a bunkroom?’’
Charlie scratched under one of his muttonchop whiskers. ‘‘Too bad Mr. Roosevelt left. You could have let him have this room and charged a good price. Did you hear he bought cattle to graze on the Maltese Cross ranch before he left? We’ll be seeing more of him, I expect.’’
‘‘No, I hadn’t heard, but I’m not surprised. He really took to Dakotah Territory. But that doesn’t solve our problem here.’’
‘‘Well, you could leave the room as is and offer it to the marquis on a permanent fee until his house is finished. When he’s not here, rent it to someone else, but when he’s here, it’s always his.’’
‘‘We’d have to charge him a lot. Seems putting four sets of bunks would bring in more money.’’ Ruby studied the room. ‘‘It’s bigger than the cardroom. Perhaps we should have school up here.’’
‘‘Which brings in no money.’’
‘‘You’re right. Seems strange to not have Belle here.’’
‘‘Well, you haven’t seen the last of her, you mark my words.’’
‘‘Oh, Charlie, she can’t cause trouble now, can she?’’ Ruby rubbed her middle. Just the thought of trouble made her stomach squeeze.
So I still don’t know what I am going to do with this room, but, Lord,
I know you know
. ‘‘I think for now we’ll just rent it out at double the single-room rate and see what happens. Does that sound all right with you?’’
Charlie nodded, studying the room with his eyes half closed.
‘‘You know . . .’’
Ruby waited.
‘‘You could divide off part of this room for more storage.’’
‘‘We could.’’
Together they left the room, and Ruby closed the door. At least the place didn’t reek of cigarillo smoke, booze, and cheap perfume any longer.
Descending the stairs, she could hear Pearl in the schoolroom, reading during story time. Ruby stopped, then sat down on the steps to listen. Now that winter was here again, she would make sure they read aloud in the evening. Everyone loved to be read to, and Pearl did a wonderful job.
Pearl was accomplished at so many things, even to playing the piano. As long as one didn’t ask her to cook. What if she were to marry someone out here? Like Carl Hegland. Who would cook and clean and do all the things wives do?
You learned, so can she
. Ruby nodded. True. But then she’d had help from the others. She rested her elbows on her knees and listened until Pearl stopped reading.
‘‘That’s all for today. Remember that tomorrow we will be working on our pictures in the afternoon.’’
‘‘Yes, Miss Hossfuss.’’ The children’s voices came in unison.
‘‘You are dismissed.’’
Ruby stood up as noise exploded like a puffball when stomped. Giggling, talking, walking, slamming the children flowed out the door and to the front of the hotel where a wagon waited for some, and others went to get their horses from the shed.
She watched as Rand stepped back to avoid getting run over. ‘‘Whoa, where you all going so fast?’’
‘‘Home, Mr. Harrison. School’s done.’’ Emily Robertson stopped in front of him. ‘‘You going to play your guitar for our Christmas program?’’
‘‘I guess so, if need be.’’
‘‘Opal is going to sing one song all by herself.’’
‘‘Opal has a lovely voice.’’
‘‘My ma has a lovely voice,’’ Emily said. ‘‘She just don’t sing enough.’’
‘‘True. Most of us don’t sing enough.’’
Talk about the truth. Ruby turned into the schoolroom that no longer had to be put together and taken apart every day. Pearl had posted sheets of paper with the entire alphabet written in both printed letters and cursive, uppercase and lowercase. Another had a list of the children with boxes after their names, some now filled with gold stars. A flat board painted black was framed in light wood with a tray for the chalks and erasers.
‘‘This finally looks like a real schoolroom,’’ she said to Pearl.
‘‘I know. Feels like one too. Just wish I had some drawers to put things in. They ought to send out a teacher’s desk along with the supplies.’’ She wiped the blackboard with a damp cloth. ‘‘There now.’’ She dusted one hand against the other, shook out the cloth, and laid it over the back of her chair to dry. ‘‘Now, tell me about your day.’’ The two walked toward the kitchen where they could hear Rand teasing Opal.
‘‘But if you take Bay back home, she’ll forget me.’’
‘‘Now who could ever forget you?’’
‘‘Can’t I keep her here?’’
‘‘What will you feed her when snow covers the pasture?’’
‘‘We can buy grain.’’
‘‘True.’’
‘‘The army bought hay. Why can’t we?’’
‘‘Guess you can, but it’s expensive.’’
‘‘Oh.’’
‘‘Will you ride her in the winter?’’
‘‘On nice days.’’
‘‘Gets awful cold out there, even if the sun is shining.’’