Sarah's Choice (18 page)

She shook her head. “Thanks anyway, but I can manage. Just have a seat and enjoy your lunch. I’ll be back soon.”

Sarah hurried out the door so quickly that Patrick couldn’t even formulate a response. He sat back down and took another bite of his sandwich.

“Do you like it?” Hortence asked. “Is there enough butter on your bread?”

“It’s just fine. Very tasty, in fact.”

She smiled at him. “Maybe you’d like to come over to my house for supper sometime. Mother likes it when we have guests.”

A trickle of sweat ran down Patrick’s forehead. Was Hortence making a play for him? The look he saw on her face did appear kind of desperate, and the fact that she was nearly thirty years old and still not married made him wonder if she might be looking for a husband. Well, if she had him in mind, she could forget it. The only woman he wanted was Sarah.

After Elias had picked up a load of coal at Mauch Chunk on Monday afternoon, he’d been surprised at the way Wilma, their stubborn mule, had cooperated with Bobby. Not only was she walking faster, but she was no longer picking on Dolly. Maybe she’d finally come to know her place and had decided to cooperate. Maybe things would go better for them now, and they wouldn’t lose so much time.

“Are you planning to stop in Walnutport today?” Carolyn asked as she joined Elias at the bow of the boat.

He shook his head. “Thanks to that break in the canal and several days of dealing with a contrary mule, I’ve already lost too much time. So I think it’s best if we keep heading straight for Easton.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Carolyn sighed. “I enjoyed being with Sarah so much the other day and was hoping I might have the chance to visit with her again.”

“I’m sure there will other times for visiting,” Elias said. “I plan to stop in Walnutport whenever I can for church, and since Sarah doesn’t work on Sundays, she’ll have more time to visit then, anyway.”

“I don’t know how Sarah manages her job. It seems like such hard work.”

Elias nodded. “I don’t think it’s the kind of work a woman should do, but Sarah seems to manage okay.”

“Mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“What’s that?”

“I was wondering if you might be interested in Sarah.”

His eyebrows shot up. “What would make you think that?”

“I couldn’t help but notice the smile on your face when we were with Sarah and her children on Sunday. You seemed very content.”

“I did enjoy being with them, but Sarah’s just a friend and will never be anything more.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m sure that a pretty woman like her would never be interested in someone like me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He touched the side of his face. “Who would want a man with an ugly birthmark?”

“You’re too sensitive about that.” Carolyn placed her hand on his arm. “Mother’s told you this before, and I’m going to say it again now. When the right woman comes along, she won’t even notice that red mark on your face. What really counts is what’s in a person’s heart, not his outward appearance.”

Elias shrugged. “I wish that were true, but I grew up hearing the jeers and taunts from others about my ugly red mark, and no woman has ever shown me more than a passing interest. I’ve come to accept the fact that true love will probably never happen for me.”

“That’s ridiculous. If you’d just relax and let your charming and sensitive personality shine through, you could win any woman’s heart.”

“Ya can’t be charmin’ or sensitive and be a boatman,” Ned said, stepping up to them. “A boatman’s gotta be tough as nails.”

“Like you?” Elias asked with a grin.

Ned lifted his bearded chin. “Yep, just like me.”

Elias rolled his eyes, and Carolyn snickered quietly. Then she tapped Elias on the shoulder and said, “I’m going below to make some soup for lunch. Should I bring you up a cup when it’s ready?”

“That’d be fine. Ned can take over steering the boat while I eat lunch, and then I’ll take over leading the mules so Bobby can come aboard and eat.”

“Okay.” Carolyn turned and hurried away.

Ned looked at Elias and frowned. “When do I get to eat?”

“You can either eat before I do, or wait until Bobby is done.”

“Guess I’ll go first. I work better when my belly’s full.”

“I would have suggested that we tie the boat up for a while and all eat together,” Elias said, “but we’ve lost enough time these last few weeks.”

“That’s for sure.” Ned leaned over the boat and spit a wad of chewing tobacco into the canal. “You never shoulda bought that stupid mule from the blacksmith in Walnutport.”

“If you’ll recall, there were no other mules available,” Elias reminded. “And as I’m sure you must have noticed, Wilma seems to be behaving herself much better now.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Ned spat another hunk of tobacco into the water. “At least for now, she is.”

“I think she just needed to get used to walking with Dolly and learn what she’s supposed to do.”

Ned opened his mouth like he was about to respond, when a bloodcurdling scream from below caused them both to jump. Elias turned the tiller over to Ned and raced down the stairs.

W
hat’s wrong?” Elias called as he rushed into the galley.

Carolyn turned from the stove and held up her left hand. “I burned myself on the stove,” she said tearfully. “It hurts so bad I can barely stand the pain.”

Elias stepped closer and examined her hand. Several ugly blisters had already formed, and all of her fingers looked red and swollen. “We’d better stop in Walnutport, after all,” he said. “I think you need to be seen by a doctor. In the meantime, you’d better take a seat at the table and put your hand in some cold water to help with the pain.”

“I’m so sorry about this.” Carolyn’s chin trembled and her eyes filled with tears.

Elias shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It was an accident, plain and simple.”

“But if you stop in Walnutport so I can see the doctor, you’ll be losing more time, which is exactly what you didn’t want to do.”

“Your needs come before my schedule, so stop worrying about it and take a seat at the table.”

She sighed deeply and did as he asked. When he set a pan of cold water in front of her, she plunged her hand in and gasped. “It still hurts, Elias. It hurts so much!”

“I’m sure it does, but you’d better keep it there until we reach Walnutport.”

Elias turned and hurried back to the main deck. He knew it was important for Carolyn to see the doctor, and right now it didn’t matter how long it took to make his coal delivery.

By the time Sarah got around to eating her lunch, the children had finished and gone over to Mike and Kelly’s to play with their cousins. When she stepped into the kitchen, she was surprised to see that Patrick was still there, sitting at the table with Hortence and drinking coffee.

“I didn’t realize you were still here,” Sarah said to Patrick. “I figured by now you’d be back working in your blacksmith shop.”

He shook his head. “I was waiting for you. I wanted to ask if you—”

Wo–o–o–o! Wo–o–o–o!
“It sounds like another boat’s coming through.” Sarah groaned. “At this rate, I’ll never get to eat my sandwich.”

“I wish you’d let me help you outside,” Patrick said. “We could get the job done twice as fast with the two of us working.”

Sarah flapped her hand. “Tending the lock is my responsibility, and it really doesn’t take that long. The problem today has been that too many boats have come through in such a short time.” She started for the door, but turned back. “Please don’t let me keep you from whatever work you might have in your shop.”

“Guess you’re right. I really oughta get back. I’ll be by to see you again in a few days.” He stood and moved toward the door, and she hurried out behind him.

Just as Sarah approached the lock gate, she spotted Elias’s boat, which was almost at the lock. “I have a few loaves of bread left if you want any today,” she called.

He shook his head. “Not this time, but we do need to stop. Carolyn burned her hand real bad, and she needs to see the doctor.”

“Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that.”

When Elias’s boat had gone through the lock, she pointed to a post on the other side of it. “You can tie up here, if you like.”

“Thanks.”

Elias had no more than docked his boat when another boat came through. As much as Sarah wanted to see how badly Carolyn had been burned, she knew she had a job to do.

“When you get done at the doctor’s, stop by and let me know how Carolyn’s doing,” she called to Elias.

“All right, we will.”

Sarah whispered a prayer on behalf of Elias’s sister and hurried to do her job.

“I really don’t think it’s necessary for me to stay here in Walnutport,” Carolyn said as she and Elias left the doctor’s office later. “I can stay on the boat with you and change my own bandage every day.”

Elias shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. What if infection sets in? If you don’t want to stay in Walnutport, then when we get to Easton, I should drop you off at Mother and Father’s.”

“No way! Father didn’t want me to join you on the boat, so if he knew about my hand, he’d give me a hard time and probably blame you for it, saying that the conditions on your boat are crude and unsafe.” She cringed at the remembrance of her father’s earlier words. “And Mother would hover around me all day and treat me as if I’m a little girl. I think the best thing we can do is go over to the boardinghouse Dr. McGrath recommended and see if they have room for me to stay there.”

“I suppose we could do that, but I think I might have a better idea.”

“What’s that?”

“We could see if Sarah would be willing to let you stay at her place. I heard that Sarah’s mother-in-law used to live with her, so I’m sure she has the room.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Sarah has enough on her hands, tending the lock and taking care of her three children. She doesn’t need me to look after.”

“I’m not suggesting that she look after you, because I’m sure you can manage to look after yourself,” Elias said. “What I was thinking was that I’d be willing to pay Sarah for your room and board, and since I’m sure she could use the extra money…”