Page 35 of The Heart of Bennet Hollow

“Then I’ll take comfort in the gesture of his gift, as I have, and let’s not be carryin’ on about it.” Jayne’s words were edged with finality. “Let’s forget about the whole encounter with Mr. Brydolf.”

“It’s not that easy,” Lizbeth pressed. “I don’t believe it could be.”

If Jayne severed ties with Callum Brydolf, should she work harder to forget about William Drake?

Not that she meant to renew those ties, but an absence lingered about her that she couldn’t describe.

William had been arrogant, prideful, and selfish.

Or had that instead been her? Truth be told, she’d never spoken so harshly with another human in all her days.

Nor had she done such based on a secondhand account from a near stranger, as Westgard had been.

Now she couldn’t shake the feeling of having been mistaken.

Lizbeth wriggled her needle into the fabric of her embroidery hoop again, gaining only a single stitch before peering back out the window.

While she couldn’t see all the way to town, she imagined the empty depot.

It would be blanketed in snow until the four o’clock train cleared the tracks as it did each day.

She hadn’t seen William leave nor known of his plans to.

But one day he had stood beside her, and the next, he and the beautiful train car were gone.

As for the book he’d lent her, she was nearly finished.

If only she could see it rightly returned to him.

“Please read the letter, Lizzy,” Jayne said softly.

She folded up what remained of the floral tablecloth, pressing the charred bits into her scrap pile.

Sincerity mingled with lingering tears. “Let’s hear some cheery news.

What of Hattie and Reverend Coburn? Is she askin’ you again to visit?

It’s hard to believe it’s been two whole months.

Maybe now the discomfort has passed? What with Reverend Coburn proposing to you first.”

Lizbeth tore open the envelope flap. “If I see anything differently, Jayne, it’s that I ought not to be the one to judge a man—or woman—who yearns to share their life with someone they can see themselves caring about.

” Not Reverend Coburn, nor Mr. Brydolf and now, especially not Mr. Drake.

“I suppose this life is less about being right in my own eyes and more about bein’ gracious to see that others have perspectives that matter. ”

All the more reason she would press Jayne no further on matters of the heart. Lizbeth knew now that she wasn’t the end-all on what was right or just in the matters of love, but that she was just like everyone else—trying to find the way forward that was right .

It was Jayne herself who had helped Lizbeth see this in those teary days that followed William’s leaving.

In the wake of Lizbeth’s distress, it was Jayne who helped her consider that the very man might have been more fair in his dealings than Mr. Westgard had implied.

From all of that, Lizbeth had begun to see that the world didn’t hinge upon her opinions after all.

Perhaps she’d been blinded by her own pride in more ways than one.

She broke the seal on the letter.

Clearing a tightness in her throat, Lizbeth shared aloud.

“Hattie writes about the weather in Stroudsburg, where they’re settled in the parish there.

She says their cottage is near the churchyard.

She feeds the chickens daily and has a parlor that she enjoys sitting in, and once again.

..” Lizbeth lowered the letter. “She wishes for me to come.”

“Will you? This time?”

Lizbeth skimmed the rest of the page. “She writes that her ma and pa are plannin’ to visit soon and that they’d like me to join them.” She handed the letter to Jayne.

“Oh my!” Jayne abandoned both scissors and paper now to skim the page. “You’d travel by train! How splendid.”

“We could never afford the ticket. Not with the debt Pa’s dealing with over this land.

” Nearly two hundred dollars owed to the state of Virginia if he wanted to establish his ownership.

Money that even Mr. Jorgensen didn’t have to loan him or the other tenants, not until the sale was finalized, and by then, it would be too late.

The land would transfer. Lizbeth considered the sampler abandoned on the rocking chair.

Even if she sold it, she’d hardly make a dent in the debt, but if she could finish it in time, this could be her chance to try and find a buyer in Stroudsburg for it and perhaps another, and then another.

Yet the trip would come at a cost. “I—I don’t know. ”

Jayne skimmed the letter again. “We always get a half dollar in our stockings at Christmastime. While we might not have one this year, all things considered, we both have a few saved away.”

“Scarcely enough for a train ticket to Pennsylvania.”

“More than enough if you ride coach.”

She hadn’t thought of that.

Jayne rose and moved to the dresser that they shared. “We could turn some of this cloth into a new skirt for you.” From the top drawer, she dug beneath her stockings and petticoats, retrieving a small tin can.

“You’re right. Riding coach would cost very little.

Then I could sell the sampler to have something extra to bring home to Pa.

And if I can commission another piece, maybe more than one, I could stitch and sell them by post. Turn a bigger profit.

” She braved more. “Beyond that, I just might learn more about Callum Brydolf from Mr. Jorgensen, who knows him well.”

“Likely not. But if you’re to travel to Pennsylvania, it could be near Mr. Drake’s Chess Creek mine.”

She hadn’t thought of that either.

Jayne’s eyes glistened as she searched Lizbeth’s. “You need something to do about all this and sitting around waitin’ will only be harder.” Jayne laughed and swiped at her eyes and squeezed Lizbeth tight.

Pulling away, Lizbeth started for the door. “I’ll go and talk to Pa.” Before she could expect to face the great big world, she needed to face the first of her regrets.

Lizbeth climbed the attic stairs and knocked softly on the door. “Pa?”

“Is that my Lizzy-girl?”

As she entered, Pa pulled off his spectacles. He sat near to the stovepipe, which slanted up through the floorboards. The snug space brimmed with warmth. His desk, where he often worked, sat near a small window looking cozy despite the snow that blanketed the land beyond the four windowpanes.

Pa leaned back in his chair and reached for a half-empty cup of coffee. “To what do I owe this surprise?”

“I need to speak to you about somethin’. Well, two things.” Lizbeth held over the letter from Hattie then pulled a footstool near. She sat as he read in silence.

“I see.” His curiosity slanted her way. “And the second thing?”

“It’s about the farm.”

“Ah.”

“Is it in danger, Pa? From William Drake?” She needed to know once and for all if she’d been wrong about him.

Pa rested a thick hand on his desk where layers of documents might disclose the truth.

“It is in danger. Grave danger, to be frank, but not from Mr. Drake.” Pa lifted two documents bound with a metal clip.

“I know for a number of reasons, including this. It’s a letter from William himself, explaining the situation and for me to be in contact if I’d like his help. ”

“When did this come?”

“A few weeks ago.”

Her chest tightened as she touched the paper—his neat script strangely reassuring. She bent the first sheet forward to study the second. “And this?”

“It was attached in the envelope. It’s from his lawyer, who you met as well. The one so enchanted with Jayne. It furthers the explanations and the advice. Of all the investors that came here to New River, these two seem bent on helping us.”

Lizbeth folded her arms around her middle, still clutching the pages. “So what do you plan to do?”

“I’ve been working hard—earning some extra income. Not there yet, but I’ve made a dent in the tax debt.”

“Will we ever make enough?”

“I’m sure gonna try to.”

Lizbeth laid the letters on the desk. “Pa, if there’s some way I might go to Stroudsburg with the Jorgensens, I’d like to try.” She pressed on, explaining about the sampler and her hopes of how she might help him.

Pa gave her a sad smile even as his eyes twinkled with pride. “Well, now, Lizzy. That’s terribly brave of you. And generous. You’ve been working a long time on that sampler.”

“That’s why I hope it might be something worth selling. As for the train ticket, I have a little money that should cover the seat. From there, I’d be staying with Hattie so there’s little to no extra cost.”

“Well, now...”

“Please, Pa.”

“This isn’t the first time you’ve been invited by Hattie, is it?”

“No, sir. She’s asked already. I just haven’t known what to do.”

Pa considered the written words again, finally lowering the letter amid the rest of his papers.

“I’ve known of the Jorgensens’ trip to Pennsylvania.

It’s one of the reasons I’ve been workin’ more hours.

Partly due to our need to scrounge up these taxes.

Jorgensen has passed more work—and pay—on to me.

It’s not much but he’s doing all he can with what he has.

He’s asked me to survey a series of maps of the mine, and I’m nearly finished.

I’ll be sending them along with my findings.

I’ve also been surveying several maps for Mr. Drake. ”

“For William?”

“He’s added me to his payroll as well.”

“Truly?”

“I should have mentioned it sooner, but was so grateful, I’ve poured all my focus into completing the work he’s given me.

His pay is generous, although I can tell he’s trying not to wound my pride.

I don’t expect he’ll let us or this farm fall if he can do anything about it, but a man like me is grateful for the chance to earn the victory. ”

Lizbeth’s throat tightened even as her heart swelled. “Oh, Pa.” So that was how they’d been able to pay off their tally at the company store. She’d been wondering.

“As you can see”—Pa indicated a slew of maps across his desk—“I’ve had my hands full.”

Rising, Lizbeth examined the sketches of the mine.

Levels that wove this way and that, all numbered with the feet of their depth.

Two hundred. Three hundred. All the way down to the very bottom of the main shaft.

Beside the maps sat lists of minerals and ore varieties, along with percentages that Pa had calculated.

Last of all, she saw a sketch of their farm. Of home.

The very hollow that stood in the balance.

“What might this mean in regard to Mr. Drake?” she asked.

“You’ve asked me the same question twice now, Lizzy.” Another soft chuckle. “I don’t count the man an enemy. Instead, he’s earned my growing respect. Especially now that another investor has travelled to New River to see the mine.”

Her heart skidded at those words. “Someone else has come?”

“Another coal baron. A new one in the running. This one from Boston, and he’s circling the mine like a vulture, I tell you. That’s the way of it, Lizzy. If Mr. Drake were in the business of swindling us all out of house and home, I daresay he’d have done it by now. The man’s wealthy enough.”

“So, William has made no offer.”

“Not yet. By the looks of things, time may be runnin’ out with most of the other offers already in play.

Jorgensen is stalling, for our sake and still waiting for an offer from Drake.

Who I sense is stalling for our sake as well.

It’s as though he’s put a wrench somehow in the whole operation, halting anything from moving forward too quickly.

He’s an intelligent man and for that, I’m grateful. ”

Lizbeth touched the hollow of her throat and sank back onto the padded footstool. William. All her anger—her passion—and he had been the one trying to keep them safe.

Pa tugged open the top drawer of his desk. “Which makes it a rather good time for the extra work.” He pulled out a small metal box. “The Jorgensens, I suppose, will be travellin’ in a sleeper car by way of his business connections.”

“I expect so.”

“And you’ll be brave enough to travel coach?”

“I think I can sleep sitting up.”

He chuckled. “I see.” Raising the lid, Pa pulled out several more coins.

He placed them on his desk. “Then take this as well. A little somethin’ for your travels.

If my girl is to see the sights, she’ll need a few hot meals on the journey.

” He rolled up the top map with the words New River stamped in black ink.

“Consider it your first payment as my trusty assistant. I need someone to deliver this to Mr. Jorgensen today. While there, you can let him know your news.” Pa wrapped the map with twine.

“Oh, Pa.” Lizbeth skirted around his desk and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I promise I’ll see it done.”