Page 102 of The School Mistress (Emerson Pass Historicals 1)

“Kellam made a run for it, and the sheriff shot him in the back,” Sven said.

Anna Johnson, wearing her shop apron, came to stand beside me. “Are the children at school?”

“Yes. I left them with Miss Cooper. Go to them, please. Keep them inside until I come back.”

“I’ll just get my coat,” she said.

I turned back to the gruesome scene in front of me. All the shop owners had come out to the street to watch. But I couldn’t. I wanted no more to do with either the sheriff or the man who’d hurt his child and my Quinn.

I walked back toward school, thinking about Louisa. What would happen to her now? Who would take her in? Not me. God knows we had our hands full already. My feet seemed to have an idea of their own, because they led me to the rectory instead of the school. I knocked on the front door, and soon Pamela appeared.

“I heard gunshots,” she said. “I was too afraid to come out. Simon’s gone to visit a sick man.”

“It’s safe now. But let me tell you all about it.”

She ushered me inside and poured me a cup of coffee and put a slice of fruitcake in front of me while I told her everything.

“That poor child,” she said. “Where will she go?”

“I don’t know.”

“You aren’t thinking of taking her in?” she asked.

“I’ve got so many of my own. And Quinn and I are getting married.”

“Oh Alexander? Really?”

“Yes. She’ll want more children. By the end of this, God only knows how many I’ll have.”

Pamela beamed at me. “I’m happy for you.” She stirred milk into her cup of coffee. “Have I ever told you how much I wanted a child? But God never blessed us, so I focused on being the best pastor’s wife I could be.”

Was it my imagination or was this leading somewhere?

“I could talk to Simon. If he were willing, maybe we could take her in.”

“She’s a sweet little thing, but she’s been through a lot,” I said.

“Her own father hunting her. I’d say so,” she said.

“Talk to Simon. For now, we’ll keep her with us.”

We said our goodbyes and I walked ove

r to the school. I looked through the window, gathering myself. Anna was applying salve to Quinn’s bruised neck. The children were all at their desks licking candy canes Anna must have brought from her store.

Surges of powerful anger and also fear overwhelmed me. I’d almost lost her. What the children and I would do without her seemed impossible to muster. I shook off the feelings. She was fine. The children were fine. Christmas was coming, and I had a surprise for my bride.

Chapter 31

Quinn

* * *

At home, I sat with Louisa on the window seat of the spare bedroom as she sobbed into my lap. I smoothed her hair from her damp cheeks and let her cry. When she stopped, she sat up and looked me straight in the eye. “What’s going to happen to me now?”

“You’ll stay with us until we can find a new home for you.”

“Who will want me?”