Page 32 of The School Mistress (Emerson Pass Historicals 1)

She sat in the chair next to me, then folded her hands in her lap. “How was the poor woman?”

“Angry.” I proceeded to tell her the entirety of our conversation. “I should have known she’d be furious with me. It was the only time Samuel had ever disagreed with what she wanted for the kids. She sees me as a conspirator.”

“Will she be all right by herself?”

“She’s sending for her brother.” I shared with her the details of my arrangement with Samuel about his estate. “As you know, she couldn’t own property without him leaving it all to me. This was Samuel’s way of making sure they were taken care of in case anything happened.”

“How smart.” She pinched her lips together using her thumb and finger and stared into the fire. This, I’d learned already, was her thinking face. “Do you think she’d consider sending the kids to school if I talked with her?”

“Not yet. For now, I’m going to leave her alone. Hopefully, at some point, she’ll forgive me, and we can resume our friendship.”

She cocked her head to the side, watching me. “For your friend to have that much trust in you says a lot about your character.”

“I’m not perfect, but I’m honest.”

Footsteps on the stairs from the third floor warned me of the impending pack of my children. I’d waited until now to tell them about Samuel. They hadn’t known him well but were fond of him. I worried it would be upsetting, given their own mother’s death.

They filed in and sat on the couch. “I have bad news,” I said. “My friend Samuel has died.”

“Those poor kids,” Josephine said.

“Did someone kill him?” Flynn asked.

“Why would you ask that?” I asked.

“Because he’s married to a brown lady,” Flynn said as he glanced at Josephine.

“Someone shot him,” I said. “We don’t know who or why.”

“How will you find out?” Theo asked.

“I’m not certain,” I said.

“Can we go now?” Flynn asked. “I want to finish my snow fort.”

“You may go.”

Flynn tugged on Theo’s shirt. “Come on.”

Theo nodded and the two jumped up from the couch as if it were on fire.

“Can I come?” Cymbeline asked.

“No. This fort’s only for boys,” Flynn said.

“That’s not fair,” Cymbeline said. “Papa, make them take me.”

“Stay here with me,” Josephine said to her sister. “I’ll play checkers with you.”

Cymbeline, mollified for the time being, stuck her tongue out at her brothers as they left the room. “And you can’t let me win on purpose, Jojo. We have to play for real.”

“I didn’t let you win last time,” Josephine said. “You beat me.”

“Are you sure you aren’t fibbing?” Cymbeline said.

“Of course not, goose.” She patted her sister on the head before she turned to me. “Papa, I’m sorry you lost your friend,”

“Thank you, dearest one,” I said, drawing her close. “I’m sad, but I have a lot of happy memories of our time together.”