Frontier Engagement

Beth wiggled past them just then, snatching the lamp from James. “Oh, please, let me do the honors. I do so hope you like it, Miss Fosgrave. I chose the patterns out of Godey’s.”

“A magazine that is the end-all and be-all of Beth’s existence,” James murmured to Rina with a smile that brightened the room more than the lamp.

The teacher’s quarters consisted of a single cozy room. Heat would radiate from the stones of the hearth, and the window overlooking the woods made the space seem larger. A wooden bedstead stood against one wall, covered with a blue-and-green quilt that matched the colors on the braided rug covering the floor. A real armchair—overstuffed and comfy looking, sat in the corner with a set of shelves beside it to hold her things. An oval mirror and porcelain-covered washbasin rested on a worktable, with a beautiful carved chest beside it.

Rina pressed her fingers to her lips, tears burning her eyes. She’d slept on feather beds, under swansdown-filled comforters covered in velvet. But this, this was real and truly hers.

“Oh, Beth,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”

Beth’s face turned a happy red.

James wandered to the wooden chest. “I see you’re putting all your hope in education, Beth,” he said, fingers touching the carved roses along the side.

Her color deepened as she raised her head. “Drew made it for me. I can do with it what I want.”

Realization struck. “Beth, I can’t accept your hope chest!” Rina cried. “I can make do with my trunk to store my clothing. We’ll have someone return your chest to the house.”

James pressed a hand to his lower back and groaned, earning him a laugh from Beth.

Rina couldn’t help but be touched. They’d taken such pains to make the school and teacher’s quarters lovely as well as functional. Who would find fault with the school or threaten the teacher?

“You were going to tell me about the students,” she said to Catherine.

“Did you notice the quilt, Miss Fosgrave?” Beth asked, hurrying to the bed. “Ma stitched it. You can see the school in the middle.”

Rina could make out a shape that resembled a log cabin sewn into the fabric. But she had a feeling Beth was merely trying to divert her attention.

James evidently thought the same, for he straightened. “You don’t have to posture, Beth. We may have decided that Miss Fosgrave is everything we could wish in a teacher, but she deserves to know everything about the position before making her decision.” He turned to Catherine. “Tell her.”

Catherine nodded as if accepting her fate. “We only have three students right now, Miss Fosgrave—Beth, Levi and a young fellow named Scout Rankin.”

Rina frowned. “Forgive me, but I must have misunderstood you. Beth is nearly grown...”

“Thank you!” Beth cried with an eye to her mother, who shook her head.

“And Levi appears to be an adult,” Rina finished.

“He’s eighteen,” his mother confessed. “Scout’s seventeen.” She eyed her daughter. “And despite any other hopes, Beth is still only fourteen.”

Beth deflated with a sigh.

So did Rina’s hopes. She could feel James watching her as she glanced at each of them in turn. “You have no need for a grammar school,” she said. “You want a university.”

Beth nodded eagerly, but Catherine held up a finger. “Not quite. For one thing, their skills aren’t advanced enough for a true university setting. For another, the distance to Seattle is great enough that we cannot send them to the territorial university there, even if they had the proper underpinnings. Besides, I would never trust their education to that man.”

That man. Rina knew she must mean Asa Mercer. Catherine and her friend Allegra Banks Howard had been some of the most vocal opponents of the emigration agent and university president aboard ship on the way to Seattle. Like Rina, they could not appreciate his high-handed ways and underhanded approach of accepting bride money from men without informing the prospective brides. Any teacher would be better than him.

But Rina hadn’t come prepared to teach at the university level. At times she’d wondered whether she would be able to discipline an unruly child. How did one discipline men? She’d purchased primers with the last of her funds, prepared to teach rudimentary skills to young learners. These would be more determined students, ones with every ability to thwart her, try her patience, sap her strength.

Keep her from remembering all she’d lost.

“We know we’re asking a lot,” James said to her, gaze serious for once. “But this school is important. Beth and Levi are important. We want the best for them.”

And he thought she was the best. Once more her heart swelled. He knew exactly the words to disarm and persuade her. She shouldn’t trust him, yet she wanted to.

She turned to Catherine and Mrs. Wallin. “It would be my honor to accept the position of teacher at the Lake Union School. I will do everything in my power to provide my students with the education needed to take their places in the world.”

James smiled as if he’d known all along this was the right decision. Rina felt it, as well.

Thank You, Lord.

Beth wasn’t content to smile. She threw her arms around Rina and hugged her so tightly Rina’s breath left in a rush. “Oh, thank you, thank you, Miss Fosgrave!”

James reached out and carefully disengaged his sister. “She doesn’t come with a warning, either,” he murmured to Rina.

She couldn’t help her smile. There were many things to warn her away from Wallin Landing. Yet all she wanted to do was stay.

* * *

James followed Catherine, his mother and Beth out the door of the school, leaving Rina to settle herself in her new home. After that note on the board and Catherine’s explanation of their unorthodox arrangement, he’d half expected Rina to demand that he return her to Seattle immediately. But she’d heard about the school and accepted their terms. He ought to be overjoyed.

Still something nagged at him. He didn’t believe his brother’s protests for a second. Levi had no interest in schooling. It would be just like him to leave that note on the blackboard. James had made sure to erase it before exiting the schoolhouse, but by the look on Rina’s face where she’d stood in the doorway to the teacher’s quarters watching him, she wouldn’t be able to forget it.

And James couldn’t forget Catherine’s concern that Rina didn’t have the experience to handle a student like his brother. Would she stay long if Levi kept up his pattern of harassment? He knew from experience that threats and punishments had little effect on the boy. James had been much the same way, until Pa had died.

“You go on,” he told Catherine, who was walking beside him as Ma and Beth hurried for the house, chatting about what Beth intended to wear the first day of school. “I just want to make sure there’s enough wood for the fire.”

Catherine paused to eye him. With the night so clear, he could see her smile in the moonlight. “A very wise precaution. I think we should do all we can to make Miss Fosgrave comfortable, particularly after what Scout wrote on the blackboard.”

“You’re sure it was Scout?” James asked with a frown.

“Who else?” Catherine sighed. “He’s had a difficult time of it. We have to help him. His father clearly won’t.”

Scout was another of Catherine’s projects. His father, Benjamin Rankin, lived in a run-down cabin on the lake to the south of Wallin Landing. The man’s high-stakes card games and homemade gin drew a certain crowd to his door. James had to agree it couldn’t have been a good situation in which to raise a child.

“Still, that doesn’t mean the task should fall to Rina,” he protested. “Between Scout and Levi, she may well hightail it back to Seattle.”

Her smile inched up. “I know I can rely on you to convince her to stay, James.”

She knew nothing of the kind. “Your confidence in my abilities is inspiring,” James quipped. “But I can tell what you’re trying to do, Catherine, and it won’t work. You and Drew may be blissfully happy, but that doesn’t mean marriage will have the same effect on the rest of us.”

“And it doesn’t mean it won’t,” she countered.

“That sounds like one of those improper double negatives,” James teased. “Rina was pretty set against them.”

Catherine gave his arm a squeeze. “But she isn’t set against you. I see how she looks to you for support.”

To him? That wasn’t possible. Ever since Pa had died, everyone looked to Drew or Simon, and with good reason. His older brothers were stable, reliable. He normally preferred to live each moment as it came, without a great deal of fuss about the future.

“She’ll learn,” he told Catherine. “She’s a teacher. She’ll see who she can count on, and it isn’t me.”

Catherine puffed up as if prepared to argue, but he turned his back on her. This request to secure the teacher had been the first time she’d ever asked anything of him. He was fairly sure if he hadn’t had this glib tongue, she’d have been focused on convincing another of his brothers to do the job.

Still he was thankful for his brothers as he gathered up an armload of wood from the pile leaning against the side of the barn. They each took turns filling the crib, so he wouldn’t have to chop tonight. He carried the fuel to the schoolhouse, stamping his feet on the porch to make sure Rina knew he was coming. Balancing the wood in one arm, he opened the door with the other.

“Just delivering some firewood, ma’am,” he called.

She rushed out of her room and jerked to a stop beside the last bench, chest heaving and eyes wild.

“Close the door!” she cried, finger pointing behind him.

Did she consider it improper to leave the door ajar? Beth always seemed to think doors should be left open when a young lady and gentleman were together, but maybe that rule didn’t apply to schoolmarms. For all he knew, it was something that editor at Godey’s had dreamed up. James kicked back with one foot to slam the door, then went to drop his load in the wood box near the hearth.

Rina paid him no attention. She ran to the window and peered out, head turning from one side to the other as if trying to take in every inch of the darkness.

“Thank the Lord you made it here safely,” she said before turning to look at him. She blinked. “Why aren’t you armed?”

She was obviously terrified to be out in the wilderness. He should have thought of that, but then, he hadn’t considered Seattle all that much more civilized. Best to keep things light. He made a show of raising his arms and glancing at each in turn. “I thought I was armed.”

“Will you be serious? Help me with these.” She whirled to tug at one of the shutters beside the window. James crossed to her side and helped her close them. He could hear her breath coming quickly. How could he ease her concerns?

“There you go, Rina,” he said, stepping back as if to admire their handiwork. “All shut in, safe and sound. Probably a good idea considering the treasure this schoolhouse is guarding.”

She frowned at him, the pink of exertion darkening her cheeks. “Treasure? What treasure?”

“Why, the prettiest schoolmarm west of the Mississippi,” he told her, adding a smile for good measure.

She stiffened. “Nonsense. Really, Mr. Wallin, I wish you would attend to the problem for once.”

James threw up his hands. “And I wish you’d realize there is no problem!”

From outside came the howl of a wolf.

Rina grabbed his arm, eyes wide. “Did you hear that?”

“Hush, now,” James answered, listening. The call came again, close to the schoolhouse, yet he could hear no whinnies of terror from the barn, no worried lows from the oxen or squeals from the pigs.

“Can it get in?” she whispered.

James touched her hand. “You’re safe, Rina. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She gazed up at him, face pinched. She wanted to believe him—he could see it in those clear eyes. Yet she couldn’t. Had Catherine told her how he’d failed the family in the past? No, of course not. Catherine wanted Rina to fall in love with him. She wouldn’t point out his faults. Perhaps it had been Ma. Or maybe Rina had just noticed that he was the least talented of his brothers. She was clever enough to have figured out she couldn’t afford to believe in him.

Another call sounded, and something scratched at the door of the schoolhouse. Rina clung to James, trembling. He felt for her—alone, vulnerable and with only him to lean on.

He straightened and set her back from him. “Stay here. I’ll deal with this.”

She shook her head, hair falling from her bun to brush her shoulders with gold. “No, James, please! It’s too dangerous!”

James touched the silk of her cheek. “What is it you always say to me? Nonsense. I’ll be right back, Rina. I promised to protect you, and I mean to keep that promise.”

Chapter Five

Rina’s fingers felt numb as James pulled away and headed for the door. She hadn’t been able to catch her breath since she’d heard noises outside. First had come a rattling sound outside her window, as if something was shaking the bushes. Then those hideous cries had pierced the night. She might have been raised in civilization, but she’d read about the mournful call of the wolf. How was James to defend himself against an entire ravenous pack?

“Please, stay inside,” she begged, following him to the door. “If anything happens to you...” She couldn’t make herself finish the sentence.

His smile was sad. “Life would go on. I’m not that important in the scheme of things. But you are. Now, stand back.”

She scuttled away from the door. Lord, please protect him! Send those creatures away before they harm any of these kind people!

He edged out the door and shut it behind him.

Rina ran to the panel and pressed her ear against it. How many were out there? Would they jump on him? They certainly sounded too fierce to run away. Why, oh, why had she agreed to travel all the way to Seattle, to come out into the wilderness with him? This chance for a school was beyond wonderful, but nothing was worth the loss of a man’s life.

From outside came a crack and a yelp. Was he hurt? Should she go help? Her hand was on the latch, fingers trembling, when she heard footsteps crossing the porch. Wolves did not wear shoes. She backed away, hands pressed to her chest, as the door opened.

James stood there, fir needles speckling his hair, smile on his face, all limbs accounted for and not a scratch on him. “Problem solved.”

Rina peered around him, unable to believe things had been settled so easily. “Have they gone?”

“Not exactly.” He raised his voice. “Levi, Scout—inside. Now.”

His younger brother slunk through the door, curly-haired head bowed. A slighter boy with a misshapen nose followed him.

“Miss Fosgrave is your teacher,” James said, his look more severe than any of her tutors had ever given her. “And she deserves your respect. But I think you have something to teach her at the moment. She seems to think we have wolves besieging the schoolhouse.”

Levi snickered, and his friend smiled. Why was that funny? Did they know some way to subdue the beasts?

James focused on the smaller boy. “Is there a wolf pack in this area, Scout?”

So this was her other student. His brown hair was as thick and wild as a crow’s nest, sticking out in all directions, and his clothing appeared to be several sizes too big and several days past a washing. At James’s question, he visibly swallowed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his tattered trousers. “No.”

The word came out reluctantly, sullen. She would not allow James to be so disrespected.

“No, sir,” Rina corrected the boy.

James looked surprised. So did Scout.

“Why?” he asked, glancing at James. “It’s just James Wallin.”

“Listen to your teacher,” James ordered him.

Scout bowed his head. “All right. Sir.”

James nodded. “And do we occasionally see a rogue wolf in the area, Levi?”

His brother jumped as if he hadn’t thought he’d be questioned too. “Yes, but don’t expect me to call you, sir.”

More disrespect. It simply wasn’t right. James was their elder, a man who, it seemed, had earned a certain stature if his charter to bring them a schoolteacher was any indication. They had every reason to treat him with deference.

“A simple yes or no will do, Mr. Wallin,” Rina said.

Levi colored.

“When was the last time we saw wolf tracks, Levi?” James persisted.

Levi scratched his head. “I don’t know. Maybe two years ago now?”

“Two years ago?” Rina glanced at James, truth dawning. “So, those noises...”

“Were most likely not made by wolves,” James concluded. “At least, not the four-footed variety.” His gaze returned to the youths. “Anything you’d like to say to Miss Fosgrave, gents?”

Scout wiped his nose with the back of one hand. “Too bad you came all this way fer nothing.”

Levi nodded. “Maybe you could teach Beth how to talk all fancy-like so she can attract a rich husband, but I don’t reckon you got anything to teach us.”

Something pricked at her. Like her so-called father, Levi Wallin was so certain he knew more than anyone else that he was somehow above the petty rules that others obeyed. She might not be able to reach such a closed mind. But then again...

“Tell me, Mr. Wallin,” she said, raising her chin. “What do you hope to do with your life now that you’re a man?”

James shook his head as if afraid she’d given his brother too much credit. Levi straightened with a sneer to James. “I’m moving into town first chance I get.”

James’s gaze drifted to the ceiling as if trying to look anywhere else but at his brother.

“And what will you do there?” she pressed.

Levi grinned at Scout. “Anything I want.”

Scout grinned back.

“What a delightful life,” Rina said. “How do you intend to pay for your frivolity?”

Levi’s grin faded. “Frivol-what?”

“All the fun you’ll be having,” James explained with a smile to Rina.

“I assume you want to have fun, Mr. Wallin,” Rina confirmed.

His grin returned. “Yes, ma’am!”

Rina took a step closer, gaze drilling into his. “How will you pay for it? Fine clothes and food must be purchased, sir. Money doesn’t grow on trees, even here in Seattle. So what will you do? Labor for Mr. Yesler at the mill? Work in a shop?”

Levi’s chest swelled. “I don’t need another person telling me what to do all day. I’ll open my own shop.”

James chuckled and turned the noise into a cough when Levi glared at him.

“And how will you do that?” Rina asked. “Do you understand the language of a warranty deed? Can you calculate the interest on a loan? Do you know how to amortize payments? How much will you need to earn from your goods to turn a profit? How much profit will you need to invest so that you can continue to expand your business?”

With each question, Levi’s color fled a little more. Before he could answer her, she turned to Scout. “And what of you, Mr. Rankin? Do you intend to move to town and have fun like Levi?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, gaze dropping to where his bare toes were pressed into the floor. “Makes no sense, as most folks in town wouldn’t give me the time of day. I’d like to homestead. Don’t reckon you know how to do that.”

His voice held more despair than defiance. There was a story behind this boy. She wondered if it was anything like her own—abandoned, lied to, left to fend for herself. Still, she had clean clothes, food, the hope of a future. She wasn’t so sure Scout Rankin had any of those things.

“I know nothing about homesteading, Mr. Rankin,” she admitted. “But I know about the Farmer’s Almanac. I can teach you to understand it, and from there you can learn how to calculate crop yields, determine the best times to plant and harvest and even predict the weather.”

His head came up, and his eyes widened. Like his hair, they were a muddy brown, but she could see the light of intelligence in them, the flicker of hope. “That would be right helpful, ma’am.”

Levi narrowed his eyes as if he thought his friend was giving in too easily.

Rina refused to be daunted. “Good,” she said. “Then I expect to see you both tomorrow morning at eight when I ring the bell.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Scout said, though Levi merely snapped a nod.

“And I expect,” James added, “that Miss Fosgrave will hear no more wolves outside her window or find threats on the blackboard.”

“Yes, sir,” they chorused. James pointed to the door, and they shuffled out.

Rina shook her head. “You knew all along it wasn’t a wolf pack, didn’t you?”

“I suspected,” James said with a shrug. “But I thought it best to make sure. I’m sorry they frightened you, Rina.”

She sighed. “They terrified me. Nothing in my life prepared me to fight off vicious predators.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t imagine too many people have that preparation. Beth, Ma and Catherine can handle a rifle if needed. I suppose we better teach you how to shoot, just in case.”

She raised her brows. “Just in case of what? Do you expect more wild beasts, real ones, to come calling?”

He laughed. “No. Once in a rare while, something wanders a little too close to the barn, but normally the wild animals give us a wide berth. They’ve learned humans can be dangerous.”

So had she. “Then I doubt I must carry a gun.”

“Maybe just a whip and chair for your wild students,” he joked.

Rina shook her head. Levi and Scout were going to be a handful, but she supposed she couldn’t blame them for resenting the school. They were both at an age where sitting around learning had to sound tedious and tiresome. She’d have to find ways to make the lessons relevant for them.

But for all her fine arguments, what did she know about opening a shop or understanding the Farmer’s Almanac?

Her concerns must have been written on her face, for James put a hand to her elbow as if to steady her. “You dealt with them brilliantly. You’re going to be a great teacher.”

She drew in a breath, feeling as if she drew in strength as well. “It will be a challenge. Thank you, for the encouragement and for routing my wolves.”

He dropped his hold and saluted her. “Any time, ma’am. James Wallin, wilderness scout, at your service.”

She smiled. “I hope this is as close to the wilderness as I ever come.”

He cocked his head. “It’s not so bad, you know. Come on. I’ll show you.”

He held out his hand, but Rina couldn’t make herself accept it. “Where do you intend to take me, Mr. Wallin?”

He grinned. “Into the wild.”

* * *

James thought she would refuse. Those clear eyes were crinkling at the corners from doubt. When her fingers slipped into his hand, he felt as if she’d entrusted him with her life.

He led her out onto the porch. Between the trees and the usual cloud cover, it wasn’t always easy to see the sky in Seattle. Now thousands of stars set the darkness to shimmering, bathing the clearing with silver. The light from the main house and Drew’s and Simon’s cabins offered a golden counterpoint.

She sighed as if she saw the beauty too. Down by the lake, frogs chirped a chorus and something splashed in the water. The breeze touched their cheeks with gentle fingers.

“There now,” James said. “Not so very scary.”

“Only because I have an escort,” she said. “And the cabins remind me that there are others just across the way. It was another matter when I was alone in my room.”

“And a strange room at that,” James commiserated. “Though, mind you, I think my sister’s designs are always a little strange. Those wide skirts and puffy sleeves.” He shivered as if the very idea was unthinkable.

She didn’t laugh. “Your sister is a dear. I just feel a trifle unsettled.”

“I know what you need,” James said. “Horses.”

He’d been trying for a smile or at least one of her scoldings that he was talking nonsense again. Instead, she straightened, squeezing his hand. “Oh, yes. That would be wonderful!”