The Baby Bequest

Ellen hadn’t planned to do this, but she recalled that her favorite teacher had always waited at the back of the schoolroom and had spoken to each of them on their way out. She had looked forward every schoolday to those few precious words meant just for her.

She took each student’s hand in turn and thought of something pleasant to say, showing that she had noticed them specifically. Each student beamed at the praise, and she promised herself to end each schoolday this way.

Finally, she faced Gunther and offered her hand. “Gunther, I hope you’ll find school more pleasant tomorrow.”

He accepted her hand as if her gesture in itself insulted him and he wouldn’t meet her gaze. Then he stalked off with Johann running to keep up with him, talking in a stream of rapid German.

She slipped inside and immediately sank onto the bench at the back of the room as if she could finally lay down the load she’d carried all day. If Mr. Lang had been there, she would have gladly given him a good shake.

* * *

During afternoon recess two days later, Ellen watched the younger children playing tag. Then she noticed that the older children had disappeared. Where? And why?

Then she heard the shouting from the other side of the schoolhouse, “Fight! Fight!”

She ran toward the voices and unfortunately the younger children followed her.

There they were—Gunther and Clayton sparring, surrounded by the older boys and girls. As she watched, horrified, Clayton socked Gunther’s eye. Gunther landed a blow on Clayton’s jaw, making his head jerk backward.

She shouted, “Stop!”

At the sound of her voice, the older children surrounding the two combatants fled from her.

She halted near the two fighting. The fists were flying and she didn’t want to get in the way of one. “Clayton Riggs, stop this instant! Gunther Lang, stop!”

Neither boy paid the slightest attention to her. She couldn’t physically make them obey. Or could she? She ran to the pump. Soon she ran back. The two were now rolling around on the ground, punching and kicking each other.

She doused them with the bucket of cold water.

The two rolled apart, yelping with surprise and sputtering.

“Stand up!” she ordered. “Now!”

Gunther rose first, keeping his distance from the other boy. Clayton, though younger than Gunther, matched him nearly in height and weight, rolled to his feet, too.

“Both of you, go to the pump and wash your face and hands. Now.” She gestured toward the pump and marched them there, hiding her own trembling. She was unaccustomed to physical fighting and it had shaken her.

She stood over them as if they were two-year-olds while they washed away the dirt and blood from the fight. The cold water had evidently washed away their forgetfulness of where they were. Both looked embarrassed, chastened. Possibly wondering what their elders would say?

She then waved them into the schoolhouse and told them to face the opposite walls near the front. She called the rest of the children inside then.

No child spoke but as they filed in, all of them looked at the backs of the two miscreants. A question hung over them all. What would the teacher do to Gunther and Clayton?

She was asking herself the same question. She knew that Clayton had been taunting Gunther for two days—subtly in class and blatantly on the school ground. She had tried to keep them busy and apart, hoping to prevent fisticuffs. She’d failed.

Now she went to the front of the classroom and faced her students. “I didn’t think I needed to tell any of you that fighting on school grounds will not be tolerated.”

“Are you going to paddle them?” a first grader asked in breathless alarm.

“The idea that I would have to paddle any one of my students is repugnant. I expect my students to show self-control in every situation. No matter what the provocation, fighting is no way to settle an argument. Gunther and Clayton will stand the rest of the day, facing the wall in shame.”

The same first grader gasped. Some of the children gaped at her.

“If any more fights take place, I will have to inform the school board and they will mete out corporal punishment. I am a lady.”

She added the last as her justification and she saw that her instincts had proven true. The other children nodded in total agreement. Miss Thurston was a lady, and ladies didn’t paddle students.

Dear Lord, please don’t make it necessary for me to talk to anybody about this.

* * *

Later, Ellen rose from the table at the end of another evening meal at the Ashfords, who had finally agreed to let her pay them for providing her meals. Ellen could cook over a woodstove but could only make tea or coffee on the hearth in her quarters.

Though the meal had been delicious, the pleasure had done little to raise her spirits. The lady of the house gazed at her questioningly and then glanced toward Amanda, who was clearing the table. Mrs. Ashford had apparently picked up on Ellen’s preoccupation and Amanda’s forlorn mood during the meal.

“I hope everything is all right at school,” the lady of house said with a question in her voice.

Ellen decided that everyone would soon know what had happened so she might as well be frank. “I’m afraid that two boys came to blows during recess this afternoon.” The fight had ended in a nosebleed for Clayton and a black eye for Gunther.

“It wasn’t Gunther’s fault,” Amanda declared from the doorway to the kitchen. “That Clayton boy was making fun of how he talks and calling him names all day. Gunther ignored it till the Clayton boy started saying nasty things about Gunther’s uncle and little Johann.”

Both Mrs. Ashford and Ellen turned to the girl, stunned. Amanda had never shown such spirit before. Yet Ellen wished Amanda had kept her peace.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow fighting between students,” Ellen said patiently. “Even if there is provocation. I must maintain order.”

“Quite right,” Mrs. Ashford agreed. Unfortunately, she added, “I knew that Dutch boy would make trouble.”

“It wasn’t Gunther’s fault!” Amanda stomped her foot.

“That will be enough sauce from you, miss.” Mrs. Ashford’s face reddened. “Now get busy washing the dishes before I wash your impertinent mouth out with soap.”

On this unhappy note, Ellen said her thanks and descended the steps into the deep honey of twilight. Since she’d moved into her quarters, a large room behind the schoolroom, she’d dreaded the lonely evenings, which gave her too much time to fret, which she began as soon as she touched ground.

What should she do about Gunther Lang? Why didn’t his older brother realize the situation he’d put Gunther in? Her mind drifted back to home and brought up her sister exchanging vows with Holton. How long did heartbreak linger?

When she walked through the trees into the schoolyard, she was surprised to glimpse Kurt Lang, sitting dejectedly on the school step, clearly waiting for her as his horse grazed nearby. Of all people, he was the one she felt least ready to face—she had no doubt he’d come to discuss the fight.

“Mr. Lang,” she said.

He jumped up and swept off his hat. “Miss Thurston, I am sorry I am come so late. But I know Gunther had a fight. Please, I ask—do not put him out of school.”

Ellen walked toward him, trying to gather her scattered thoughts. This disturbing man put her at a disadvantage. He was handsome like Holton, but he never tried to charm her like Holton. Mr. Lang reminded her more of a determined bull.

Nothing she’d said so far concerning Gunther had made the least impression on him. She knew in her heart that there was nothing she could do to help Gunther fit in—too much separated him from the other students. But how could she make this man believe her? See he was doing harm to his brother?

Glum about her prospects at persuading him, she sat down on the school step, facing the river. He sat down a polite distance from her. For a few minutes neither of them talked. Finally, she cleared her throat. She would try once more.

“I realize that you want Gunther to learn more English so he is better prepared for life here.”

His powerful shoulders strained against his cotton shirt. “Yes, that is so.”

Her heart went out to him, a man trying to raise a teenage brother and a little boy by himself. Nonetheless, why did he have to be so stubborn? “But Gunther is too much older and too sensitive about being different from the others. Making him sit with little children won’t work.”

“Gunther must learn to obey.” Mr. Lang’s words rang with deep feeling.

She tried to imagine what was driving this man to continue to put his younger brother in such a difficult situation. Maybe if she talked about her family, he might reveal something about himself.

“I have a younger sister.” She didn’t mention that her elder brother was full of himself or that she’d had a baby brother, too. It cost her enough to speak of her sister Cissy and what her sister had unwittingly put her through. She paused a moment, grappling with her own rampant emotions. “My parents made the mistake of always saying to her, ‘Why can’t you be more like your sister?’”

Where am I going with this? How is this being helpful?

She shook herself and then drew in a breath. “Nothing you do or say is going to change Gunther’s mind or behavior. The struggle is not between you and him. It’s really between Gunther and this new set of people, this new place.” She sighed.

Several moments passed before he spoke. “You speak truth. But Gunther is too young to know what is good for him.”

“Human nature will not be denied.” Each word increased her confidence that making the lad attend school would not end well. “Gunther is a young man and we’ve put him in a situation that wouldn’t be normal for any lad his age. You see that.”

“Yes.” Mr. Lang didn’t sound happy or convinced. He rose. “I will keep Gunther home tomorrow. I must go, and think.” He bowed his head politely, his unfailing courtesy impressing her once again.

“I think that’s best.” Ellen watched him don his hat and ride away. She stood motionless long after he’d vanished through the trees. Even after he had disappeared from view, his image stayed with her. A handsome, brave but troubled man. She wondered if his broad shoulders ever tired of the responsibilities he carried. The deep sadness she sensed in him drew her sympathy.

She shook herself and went inside, her own heart heavy. Never far from her mind were the charming words Holton had spoken to her. She reminded herself that she must stop noticing Kurt Lang so keenly. After everything she’d been through with Holton, the last thing she needed was to be the focus of whispers about the foolish old-maid schoolmarm.

Of course it was one thing to stop noticing him. It was another thing to stop thinking of him completely.

Chapter Four

Standing outside the Stewards’ cabin after Saturday supper, Kurt tried to figure out exactly what he was doing there. He’d been surprised when the Stewards had invited him and his family to eat with them and Miss Thurston. The meal had been tasty, and he’d enjoyed talking about farming and the fall hunting with Martin, who was about his age. Unfortunately, Gunther had eaten in sullen silence, in contrast to Johann’s lively chatter.

As the sun had disappeared behind the trees, a sudden awkwardness Kurt couldn’t understand sprang up.

“Mr. Lang,” Mrs. Steward said in a voice that didn’t sound quite genuine, “I wonder if you would save Martin a trip and drive my cousin back to the schoolhouse?”

The question startled him. And it also startled Miss Thurston. He saw her glance at her cousin.

In Germany, this request would have caused Kurt to suspect matchmaking. Here, however, he could not think that he’d been invited for this reason. So why?

Miss Thurston’s face turned pink, revealing her embarrassment.

“Yes,” Martin spoke up, sounding as if he’d been rehearsed about what to say, “I have my wife’s pony hooked up to my cart. It only carries two adults, so perhaps your brother and nephew can just walk home?”

Now Miss Thurston’s face burned bright rose-red.

“I am happy to,” Mr. Lang replied, mystified. What else could he say?

Gunther favored both of them with an odd look but gestured to Johann to come with him, and the two headed down the track in the fading light of day.

Kurt took the reins of the two-wheeled cart as Martin helped Miss Thurston up onto the seat beside him. She clung to the side of the bench as Mr. Lang flicked the reins and they started down the track to town. He noticed that she sat as far from him as she could. He hoped she didn’t think he’d engineered this so that he could be alone with her.

Kurt couldn’t think of anything to say to her. When they were out of sight of the Steward cabin, she finally broke the silence.

“Since we’ve been given this opportunity to talk, just the two of us, there is something that I have wanted to discuss with you, Mr. Lang.” Her voice quavered a bit on the last few words, as if she were nervous.

“Oh?” he said, hoping for enlightenment.

“After the fight at school, you kept Gunther home only one day, right? Have you been sending Gunther to school the rest of this week?”

He stiffened. “Yes, I send him. What do you mean?”

“I thought as much. He has been playing hooky.”

“Hooky?” Mr. Lang turned his gaze to her.

“Sorry. Playing hooky means not coming to school.”

Kurt wanted to explode; instead he chewed the inside of his mouth. But he tried to stay calm for Miss Thurston’s sake. “Why does he not obey me?”

“Sometimes it’s not a matter of obedience,” she replied, sounding hesitant.

“Then what is it about?” he asked, his cheeks burning.

“Isn’t this really about whether Gunther learns more English and more about this country?” she replied in a gentle voice. “Our history and our laws? Isn’t that what you want, more than his obedience?”

Her question caught him off guard. He stared at her, noticing the wind playing with the light brown curls around her face. Startled by both her question and his sudden awareness of her, his mouth opened, and then closed tightly.

Night was overtaking them. Fortunately the half-moon had risen so he could see to drive. He glanced at its silver half circle above the treetops. Then, after many quiet moments, he asked, “What am I to do with him?” He didn’t try to hide his anxiety.

“Making him sit with little children won’t work,” she stated.

“But he must learn. And I cannot teach him.” His words rung with deep feeling he couldn’t conceal.

“I think private lessons would be best,” she said. “I asked my cousin to invite you tonight so we could discuss this without calling attention to Gunther. If I came alone to your place...” Her voice faded.

“Private lessons?” he echoed.

“Yes. Why don’t you bring him two evenings a week? I will help him improve his English, and learn American history and government. You can make sure he studies at home on the other evenings.”

“That will make more work for you. I cannot pay.”

She touched his forearm. “I’m the teacher here in Pepin. Whether I teach in the daytime or evening, I’m being paid.” Then, seeming embarrassed, she removed her hand from his sleeve and looked away.

He wished she hadn’t taken her hand away so quickly. Her long, elegant hands, covered in fine kid gloves, were beautiful. “You are good. But still, I think Gunther must not be given good for bad behavior.”

“Very few sons of farmers attend school beyond eighth grade. Don’t you see? It isn’t normal for Gunther or good for him.”

The school came into view through the opening in the forest. Kurt tried to come to grips with what Miss Thurston had suggested.

Then an unusual sound cut through the constant peeping of tree frogs. Kurt jerked the reins back, halting the pony. He peered ahead through the dark shadows.

Miss Thurston did the same. The sound came again.

A baby crying.

They looked at each other in amazement.

“It’s coming from the rear of the school, near my quarters,” she said, stark disbelief in her voice.

Mr. Lang slapped the reins and jolted them over the uneven schoolyard to her door. A shaft of moonlight illuminated a wooden box. The crying was coming from inside.

Without waiting for his help, Miss Thurston leaped over the side of the cart and ran to her door. She stooped down and leaned over the box.

The wailing increased in volume and urgency.

Kurt scanned the shadows around the schoolhouse as Miss Thurston called out, “Hello? Please don’t leave your child! I’ll help you find a home for the baby! Hello?”

No answer came. Only the crickets chirped and toads croaked in the darkness. Then he thought he glimpsed motion in the shadows. He jumped down and hurried forward a few steps but the cloaking night crowded around him. The woods were dark and thick. Perhaps he’d imagined movement.

The baby wailed as he walked toward the teacher’s quarters. He joined Miss Thurston on the step, waves of cool disbelief washing through him. “Eines kind? A baby?”

“It seems so.”

She looked as if she were drowning in confusion, staring down at the baby, a strange, faraway expression on her face. She made no move toward the child. Why didn’t she pick up the child? In fact, Miss Thurston appeared unable to make any move at all.

* * *

Ellen read his expression. How to explain her reluctance? She hadn’t held a child for nearly a decade, not since little William. Her baby brother.

“How does the child come to be here?” he asked, searching the surrounding darkness once more.

“I don’t know.” The insistent wailing finally became impossible for her to avoid. She stooped and lifted the baby, and waves of sadness and regret rolled over her.

“What is wrong?” he asked.

She fought clear of her memories and entered her quarters, Mr. Lang at her heels. She laid the baby gently on her bed and tried to think.

“Does this happen in America?”

She looked at him. “What?”

“Do women leave babies at schoolhouses?”

“No. I’ve never heard of this happening before.”

The child burst into another round of wailing—frantic, heartfelt, urgent.

Mr. Lang surprised her by picking up the infant. “He is hungry.” He grimaced. “And the child needs a clean...windel.”

“Windel?” she asked.

“The child is wet,” he replied.

She lit her bedside candle. In the light, she noticed the child had a dark reddish discoloration showing through his baby-fine golden hair. Was it called a port-wine stain? Memories of her brother so long ago made it hard to concentrate. She could feel Kurt looking at her, most likely wondering why she was unable to take action.

“Do you have an old cloth to dry dishes?” he asked when she offered no solution. “We could use to...”

“Yes!” She hurried to the other side of the room, threw open a box of household items and grabbed a large dish towel.

Mr. Lang completely surprised her by snatching the dishcloth, laying the baby on her bed and efficiently changing him.

“You know how to change a diaper?” she asked, sounding as shocked as she felt. She couldn’t help but admire his quick, deft action.

“I raised Johann from a baby. We must get milk for this one.” He lifted the child. “We will go to Ashford’s Store, yes?”

Glad to have direction, she blew out the candle and followed him outside. They rushed past the pony and cart and headed straight for the store. The motion of hurrying seemed to soothe the infant.

Within a few minutes, Ellen and Mr. Lang arrived at the back of the store, at the stairs to climb to the second-floor landing. Moonlight cast the stairwell in shadow so she held the railing tightly as she hurried upward. She rapped on the door, and rapped again and again. The child started wailing once more. Mr. Lang stood behind her, trying to soothe the child. She wrung her hands. What seemed like forever passed.

Then Mr. Ashford in trousers and an unbuttoned shirt opened the door. “What do you...” he began forcefully, then trailed into silence, gawking at Ellen.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Ashford, but we need help,” she said.

He stared at them yet didn’t move.

“We come in, please?” Mr. Lang asked even as he pushed through the door and held it open for her. She hurried inside, again thankful for Mr. Lang’s support.

Mr. Ashford fell back, keeping them by the door, still looking stunned. “Where did that baby come from?”

“We don’t know,” she nearly shouted with her own frustration.

“We find him on the doorstep,” Mr. Lang said. “We need milk and a bottle. You have these things?” His voice became demanding on the final words.

Mrs. Ashford, tying the sash of a long, flowered robe, hurried down the hall, followed by Amanda in her long, white, flannel nightdress. The two asked in unison, “A baby? Where did it come from?”

“It is boy,” Kurt said.

“We don’t know,” Ellen repeated, nearly hysterical herself from the baby’s crying. She struggled to stay calm as memories of her little brother bombarded her. “He was left on my doorstep.”

“He needs milk. And a bottle to feed. Please,” Mr. Lang repeated.

Stunned silence lasted another instant and then Mrs. Ashford moved into action. “Ned, go downstairs and find that box of baby bottles. Mr. Lang, bring that baby into the kitchen. Amanda, light the kitchen lamp.”

Grateful to follow the brisk orders, Ellen followed Mrs. Ashford and Mr. Lang. The lady of the house lit a fire in the woodstove while her daughter lit the oil lamp that hung from the center of the ceiling. As if he sensed that help had come, the baby stilled in Mr. Lang’s arms, his breath catching in his throat.

Mrs. Ashford began rifling through her cupboard and then triumphantly brought out a tin and opened the lid. “Horlick’s Malted Milk,” Mrs. Ashford read the label aloud. “Artificial Infant Food. It’s something new, made east of here in Racine, Wisconsin.”

Standing beside Mr. Lang, Ellen’s nerves were as taut as telegraph wire. In contrast, Mr. Lang looked serious and determined. Having him with her had made this so much easier.

The storekeeper entered the kitchen with a wooden box of glass bottles. With their goal in sight, Ellen slumped onto a chair at the small kitchen table. Surprising her, Mr. Lang lay the child in her arms and stepped back.

Again, holding the baby brought Ellen the waves of remembrance. Struggling against the current, she watched Amanda scrub a bottle clean while the older woman mixed the powdered milk with water and set it in a pan of water on the stove to warm. Within a few minutes, she handed Ellen the warm, wet bottle. Ellen wanted to offer the child to Mrs. Ashford, but the little boy flailed his hands toward the bottle and she quickly slipped it into his mouth. He began sucking. Bubbles frothed into the bottle.

Relief swamped Ellen.

Mrs. Ashford sat down at the table near her, watching the child eat. “He’s evidently hungry.”

“He has good appetite,” Mr. Lang agreed, gazing down with a grin.

Ellen released a pent-up breath. She felt as if she’d run a ten-mile race.

“Where did he come from?” Amanda asked again.

“I drive Miss Thurston home from her cousin’s,” Mr. Lang replied. “We find the baby in a wooden box on the doorstep.”

“Did you see anyone?” Mrs. Ashford asked sharply.

Ellen frowned. “I thought I saw movement in the woods. I called out but no one was there.”

“I’ve heard of this happening,” Mrs. Ashford admitted, “but I never thought I’d live to see it here. Someone has abandoned this child.”

“And on Miss Thurston’s doorstep,” Amanda murmured.

All of them stared at the baby in her arms.

No other reason could explain the child’s appearance. People didn’t go around misplacing infants.