Heather transferred both bags to her right hand and linked her left arm with Altar. Once they reached the schoolhouse, they knocked on the wooden door and went inside.
“Millie?” Heather called tentatively. “Alright if we come in?”
Millie came from around the wall that separated the foyer from the rest of the building. The wall also blocked the wind from entering the schoolhouse.
“Oh, my land,” Millie said, looking at the two women. “Let’s get you inside.”
“Help Altar first,” Heather said, releasing the woman and dropping her bags by the door. “She’s cold to the bone.”
“It isn’t anything.” Altar pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders.
“Don’t be silly,” Millie said, taking the bags in Altar’s hand and passing them to Heather. “I can hear your teeth chattering from here. We were just watching the snow come down. I hope the children are alright.”
“Children?” Heather asked, following Millie and Altar into the main school room.
“Jenny, bring me my chair from the desk and put it by the stove. Marcus, I need you and Tommy to get as much firewood as you can from the wood box and bring it inside.”
“Yes ma’am,” Marcus said, running to get his jacket and scarf. Tommy followed him.
Millie took her wrap from a peg on the wall and draped it around Altar’s shoulders. “I’ll get some coffee for you,” Millie said, patting Altar on the shoulder.
“Thank you, Millie,” Altar replied, pulling the wrap closer around her.
Heather dropped Altar’s bags on the floor next to her feet. “You mentioned children, Millie. There are children out in this?”
“Will left as soon as it started snowing. Said he was going to check on his Ma. I tried to stop him, but he insisted. At least Emma and Olivia are here. And Trudy insisted on leaving as well. Will said he’d take her home.”
“You can’t see three feet in front of you. I can’t believe you sent them home in this weather.”
Jenny brought the wooden teacher’s chair and placed it by the stove. Millie assisted Altar into the seat, before turning to Heather. “I didn’t send them home. They left.”
“But you’re the teacher!”
Millie gave a quick glance to the small group of students sitting at their desks, listening to the conversation with rapt attention. “Heather,” Millie warned through clenched teeth. “I didn’t have a choice,” she said lowly.
Heather nodded but remained silent. She knew that Will Keegan had a mind of his own. What surprised her was that Trudy decided to follow. Trudy was a timid child and not one to go venturing on her own. Instead of replying with her thoughts, Heather looked around at the faces of the children waiting for direction.
“It looks like you were in the middle of a lesson. Please don’t let us interrupt you.”
A gust of wind blew through the small one-room schoolhouse and then the sound of the door slamming shut turned the children’s attention away from Millie and Heather. Tommy and Marcus came from behind the wall, their cheeks rosy and their eyes watering from the sting of the wind.
“This is all that’s out there, Mrs. Reed,” Marcus said, dumping his armful of wood in the box. Tommy dropped his in the box and then returned to his desk where he kept his coat on, shivering underneath the wool.
“We’ll have to make do.” Millie gave Heather a quick glance. “George didn’t have a chance to fill the wood box before he left.” Suddenly her face sobered and she looked at Heather. “Oh, my goodness, the men are out there.”
“Shh,” Heather scolded Millie. “You don’t want the children to worry. I’m sure they found somewhere to protect them from the storm. Red Hawk is good at following the weather.”
“Will Pa be alright?” a small voice called out.
“Yes, Jake,” Millie said. “Your Pa will be alright.” She stood straight and patted her hands on her skirt. “I think lessons are over for the day. Put your primers and slates on the shelf and what if Olivia reads us the next chapter from Oliver Twist?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Olivia walked to the bookcase and pulled a book from the top shelf.
“You need to get out of that wet jacket, Heather,” Millie said. “Stand by the stove and get warm.”
Heather moved closer to the potbelly stove. She could see the flames flickering behind the vent as she held her frozen fingers out to the warm air coming into the room. Eventually feeling returned in her fingers and she shrugged off her jacket, hanging it on a peg near the stove.
Millie returned with two cups and poured coffee from the coffee pot on the stove.
“I’m surprised you have some premade,” Heather chuckled.
“It is my elixir to get through the day.” Millie handed a cup to Altar and then the second one to Heather, before pouring herself a cup.
Heather walked to the back of the classroom and sat on a bench against the back wall. She could feel the cold seep through the wall. The wind wailed outside the front door. Heather sipped her coffee as Olivia’s childlike voice filled the schoolhouse. Heather tried to concentrate on the sound of the story instead of the thoughts racing through her mind.
Chapter Five
Heather moaned and rolled her shoulders trying to alleviate the tension from leaning against the wall. A lantern sat on the corner of Millie’s desk, casting a soft glow across the room. The shutters were closed so Heather couldn’t see what was happening outside.
She looked down. Someone must have covered her with her shawl. It was still slightly damp, but at least it
