Wind Song (9 page)

"Nonsense!" It was the sheriff speaking. "You go ahead, Elliot. We'll carry on until you get back."

"Very well," Mr. Boxer said, although he looked none too eager to leave. He walked over to her and lowered his voice. "I can only talk a minute. We're right in the middle of a very important meeting." He was a short man, his head barely reaching the height of her shoulder.

"I won't keep you. But it's most important that we talk." She followed him to the back of the room. "I feel rather awkward bringing this matter up, under the circumstances, but I was promised the second half of my advance upon my arrival."

Mr. Boxer looked startled. "Your what?"

"My advance. You paid me the first half with the agreement that I would receive the second half upon my arrival in Colton."

"Good heavens, woman! You're not asking for more money, are you?" He spoke loud enough to be heard by the others, and there was a noticeable silence in the room as all heads swung in their direction.

Maddie dropped her voice to a whisper and hoped he would follow her lead. "According to my contract--"

"Oh, that!" He waved his small pudgy hand. "That was before the fire."

Refusing to be deterred, she pulled the contract from the pocket of her skirt and unfolded it, grateful that she had thought to retrieve it from her valise, where she had put it for safekeeping. "As you can see, it clearly states that the second half of my advance would be paid upon demand."

"Miss Percy! It's obvious you have no understand of contracts. The contract calls for you to begin classes upon your arrival."

"That's true, Mr. Boxer." She made no effort to lower her voice and, indeed, had completely forgotten the others. "But the advance was contingent upon my traveling to Colton, which, as you can plainly see, I've done. I'm fully prepared to conduct classes."

"I'm most delighted to hear that, Miss Percy. As soon as I've made the necessary financial arrangements, we shall rebuild our school, at which time classes will begin and you shall be paid in accordance with our agreement."

"And what, may I ask, am I supposed to do in the meantime? I feel that human decency requires you to pay me the money you owe me so that I might return home."

"Return home?" His glasses almost feel off his nose. "Why in the world would you want to do that?"

The ordeal of the last twenty-four hours suddenly took its toll. At that moment, she didn't care if Mr. Boxer fired her on the spot. "I can think of quite a few reasons, Mr. Boxer. I was left stranded at the train station. I came perilously close to being scalped by Indians, trampled by buffalo, blown away by a wind storm and…accosted by a snake."

"My word!" Mr. Boxer exclaimed. "Did you say you were accosted by a snake?"

She forced herself to control her impatience. "Mr. Boxer, I have had an extremely trying time since arriving in Kansas, and I see no point in my staying any longer."

"Miss Percy, may I remind you that a contract is a contract? And your contract spells out the terms of our agreement quite clearly. We've simply had a temporary setback."

"Is that what you call it, Mr. Boxer? A temporary setback? There is no school. There's not even a town."

"Of course, of course. No wonder you're upset. Come over and I'll set your mind at ease. Gentlemen! If I may interrupt." Mr. Boxer took her by the arm and led her to the chart. He turned to the group. "I would like to introduce Miss Percy. She has agreed to be Colton's very first schoolteacher." He pointed to each man as he made introductions. "This is Sheriff Beckleworth, Max Weedler, Cobb Hobson, and Colton's very own acting mayor, Horace Mettle." The men nodded in turn as they were introduced.

"Ma'am."

"Pleased to meet you."

Mr. Boxer turned and pointed to the chart. "This, Miss Percy, is the town of Colton. We are going to do something that to my knowledge has never been done before."

The tall, skinny man with a sweeping mustache stepped forward and pulled himself up by his suspenders. "It does me proud to be the mayor of the first planned town."

"What do you mean, ‘planned town'?" Maddie asked.

"You see here?" Mr. Boxer drew her attention to the carefully drawn squares that ran up and down the center of the chart. "Every business and civic building has been carefully placed. Most towns, as you must know, are built haphazardly. Buildings are placed at random like so many thrown dice. Show her, Hortie."

The mayor, showing remarkable dignity despite his name and appearance, picked up a long stick. "It would be my pleasure." He pointed to the various little squares that represented buildings. "The dentist will be next to the mortuary. That way, should any patients wish to show discomfort, no one else's day need be sacrificed."

The man named Cobb rolled back on his heels. "He means you can scream your fool head off and no one would hear you."

"Thank you for clarifying that," the mayor said, frowning. He turned to Maddie. "And we've moved the blacksmith away from the church."

"Is that significant?" Maddie asked, curious.

"Of course it's significant!" the mayor declared. "The blacksmith subscribes to, shall we say, unorthodox beliefs?"

Cobb coughed. "The blacksmith is a damned atheist and insists upon working on Sundays."

Mr. Boxer sniffed with indignation and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Couldn't hear a word the pastor said for the sound of the anvil."

The man named Max Weedler spit a stream of brown tobacco juice in the general direction of a brass spittoon. "If you ask me, that ain't such a bad thing."

Maddie bit back the urge to suggest that Mr. Weedler either give up chewing tobacco or improve his aim. "Where's the school?"

"Right here." Mr. Boxer pointed to the bottom of the chart.

Maddie leaned closer. "Next to the jailhouse?"

Mr. Boxer's spectacles slid to the tip of his nose. "My word! She's right. The school is right next to the jailhouse."

The Sheriff heaved an impatient sigh. "Now, calm yourself down, Elliot. There's nowhere else to put the school."

"Then find a place!" Mr. Boxer insisted. "I refuse to let the school be built next to the jail."

"Do you have something against the jail?" Sheriff Beckleworth looked positively offended.

"Don't take this personal, Mac," Mr. Boxer said.

"I do take it personal," the Sheriff argued. "I'll have you know that only the best of the best stay in my jail. You won't find more mannerly prisoners anywhere than the ones you'll find in my jailhouse."

Cobb studied the chart. "We could put the school next to the general store."

"That won't do," Mayor Mettle said. "You know how Mr. Green closes his store every afternoon for a time of…refreshment and reflection."

Cobb rubbed his unshaven chin. "He closes his store for whisky and a romp with that--"

"As I was saying…" the mayor continued, "Mr. Green gets downright cranky without his daily nap."

Sheriff Beckleworth concurred. "I'm always having to go over to the general store on the afternoons that old Archie misses his nap to break up a fight. He charges twice as much when he's tired, and that makes his customers madder than blazes."

The mayor nodded. "As you yourself must know, Miss Percy, it's not possible to have an uninterrupted thought next to a schoolhouse."

"We could put the buggy works next to the school," Mr. Boxer interjected.

Maddie decided that if the likes of Mr. Weedler and Mr. Cobb were permitted to put in their two cents' worth, she was certainly entitled to add her opinion.

"You don't want to put anything next to the school that would be distracting. Carriages and buggies could be driving in and out all day long."

"She's right," Mayor Mettle grumbled.

Mr. Boxer sniffed. "That means we have to start all over again."

Never one to let an opportunity pass her by, Maddie decided to try out an idea that had occurred to her on the train en route to Kansas. "As long as you have to start over, perhaps you might consider dividing the schoolhouse into two rooms."

Mr. Boxer looked startled by the suggestion. "But we only have enough funds for one teacher."

"I propose that the second room be used for a museum. Like the one in Washington."

"Good grief!" Mr. Boxer gasped. "You want to build a Smithsonian Institution in Colton?"

"Not exactly. Our museum would be much smaller. Considerably so."

"What would you put in the museum?" the mayor asked. It was obvious by the way he rubbed his palms together that the idea interested him.

"Artifacts. Fossils. Animals."

"Animals?"

"Mounted animals that are native to the area. I've only been here one day. Even so, I've noticed a great variety of plants and wildlife."

"I think it's a wonderful idea," the mayor said. "A museum could make Colton a tourist attraction. I can see it now. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of men, women and children lining up for a tour."

Maddie thought the mayor was a bit optimistic about the appeal of such a museum, but she decided it was to her advantage to let the man have his dream.

"And," the mayor continued, "if we put the museum on this side of the school, it would provide a barrier between the school and the jailhouse."

"A perfect solution," Mr. Boxer concurred. He was clearly relieved that the placement of the school had been resolved.

Everyone but Mr. Weedler, who looked bored with the idea, nodded in agreement.

Maddie was far from convinced that the problem had been resolved, but seeing that the others had agreed to the museum, she decided to let the matter drop. "How long do you think it will be before I can begin teaching?"

Mr. Boxer did some quick calculations before replying. "Shouldn't be more than a few weeks. Once the loans are approved, families should start returning to the area. As soon as we have enough workers, we can start building."

"A few weeks?" Maddie's spirits dropped. After paying Mrs. Gray, she had no money left.

"Wait a minute!" This was from the mayor. "What if we move the school over by the…"

Sensing that another lengthy discussion was about to unfold, she took her leave. She was tired and hungry. The men stood and thanked her for her contributions to the discussion.

The mayor looked especially pleased, and his checkered vest expanded outward. "Yesiree. A museum is exactly what we need."

Maddie walked the short distance back to Mrs. Gray's house.

A metal watering can in hand, the woman looked up when Maddie approached. "Did you find Mr. Boxer, luv?"

"Yes, thank you. I did find him. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish what I intended to. I'm afraid Mr. Boxer is rather mule-headed."

"Oh, dear. Reminds me of my dear departed husband, Harry. Talk about mule-headed. Why the doctor had to declare him officially dead three times before Harry would lie still."

Maddie stared at the woman in horror. "How awful."

Mrs. Gray shrugged. "Come on inside, luv. You can rest while I fix us both a spot of tea."

Maddie accepted the offer gratefully. She felt tired and discouraged and very much alone.

The parlor was so filled with furniture that some sidestepping and moving of tables and chairs were required to forge a path to the dining room.

"I agreed to store the furniture of some of those poor, dear people who lost their homes in the fire," Mrs. Gray explained.

"That's very generous of you." Maddie stepped over a footstool, ducked beneath a hat rack and plopped herself on one of the Queen Anne chairs next to the table.

The tea picked up her spirits, and the teacakes were delicious. She was convinced that a hot bath and a good night's rest would restore her optimistic outlook.

"Your room is opposite the necessary room."

Thanking Mrs. Gray, Maddie took her leave. She climbed the stairs to the second floor and opened the door to her room.

It surprised her to find a man lying on the bed, snoring. A quick glance around the clothes-strewn room indicated that he'd been there for some time. She quietly closed the door. Not wanting to chance walking into the wrong room again, she hurried back downstairs to find Mrs. Gray.