The Librarian of Boone's Hollow - Kim Vogel Sawyer Page 0,39
on the shelf. “Samplers?”
Maw grinned. “Why, with all your learnin’, you don’t know what a sampler is?”
He chuckled. “I reckon they didn’t teach that at the university.”
She laughed, the sound merry. “All little girls learned their ABCs by stitchin’ them in a row on cloth.” She dipped the plate in a pan of filmy water, her brows pinching into a V. “Rosie’s letters…they were always every which way.”
Emmett took the plate and placed it on the drainboard. “Don’t most kids turn letters every which way when they’re first learning?”
Maw nodded. “When they’re first learnin’, sure. But poor Rosie never learned how to turn ’em the right way. They stayed all mixed up until her dyin’ day.” Tears swam in her eyes. “How her maw used to switch her…left welts on her little legs that lasted for days. But none o’ that whippin’ ever made a ounce o’ difference. Rosie never did learn to read.”
Her hands stilled in the water, and she stared out the window, as if drifting off somewhere. “I often ponder if that’s why she married Burke when she was so young. She said she loved him, but she was only fourteen when she pledged herself to him. Still a little girl. I think it’s more likely she wanted to get away from her maw an’ not hafta go to school no more, an’ Burke was her escape.”
“But Rosie was…bright?”
Maw jerked her attention to Emmett. Indignation burned in her eyes. “Bright as a new penny.” Then she slumped her shoulders, sadness clouding her face. “Not that she ever saw herself that way. I reckon whatever kept Rosie from understandin’ letters an’ such got passed on to Bettina. But what is it that keeps ’em from learnin’? I wish I knew. I’d try to fix it. Too late for Rosie, but Bettina’s got lots of livin’ left to do. An’ it’s a downright shame she has to go through life feelin’ as disgraceful as Rosie always did.”
Emmett leaned down and kissed his mother’s cheek. “You’re a kind soul, too, Maw.”
She blushed and flicked soap suds at him. “Oh…”
He grinned. “But I don’t think you need to worry about Bettina. She seems pretty sure of herself. Even told me she knows enough to be a good wife and mother.”
Maw’s eyebrows shot up. “She told you that? When?”
“On the road by the school this morning.”
“That girl…” She clicked her tongue on her teeth and shook her head. “She’s droppin’ hints, Emmett. She’s wantin’ out o’ her pap’s house, same as Rosie wanted out. ’Less I miss my guess, she’s set her sights on you.”
Heat attacked his face. “Well, she’d better look in another direction. I don’t intend to marry Bettina Webber. I’ll come right out and tell her so if I need to.”
Worry pinched Maw’s forehead. “Be careful. And be kind. She ain’t nearly as sure of herself as she acts.” She returned to washing dishes. She kept talking, but Emmett got the feeling she was speaking to herself more than to him. “I’m glad she got one of them WPA jobs. I keep prayin’ she’ll squirrel away the money she makes an’ use it to get herself out o’ Boone’s Holler, away from Burke. Rosie deserved better. An’ so does her daughter.”
Emmett
EMMETT CHANGED FROM THE SHIRT and dungarees he’d worn for his walk with Dusty into his suit. He grimaced at the slight fraying on the cuff of his right sleeve. As soon as he got a paycheck, he needed to buy a new suit. This one had about worn out its use. Of course, it depended on what kind of job he got. He might not need a suit if he ended up being a shelf stocker or a cashier or a janitor. Whatever job was open, he intended to apply for it. Or beg for it.
With his hat covering his getting-too-long hair and determination squaring his shoulders, he walked to Gilliam’s Livery and asked to rent a horse from the livery owner.
Kermit Gilliam smiled big, showing a wad of chewing tobacco where his bottom teeth used to be. “Sure thing, Emmett. Where you headin’?”
“Lynch first. Then I might ride to Benham. Kind of depends on how things go in Lynch.”
The man sauntered to a stall and slid the gate open. “I’ll give ya Red, then. He ain’t one to dawdle, an’ he can keep goin’ fer a piece without wearin’ out. Yessir, he’s a fine one.”
Emmett fingered the coins in his pocket. He’d earned pocket