The Librarian of Boone's Hollow - Kim Vogel Sawyer Page 0,53

the librarian preparing for the day. Addie should rise and help. She was on the payroll now, so she needed to earn her wages.

She flopped aside the colorful quilt Griselda Ann had given her as a going-away gift and dug through her suitcase for clean underclothes and a dress. She put them on, then ran her brush through her hair, bemoaning the absence of a mirror. She’d looked for one last night, but Miss West told her the person who set up the living quarters hadn’t provided one. Some of the hills people thought a mirror’s reflection could steal the reflected one’s soul, so mirrors were in short supply. Addie found a ribbon in her suitcase and tied her hair into a tail at the base of her skull. She hoped she looked somewhat presentable since she’d be meeting many Boone’s Hollow residents today. First impressions were important, Mother always said. Not that Mr. Gilliam had been terribly concerned about the impression he’d made last night.

She threw her hairbrush into her suitcase and closed the lid. Even if she was living in a community of what Miss West had called backward people, she could maintain the morals and values she’d learned in the city. That included being kind to people, even if they weren’t kind to her. She slipped her bare feet into a pair of brown leather pumps and stepped beyond the blankets.

Three windows, one on the front and one on each side, should have given the room plenty of light. No sunlight came through any of them. Was it too early for sunshine, or did the trees outside block it from entering? A lamp, shining from the center of the large table pushed into the front corner of the room, gave the space a cheery glow. Tablets and stacks of books sat on the table, evidence that Miss West had been busy already, but the woman was gone.

The front door stood open, held in place by a red brick. Addie moved to the doorway and peeked outside. It must be early. Not even a hint of pink softened the dove-gray sky, and a foggy mist clung to bushes and the tops of trees. She looked first left and then right. “Miss West?”

No one answered, although blasts of laughter and muttering male voices carried from somewhere up the road. Wariness tingled up Addie’s spine.

What were those men doing out before daylight? And where was Miss West?

She took a hesitant step out onto the stoop, hand curled around the rough-hewn doorjamb. “Miss West?”

“I’m here, Addie.”

Addie jumped. Miss West seemed to materialize from the morning mist. Addie moved aside and allowed the librarian’s entrance.

Miss West went to the table and pulled out her chair, then sat heavily, chest rising and falling with great intakes of breath. She placed her hand on her bodice and gazed at Addie, brows low. “You’re up very early. Do you want breakfast?”

The savory aroma clinging to the log walls tormented her and stirred her appetite, but more than food, Addie needed the outhouse. Should she go out, though, with who knew how many men lurking outside somewhere? “Um…”

“You remember where to find the necessary?”

Addie nodded. Miss West had taken her to it last night before bed, and it wasn’t far behind the smokehouse, between a pair of sapling maple trees.

“Go on out, then.” She flicked her fingers at the door and rose. “I’ll light a fire in the stove and heat water for coffee and oatmeal. Would you like chopped dried apples added to your oatmeal?”

“Yes, please.” Addie peeked out the door. The men’s chatter and laughter continued, but she couldn’t see anyone. The thick patch of trees and bushes hid them from view. What if the men were between her and the outhouse? What kind of impression would she give if the first sighting of the newcomer to town was of her running for the toilet?

“Addie?”

Addie looked over her shoulder. Miss West was gazing at her, confusion pinching her face.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to show you to the outhouse?”

Addie gestured to the open doorway. “I hear people out there.”

Understanding dawned in the woman’s expression. “It’s the coal workers. They’re waiting in front of Belcher’s for the wagon that takes them to the mine in Lynch.”

“Oh.” What a goose, frightened by voices of men who had every reason to be awake so early. Not to mention they were clear up the road near the general merchandise store. They wouldn’t be able