The Librarian of Boone's Hollow - Kim Vogel Sawyer Page 0,58
Addie’s elbow. “But right now, let me escort you to Nanny Fay’s cabin. If you’re going to accept her offer of lodging, we should get you settled. Then we’ll see about finding you a horse, and”—she sighed—“tomorrow we’ll send you out with books.”
A prickle of apprehension attacked Addie’s spine. “Miss West, should I lodge at Bettina’s house instead? The things she said about Nanny Fay…And Mr. Gilliam didn’t seem to think highly of her, either.”
The woman’s lips turned down into a stern scowl. She shook her finger at Addie. “Bunk and nonsense. I want you to put those words and opinions out of your mind. You’re old enough to form your own conclusions. If, after meeting her yourself, you believe you would not be able to live comfortably under her roof, then you can change your mind. But I will be sorely disappointed if you refuse this woman based on the prejudicial yapping of superstitious fools.”
Addie gaped at her.
Miss West clapped her hand over her mouth. She grabbed Addie by the shoulders. “Please forgive my outburst. My own bias shouldn’t influence you, either.” She released Addie and sank into the chair, a sigh wheezing from her throat. “It’s best if I don’t accompany you to Nanny Fay’s. You should have time alone with her if you want to form your own opinion. I’ll take you as far as the path to her cabin, then send you on your way. Visit with her for as long as you need to make an informed decision. Whatever you choose, I will support you in it.”
Nanny Fay
NANNY FAY KNELT in the dirt and used her fingers to carve a little moat around each cabbage start. She chuckled. “Whose hands is that a-workin’ the soil?” Would she ever get used to seeing the wrinkles and age spots? Must’ve been there for years already, and they still didn’t seem to belong. Her hands showed proof of time passing by. “I wasn’t s’posed to get so old, Eagle.”
A pair of red birds kept a steady trill from a bush at the edge of the woods. With them a-chattering, she shouldn’t need to add to the noise. But the birds were talking to each other, not paying her a bit of mind. Sometimes she hungered for another human voice. So she talked to herself.
“Hello?”
Nanny Fay shot a confused look toward the bushes. The birds took off, the male’s bright feathers easier to follow than its mate’s brownish-red ones as they disappeared into the trees. She scratched her head. “I’m hearin’ things. Really am gettin’ old. An’ mebbe even tetched.”
“Excuse me…Ma’am?”
Now, that wasn’t inside her head. Came from behind her. Nanny Fay shifted herself around. A pretty young girl in a sunshine-striped dress stood at the edge of the turned soil no more’n a few feet away. How’d she got so close without being heard? “I was lost in thought, an’ that’s a fact.”
The girl tilted her head. “Pardon me?”
Nanny Fay shook her head. “Don’t matter.” She folded back the brim of her bonnet to better see the girl. This must be the one Preacher Darnell had said was coming to Boone’s Holler and might need a place to stay. She’d said of course she’d be pleased to host the new packhorse librarian, but she sure hadn’t figured the girl would actually show up here. Nobody in town had got to her yet, it seemed. Might as well enjoy her company before it got took away.
She pushed herself to her feet, grunting a little when the catch in her spine twinged, and brushed her palms on her apron skirt. “You the new book gal?”
The girl nodded. A strand of hair come loose from her ponytail and drifted across her cheek. She pushed it behind her ear. “Yes, ma’am. Miss West, the librarian, sent me over to meet you. I’m Adelaide Cowherd, from Georgetown.”
Nanny Fay didn’t have no fancy introduction to give. “I’m Nanny Fay, but I reckon you already know that if Miss West told you to come.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well…” Nanny Fay took one toddling step and paused. My, but her joints stiffened up quick these days. She waddled out of the garden, stepping careful around the little green shoots that’d grow into beans and peas. “How ’bout you an’ me go to the porch there? Got a nice bench settin’ in the shade. We can rest a spell an’ get acquainted.”