“Just like last night when I was sick?” Theo asked.
“Yes. Exactly like that.”
After supper and bedtime, Alexander and I met in the library. He had me sit and set a package on my lap. “Open it,” he said.
“What have you done now?” I untied the string and tore away the brown paper. A note card lay on top of tissue. In perfectly even handwriting, i
t read: “For my lovely Quinn. To keep you warm when I cannot. All my love, Alexander.” I lifted the tissue and pulled out a forest-green wool coat. “Alexander, it’s beautiful.” I stood, and he helped me into the heavy overcoat. Lace trim and a smart belt, with a hem that reached just above my ankle, it was as nice as anything I’d seen on the finest ladies of Boston.
He led me over to the mirror in the foyer. “Olofsson made it especially for you. Anna helped me pick out the material.”
I stared at my reflection in the looking glass. “I feel posh and fancy. And warm.”
From behind me, Alexander smoothed the sleeves with his hands. “The dark green suits you. Anna thought it would.”
“She knew it was for me?” I flushed. “Everyone in town knows about us?”
“They know only that I’m in love with you,” he said.
My eyes flew wide open. “You’re in love with me?”
“My love, isn’t it obvious by now?”
The Wu family had been with us a week when Li asked if he could come to school with us. Dressed in clothes from the twins’ outgrown closet and buoyed from a week of Lizzie’s meals, he looked like a different boy. I tested his reading and arithmetic abilities first thing that morning. Oddly enough, given his limited resources, he could read at the same level as my youngest students. When I asked him how he’d learned to read, he explained that his mother had taught him the basics before she died. “Mr. Cole brought me books when he came,” Li said.
“I’m pleased for you,” I said. “And this is only the beginning.”
Around noon, the sky darkened and began to dump snow. A howling wind shook the schoolhouse. Unable to focus, I paced at the back of the classroom watching the sideways snow. At one, Harley showed up and suggested I cancel school for the rest of the day. I agreed without hesitation. He offered to take the Cole and Cassidy children home and come back for the Barnes brood, Poppy, Li, and me. Louisa had not come to school that morning, or I would have asked Harley to take her along with the others. I hoped she was home, warm and fed, but I feared the worst. Theo, too, was out that day, not well enough yet to venture out into the cold.
I peered through the glass window. Snow fell so thickly it was as if there were a gauze in front of my eyes. The Johnson and Olofsson kids usually walked the few blocks to their parents’ shops. I decided right then that it wasn’t safe for them to try to find their way alone. If they lost one another and became disoriented, they might freeze to death. There wouldn’t be room in the sleigh for all of us. Harley would have to take two trips, delaying our trip home. More importantly, the Johnsons and Olofssons would worry if they saw Harley head out of town with some of the students and their own didn’t come home. They might try to come for them, which could lead to disaster.
They were all in their coats and hats and about to head for the door. “Wait. I’m going with you.” I grabbed the rope from my desk. “Josephine, you stay here with the others. When Harley comes, have him pick me up at the Johnsons’ store.”
“What’re you doing?” Flynn asked.
“I’m going to walk them to their parents’ shops. We’re all going to hold on to this rope,” I said to the others as I put on my new coat. “So that no one gets lost.”
I took the lead, with Martha at the back. “Keep a tight grip and put one foot in front of the other.”
The moment we were outside, the wind nearly knocked me over. Hard snow stung our faces as we tromped across the schoolyard. “Keep holding tight,” I yelled. The wind made it impossible to know if they heard me or not. We trudged along this way, one foot after the other. Thank goodness for my new coat and boots. The buildings in town were bulky white blocks, but at least they were visible. After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, we reached the tailor’s shop. Mrs. Olofsson was at the window, white as a sheet.
She flung open the door, motioning for the boys to come inside. “Thank goodness. We saw Harley drive by with the others, so I knew you’d closed school early. I was afraid.”
The boys scurried into the shop and past their mother, chattering excitedly about what a grand adventure we’d had.
Mr. Olofsson appeared next to his wife. “You’re a smart girl,” he said to me. “With the rope.”
“I’m headed to the Johnsons’ next.” We didn’t stay for further talk. The girls and I continued our slow pace. My feet had numbed, and my cheeks throbbed from the cold. A few minutes later, we came upon the shop. Mr. Johnson, dressed in his hat and coat, had his hand on the doorknob.
“Come in, come in,” he said as the girls and I stumbled into the warm room. “I was about to head out to find you.”
Both Martha and Elsa burst into tears. “We were scared,” Elsa said. “But Miss Cooper said to just hold tight and put one foot in front of the other.”
Anna Johnson rushed toward us, embracing both her daughters and then me. “You’re so brave, Miss Cooper. Thank you.”
I hadn’t felt brave, but we were safe, and that was all that mattered now. “I’m going to wait here for Harley.” I explained that he’d taken the farm kids home first and would return for us. “I didn’t want to wait for his return for fear you’d worry and try to come for them.”
“We saw them drive past, so we knew,” Anna said. “Sven was about to leave. If you hadn’t been so smart with the rope, who knows what would’ve happened.”