fifteen

When Mr. and Mrs. Connors took their leave, promising to be at the meeting before Samantha arrived, a flurry of activity erupted.

“Let’s go shopping,” Faith said. “You need all the confidence you can get, and while my old clothes worked well for a while, you need something nicer for tonight.”

“Oh, I don’t know—”

“Yes. I’ll put a roast in the oven for dinner, and it can cook all day.”

“I’ll fix lunch for the ladies, and you won’t have to worry about that,” Rose offered.

“Oh, I don’t know, Faith,” Samantha said again. “The things you gave me are plenty nice enough—”

“No, they aren’t. I don’t get in the mood to go shopping often, Samantha. And I could use a few things. Everything is getting too tight for me and—”

“And she’d like some company,” Gabe said, his arm around his wife.

“Oh! Well, I’ll be glad to go shopping with you, Faith. Let me go get my reticule and hat, and I’ll be ready to go.”

“Good. I’ll get the roast in the oven.”

Once Samantha was out of earshot, Ben hugged his sister. “Thank you. She needs to get out and do something. She’ll get more nervous by the hour about that meeting tonight if she doesn’t have something to do.”

“I agree. But I told the truth. I can use a few new things. I’m hoping that since she’s staying to fight, she’s changed her mind about leaving. But right now I only want us to get her through tonight.” Faith seasoned the roast and seared it in a dutch oven while she was talking.

“So do I,” Ben said. He wasn’t sure what had happened since he’d talked to Samantha last night, and now didn’t seem the time to question her. But he couldn’t be happier that she was going to stay at least long enough to fight Jennings at the school board meeting. For now, he only wanted to support her. And he had an idea of how to go about it.

Faith added water to the dutch oven, but before she could pick it up to put in the oven, her husband grabbed it and did it for her. Then he kissed the tip of her nose and said, “I guess I’d better get to work. You buy anything you need, you hear?”

“I will.” Faith stood on tiptoe to kiss him.

Ben tamped down a surge of envy at seeing them so close when he was afraid he might lose Samantha forever. He had to do what he could to see that they had a chance for a future together. “I have some errands to run. I’ll be back in plenty of time before the meeting, though.”

“I know you will. I’m going to get ready.” Faith turned to Rose. “Thank you for offering to take care of lunch for me.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll add the vegetables to the roast a little later. You enjoy the day. It’s about time you took a few hours for yourself.”

“Thank you, Rose.”

Ben and Gabe headed out the door at the same time.

“I have a feeling you’re planning something to help Samantha tonight. Need any help?” Gabe asked.

“I do have a plan, but I don’t want to take you away from your work,” Ben said.

“I can check on how the work is going. If you need help, come with me; then I’ll help in any way I can.”

“All right. Let’s go.”

❧

Samantha had never been so nervous in her life. She hadn’t been able to eat a bite of dinner, and now as she and Ben, Faith, and Gabe made their way to the school board meeting, she almost wished she hadn’t agreed to go. But she couldn’t let Jennings get by with treating any other teacher as he had her. She wasn’t bent on revenge—she would have been happy never to have had to see the man again—but the school board needed to know what kind of man he was.

He’d told lies about her, and she couldn’t let them stand without telling the truth about what had happened. If the school board didn’t believe her, then she would know she’d done her best. That she hadn’t run away this time.

They were early, but she was glad to see that Mr. and Mrs. Connors were waiting for them.

“I’m so glad you came,” Mr. Connors said.

“He’s been afraid you might not show up.” His wife smiled at Samantha as she put a hand on her husband’s arm. “He really wants you back teaching, Miss Carter. The parents of all the children you’ve taught have told him how much better their children are doing since you began teaching them.”

“Good educators are not easy to find, Miss Carter. That’s why I told the superintendent that I didn’t want to accept your resignation—that and the fact that from the beginning I doubted Mrs. Edwards was telling the truth about what happened.”

“I almost backed out,” Samantha said. “But. . .” She shook her head. “I can’t let him get hired here. I can’t.”

Mr. and Mrs. Connors led them up to a small room to the side of the bigger room. “I decided it might be best if Jennings—or Mrs. Edwards, for that matter—can’t see you until we call on you. We’ll let them have their say and then bring you in. The superintendent knows what I’ve planned, and he’s looked into a few matters also. I think everything is going to work out fine, but know this, Miss Carter. No matter what happens tonight, neither my wife nor I think for one moment that what Mrs. Edwards said about you and Jennings is true.”

“Thank you, I appreciate your letting me know that,” Samantha said. She turned to Ben and Faith and Gabe. “You all don’t need to stay with me. I’ll be fine here. I promise, I won’t bolt.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Samantha,” Ben said, “but Faith and Gabe can go out and listen for us.”

“They can sit with us,” Mrs. Connors said. “We don’t want to take a chance of that Jennings person seeing you and figuring out what we intend to do.”

“I’m not even sure what it is you are expecting of me,” Samantha said.

“Well, I’m not sure exactly how things will proceed, but Mrs. Edwards has asked to talk to the board about you. I’m not even sure she knows Jennings is going to be here. It should be interesting, to say the least. But once she’s said her spiel and Jennings is introduced and questioned, I think that would be a good time for you to be introduced and tell your story. I hope that will be acceptable to you, Miss Carter?”

“I believe so.”

“All right. Then we’ll go out to the meeting. I believe you’ll be able to hear the proceedings from here, but I will come and get you when the time comes.”

“I’ll be here.”

She watched as Gabe and Faith followed Mr. and Mrs. Connors out of the room. True to his word, Ben stayed put. But he turned to her as soon as the door closed. “Are you sure you are all right, Sam? I want you to fight for yourself, but I—”

“I’m fine with anything that will let the truth about Jennings come out, Ben. I don’t look forward to it, but after a lot of soul-searching and trying to listen to the Lord, I’ve decided that I can’t run from Jennings’s lies for the rest of my life.”

“Thank You, Lord,” Ben whispered. He reached out and pushed an errant curl behind her ear. “I’m glad you listened to Him, Sam.”

Samantha smiled at him. “So am I.”

“Does this mean that—”

The sound of a gavel hitting hard against a table interrupted Ben, and they both hurried over to the door to listen. Ben cracked open the door, and although they couldn’t see the table where the board sat, they were able to glimpse the end of the first row where Mr. and Mrs. Connors sat. Faith and Gabe were in the next two seats.

Samantha and Ben moved so that they couldn’t be seen and tried to hear what was going on, but the room seemed quite full and the noise level was high, so most of what they heard was a bit garbled. Several times, they heard the gavel bang and someone say, “This meeting will come to order!”

Each time, they moved a little closer to the door, still unable to make sense out of anything being said. It seemed to go on forever as they strained to hear what was being said—to no avail.

“I can’t understand a thing they are saying.” Ben’s husky whisper warmed her ear, making Samantha aware of how very close they were standing.

Her eyes met his, and her heart fluttered as he lowered his head to hear her reply.

“Neither can I,” she breathed, her heart pounding so hard it was the only thing she could hear. No wonder the conversation in the other room faded into the background.

Samantha held her breath as Ben reached out, tipped her chin up, and looked down into her eyes. “Sam, have you decided to—I mean, are you—”

The doorknob turned, and Ben gently pushed her away from the door as quickly as he could before Mr. Connors stepped inside.

“Miss Carter, could you step into the meeting room? I believe several people will be surprised to see you. But before you go, I must tell you that Mrs. Edwards spoke to the board, asking that they accept your resignation, and Mr. Jennings has said he was fired because you accused him of making unwanted advances, when it was you who—”

“That’s not true at all!”

“Yes, I know. I just wanted you to be aware of what has already been said about you. But now it is time to have your say, and I’m glad to tell you that you have plenty of supporters in the room, so there is no need to feel nervous. Tell the truth, and the Lord will take care of the rest.”

Samantha inhaled deeply and nodded. She had to trust the Lord. She had no control over what the board would believe. She’d do what she could and leave the outcome in the Lord’s hands.

“Ready?” Mr. Connors asked

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.” She looked at Ben. He gave a slight nod and grasped her elbow. They let Mr. Connors lead the way.

❧

Samantha tried to keep her mind on the task at hand, but she couldn’t keep from looking out into the crowded room. In the front row on the other side of the room sat Mrs. Edwards and Principal Jennings, both wearing surprised expressions. Ben took a seat beside Gabe, and Mr. Connors showed her to a seat at the side of the table the board was seated at.

The president of the board welcomed her. “Miss Carter, I am glad you could join us tonight. We’ve heard some rather unsettling information, and we believe you can clear things up for us, if you will be so kind as to answer a few questions.”

“I’ll be glad to answer to the best of my ability, sir.”

“Good. Do you by any chance know the two people sitting over there? Mrs. Edwards in the green dress and Mr. Jennings next to her?”

“I know who they are. I only met Mrs. Edwards the other day when she came to enroll her son in school. But once she saw me, she leveled untrue accusations at me and said I couldn’t teach her son.”

“She’s lying!” Mrs. Edwards yelled. “I spoke the truth.”

“You had your say, Mrs. Edwards. It’s time to hear from Miss Carter now,” the president said before turning back to Samantha. “And Mr. Jennings? Do you know him?”

“Yes, sir. He was the principal at the school where I taught before I came here to Guthrie.”

“And why did you leave that school, Miss Carter?”

Dear Lord, give me courage. She let out a deep breath. “I left because Mr. Jennings was making unwanted advances to me, and when I wouldn’t give in to them, he threatened to ruin my reputation. The day I left, he caught me alone in my classroom, and if not for one of the other teachers walking in. . .”

Samantha shuddered and shook her head before turning to the board. “Whether or not you accept my resignation—I gave it because I didn’t think I could fight Mrs. Edwards’s rumors—knowing what kind of man he is. But I cannot stand by and let you hire Principal Jennings. I don’t want him to have the opportunity to do to another teacher what he tried to do to me. You need to know what kind of man he is.”

Jennings jumped up from his seat. “I can hear no more. This woman is lying! It was she who came after me and—”

The gavel banged down on the table. “Order here! Sit back down, Mr. Jennings. I believe we can get to the truth of the matter quite soon. Mr. Connors, will you bring in the supporting witness for Miss Carter?”

Samantha looked from one man to the other and then to Ben. She had no idea whom they were talking about.

“I will.” Mr. Connors crossed the meeting room, walking right in front of Jennings and Mrs. Edwards, to the doorway of another room straight across from the one Samantha and Ben had been in. A moment later, Mr. Connors was back with. . .

Samantha caught her breath and smiled. It was Annie Rogers. Annie caught her eye and grinned.

“This is Miss Annie Rogers, the friend and teacher Miss Carter mentioned. She didn’t know we contacted Miss Rogers as soon as we heard about her. Annie was more than happy to come tell us about what she knows about Mr. Jennings.”

“Miss Rogers, thank you for coming. Please take a seat.”

Mr. Connors showed her to the seat Samantha had just vacated.

Annie looked at Samantha and smiled, and Samantha had no doubt that the Lord was going to see that justice was done.

“Miss Rogers, we’ve been told several conflicting stories tonight, and we’re hoping you can shed some light on things for us.”

“I’ll certainly try to,” Annie said.

“Can you tell us anything you know about what happened between Mr. Jennings and Miss Carter that would have made her resign her teaching position at the school where you both taught?”

“I can.” Annie looked Jennings in the eye—until he looked away. “I knew he’d been making suggestive remarks to Samantha for some time. He’d been implying that he cared for her and that. . .well, that he wanted a relationship with her.”

“And what did Miss Carter say about all of that?”

“She ignored as much of it as she could. But then the day that she resigned, he threatened to ruin her reputation if she didn’t. . .didn’t go along with what he wanted. He even cornered her in her classroom.”

“How do you know this?”

“Because I walked in right as he reached her, and she began to raise a small gavel from behind her back to defend herself.”

A collective gasp rose among the onlookers.

“That’s not true either!” Jennings shouted.

“Oh but I’m sure it is!”

Samantha heard Mrs. Miller’s voice yell out, and she turned to see her former employer come forward.

“Mrs. Miller, you have something you’d like to say?” the president asked.

“I do.” She didn’t bother to take a seat, addressing the board from her feet. “Miss Carter worked for me before she took the teaching position here in Guthrie. A nicer, more moral woman I’ve never employed. And I’ve got a ton of witnesses to the fact that she never gave any man reason to think that she would respond to any advances they might want to make, much less make any kind of advance toward them.” She turned to the onlookers. “Those of you who can vouch for the character and morals of Miss Carter, please stand up.”

Samantha turned to see almost all of the men she’d ever waited on at the restaurant stand, hat in hand. One at a time they spoke, telling how they’d tried to get her to let them walk her home, court her, or accept their proposals of marriage, and they all had the same response, a sweet “No, thank you,” from Miss Carter.

By the time they were through, both Jennings and Mrs. Edwards were squirming in their seats.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” the board president said before turning to Annie, who was still seated near the board members. “Miss Rogers, do you know the woman named Mrs. Edwards?”

“I do. She is a cousin of Mr. Jennings, I believe.”

“Is that true, Mrs. Edwards?”

“What if it is?” Mrs. Edwards huffed. “It doesn’t change the facts.”

“No, I suppose it does not. The board and I will adjourn for a few moments, and we will let you know what we have decided in regard to Miss Carter’s resignation, Mr. Jennings’s employment in this town, and Mrs. Edwards’s complaint against Miss Carter.”

They filed out of the room, and Samantha hurried over to Annie and gave her a hug. “However did you know I needed you?”

“Mr. Connors telegraphed the school yesterday, and they had me telegraph him back. He said you needed help tonight and could I come? Of course I said yes. He even bought my train ticket.”

“Oh thank you, Annie. You are a sight for sore eyes! I’ve missed you but didn’t want Jennings to try to force my whereabouts from you.”

“It’s all right. I understand. I’m so glad to be in contact again, though.”

Samantha introduced her friend to Ben, Faith, and Gabe, but before they could thank Annie for coming to Sam’s aid, the board walked back into the room.

Annie took a seat beside Sam as they all sat down to hear the board’s decisions.

The president looked at Samantha and then over at Mrs. Edwards and Principal Jennings. “First things first. Miss Carter, I am sorry that you had to be treated in such a way by your former principal and his cousin. While we respect your decision to hand in your resignation, it is our wish that you will reconsider and at least finish out the school term.”

Samantha looked at Ben, who smiled broadly.

The president then turned his attention to Mrs. Edwards and Principal Jennings. “Mrs. Edwards. It is your decision whether or not to enroll your son in one of our schools, but you will make that choice with the knowledge that we reject the rumors you’ve spread about Miss Carter.”

“Well, I’ll not be enrolling my son here! We’ll move somewhere else first,” Mrs. Edwards shouted. “I can’t believe—”

“Mr. Jennings.” The board president interrupted Mrs. Edwards’s outburst. “We will not be hiring you for the principal’s position you applied for or for any other open position in our school district. We believe Miss Carter’s and Miss Rogers’s testimonies about what happened in Kansas, not to mention that we’ve had a report from the superintendent of your former school, and he will give you no recommendation. We do not wish for you to be in a position to treat any of our teachers in the manner you treated Miss Carter. This meeting is now adjourned.”

“What!” Jennings jumped to his feet and yelled, “You’ll believe that little—why, you’ll be sorry!”

“Enough! I think the Guthrie school system can do without the likes of you two. Marshal, will you escort Mr. Jennings and Mrs. Edwards out of here?” the board president requested.

Samantha was immediately picked up and swung around by Ben. Before her friends could surround her, Ben said, “We have something of great importance to discuss. We’ll be right back.”

“Ben—” Samantha looked back at everyone as Ben steered her back to the room they’d waited in earlier. Everyone smiled and seemed quite happy to wait.

Ben had no more shut the door than he turned to her and drew her into his arms.

“Now, will you give me an answer?”

“An answer?”

“To my proposal. Will you marry me, Samantha?”

“But there’s no need to rescue me now, Ben. I—”

“Don’t you see? It’s me needs rescuing, Sam. I love you with all my heart, and I want you to be my wife. Do you think you could ever—”

Joy, pure and sweet, flooded Samantha’s heart. He loved her. “Oh yes, Ben Thompson! I already do love you. I’ve loved you almost from the moment you saved my life, and I will be honored to become your wife.”

Ben bent down and captured her lips with his. Samantha stood on tiptoe and responded, letting him know that she meant every word she’d said. He lifted his head and looked down into her eyes.

“And I will be blessed to be your husband. I want to meet each new sunrise with you in my arms.” They both ignored the knocking on the door as he bent his head down for one more kiss.