Every day after school, I helped Mrs. Sullivan with her lessons. She knew her Bible very well, although she’d memorized a lot of it. Her goal was to be able to write, and with my help, she reached that goal in the third week.
Mrs. Sullivan also slowly began to get around. She offered to help Mama in the kitchen, but Mama said she just enjoyed her company. Having someone to talk to was refreshing. It got lonely around the empty house during the day. Besides, Mama told her, she was a guest, and guests didn’t work in the Lochlan house, but Mrs. Sullivan was welcome to help make the shopping list since Thanksgiving was only two weeks away. The two women decided to combine their recipes to give both families a great family holiday feast.
Ethan was still out there somewhere. Sometimes, Mrs. Sullivan worried that he was still alive. The weather was getting colder by the day. One day, Travis came with news: Abel Sullivan had noticed footprints outside the barn when he’d gone to milk the cows in the morning.
Both Abel and his brother Jonas realized that the prints were Ethan’s because of the boot size. Since the footprints were leading away from the barn, they knew that Ethan couldn’t be there anymore. But they also knew that Ethan was still alive and had spent the night there in the barn. Perhaps he’d been scared off by the search party, but where did he go after that?
The brothers agreed that if Ethan had been hiding out in the caves in the hills, he’d be like a wild animal, ready to lash out at anything. And if he was in one of his moods, they’d never be able to get him to come back. Still, they had to tell the sheriff.
In the early afternoon, the sheriff rode up to our home. I was on the porch with Travis as the sheriff dismounted and smiled at us.
“Miss Annie, Mr. Sullivan.”
“Good morning, Sheriff. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Well, yes. I’m looking for your father.”
“He just went into town with Mama,” I said. “My sisters are coming for the holiday. They should be home in a bit. The train was due in at 1:05.”
The sheriff looked at his pocket watch. “It’s 1:30 now. If the train was on time, they should be on their way back.”
“Like I said, Sheriff, you are welcome to stay.”
“Thank you. I think I will.”
Before long, they rode up in the wagon. Along with my parents, Molly had come with her husband, Braxton, as well as Meghan and her husband, Adam, and their little ones. Aunt Mary and Uncle Mick were already inside our house.
Papa brought the carriage to a stop. Braxton was the first one out so that he could help the ladies down.
Papa approached the sheriff.
The sheriff greeted him. “Is there a place we can talk privately?”
“In my study.”
“Good.”
Papa passed Uncle Mick, who had just walked out the door with Aunt Mary to greet the girls along with Travis and me. “Mick, would you handle the—”
The sheriff interrupted. “If you don’t mind, I’d like Mr. Dawson in on this also.”
At that point, Travis got up and walked over to the bags. There were plenty of men to help the ladies, so Mick, the sheriff, and Papa walked through the hall and straight to the back where the library was.
Chance was so excited she was jumping on everyone. I had a hard time telling her to sit. Molly beamed when she saw the pup, but she gave me a weird look.
“Annie, dear, do you know that—”
“Yes, she’s a wolf. Not to worry. She doesn’t know she’s one.”
Braxton was impressed. “How did you get her?”
“One of my students thought it was a nice gift for the new teacher.”
Adam took one look at the pup and shielded the children.
“Honestly, Adam,” I said. “Chance won’t hurt the children.”
As everyone settled in, Molly told me about the conversation she’d had with the family on the wagon ride home. It had started when she asked Mama, “How did you do it, having three babies all at once?”
Mama smiled. “Well, at times I wondered how I would get through, but I was very lucky—I had your Aunt Mary, Jenny, Uncle Mick, your father, and Grandpa Daniel.”
They turned onto the road that would lead them right to the house, and Meghan recognized the sheriff. “Ryan, is that Tom on the porch with Annie and Travis?”
“Travis?” Molly asked.
“You know Travis,” Meghan said. “Travis Sullivan. His family has a farm north of us.”
“They’ve been there for years,” Mama added, “but they keep to themselves. When Annie was little, she used to go every Wednesday to the Sullivan home to have her piano lesson with Mrs. Sullivan.”
Molly took a closer look at Travis as the wagon drew closer. “He is rather handsome. Is Annie interested in him?”
Mama smiled. “I think so. I just wish Annie knew it.”
“Oh, Mama, I’m sure she knows,” Meghan said. “Maybe he hasn’t noticed her.”
“Oh no—he definitely has noticed her. I think he’s too shy to approach her.”
The two sisters had looked at each other and smiled. Mama and Papa had also given each other a knowing look.