Chapter 14

Evelyn

 

Tossing and turning, Evelyn woke up.

Her back and arms itched, and she couldn’t escape the sweet, earthy scent of straw. She lowered a blanket from her face and bolted into an upright sitting position.

Lanterns twinkled, their light shining through from the next room. She could see her globe—Graham’s globe—through the archway, sitting on the table.

She looked down, taking in the straw tick and blanket Machin had offered her the night before. “Havenbrim is real,” she whispered.

She pressed a hand to her cheek.

Graham kissed me last night.

Evelyn crawled out of the bedding and stretched out her arms. Attracted to the cozy orange glow, she stepped toward the furnace and uncurled her hands to absorb its warmth.

Next to the furnace was a bucket, filled with dark stones. A pair of tongs hung from the bucket. She turned her head to where several glass globes sat on a shelf. Everything was exactly as Graham had described it to her.

She caught her breath as the hatch door, built into the floor, creaked open. A neatly pinned head of blonde hair, highlighted with a blue glow, poked up through the opening. Evelyn caught a whiff of sulfur before a woman fully emerged and snuffed out a mechanical torch.

“Gelsey!”

“Evelyn, is that you? Oh, dear—I wouldn’t get too close to that furnace. We wouldn’t want Machin to catch you. It will only worry him.”

“Oh, sorry,” said Evelyn.

She lowered her eyes, slid one foot to the side, and stepped away slowly. She looked up to find Gelsey inspecting her, from her bedhead hair down to the socks on her feet.

“If I’d been less skeptical about Machin saying you’d be staying the night, I would have left you a change of clothes. I didn’t think you’d sleep in your day clothes all night.” Gelsey crinkled an eyebrow. “Those are your day clothes, aren’t they?”

“Yes.” Evelyn suppressed a laugh, understanding how strange she must look in a T-shirt and jeans to people she knew wore dresses and tunics, the style of which appeared to be centuries old. “I was so tired and happy to be sleeping in a real bed—” Sort of. “I honestly didn’t think much about it.”

Gelsey nodded. “If you’re interested in a hot bath before breakfast, I could give you a change of clothing—I’m happy to give you one of my dresses to wear.”

The back of Evelyn’s neck prickled. The clothing seemed an odd offer. But a bath would be nice.

“Yes, thank you, Gelsey,” she said, not wanting to offend someone who’d cared for her while she was still inside the lantern.

Gelsey’s face shone pink with joy. She grabbed Evelyn by both hands.

“Let’s get started right away.” She continued to ramble aloud as she led Evelyn through the kitchen and into a side room, not much larger than a closet, and began to heat water for a bath.

“This will be a fine surprise for when Graham arrives for breakfast! Machin will be pleased, as well, though he won’t show it. We’ll be lucky if he remembers to eat breakfast at all.”

She lit a second fire and placed the kettle on a hook over its flame.

“While you’re washing in here, I’ll slice cakes and fruit at the table. Don’t worry about the water for the tea. I’ll handle that when I return with your dress.”

Evelyn’s chest tightened. Carla hadn’t been anywhere near as excited about Evelyn staying with her as Gelsey was. She wondered if it had anything to do with whether the stay was permanent. Carla cooked for them, gave them beds, and a place to stay, but it seemed to be out of obligation. All of it routine. Whereas, with Gelsey, it was more of a celebration.

If it wasn’t for the chance to see Joyce and her brothers again, she felt she might want to stay in Havenbrim. Almost—

“Thank you,” she murmured, more than once.

After sprinkling a handful of herbs in the wooden tub filled with hot water, Gelsey tossed her a sponge and left the room.

Evelyn settled into the tub. She relaxed her neck muscles and stared at the hole in the roof where the smoke from the fire climbed through. The walls around her held shelves and cupboards. She’d never been in a bathroom that doubled as a pantry before. She remembered Graham telling her about Machin’s system for piping air from the furnace to heat the underground rooms. She wondered whether he’d managed a way to pipe in water, too.

But Gelsey heated the water she’d poured from large baskets, she thought, looking around. Life in Havenbrim seems cheerful, but I bet it’s more difficult than it looks.

Evelyn wrapped herself with a drying cloth in front of the fire. She could hear the clatter of plates outside the door. Then, a knock.

“Is the water for the tea ready?” chimed Gelsey.

“Yes,” said Evelyn, watching the water in the kettle bubble. “You can come in.”

Smiling, Gelsey entered the room, holding a brown frock with lacing in the front and puffy tan sleeves. She placed the dress in Evelyn’s arms along with a bundle of other cuts of cloth Evelyn wasn’t sure what to do with. One looked like it could have been tied around her head like a bandana.

“We’ll be ready soon, dear,” said Gelsey, twirling back through the door with the kettle.

“Thanks again,” said Evelyn, managing a smile. “I’ll try to hurry.”

 

Evelyn sat at the kitchen table and smoothed down the skirt of her dress, feeling every bit as awkward as a monkey in a banana costume.

She’d dried her hair as best she could, and let it fall freely across her shoulders. Beneath the dress, she wore what felt like a slip and a long pair of shorts, having left several of the items Gelsey had given her near the tub.

She sniffed the warm, nutty liquid Gelsey had set before her. Then, she took a sip. The flavor was as nutty as it smelled with an earthy sweetness. Gelsey had called it barley tea; but it was thicker than tea, and thinner than oatmeal or what she’d thought of as porridge.

“Take some of the cake, dear.” Gelsey gave her an encouraging nod.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Graham?”

Lifting a hand to shield her lips from the doorway, Gelsey whispered, “That boy sleeps in late most days, and when he’s awake he eats like a horse. You’d better get a head start while you can.”

Smiling, Evelyn broke off a piece of fig cake and took a bite. It was sweeter than the barley tea, but not too sweet. She doubted she’d get the sugar rush of cakes dripping with frosting that she’d been used to. She smiled. “This is delicious.”

Gelsey beamed. “It’s a recipe I learned from my grandmother when I was a child. Simple, but I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t like it.”

Evelyn added slices of fruit to her plate before taking another bite.

Footsteps neared the kitchen, softly at first, then with a rapid knocking.

“Evelyn?”

She swallowed. Graham stood, his hands gripping the sides of the arched doorway that framed his figure. Lantern light shone through his rust-colored hair.

“Good morning, Graham.”

“I thought you might’a left,” he said, twisting his chin in the direction where Evelyn had slept that night. He exhaled. “Machin’s been mumblin’ at the furnace—somethin’ about life returnin’ to light. But I didn’t think you’d go without saying goodbye.”

Evelyn blinked.

He tilted his head to the side, and grinned. “What’s that you’re wearin’?”

“It’s one of Gelsey’s dresses,” she said, blushing.

“And she looks lovely in it,” said Gelsey. “Now, calm down and eat your breakfast.”

Graham’s eyes bugged out. “I didn’t mean—”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant. Evelyn’s our guest, and we’re going to make her feel welcome.”

Evelyn bit her lip, suffering slightly from Graham’s pained look. Then it was her turn for her eyes to bug out. Slices of fruit and chunks of gingerbread disappeared from his plate faster than Gelsey could refill it for him. He emptied his cup of barley tea in one gulp.

When he slowed, Gelsey set a cloth-wrapped section of gingerbread, about the size of a small loaf, next to Graham’s plate. “Hand that to Machin on your way out. I’m not sure what plans he has for you two today, but I’m sure he’s thinking about that instead of his breakfast.”

“Do you think he’ll let Evelyn stay—here with us at the cottage?”

Evelyn’s heart dropped, and Gelsey frowned. Evelyn felt her lips go dry as she and Gelsey exchanged a glance.

“Evelyn has a family to get back to,” said Gelsey. “I expect it’s difficult to be so far from home, isn’t it, dear?”

“I have to admit, part of me thought I’d wake up in my own bed, with my sister and cousin at home. And that all this would have been a dream.”

“See what I mean?” said Gelsey. After giving Graham a pointed look, she grabbed the empty kettle and disappeared into the bathroom-pantry.

“Do you want to go? To leave us?” said Graham, frowning. The sadness from the night before returned to his eyes.

Evelyn’s mouth opened and shut.

“Suppose we could get you back to Erie,” continued Graham, “would you ever consider visitin’ us again? Would you ever come back?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then, I want to go with you.”

“To Erie? But why?” Her stomach twisted. She thought she knew why, but was afraid of hearing the truth and finding out she was wrong.

“I thought more ’bout what you said…’bout afterward.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened.

“I ’preciate all Machin has done for me—Gelsey too,” Graham said, his eyes flickering in the direction of the bathroom-pantry. He lowered his voice. “But I don’t feel I’m being taught a trade here. Anyone can polish glass with a rag. Doesn’t take much skill.”

“You’d be willing to leave Havenbrim?”

“I’ve got no family here,” he said, shrugging.

“What about Machin and Gelsey?”

“They’re wonderful people, and they’ve become friends. In the short time I’ve been here, Machin’s taught me to read, to write, and he’s even taught me figures. But they don’t keep their ’prentices forever, Evelyn. By movin’ on, I’ll be makin’ room for someone else.”

“Um… I’m not sure how my cousin, Carla, would feel about putting up another person. When Joyce goes to college she’ll be living on campus, so maybe you can have her room then. I don’t know about now. I was planning on starting school with her at the same time, and sharing a dorm room with her, so then I wouldn’t be around, either.”

Evelyn pressed her lips shut. Graham’s eyes had glazed over, and he was frowning again.

“I’ve lived on my own before,” he said. “Guess I could do it again.”

“I suppose there’d be more opportunities there than in Havenbrim,” Evelyn mused. She tilted her head. “I certainly wouldn’t mind you being there with me. I’m still waiting to wake up and find out this has all been a strange dream.”

“Bet it makes you ’preciate your life before more, though, doesn’t it?”

Evelyn nodded. “In many ways it does. But if this turns out to be a dream, then that would mean you’d be gone, too.”

A sad smile formed on Graham’s face. “Are you sayin’ you’d miss me?”

Evelyn didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. The rosiness of her cheeks said everything.