“Why would you say such a thing?” I asked.
“Because I made it clear in town that the Cole children would be attending right along with all of the others.”
“I see.” Somehow, this had not occurred to me when Pamela Lind and I were speaking. Had Lord Barnes’s stance on this been the reason for Samuel’s murder? And if so, what did that mean for Rachel and her children? What did that mean for me? “How come you didn’t tell me?”
“Frankly, it didn’t occur to me.”
I sorted through what this meant as we stood there looking out the window. The Barnes children were building snowmen. These frozen men stood in a row, like guards of the school. Was it a premonition of what was to come?
I couldn’t turn away any child, regardless of the color of their skin. Not from my classroom. If I’d been born a different color, I’d still be the same inside. People who didn’t understand that baffled me. Growing up poor with uneducated parents had marked me. I knew what it was to be set aside, thrown away, as if my life didn’t matter because I was poor.
“You won’t turn them away, will you?” he asked.
My eyes stung as I turned to face him. “I can hardly call myself a teacher if I’m unwilling to teach anyone who wants to learn.”
“Because you know how it feels to be kept out.”
I stared at him, probably looking like a hooked fish with my mouth hanging open and my eyes wild. “How did you know I was thinking just that?”
“Your expressions betray your thoughts,” he said. “This face of yours is like reading a book.”
“I won’t take up poker, then,” I said.
He gave me a sad smile. “Do you know what I thought when I first came to America?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I thought here the circumstances of your birth don’t matter—everyone had the opportunity to make the life they wanted for themselves. Except it’s not true, is it? If you’re poor or the wrong skin color, there are no opportunities.”
“America’s a contradiction of ideals and actual practices,” I said.
His face twisted with emotion as he took in a ragged breath. “I underestimated people’s hatred. I’m afraid I’ve gotten my friend killed over my ideals.”
“Then we mustn’t let them win by succumbing to their will.”
He swept his finger across the windowsill. “Miss Cooper, you’re either brave or foolish.”
“My father always said God had no use for a coward,” I said.
A low chuckle came from his chest as he wiped the corners of his eyes. “Harley and I will keep watch during the day.” He gestured toward the main street of town and accidentally brushed my shoulder. “I work in an office just over there.”
Even through my coat and dress, my skin tingled from his touch. I had to stay focused on what was important. A man was dead, mostly likely because of bigotry, and here I was wondering what Lord Barnes’s mouth would feel like on mine. I’d only ever been kissed once, nothing more than a chaste brush of lips that had left me unmoved. I strongly suspected I would like Lord Barnes’s kiss. He was my employer, I reminded myself. A man of money and prestige. I was a poor schoolteacher, at the mercy of his kindness. I must remember this and not let my romantic mind wander.
The children had finished their snowmen and were now giving them faces with pieces of bark and fir branches.
“When I think about Samuel’s children, I feel like I can’t breathe.” Lord Barnes choked on the last part of the sentence and stopped to gather himself. “I promised Samuel I’d make sure they were all right, and I intend to do so.”
Involuntarily, I brushed the sleeve of his jacket with the tips of my fingers. “Is it hard to carry the weight of the world, Lord Barnes?”
He tilted his head to look at me. “Yes. But as you say, God has no use for a coward.”
I wanted to say, Let me carry the burden with you. Instead, I smiled up at him, hoping to convey more courage than I truly possessed. “We’re stronger together. Let them bring their hatred. We’ll fight it with love.”
He nodded as if he agreed, but I could see by the sadness in his eyes that he did not believe. I would have to believe for both of us.
Chapter 10
Alexander
* * *
When we returned from town, I saddled up Twist and headed out to the Coles’ place. The sun glistened on the newly fallen snow as I crossed the meadow toward the thicket of trees that hid his house. Our valley dwelled between the sister mountains, making the ideal spot for a town. There was no better view of the white-shawled mountains than the one from my own meadow. When I reached the end of the flat land, the terrain dipped into a creek bed. Samuel had built a covered bridge over the high, wide creek that divided our properties. Twist trotted right in and through to the other side. About a hundred feet from the bridge, a deep pool provided both a swimming and a fishing spot.