Chapter 7: Off to Mountain View

A few days later, Elizabeth and Jack were at the campground for the weekly prayer meeting. Elizabeth always felt at ease at these Sunday morning sessions, sitting with the other townspeople out in the woods. Elizabeth was also grateful that the ordeal of the Shakespeare play was over and that she and her students could get back to their normal routine.

Elizabeth glanced over at Filbert, who was sitting next to Rosemary. Filbert was leaving tomorrow to take a teaching job in the city of Mountain View, a larger town twenty miles north of Coal Valley. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief; although she appreciated the camaraderie of a fellow teacher, Elizabeth looked forward to having the children all to herself again.

Elizabeth was contemplating her lesson plans and projects for the students for the coming week when Jack nudged her with his elbow. "Are you daydreaming again?" Jack whispered. "You're supposed to be thinking about God. Don't tell me I'm sitting next to a heathen…" Jack teased.

Elizabeth nudged Jack back and whispered, "I'm thinking about my students, and since they are innocent children, I believe my thoughts are pure . . . probably purer than yours are." Elizabeth and Jack started to giggle, until they were shushed by the people on the bench in front of them.

After the service, Elizabeth and Jack went up to Filbert to wish him a safe journey the next day. Filbert was helping Rosemary out of her seat. Rosemary declared, "Dear Filbert, you brought much needed erudition and scholarship to this sleepy town. You will be greatly missed!"

Elizabeth had the feeling that Rosemary's comments were an implicit criticism of herself but, as usual in front of Rosemary, did not know how to respond. Jack stepped in and addressed Filbert. "Don't be a stranger, Filbert. Mountain View is less than a day's ride from Coal Valley, so once you're settled in, we could come visit you." Filbert clapped Jack on the arm and replied, "Certainly. That's a grand idea."

Filbert turned to Elizabeth and reminded her, "Remember, you promised to send me any extra textbooks and supplies you have." Elizabeth replied, "Yes I know. I'll go through my materials this week and figure out what I can spare." Jack added, "And I can bring them up to you in Mountain View. I'm interested in seeing the town." Rosemary announced, "I can't imagine why. Once you've seen one frontier town, you've seen them all!" The others laughed nervously.

Filbert responded, "Thank you, Jack, Elizabeth. You've both been very helpful." Rosemary cleared her throat. Filbert added, "And of you course, you too, dear Rosemary. What an exciting two weeks it's been with you here in Coal Valley. I won't soon forget it . . . or you." Filbert leaned over to kiss Rosemary's hand, causing Rosemary to smile at the attention. Jack and Elizabeth looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Perhaps there was a budding romance in the works, they wondered.

Elizabeth and Jack spent the rest of the day walking in the meadow and talking about their future. Jack commented, "Once I'm done helping the townsmen build the new school and church, I want to look around for a parcel of land to build a house on." Elizabeth blushed at the implications of Jack's words, and replied, "That sounds nice." The two young lovers walked arm-in-arm, happy to fulfill the commandment of taking a day of rest.

By Thursday morning, Elizabeth had two crates of books and supplies ready to be delivered to Filbert in Mountain View. Jack hitched his horse and buggy to the front of the schoolhouse and started loading the crates in the back. Elizabeth ran back into the schoolhouse and brought out a basket of food for Jack to take with him on the trip. "The delicious muffins and bread were made by Abigail. The burnt cookies were made by me," Elizabeth said ruefully. "I can't understand why I can solve quadratic equations but I can't seem to bake a cookie!" Jack laughed, "I'm sure they'll be fine. But if I don't return by tomorrow night, send a doctor after me to see whether it was something I ate." Jack teased. Elizabeth lightly punched Jack in the arm, then put both her hands on Jack's chest in anticipation of a romantic goodbye kiss.

"Wait for me, wait for me," cried Rosemary, running down the street with a small satchel. Jack and Elizabeth stepped back from each other in surprise. "Jack, I'm coming with you," Rosemary said excitedly. "I want to see Mountain View too. I'm sure dear Filbert could use the company." Rosemary smiled her brightest smile at Elizabeth and Jack.

As usual, Elizabeth was at a loss for words in front of Rosemary. Did Rosemary really want to see Filbert and Mountain View, or did she want to spend two days alone with Jack in the wilderness? Elizabeth was ashamed of herself for having those thoughts.

Jack also was a little uneasy. "Uh, okay, sure. There's room for both us in the buggy. But don't you have work to do here in Coal Valley with your theater group?"

Rosemary replied, "Oh that can wait. Anyway, I need a break from the stress of putting on our Shakespeare production last week. I could use a change of scenery to get my creative juices flowing again." Rosemary giggled.

Jack looked back and forth between Elizabeth's chagrined expression and Rosemary's self-satisfaction. Jack helped Rosemary into the buggy and turned back to Elizabeth to reassure her. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Filbert will be happy to see her." Jack looked meaningfully into Elizabeth's eyes and was able to tease a little smile out of her.

"Oh my, what is this?" Rosemary asked dramatically, holding out a half burnt cookie from the food basket. Elizabeth's precarious smile turned to a frown. "Come on, Jack. We should get going!" Rosemary continued, patting the seat beside her on the buggy.

Jack got up into the buggy and nodded goodbye to Elizabeth. He chucked the reins to get the buggy going. Rosemary snuggled closer to Jack on the buggy and waved goodbye to Elizabeth. "Tata – have fun!" Rosemary cried out.

Elizabeth barely raised her hand to wave back. Sighing, Elizabeth turned to go into the schoolhouse to prepare her lessons for the day. "I trust them, I trust them," she repeated to herself, trying to make herself believe those words. Elizabeth heard the clip-clop of the horse as the buggy headed out of town.