Chapter 5

Nathan swung down from his horse after tending to an older couple who lived a mile or so outside of town. Leaving instructions to Tiny, he gave the gelding a loving slap and exited the livery. What he saw surprised him. Outside of the new schoolhouse which had been erected across from the church a group of people had gathered. Curious, Nathan walked over to see what had attracted all the attention.

As he neared the schoolhouse, the healer could hear music.

"What's going on?" he asked one of the women.

"Every afternoon, just before school's finished, the new schoolmarm gets out her um…" She demonstrated moving her hands back and forth palms together. "…um..music box." she shrugged.

"It's called a concertina," a familiar voice provided.

"Oh, hey, Josiah. You part of the audience too?" Nate asked.

"I do love music."

"Sssshhh!" a number of people urged.

The healer smiled as Hannah Fuller continued to sing to her pupils. The song she had chosen to sing was different than he had heard before. It was about fish, boats, and life on the sea.

As the music quieted, the children could be heard asking for another, to which Hannah begged off promising them another one the next day providing they worked hard.

Nathan turned to leave along with the other members of the audience when he spotted a lone figure seated just behind the church, clearly thinking he was not being noticed.

"Hey, Josiah," he whispered. "Vin's over behind yer church."

Josiah clasped his friend on the shoulder. "But now bring me a musician. And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. 2 Kings 3:14-16."

"Huh?"

Josiah leaned towards the healer and whispered in his ear.

Nathan's face split in a broad grin which Josiah returned.

"Ya need any help?" Vin Tanner asked from the doorway of the schoolhouse after the teacher's audience and pupils had left for the day.

Hannah was collecting the students' personal slates from their desks and looked up at her guest.

"Thank you, but I think I have it undah control, Mr. Tanner." She smiled.

He removed his hat and gave her a nod. "Ya sing awful purty, Miss Fuller."

"Just a sea ditty or two," she admitted and continued her work.

"Don't know just what yer saying all the time, but I like it."

Bringing the slates over to her desk, she proceeded to wipe each of the boards clean with a damp rag. She laughed lightly. "I don't think the children do either all the time, but they're learning." She picked up a sand dollar she had on her desk. "I'm glad I thought to pack some things from home before I left. They are learning a lot and expanding their universe a little bit." She passed the item to Vin.

Placing his hat down on a desk, he stepped forward and carefully took the item from her outstretched hand. Turning it over in his hand he examined it. "It's beautiful."

"It's said that the star in the middle symbolizes the star the Wise Men followed when they searched for our Savior and the holes around the edge symbolize the marks of the nails, spear, and thorns which Our Lord suffered while he was on the cross."

Opening a draw in her desk she pulled out a small black drawstring bag and dumped the contents into her hand. "And if you open up the sand dollar, you'll find…"

"Angels," Vin whispered reverently.

She laughed softly witnessing Vin's enchantment. "Or some say doves."

"S' why did you leave yer home? Ya love yer sea. Ya must miss it."

Hannah placed the 'angels' back in the bag and tugged the strings to close it. "I do miss it, Mr. Tanner," she admitted. "I miss the salt smell of the sea. I miss the sun glinting off the waves in the bay. I miss the seafood." Her smile faded. "But there are things I don't miss."

"Reasons why ya left?" Vin asked and passed her back the sand dollar.

She swallowed and gave him a nod. Turning the sand dollar over and over in her hands, she pressed her lips together gathering her courage.

Vin patiently waited for her to speak.

"My father was a fisherman, he owned his own boat – it was named after me, the 'Hannah Ann'. It wasn't much, but it was his." She smiled fondly at the memory but quickly the smile fell as she continued her tale. "One winter morning he and his men left port just like any other day. In the morning the sun shone and the air was crisp, but by the afternoon the wind had picked up and the snow started to fall heavily. It was a horrible storm, something up there we call a Nor'Easter. The Hannah Ann never returned to port. All hands were lost at sea. In the spring they found some of the bodies off the Isles of Shoals."

"Yer pa?" Vin asked sadly.

She bobbed her head and raised her wet eyes to look into the tracker's cerulean gaze. "And my intended, Jack. I lost them both, I didn't have any other family. My mother died when I was a child. When I saw Mrs. Travis' advert in the Boston paper, I wrote to her. When she accepted my offer I sold all I could, and gave what I couldn't take with me to charity. And well, here I am." She smiled bravely, even though a tear had managed to trickle down her cheek.

"Perhaps the Hannah Ann found a different port," Vin suggested.

"Perhaps."

Vin picked up his hat and nervously turned it around his hands. "I hope yer'll be happy here, Miss Fuller."

"Thank you, Mr. Tanner. I think I might."

TBC