Chapter Two

The next day was brutal. Eva never really slept. After she cried all the tears she could, she drifted into a fitful sleep of dreams that made no sense. The dreams frightened her nonetheless. Finally the sky turned lighter and she left her bed and got dressed. She looked in the mirror and there it was: the tell tale bruise under her left eye. She panicked. The children would be surprised at best. Children ask questions.

She quietly opened her door and tiptoed down the stairs. Mrs. Foster would be in the kitchen preparing breakfast for all the boarders. She wanted to leave unnoticed, but she often picked up something for her lunch and Mrs. Foster would be annoyed if she didn't know Eva planned skip breakfast. She realized that it was time to face someone.

"Good morning, Mrs. Foster." Eva tried to sound cheery. It didn't sound real, but the landlady responded in kind.

"Glorious morning, dear. My, you are up bright and early! You must be starv… Oh! Miss Beadle! What on earth happened to you?" She covered her mouth with her hand as she drew closer to look at the wounded face.

"Oh, yes… I know it is a terrible sight, isn't it? It was so dark last night when I came home. I tripped and fell right into a tree. Stopped myself with my face, unfortunately."

"Tsk, tsk. Are you ok?"

"Oh, my yes. It looks a lot worse than it feels. I am concerned what the children are going to think about it. I hope we can focus on our schoolwork."

"Yes," Mrs. Foster looked at her strangely. "Do you think you should see Dr. Baker?"

"No, I don't think that is necessary. I'll be fine."

"How about some breakfast, then? You didn't eat supper last night. You must be so hungry."

"Yes, well… I-I-I don't think I want to be answer a lot of questions this morning. I really would like to get to school." Eva grabbed an apple from the pantry and turned to leave. "I just wanted to let you know I will be absent for breakfast today."

"Well, wait a second," Mrs. Foster muttered. She reached into an icebox and retrieved a lunch pail. "There is a cold sandwich and another apple. Eat something, dearie. You need your strength."

Eva took the pail and smiled. She quickly left the boarding house and headed to town and to school. She was the first one there. She entered quietly and slowly. It suddenly occurred to her that he could be there waiting for her. She hadn't really even considered that he would be there for class, sitting innocently at his desk. He would be watching her, staring all day long. No matter what she said or did, he would be thinking about what happened. It might make him think about doing it again.

She quickly looked around and saw no one. Surprisingly the room looked to be in order. The candle was upright. Her papers were piled neatly in the middle. She remembered that she tried to make things right before going home, but she didn't recall doing it as thoroughly as this. Then she saw something she knew was not right. A piece of paper sat folded on a desk in the front row. Neatly folded on a piece of paper were her missing glasses. She reached for them and put them in her skirt pocket. She stared at the paper. She slowly picked it up and opened it.

Dear Miss Beedle,

I have to work with my pa so I can't come to scool today.

But I will see you after scool when I'm done. B

Her heart started to beat faster. He came back. He was here already and left this note for her. She quickly shoved the paper in her desk and sat down. Her head started to throb. She waited a few minutes and then composed herself. She took out the day's assignments and went through her regular routine. At five minutes before the hour, she rang the early bell warning for school. She already heard some of the children running around outside the schoolhouse. She couldn't figure out how she was going to get through the day.

Finally the time came to start school. She rang the bell and welcomed her students as they filed into the one room building. A few of them noticed her face was not right, but none of them said anything right away. Finally, after morning exercises and prayer, Nellie Oleson raised her hand and asked what they all seemed to want to know.

"Oh, children, I'm quite alright," she blushed. "It was really dark when I went home last night and I fell down. I tripped and hit a tree with my face. Can you believe what a clumsy teacher you have?" The children laughed and said nothing more. It went much better than she expected.

At lunch time, Eva had a sudden idea. She placed one of the older girls in charge of the younger children and rushed back to her room. She reached under her bed for a box that she almost never opened. She took a deep breath and opened it slowly. Inside was a revolver that her father had given to her when she left home to teach. Every woman needs a gun, he said. You'll sell it when you get married. She never shot it and didn't know the first thing about using it. She wrapped it in a scarf and hurried back to school. It didn't make her feel any safer that it was nearby, but she was still glad it was there.

The day finally ended. Eva waited for the last student to leave before she gathered her belongings and headed home. She was not going to give Benjamin an easy chance to ruin her again. Her body was still sore and she walked slower. She was starting to think that he would not find her when a noise from the wood behind her startled her. She spun around to find Benjamin. He was out of breath and filthy from working in the fields.

"Miss Beadle, I thought you'd be waiting for me at the school."

"You stay away from me."

"But we had a date, remember? I left the note for you. You were supposed to wait at school for me."

"Stay away!"

"No, I don't think so. I ran all the way to see you."

Eva drew the gun out and pointed it at Benjamin. He stopped and backed up.

"I said… stay away."

"Why do you have that? I ain't going to hurt you."

"YOU ALREADY DID HURT ME!" Eva spat at him, tears flowing. "Now, listen to me. You will stay away from me. You will stay away from school. I am going to tell your pa that you're done with school. I will give you a certificate and tell him that it is time for you to start working like a man. I suspect he never cared for you wasting time at school anyway. I'm sure he will be glad to put you to work. Like the farm animal you are, Benjamin Stevins."

"Alright," he mumbled. "I'll do that. Shame, Miss Beadle. I think we needed each other in the worst way. You know, you come find me when you change your mind."

"GO! NOW!" The gun shook in her hand but her aim never left the target. Benjamin smirked and bowed clumsily before sprinting back down the road from where he came. The firearm shook even more. When he was gone, she lowered her hand and put it back in its hiding place. The adrenaline helped her run home. She quietly headed up to her room and waited for her heart to stop pounding.

An hour passed and nothing happened. She wasn't sure what she expected. But after that hour, she had a renewed sense of self. It may have been crazy to be so sure, but she believed Benjamin would stay away. She could smell supper cooking downstairs and she suddenly felt very hungry.

At dinner, there were few questions about her appearance. She was sure Mrs. Foster had told everyone what had happened and it seemed like a logical explanation. She ate her food slowly and listened to the stories told around the table. One of the gentlemen, Mr. Scott Thurlow, revealed that one of his first jobs was as a deputy in a western town. She waited for the meal to finish before speaking to him.

"Mr. Thurlow," she whispered. "I'm not really sure how to ask this favor of you. I am sure you are a busy man but, well… my father gave me this revolver a long time ago. I think he was afraid of his daughter being alone and all that. Well, I never learned to use it and it occurred to me that I think I would really like to know how to shoot it. I've always kept it hidden away because to be honest, I'm afraid of it. Do you think you could teach me?"

"Miss Beadle," he smiled. "I reckon that if I had a daughter I would do the same thing as your pa. First, though, I would have shown her how to use it. I'd be right glad to teach you."

"Nothing big, just so you know. Just how to shoot it, what it's like to hold it right."

"Sure. That's all you really need to know. How's about Saturday morning after breakfast we take a trip out to Miller's clearing? I make sure it's ok and we'll take a few shots, ok? Do you have ammunition and everything?"

Eva started to laugh. She didn't have a single bullet. Benjamin fell for her bluff.