towns like Burke, Mullan, and Kellogg. He had spent more time talking to patrons in the Shooting Star than to principals, superintendents, and school board members.
Then there was the pretty young thing that Sir Galahad had rescued from the moral squalor of Maggie Ryan's Home for Wayward Women. Sadie Hawkins was an unexpected but pleasant addition to the ever-changing family of young adults who called Maude's mansion home.
Kevin had brought Sadie to the west end Monday night and introduced her as Maude's new personal assistant, or at least someone he had hoped would become Maude's personal assistant. She could cook, he had said, and clean and probably even do her books. Kevin had crowed like a rooster about the girl's ability to work with numbers. Undoubtedly swayed by the best sales pitch Andy had seen in years, Maude had hired Sadie on the spot and given her a room.
Andy watched Sadie dust a chandelier for the third time that day and then move on to a hutch, a grandfather clock, and a set of Venetian blinds. She was industrious, efficient, and undoubtedly as intelligent as Kevin had made her out to be.
As the daughter of a local merchant and a recent graduate of the high school, Sadie was someone Andy had seen before. She was someone he had expected to see behind a cash register or walking down an aisle. She was not someone he had expected to see in a silk nightgown in the lobby of the most exclusive brothel in Wallace. That made her a mystery.
Andy returned to Kevin and saw him read the latest issue of the Saturday Evening Post from the comfort of a chair Sadie had yet to dust. Though he still had much to learn from the educator, he was making progress.
Andy now understood, for example, that Kevin's fortune, the one within easy reach, was the box full of double eagles he had accessed Monday afternoon. Unless Kevin had hidden a bag of coins and jewels under a rock on the outskirts of town, this was the cache he had talked about.
Whether Sadie was the girl he had daydreamed about was not as clear. Andy could certainly understand why Kevin, or any man, might favor Miss Hawkins. She was as visually pleasing as a field of summer flowers or even winter snow. But was she the one? He didn't know.
Andy laughed to himself as he tried to digest the story Maude had shared earlier that day. There had been a dust-up of sorts at the Intermountain Bank Monday afternoon, one involving Preston Pierce, Kevin, Sadie, and more than fifteen hundred dollars. Kevin, it seemed, had done more than reduce Maggie Ryan's inventory. He had freed Sadie from financial bondage and made a powerful new enemy.
When Andy, the on-again, off-again reporter, had asked Kevin for confirmation, he had declined to comment. Andy didn't hold that against his companion. He admired discretion, something in short supply in a small town where everyone knew their neighbors and almost everyone talked about them.
Kevin's interest in protecting Sadie, of course, didn't explain why he had paid a princely sum to help a would-be prostitute he had apparently met for the first time on Monday. That was something that had prompted tongues to wag throughout the Silver Valley and had piqued the curiosity of a curious man.
Andy puffed on a cigar that had been manufactured in town and smiled at the man from Seattle. He liked this guy. He liked him a lot. Even as one of Kevin's biggest fans, however, Andy admitted that there was something about the teacher that troubled him. As an enterprising reporter who had far too much time on his hands, he vowed to find out.
CHAPTER 21: KEVIN
The time traveler stared up from his bed and watched his least favorite creature crawl slowly toward a crack in the ceiling. He didn't know if spiders were any bigger or scarier in 1910 than in 2013, but he did know that he hadn't learned to like them any more.
He laughed to himself when he remembered how a sudden encounter with an arachnid had led to the discovery of Asa Johnson's journal
Then there was the pretty young thing that Sir Galahad had rescued from the moral squalor of Maggie Ryan's Home for Wayward Women. Sadie Hawkins was an unexpected but pleasant addition to the ever-changing family of young adults who called Maude's mansion home.
Kevin had brought Sadie to the west end Monday night and introduced her as Maude's new personal assistant, or at least someone he had hoped would become Maude's personal assistant. She could cook, he had said, and clean and probably even do her books. Kevin had crowed like a rooster about the girl's ability to work with numbers. Undoubtedly swayed by the best sales pitch Andy had seen in years, Maude had hired Sadie on the spot and given her a room.
Andy watched Sadie dust a chandelier for the third time that day and then move on to a hutch, a grandfather clock, and a set of Venetian blinds. She was industrious, efficient, and undoubtedly as intelligent as Kevin had made her out to be.
As the daughter of a local merchant and a recent graduate of the high school, Sadie was someone Andy had seen before. She was someone he had expected to see behind a cash register or walking down an aisle. She was not someone he had expected to see in a silk nightgown in the lobby of the most exclusive brothel in Wallace. That made her a mystery.
Andy returned to Kevin and saw him read the latest issue of the Saturday Evening Post from the comfort of a chair Sadie had yet to dust. Though he still had much to learn from the educator, he was making progress.
Andy now understood, for example, that Kevin's fortune, the one within easy reach, was the box full of double eagles he had accessed Monday afternoon. Unless Kevin had hidden a bag of coins and jewels under a rock on the outskirts of town, this was the cache he had talked about.
Whether Sadie was the girl he had daydreamed about was not as clear. Andy could certainly understand why Kevin, or any man, might favor Miss Hawkins. She was as visually pleasing as a field of summer flowers or even winter snow. But was she the one? He didn't know.
Andy laughed to himself as he tried to digest the story Maude had shared earlier that day. There had been a dust-up of sorts at the Intermountain Bank Monday afternoon, one involving Preston Pierce, Kevin, Sadie, and more than fifteen hundred dollars. Kevin, it seemed, had done more than reduce Maggie Ryan's inventory. He had freed Sadie from financial bondage and made a powerful new enemy.
When Andy, the on-again, off-again reporter, had asked Kevin for confirmation, he had declined to comment. Andy didn't hold that against his companion. He admired discretion, something in short supply in a small town where everyone knew their neighbors and almost everyone talked about them.
Kevin's interest in protecting Sadie, of course, didn't explain why he had paid a princely sum to help a would-be prostitute he had apparently met for the first time on Monday. That was something that had prompted tongues to wag throughout the Silver Valley and had piqued the curiosity of a curious man.
Andy puffed on a cigar that had been manufactured in town and smiled at the man from Seattle. He liked this guy. He liked him a lot. Even as one of Kevin's biggest fans, however, Andy admitted that there was something about the teacher that troubled him. As an enterprising reporter who had far too much time on his hands, he vowed to find out.
CHAPTER 21: KEVIN
The time traveler stared up from his bed and watched his least favorite creature crawl slowly toward a crack in the ceiling. He didn't know if spiders were any bigger or scarier in 1910 than in 2013, but he did know that he hadn't learned to like them any more.
He laughed to himself when he remembered how a sudden encounter with an arachnid had led to the discovery of Asa Johnson's journal
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