think that people resent the way she acts so, so superior when he makes his money from whiskey and gambling and....”
“And women,” Becky filled in gleefully, earning another disapproving glance from her mother.
“Sure that’s why people think she’s got no right to act so la di da,” Mabel said, “but that doesn’t make her any less of a witch.”
“I wonder how much she pays. If I could stand it for a few months, it would be spring, and I’d have some cash money. I don’t want to sell to the man who murdered Joe to get our land.”
The three of them spent the rest of the day and the evening discussing nothing but Becky’s upcoming wedding and Norah’s possibilities. The next morning Archie and his oldest son drove Norah home in their wagon and helped her pack up everything in the soddy.
She rode to Hubbell wedged in the wagon between Mabel and Becky only after every one of the Carburys promised that if she wanted to come home after the wedding, they would bring her home.
If Caleb Sutton knew how to laugh, he’d probably laugh at having turned her life upside down so thoroughly.
She wondered how long it would be before she knew whether she should curse him or thank him, not that she’d ever have a chance to do either.
A S SOON AS the railroad had come, Hubbell had started to grow, but the Tindell house was unique in the town. Norah gave it a good looking over from the street before approaching.
Three stories high, dripping with ornate trim, the house was a tribute to ostentation. Norah’s concern was with the size of the thing, which she knew she’d be expected to keep spotless. Housekeeper was simply Mrs. Tindell’s idea of a more impressive term for maid.
Becky’s new husband had already reported that so far as anyone in town knew, Mrs. Tindell hadn’t replaced her last unfortunate girl. Betting on the new employee’s staying power, whoever she turned out to be, continued unabated.
Norah learned that the job included room and board and a small salary, but no one could tell her what kind of room or how much salary.
The house sat back from the road on a large lot surrounded by an iron fence with spiked pickets to keep riffraff out. Probably she should go around to the back, but she wasn’t hired help yet.
Squaring her shoulders, she marched through the front gate. The brass horse head knocker on the carved front door winked at her. Examining it closely, Norah could see that polish would fix the eyes so they matched, but she wasn’t going to be the one to point that out.
A girl in a gray dress covered by a large white apron answered the door. Norah backed up a step and almost fell off the porch.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I came about the housekeeper’s job. I didn’t know the position was taken.”
The girl reached out and fastened a hand like a steel trap on Norah’s arm, pulling her inside.
“It’s not taken,” she said with an Irish lilt. “Mr. Tindell all but threatened my da to get me to work here a few hours a day, and if you’ve come to save me, I’ll pray for you every day for the rest of me life, I will.”
Norah swallowed hard. “It’s that bad then? Does she pay, though?”
“She’s the devil draped in silk, she is, but she pays what she promises.”
Steps sounded on the polished wood floor behind them, and the girl dropped her voice to a whisper.
“You wait here. I’ll tell her about you, and she’ll have me escorting you to the parlor like she’s a queen and can’t walk out here.”
The girl disappeared, and Norah stared around the hall at the ornate furniture and papered walls. Housekeeping here would certainly be different than in a dirt-floored soddy that measured sixteen feet by twenty and was home to a thriving insect population and the occasional snake in summer and generations of mice all year round.
After a wait that proved she was in the riffraff category, Norah followed the Irish girl to the dragon’s lair. Seated at an elegant desk in
“And women,” Becky filled in gleefully, earning another disapproving glance from her mother.
“Sure that’s why people think she’s got no right to act so la di da,” Mabel said, “but that doesn’t make her any less of a witch.”
“I wonder how much she pays. If I could stand it for a few months, it would be spring, and I’d have some cash money. I don’t want to sell to the man who murdered Joe to get our land.”
The three of them spent the rest of the day and the evening discussing nothing but Becky’s upcoming wedding and Norah’s possibilities. The next morning Archie and his oldest son drove Norah home in their wagon and helped her pack up everything in the soddy.
She rode to Hubbell wedged in the wagon between Mabel and Becky only after every one of the Carburys promised that if she wanted to come home after the wedding, they would bring her home.
If Caleb Sutton knew how to laugh, he’d probably laugh at having turned her life upside down so thoroughly.
She wondered how long it would be before she knew whether she should curse him or thank him, not that she’d ever have a chance to do either.
A S SOON AS the railroad had come, Hubbell had started to grow, but the Tindell house was unique in the town. Norah gave it a good looking over from the street before approaching.
Three stories high, dripping with ornate trim, the house was a tribute to ostentation. Norah’s concern was with the size of the thing, which she knew she’d be expected to keep spotless. Housekeeper was simply Mrs. Tindell’s idea of a more impressive term for maid.
Becky’s new husband had already reported that so far as anyone in town knew, Mrs. Tindell hadn’t replaced her last unfortunate girl. Betting on the new employee’s staying power, whoever she turned out to be, continued unabated.
Norah learned that the job included room and board and a small salary, but no one could tell her what kind of room or how much salary.
The house sat back from the road on a large lot surrounded by an iron fence with spiked pickets to keep riffraff out. Probably she should go around to the back, but she wasn’t hired help yet.
Squaring her shoulders, she marched through the front gate. The brass horse head knocker on the carved front door winked at her. Examining it closely, Norah could see that polish would fix the eyes so they matched, but she wasn’t going to be the one to point that out.
A girl in a gray dress covered by a large white apron answered the door. Norah backed up a step and almost fell off the porch.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I came about the housekeeper’s job. I didn’t know the position was taken.”
The girl reached out and fastened a hand like a steel trap on Norah’s arm, pulling her inside.
“It’s not taken,” she said with an Irish lilt. “Mr. Tindell all but threatened my da to get me to work here a few hours a day, and if you’ve come to save me, I’ll pray for you every day for the rest of me life, I will.”
Norah swallowed hard. “It’s that bad then? Does she pay, though?”
“She’s the devil draped in silk, she is, but she pays what she promises.”
Steps sounded on the polished wood floor behind them, and the girl dropped her voice to a whisper.
“You wait here. I’ll tell her about you, and she’ll have me escorting you to the parlor like she’s a queen and can’t walk out here.”
The girl disappeared, and Norah stared around the hall at the ornate furniture and papered walls. Housekeeping here would certainly be different than in a dirt-floored soddy that measured sixteen feet by twenty and was home to a thriving insect population and the occasional snake in summer and generations of mice all year round.
After a wait that proved she was in the riffraff category, Norah followed the Irish girl to the dragon’s lair. Seated at an elegant desk in
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