Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati Page B

altitude were good
for her appetite.
    "It's
running around the village in the snow," Curiosity pointed out. "But
you've got your rest now. There's company waiting for you downstairs once
you've had your fill."
    Elizabeth
looked up, startled.
    "Calm
yourself. Just Kitty Witherspoon, come to pay her respects. Your brother's
entertaining her until you come down."
    * * *
    Katherine
Witherspoon, she did not call herself Kitty to
Elizabeth
—waited in the sitting room on the
edge of her chair. There was no sign of Julian, which was disappointing to
Elizabeth
: he was much
better than she ever would be at the type of conversation required of such
calls. But then,
Elizabeth
reminded herself, she had no idea how calls were made here.
    Miss
Witherspoon was a young woman in her early twenties,
Elizabeth
imagined. She was of medium height,
quite mature in her form, with narrow face below waves of pale blond hair. Her
eyes, a watery blue, were surrounded with a fringe of the same pale blond. The
younger woman came up from her chair quickly to greet
Elizabeth
, her hand damp with nervousness.
She was so enthusiastic and eager that she stumbled a little over a speech
Elizabeth
thought was
surely rehearsed, in which Miss Witherspoon listed all the reasons she was so
very pleased to have Elizabeth and her brother in the neighborhood.
    It
had begun to snow in earnest and the two young women settled before the hearth
in the sitting room, where Daisy brought them tea.
Elizabeth
sighed with relief to find herself
in such peaceful surroundings after the last few days and the unsettling events
of the morning. Thoughts of her conversation with Nathaniel distracted her for
a moment away from the story Katherine was telling.
    "I'm
afraid I'm taxing you too much after your long journey," Katherine said,
breaking off her narrative.
    "Oh,
no,"
Elizabeth
assured her, wanting very much to set the young woman at ease.   "Please pardon me. Everything is so new
to me, I sometimes am distracted by little things."
    "Were
you thinking of yesterday's accident?"
    Elizabeth
considered her answer, realizing that everything that had passed between her
family and Nathaniel yesterday was now common knowledge.
    "Pardon
me," Katherine went on, coloring slightly. "I shouldn't have
presumed."
    "No,
that's quite all right,"
Elizabeth
said, but she did not answer Katherine's question. An awkward silence fell
between them, and
Elizabeth
roused herself.
    "Miss
Witherspoon—Katherine," she said. "Perhaps you could be of assistance
to me. You may have heard that I wish to start a school here for the younger
children?"
    Katherine
nodded.
    "The
first step is for me to find out who my students will be, and to approach their
parents. Since you must be acquainted with all the families in
Paradise
, would you be so kind?" And
Elizabeth
fetched paper
and writing instruments and together the two women began a list.
    Katherine
listed eight families with school—age children, and was able to give
Elizabeth
names and
directions to their cabins, as well as an approximate age of each child. Quite
pleased to have this accomplished so easily,
Elizabeth
looked over the list and counted
twelve names.
    "These
are all the children, then?" she asked, somewhat apprehensively. She was
afraid she would have to directly inquire after the names of the children of
slaves, but Katherine seemed to realize this.
    "Those
are all the children in the village, free or slave," Katherine said.
    "I
expect that in some cases it will be hard for you to convince parents to let
the children come to school. Billy Kirby, for instance."
    "Billy
Kirby?"
    "He's
a farmer, hunter, hauls timber, and he does some building. He built this house
for your father. Billy is raising his younger brother since his parents passed
on." Katherine hesitated. "He won't be very enthusiastic about the
idea of sending Liam to school."
    "Well,
I can talk to him, can't I?"
Elizabeth
said.
    "Those
are all the children," Katherine repeated.