Loving Liza Jane (28 page)

“Clement, what are you doing here?” The boy towered over her like a full-grown man.

“I seen the lights on, Teacher. Thought I’d pay you a kindly visit.” She didn’t like the low quality to his voice, nor the fact that he’d closed the door behind him.

“I’m sorry, Clement, but we’ll have to visit during school hours. Perhaps during the recess period we could…”

He moved in closer, his dark face reflecting bold desire.

“Clement, it is not appropriate for you to be here at this hour.”

“It ain’t very appropriate for you, either,” he returned. “No tellin’ what could happen to one so perty as you.”

She bristled when he touched a clammy hand to her arm. “Need help puttin’ this coat on?” he asked, giving her a grin. The stench of his sour breath hung in the air like untended garbage, while his dirty hair lay in separated clumps across his pimpled forehead.

“I can manage, thank you. What brings you here?” It was best to remain calm and controlled, she reminded herself.

Lord, please give me wisdom to say the right words so that I don’t create a bigger problem for myself than I am able to handle.

“Comed into town to buy a few supplies fer Paw,” he said, a feral grin planted across his thin lips. “Saw the lights on in the school and thought I’d check on ya. Wondered if you was lonely.”

“Actually, I’m just leaving, Clement, but I appreciate the thought. You best head back up to your place.”

“What’s the hurry? Ain’t no school tomorrow.” He took a step closer, and her nerves tangled.

“It’s getting late, Clement,” she said, swallowing hard.

Dear Lord, please see me through this predicament.

***

“Where is that fool woman?” Ben muttered to himself, climbing aboard his rig and heading for town. He hadn’t wanted to leave the girls, but since he’d already put Molly to bed a half hour ago, he was sure Lili would tend to things just fine until he returned.

He told himself repeatedly it was not his place to worry about Liza, but he couldn’t stifle his worry when the clock pushed seven and she had not come home. Dusk was no time for a woman to be roaming these parts, and he meant to tell her so just as soon as he laid eyes on her. Of course, she would balk at his protective nature, but he didn’t care.

He steered the horses over the familiar rise and fall of the well-trodden dirt track; not that they needed steering; the beasts could have gotten to town without the help of reins. The brisk night air nibbled at his nose and cheeks, but sheer adrenalin kept his blood running warm.

The school and yard were dark when he approached, but something told him to stop anyway. This time he would check the outhouse first rather than last on the chance that someone had played another prank on her. It didn’t seem likely, however, since, despite all the odds, she was maintaining good rapport with her students, even the Hogsworth twins, wonder of wonders.

He drew the horses to a halt, jumped down, and heaved the reins over a hitching post. That was when he noticed a pale glow of light trailing a path under the school door. A strange kind of premonition slithered through his veins, cautioning him. He took the entrance steps slowly, stealthily.

“Just because yore my teacher don’t mean we can’t be special friends,” said a male voice, not quite husky enough to qualify as manly.

“Clement, I would like you to leave now. We’ll talk another t-time.”

“What say you give me a little…”

Ben wrenched open the door and crossed the room in less time than it would take to drop a pebble in a pond. The young man had both his hands on a flailing Liza, his strong grip on her arms preventing her escape.

“Unhand her,” Ben said coolly, fighting with every ounce of staying power he could muster not to toss the lad clear to the other side of the building. He could do it, he told himself. He could bloody him up quicker than it would take the boy to beg for mercy.

The faintest glint of terror rose in the young man’s eyes at the shock of facing someone bigger and stronger than he was, but the look was short-lived. With sadistic eyes and posture to match, he dropped his hands to his sides, releasing his teacher, and then made a grunting sound. Liza moved to Ben’s side, her short, heaving breaths clear indication of her fright. Ben longed to look her over carefully, but he couldn’t allow himself that luxury just yet, not until he took care of this rabble-rousing teenager.

“Well, lookie here, Teacher. It’s yore boyfriend,” Clement said. “I’m downright jealous.”

“Keep your mouth shut, Clement. Are you okay, Liza?”

Her yes came out more in the form of a simple nod and a faint little squeak.

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with her,” Clement said, raising both hands in a show of peace. “I was merely bein’ friendly.”

“Didn’t look too friendly to me,” Ben issued.

Clement laughed, a guttural sound from down deep. “Oh, it was approachin’ on mighty friendly. She was likin’ it, too. Matter o’ fact, we was startin’ to get real cozy. Another minute and…”

Ben’s fist came up as if it had a mind of its own and planted itself squarely on Clement Bartel’s jaw. The boy went down without a fight, the impact sending him several feet backward and knocking him down, but not until his shoulder made contact with the corner of a desk, and he’d pulled over a chair en route to the floor. Squawking like a rooster who’d lost all its tail feathers, the boy lay there rolling around and holding his face.

“Ben!” Liza shrieked in fright. Her hand went to her throat while she looked from him to Clement and back to him with boulder-sized eyes. “You hit him.”

Ben half grinned. “I did, didn’t I?” He walked over to the boy and yanked him to his feet by the scruff of his collar. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you the proper way to treat a woman?” At that, Clement cleared his throat and hurled a wad of bloody spittle into Ben’s face.

When he might have been enraged at the act, Ben merely chuckled, wiped his cheek with the back of his sleeve, and said, “Well now, I guess you could say we’re even. Come on, we’re going to pay the sheriff a nice little visit.”

“I ain’t goin’ to no sheriff.”

“Oh, but you are,” Ben assured.

“I done nothin’ wrong,” Clement wailed in protest, even as Ben shoved the boy’s arms behind him and led him in the direction of the door. Clement’s shaky, crooked gait indicated his inability to put up much of a fight.

“No? I’d say manhandling the teacher qualifies as a criminal act.”

“There weren’t no manhandlin’. I told you she liked it. Matter of fact, she’s been askin’ fer it.” With that remark, Clement threw Liza an angry, if not sultry, look, and Ben tightened his hold on the boy’s wrists, deciding to ignore the crude remarks and praying for a large dose of old-fashioned self-control.

The notion that Clement meant to harm Liza turned Ben’s stomach inside out. What might have happened if he hadn’t arrived when he had? The bruises Ben had seen on Clement’s stepmother were clear proof that he was capable of crime at its worst.

At the door, Ben turned to find Liza still standing like a statue. “Come on,” he issued. “You have a complaint to file.”

Are you sure you’re all right?” Ben asked on the ride back home. A barrier of silence had stretched between them until he finally broke it down.

“Yes,” she managed shakily.

“The boy should be sitting in jail,” Ben muttered through clenched teeth.

“I think it’s enough that he not be allowed to return to school,” Liza said, her hands folded around her handkerchief. “The truth is, he drags the other students down with his cruel taunts. He wasn’t interested in learning anyway.”

“If you’d pressed charges, Will would have thrown him in a cell, Liza. He told you as much.”

“And what would that have accomplished? He couldn’t keep him there forever, and chances are Clement would have come out even angrier. Besides, it wasn’t as if he truly hurt me. In fact, the only thing he really accomplished was to frighten me.”

“What if I hadn’t come when I did?” Ben asked, turning his gaze on her. Liza felt his eyes bearing down on her, his anger still fresh and close to the surface. Never had she witnessed such a violent reaction as she had when she’d seen Ben trounce on Clement.

“I don’t want to think about it,” she answered.

The absence of warmth combined with the events of the evening caused a shiver to run the length of her body. Ben sensed it and put a big steady arm around her shoulder. “Come here,” he said, drawing her close.

She should have resisted his touch, but the fact of the matter was she was too cold and exhausted to do much about it. Thus, she folded into his embrace, dropping her head against his expansive chest, her cheek soaking up the heat of his rough woolen jacket.

“Why did you come?” she asked into the inky blackness. Cloud-covered skies prevented the moon from showing its face on this colder than normal evening.

Whether intentional or not, he tightened his grip on her. “I got worried when you didn’t come home,” he said with a touch of gruffness. “What were you thinking by staying so late?”

“The time got away from me. I had a mound of assignments to correct and after that a letter to write and…”

“You couldn’t have done that in the safety of your cabin?”

“I was comfortable where I was. I didn’t feel like leaving immediately after school.”

“You need to use some common sense,” he said with a hint of anger. “It’s not safe for a woman to be roaming these parts after dark.”

“But…”

“There are wild animals of every kind out here, not to mention the hill folk I’ve warned you about. Clement is a good example of what can go wrong when a defenseless woman is…well, you see what I’m saying.” He made a huffing sound, then charged ahead with, “Until you get a rig or a horse of your own, I intend to drive you back and forth, that’s all there is to it.”

“What?” Now her own ire went up, as did her back. “That’s completely unnecessary, and I am not defenseless,” she wanted to make clear. She pulled away from his warmth. “Many of my students walk greater distances than I do. Why should I have the luxury of riding?”

“You’re being silly, and you appeared quite defenseless to my eyes when Clement had his hands on you.”

It was hard to argue with that, so she closed her mouth up tight and dropped her shoulders.

“It doesn’t make sense for you to walk when I can just as easily pick you up when I pick up Lili.” His voice had dropped in tandem with her shoulders. She sensed his watchful eyes as they darted from the dark trail ahead back to her face.

“Oh, I suppose,” she finally relented. “But on nice, sunny days I shall continue to walk.”

“As long as you come home right after school,” he ordered.

“Why are you so bossy?” she asked with folded arms.

He leaned over until his hot breath touched her earlobe. “Why are you so stubborn?”

And since she had no answer for that particular question, she closed her mouth up tight again.

***

Clement’s absence made a remarkable difference in the classroom dynamics. Many students’ expressions went from sullen to bright, closed to open. Liza interpreted the change in atmosphere to mean they felt safer, happier. Without knowing it, many had refrained from expressing themselves at the risk of hearing a snide remark from the back of the room. Clement’s taunts and jeers had earned him many reprimands, but they had only served to quiet him temporarily, his crossed arms and smug looks an indication of his obstinacy. Moreover, Liza had surmised he enjoyed it when she disciplined him, for that meant he’d gained her full attention.

One noticeable change in the classroom came from Rufus Baxter. Just as Liza had suspected, Rufus began to emerge a different boy in Clement Bartel’s absence. Apparently, his self-esteem suffered to such a degree that he’d failed to reveal his identity outside of Clement’s influence. So intent had Rufus been on replicating Clement’s every act that, without him there, he seemed at a loss how to misbehave, one incident yesterday proving Liza’s observation.

It had been an unusually lovely day, the kind that came so rarely at November’s onset, so Liza had allowed an extra five minutes of afternoon recess time. An energetic game of baseball had ensued, despite the chilly air, with even the younger children allowed their times at bat. Liza paused at the back entry to watch, proud of how they had all learned to accept each other’s differences. Had Clement been amongst them, he’d have had a fight going for certain—someone complaining about the little ones playing, their slower reflexes holding up the game, or their incompetence affecting the score. Yet these children seemed not to care about age or size differences, everyone laughing and enjoying the temporary freedom from their confining little classroom.

When Liza waved the big handbell signaling the end of recess, Thomas Barrington put up a fuss. “Aw, can’t we stay outside just five more minutes, Miss Merriwether? Our score is tied.”

“Yeah,” the Hogsworth twins begged in unison. “Five more minutes can’t hurt none.”

Liza laughed. “You’re lucky I gave you the extra five minutes to begin with. Now hurry inside. We have more work to do before the day’s end.”

Someone moaned, and it seemed the entire class had turned a hopeful look on her, as if their pleading eyes might change her mind. That was when Rufus spoke up. “Come on, you guys. Teacher said it’s time to go in. ’Sides, ain’t nothin’ wrong with a tie. Jus’ means both teams won.”

With that, Rufus had made his way toward the building and past Liza with, wonder of wonders, the younger children following suit.

She’d known from the start there was goodness in Rufus. Now it was a matter of making him believe it.

If there was one thing that troubled Liza about Clement’s ban from school, it was Rosie Bartel’s strange behavior. Rather than blossom in her older brother’s absence, she’d taken to distancing herself, replacing her usual cheery smile with a somber face. When Liza had asked her if she was all right, she’d merely nodded, saying she was tired.

“Aren’t you getting enough sleep, Rosie?” Liza had asked.

The child merely nodded her head and asked, “Can I go back to my seat now?”