Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot

Author:Amanda Cabot [Cabot, Amanda]
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780800733247
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2008-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

9

The days were getting longer. Sarah smiled as she glanced out the window at the children who were chasing each other around the churchyard. Though for the most part they sat quietly during lessons, there was no doubt that recess was their favorite time of the day. It was then that they could run and shout and be children. Sarah enjoyed the respites too, for they gave her a chance to rest her voice and collect her thoughts. Normally she planned her next lesson, but today her mind refused to focus on arithmetic and spelling. Instead, it wandered, transporting her almost two thousand miles to the place she’d once called home. The dogwood and azalea buds would be swollen, preparing to dazzle the eye with the beauty of their flowers. Mama would be working in her garden, transplanting the seedlings she’d nurtured on a windowsill, singing softly as she ran her fingers through the fertile soil.

Oh, Mama! Sarah blinked in a vain attempt to hold back the tears that came as regularly as April rain. Sarah brushed the tears from her cheeks, then closed her eyes briefly, picturing her mother’s garden. Perhaps that was the answer. Though she couldn’t bring her back, perhaps sharing something Mama had enjoyed would ease the pain.

When she walked to the doorway to summon the children, Sarah heard one of her pupils groan. They knew recess was coming to an end. Her tears banished, she smiled, as much at the children’s predictable reaction as from the realization that only a few miles away a garden awaited her. She’d thought about it ever since Mary had mentioned it, but while Clay had been in deep mourning, Sarah hadn’t wanted to speak of anything that would remind him of his wife. Things were different now that he’d shipped Patience’s belongings and moved back into the house. Sarah thought he might agree to let her and Thea work in Patience’s garden. She’d ask him tonight.

For the rest of the afternoon, Sarah was as bad as the children, her mind refusing to concentrate on lessons. While she was teaching the older pupils multiplication tables, she conjured images of sweet peas and daisies. As the youngest children recited the alphabet, she wondered whether Patience had edged her garden with boxwood the way Mama had. By the end of the day, Sarah was as anxious as her pupils for the final bell. As they raced outside, she slid her lesson papers into her satchel and hurried Thea toward the door.

“Good afternoon, Fraulein . . .” The man doffed his hat and shook his head in apparent consternation as they met on the steps. He backed down and waited until Sarah and Thea were on level ground before he spoke again. “I beg your pardon. Good afternoon, Miss Dobbs.” Gunther Lehman emphasized Sarah’s appellation. “Eva has told me you insist they speak English. It is a good plan.”

Thea, clearly bored by the prospect of adult conversation, plunked herself on the bottom step and began to pout.

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