The Journey of the Shadow Bairns by Margaret J. Anderson

Author:Margaret J. Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“Obstacles are something to be overcome”

APRIL 20-24, 1903

The following morning, Violet invited Elspeth to join her on the high front seat of the Simmses’ wagon. Sidney was leading Beauty, and Violet wanted someone to talk to. Robbie sat between the two girls, his legs swinging as the wagon jolted along. He paid no heed to their chatter.

“That Mrs. Beattie is a funny one,” Violet said. “Whenever I try to talk to her, she doesn’t even let on I’m there. She puts me in mind of our cook, Mrs. Rogers. Ever so stuck-up, she was.”

Elspeth had been thinking about Mrs. Beattie too. Last night when Sidney was playing his fiddle by the campfire, Robbie jumped up and began to dance, trying to do the Highland fling, the way he used to do it to make Papa laugh. It hurt Elspeth to remember those happy days. Then she noticed Mrs. Beattie looking at Robbie in her strange, hungry way. Elspeth grabbed him and pulled him down beside her, saying, “Stop acting so silly, Robbie MacDonald. You sit down beside me!” Sidney said not to spoil the lad’s fun, and Robbie fussed and cried till Elspeth had to bribe him to be quiet with the last piece of barley sugar. All the time, Mrs. Beattie was watching them.

Then that morning, when they had been ready to leave, Robbie had wandered over and petted the Beattie’s calf. When Elspeth saw Mrs. Beattie walking toward Robbie, she left the dishes and ran over and grabbed Robbie, jerking him away from the calf.

“You leave other people’s things alone, do you hear me?”

“I was just talking to it,” Robbie said, taken aback at finding Elspeth so angry.

“Well, you’re not to,” Elspeth answered.

Robbie began to cry, and although Elspeth knew she was being unfair, she slapped him telling him to stop making a fuss. Of course, that only made him cry all the louder, and all the time Elspeth could feel Mrs. Beattie’s gaze on both of them.

But now the Beatties’ wagon was some distance ahead, so Elspeth put Mrs. Beattie out of her mind and listened to Violet talking about her wedding day, and about the cake Mrs. Rogers had made.

“Ever so pretty, it was, all decorated with violets and forget-me-nots—because of my name and I wasn’t to forget them after we were gone. Netty didn’t eat her piece. She put it under her pillow, so she’d dream about the man she’s going to marry. I wonder if she’s found him yet!”

Elspeth loved listening to Violet’s chatter and Violet enjoyed having an attentive audience. The only problem was that Violet had no patience with Robbie, and he didn’t care one bit about the affairs of the Farmington household. He kept interrupting, asking if he could get down and walk.

“Can’t Arthur and Geoffrey take him for a bit,” Violet suggested. “There’s not really enough room for him here. Or let him get down and walk if that’s what he wants.”

“I’d have to walk with him to make sure he didn’t get too far behind,” Elspeth answered.

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