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And then what? Where would she go from there? She had no
home, no job, and no family to take her in. She had friends, of
course, but nothing could drag her back to humble herself before
Margaret and Elizabeth.
What a neat tale she had concocted to satisfy their curiosity. She
met Ben, she told them, when she taught at Corkum. He had been
visiting cousins there and, since one of them was a teaching colleague,
she and Ben had been set up with a blind date. They dated
until he returned to his farm in Saskatchewan. They intended to
marry but when her mother took ill and Sarah went home to care
for her, all of her plans, as her friends well knew, had to be put on
hold. But he waited, never pressuring her. And now that she was
free he had sent for her to come as soon as she had things settled
at home.
There were tears in Elizabeth’s eyes when Sarah finished. The girl,
still single herself, whispered, “What a beautiful love story.”
Sarah, overcome with guilt then, started to confess her lie. But
Margaret, frowning and clearly angry, cut her off.
“And why didn’t you tell us this before now? Why have you waited
until you’re almost ready to leave? I’ll bet you never even told
your mother about him or she would have mentioned it to us. I
swear, Sarah, I never knew you could be so close-mouthed. And
with your best friends at that! Even when I was getting married you
still didn’t say a word.”
Sarah could only bow her head and say, “I didn’t know if he would
wait, and I didn’t want you feeling sorry for me like the last time.”
It had been as good a ploy as any, and had an immediate softening
effect on Margaret. Both girls were aware of Sarah’s heartbreak
when her high school sweetheart, RCAF pilot Danny Stevens, had
been killed during the Battle of Britain in 1940.
Sarah turned from the dressing table. Throwing the bed covers
back, she scanned the sheets only briefly before crawling between
them. The bedding smelled of mildew but she didn’t care. This
would be her only night in the house, so what did it matter?
“Brave thought, Sarah,” she muttered into the stillness. “What are
you going to do, sleep out on the prairie?”
Even that would be preferable to facing Margaret.
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