We can set up a work frolic to get the repairs done. I think Teacher Sara already has a list of what’s needed, ain’t so?”
Sara nodded, unable to keep a smile from her face. “Ya, I do.” A list she’d presented to the school board at least twice with no action. “I’ll get it for you.”
“Fine, fine.” Foster took a quick look around. “I do need to get going, but I can wait a few minutes. Or you can have your daed drop it off at the store.”
“I’ll get it right away.” She spun and headed for the schoolhouse, excitement bubbling, hardly able to believe Silas had agreed to this. Maybe the thought of getting something free had outweighed his reluctance. She’d best get the list to Mr. Foster before Silas changed his mind.
She stepped inside, closing the door behind her, mind intent on the list. She took one step toward her desk and stopped, her heart giving an uncomfortable thump.
Someone stood at her desk. Not just someone—a man, Englisch, young. He wore jeans and a tight black T-shirt, and he was as out of place in an Amish schoolroom as a zebra in a henhouse.
“What are you doing here?” Nervousness lent an edge to her voice.
“Just wanted to see what the school looked like. Nothing wrong with that, is there?” His bold eyes swept over her, studying her body in a way that made her want to hold something up to shield herself from his gaze.
Sara pushed down a momentary panic. There were people, plenty of them, just a shout away. Nothing could happen to her in her own schoolroom with half the residents of Beaver Creek nearby.
“The school is closed to visitors today.” She made her voice firm. “I’ll have to ask you to step outside.”
He sauntered toward her, his gaze never shifting. “Well, now, that’s not very friendly, is it?”
“The school is closed,” she repeated. She took a step back and bumped into a desk. Was it time to call out now, before he got any closer? She edged her way around the desk, feeling behind her for the door.
He smiled, as if he knew she was afraid and enjoyed it. “I know lots of ways to get friendly with a pretty girl like you.” He moved to within arm’s reach, and only the conviction that it would be a mistake to turn her back on him kept her from running.
“Get out of my schoolroom.” She would not panic. If she made a scene... Her mind shuddered away from the thought. It would be another black mark against her in Silas’s book—that was certain sure.
“Your schoolroom? So I guess that makes you the teacher, huh? Bet I could teach you some things.”
He reached toward her, and panic slipped her control. She drew in a breath to scream.
FOUR
Caleb’s first censorious thought at finding Teacher Sara alone in the school with an Englischer vanished when he saw the fear in her face. “What is going on?” He reached them in a few long strides, impelled by an alarming surge of protectiveness.
“Sara.” He moved between them, forcing the other man to take a step back. He focused on Sara’s strained face. “Was ist letz?”
Sara took a breath, some of the color coming back into her face. “I found this man in the schoolroom. He doesn’t want to leave.”
And he had frightened her. Caleb could read between the lines. Had he threatened her?
He fixed his glare on the man—hardly more than a teenager, but hardly an innocent. The way he’d been looking at Sara gave Caleb an urge to douse his head in the nearest water pail.
“Go. Now.” He didn’t waste words.
The stranger took another step back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. A flicker of bravado showed in his expression.
“I heard tell the Amish don’t hit back. So how you gonna make me?”
“That’s true enough.” And he’d never had such a longing to break that taboo. “But there are plenty of Englisch outside who’d be glad to help us out.”
He didn’t bother to repeat his command. He stared until the man’s gaze fell.
“Just having a little fun.” His voice had taken on a whine. “That’s all.” He swaggered out the door, the effect ruined by the speed at which he disappeared.
Caleb turned to Sara, overcome with the need to comfort her. “Are you all right? You’re safe now. He’s gone.”
She shook her head, turning toward him in an instinctive gesture, so that it seemed the most natural thing in the world to put his arm around her.
“It’s all right,” he said softly, just as he would soothe Rachel. “Nothing can hurt you now.”
Sara gave a watery chuckle. “Ach, I must be ferhoodled to let the likes of that one upset me so.” She drew back, as if aware of his arm around her.
He squeezed her arm in reassurance and let his hand fall, taking a step away. “It was sensible to be afraid, finding a stranger in here. Did he threaten you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t suppose he meant any harm. He was just showing off, most likely.”
Caleb’s thoughts were busy with the man’s reasons for being in the schoolroom, of all places. “Did you know him?”
Sara shook her head. “You don’t think I’d be friends with someone like that, do you?”
“I’m glad to see your spirit is back.” Although he couldn’t help but think Sara might be safer with a little less of that quality.
“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “The kinner. Where are they? You didn’t leave them on their own?”
“The girls are fine. Your brother and his wife took them to get funnel cakes. That’s what I was coming to tell you.” He hesitated. “Are you going to tell Chief O’Brian about what happened here?”
“I didn’t think of that.” The color came up in her cheeks again. “He said to tell him about anyone hanging around the school. I suppose I must.”
He thought he understood her embarrassment. The Englischer had said something offensive to her—something she probably didn’t want to repeat.
“Ya, I think you should talk to him,” he said firmly.
Sara looked at him with a challenge in her green eyes. “That’s a turnaround for you, isn’t it?”
He stiffened. “It’s an entirely different thing. My Rachel is a child, already having a difficult enough time of it. You’re a grown woman.” A fact of which he was uncomfortably aware.
Sara didn’t speak, but he could see the stubborn disagreement in her face. Well, maybe that was a good thing. It would encourage him to keep his guard up with her.
* * *
By the time school
