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Mia frowned. “What do you mean they’re in the wrong order?”
He shrugged. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Can you show me?” She pointed to his slate. “Do you know how to write your name?”
“Sure I can. That was the first thing I learned in school.” With his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, he carefully wrote his name—backward: ylliB.
“Well, isn’t that interesting?” Mia said, her anger growing at how badly the previous teacher had failed these two children. “I think we are going to take a trip to town. Spur-of-the-moment-type of thing. Want to keep me company?”
“Sure I would. Can Summer come, too?”
“If you can find her, she can.”
Mia marched outside and found Josiah, just as he finished nailing up the last rung for the corral fence. “Would you mind hitching up the horse to the wagon? I need to go talk to the teacher in Eufaula about the children.”
He glanced up at the sky with a quick frown. “There’s only a couple hours of light left. Are you sure this can’t wait until tomorrow?”
She propped her fists on her hips and glared at him. “No, it can’t. I’m so mad right now I can’t see straight.”
His lips twitched as if fighting a smile. “Well then, maybe I should be the one to drive. Give me five minutes and we’ll be on our way. I bought a horse from Harjo and borrowed two more, so we can pick those up on the return trip.”
Mia climbed onto the front bench and clasped her hands in her lap, clenching and unclenching her jaw. She couldn’t remember a time when she had been this angry. A dedicated teacher would always try to figure out a way to help a child learn, no matter how difficult it is, and they most definitely would not be disrespectful. Yet, that is what happened.
And this wasn’t the first time she had heard something about how the Indian children were treated. Rumors traveled, even all the way to New York. There had been several traveling teachers who had passed through, but Madam Wigg had never believed their stories. Even in the mercantile, she had overheard a woman talking about her child and something that had happened that day in school. She hadn’t understood…until today. The laughter had been at a Creek child’s expense, not a white child’s.
Billy jumped into the bed of the wagon behind her and grabbed hold of the bench. “I can’t find her, but don’t worry. I checked her bedroom and the quilt is still on her bed, so she hasn’t gone far.”
Mia smiled and patted his small hand. “Thank you.”
The ride to town passed by and before she knew it, she was climbing the stairs into the one-room schoolhouse, which was also the church. The teacher sat behind a desk in the corner of the room, her head tilted down, but from where Mia stood, she could see the wire-rimmed glasses perched smartly on her nose. Her mousy hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she wore a dark brown jacket that looked a bit too tight, and she could see the matching skirt sticking out from underneath the bottom of the desk.
Mia cleared her throat and marched up to the desk. “Excuse me.”
The teacher glanced up and pushed up her eye glasses, which promptly slid back down her nose. Her face was moon-shaped and she had a double chin. “May I help you?”
“You may. I understand you recommended several students not be allowed to return? Several Creek students?”
The teachers face paled, but Mia gave her credit, she didn’t back down. In fact, she squared her plump shoulders and stood. “I did. They refused to learn anything I taught them. They were nothing but a disruption for the other students.”
Mia’s blood chilled. “I have taught many different students in New York and never in my entire career have I heard anyone refer to a student as a ‘disruption.’ Children, no matter how incorrigible, are precious.”
“You are more than welcome to take on the riff raff of this society, Miss…”
“Mrs. Josiah West.”
“Mrs. West. Because I can promise you they will not be tolerated in this school. Those children are not intelligent enough to learn. They will never amount to anything more than street trash or outlaws. You are more than welcome to them.”
“Those children you so carelessly threw away are caring and very smart. They’re worth everything to me”
“I’d be careful if I were you—they’re little more than savages.”
“You are a cold, heartless woman. I feel sorry for you and the children you teach.” Mia stomped out of the schoolhouse, not seeing where she was going, only knowing she needed to find Josiah. She stood on the top step and stared down at her husband. He smiled up at her. Her anger died away as she lost herself in his dark brown eyes. For the first time in her adult life, she was relying on someone other than herself. In New York, she handled things as they happened without anyone’s help. When had everything changed?
Chapter 7
The Following Morning
They began the trip to pick up the cattle early that morning just as the sun rose, eating warm muffins and hot coffee as the cool morning breeze chilled their skin. They’d returned home late the evening before, gotten a few hours’ sleep, and it was now mid-morning. The sun beat down on them as they traveled to Checotah and the Colyer’s ranch, passing the time with laughter and jokes. The dust puffed up from their horses’ hooves, as the sweat trickled down spines and dripped along the sides of everyone’s faces, the sickly sweet scent of wildflowers and other flora filling the air.
