She sorted and counted her inheritance. They were all there: thirty $10
Eagles, thirty $5 Half-Eagles, and sixty $2.50 Quarter Eagles. Six hundred
dollars in all. She’d use it to pay for tools and seed and a hired man. She frowned again, thinking that she shouldn’t give Tobey his share just yet. She’d invest it in the farm, and a few years from now she’d have a much larger sum to
share with him. Shivering with cold, she scooped the coins back into the velvet
bag and returned it to its hiding place.
Maybe I can get Tobey to come to Michigan with me, she thought. Why should
he have to work for Avis? Truth is, as soon as Avis marries old boss face Lady
Mabel, Tobey will feel like he’s working for her. What kind of life is that? Heneeds something of his own. We’ll start with Uncle Scruggs’ land, and use themoney we make to buy more and more land.
It seemed a perfect plan until she tried to imagine her brother – with his thin
white arms, thick glasses, and constantly running nose – felling trees, plowing furrows, and harvesting fields of wheat. Even more than he lacked the physical
strength, she knew he lacked the ambition.
She remembered the conversation they’d had the day before, after Mr.
Carmichael finished reading the will. Olivia had dragged Tobey up to her
bedroom to complain about being left dependent on Avis.
“You could teach school,” Tobey suggested. “Teach some white kids to read
and write for a change.”
A long time ago, when Olivia was just a little girl, she’d taught her only friend – who happened to be colored – to read and write. She couldn’t believe the way people still talked about it, as if she’d done something wrong. Olivia bristled at Tobey’s remark, but held her tongue, not wanting to change the
subject.
“That way you’d have your own money, if that’s what’s so important to you,”
Tobey continued.
“You know teachers don’t get paid hardly anything.” She wiggled her
backside to get more comfortable, jostling the mattress and making her layers of
petticoats rustle. “You think I want to be like Miss Evans? She gets passed around like a bag of week-old fish, has to go live with a different family every
month. Some of them make her help with the housework after school and still act like they’re doing her a big favor.”
Tobey sighed and patted her thigh. “People do all kinds of things, little sister.
What’s it matter anyway, Livvie? It’s only until you get married.” Olivia saw her
brother wishing he could suck those words back the moment they were out of his
mouth.
She’d never had any gentlemen callers. Not a one. No one ever said it out
loud, but Olivia could see them all thinking it – she was going to be difficult to
marry off. She might not be a great beauty – her face was too thin for that – but
she was pretty enough, slight of build, with dark wavy hair, smooth skin, and bright blue eyes. Way prettier than most of the married women in town. But she
seemed to lack some essential quality that caused a man to come courting.
Tobey changed the subject. “You know Avis will let you work in the store, if
you want.”
“Puh.” Olivia expelled a quick burst of air and shook her head. “Now that
father’s gone, Mabel Mears is going to drag Avis to the altar quicker than two licks. And then she’ll be all over everything, like tar. Just you wait and see. I’d
as soon go to Massachusetts and slave in one of those textile mills as be bossed
by her. And how come you’re so calm about it? Why don’t you care?”
“Don’t see how me caring is going to make a whit of difference. Father left
