“Of course.” Gloriana went to the kitchen and pulled out a drawer in her spice container. She pulled a stick of cinnamon from a small glass jar. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, Gloriana. You always make me feel so much better.” Sally’s large brown eyes were edged with tears. “I don’t mean to always be so afraid, but our life has been rough. Since my mother died, I don’t know what I would have done without Scott. I had nobody else.”

“Well, you have us now.” Gloriana hugged her friend close, as she might have done JT. “Now, try to enjoy the day.”

“I will. I promise.”

Gloriana had a few minutes to herself before JT returned home from school. Papa was off seeing to something for the boat, and the house was clean and supper was already baking in the oven. She settled down at the kitchen table with her Bible and had just started to read when another knock sounded on the front door. It was unusual to have more than one visitor in a day. With a sigh, Gloriana closed the Bible and went to see who it was.

“Mr. Nelson,” she said, surprised to see the schoolmaster. Beside him, a downcast JT stood digging his toe in the dirt.

“Miss Womack, is your father home?” The severe-looking man had been the subject of many of her brother Aaron’s pantomimes, and the cause of the utter desolation of JT.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with me for the time being.”

JT looked up with a pleading expression. Gloriana could only imagine his crime.

“Jeremiah Thomas carved his initials on his school desk, and I have come to deliver him home for punishment from his father. I have already delivered three well-placed swats and commanded that he repair the damage immediately.”

“JT, is this true?” Gloriana asked in as stern a voice as she could muster.

“It’s true. He swatted me real hard,” JT confirmed.

“I meant did you carve on the desk.”

He nodded, then looked at the ground again. “I’m sorry.”

Mr. Nelson pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Unfortunately, I believe your brother is only sorrowful for getting caught.”

“I will see that our father learns of what happened. I’m sure JT will be happy to repair the desk.”

Mr. Nelson looked at her for a long moment. “Very well. I shall leave him to your care.”

He turned with the precision of a soldier and marched away. Gloriana might have laughed at his formality but for JT. The boy would see her amusement as something to capitalize on. Already she could see him relax his shoulders as he gave a sigh.

“I’ll have your pocketknife,” she said.

“Mr. Nelson took it. Mean old bear.”

“JT, that is not to be tolerated. Mr. Nelson is your elder and teacher. He is your authority at school, and you have dishonored yourself today.”