Free Pearl by Lauraine Snelling

Milly looked to Ruby, who shrugged helplessly. ‘‘I guess they just know how.’’ A smile broke forth. ‘‘Guess God just gave them that kind of know-how when He made cats.’’
    ‘‘Very good, Milly.’’ Ruby hid a sigh of relief.
    ‘‘Did God give dogs and people know-how too?’’
    Ruby quickly set her empty coffee cup in the pan of hot soapy water on the cooler end of the stove. ‘‘Opal, you do the dishes while Milly sweeps out the dining room, and I’ll knead the bread. Looks like we’ll need to make a trip to Dickinson before long, so I better start the shopping list too.’’ She stared out the window for far too brief a moment. A chinook wind had moved in during the night, and all the world was a’glitter.
    ‘‘When we doing lessons?’’ Opal gently set Cat on the floor. ‘‘Now you be careful, you hear?’’ Cat answered with a purr and arched her back to rub against Opal’s skirt. Opal stroked from her head to the tip of her tail. ‘‘You sure are one beautiful cat.’’
    ‘‘We’ll do lessons after dinner cleanup. I’ve been thinking we should talk with some of the new folks and see about starting a real school here in Little Missouri.’’
    Opal straightened up. ‘‘Who would teach us? You?’’
    ‘‘I could, but perhaps it is time to look for a real teacher.’’
    Charlie dumped a load of wood in the box by the stove.
    ‘‘What do you think, Charlie, about a school here?’’
    ‘‘You better be talkin’ to those who have children. You think there are enough?’’
    ‘‘I don’t know about now, but the way things are going, there might be more by fall.’’ One thing I know for sure, I don’t have time to teach and run Dove House too. I don’t have time to do half what I need to do as it is . Ruby scattered flour on the table and dumped out the rising bread dough. Kneading bread was always a good thinking time. Where could they have a school?

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Chicago , one week after Easter
    ‘‘The shipment arrived today.’’
    ‘‘Pearl, that is wonderful. Libraries always need new books and especially that school. It seems to me that libraries should be built where people need them the most, not where they look the best.’’ Amalia laid down the paper she’d been studying, an application for one of the grants which the Hossfuss Company gave away at her instigation and approval.
    ‘‘What is that one for?’’
    ‘‘The new women’s hospital is in terrible need of an operating room. We have helped Dr. Morganstern before. If I had my way, we would help her a lot more, but this would take pretty much all the money I am allowed.’’
    ‘‘So the question is, do we put it all on this concern and not help so many others who are just as needy?’’
    ‘‘Yes. However, the cost of things like your books for the school are so minimal, don’t feel you have to hesitate to do things like that.’’
    ‘‘Thank you. Can I get you some tea?’’
    Pearl had always loved her father’s study. She savored the big cherrywood desk where she used to hide in the knee cubby, the book-lined shelves, the smell of leather bindings synonymous with her father’s attention as he used to hold her in his arms and point out different books he wanted her to read. She’d been reading by five, thanks to his encouragement.
    ‘‘Far, listen.’’ Hair in ringlets tied with a blue bow, she popped up, book in hand. ‘‘I can read.’’
    He picked her up, put her on his lap, and laid the book on the desktop. She opened the beginning McGuffey’s Reader and read the first lines. ‘‘The dog. The dog ran.’’
    ‘‘See?’’ She looked over her shoulder to catch his nod and the smile that warmed his eyes, eyes that glittered lake blue when he was pleased, like now, or became storm-tossed gray when he was upset.
    ‘‘She has been working so hard.’’ Anna, gently rocking the buggy where baby Micah lay gurgling and cooing, said with a smile for her precocious