Free Lyn Cote by The Baby Bequest Page A

the brooding evergreen trees and tall maples? But the beautiful surroundings didn’t distract him from his purpose. He’d argued with himself over whether the schoolteacher was right till he was ragged inside. Now he must speak. Tomorrow Miss Thurston would be expecting Gunther for his first private lesson.
    “I know you have not been going to school,” Kurt said flatly and without preamble.
    Gunther started and swung to face him, instantly fired up. “I am too old—”
    “Ja, you are too old.”
    This halted Gunther’s words. He stared at Kurt.
    Kurt inhaled deeply. “But there is still much you need to learn.”
    Gunther looked unhappy but didn’t reply.
    “How will you learn about this country without school?”
    Kurt asked to force Gunther to deal with the problem as an adult. If he wished to be treated as an adult, he’d have to start acting like one.
    There was a pause; cricket song filled their silence and then Gunther suggested, “I could read books.”
    “Is your English good enough to understand those books?”
    “My English is better all the time,” Gunther said, some of the edge seeping back into his tone.
    Kurt stared at his boots. This still felt like giving in, like letting Gunther get his own way, making him weak.
    “Miss Thurston has offered private lessons two evenings a week, starting tomorrow. Do you want them?”
    Gunther sent him a look laden with suspicion and folded his arms. “Private lessons? Can we afford that?”
    “She says she is the teacher for Pepin and will teach anybody who wants to learn whenever they can come. Do you want to learn, Gunther?”
    Gunther eyed him as if he didn’t trust him.
    “You did not set Johann a very good example,” Kurt scolded, frowning, and felt the frown lowering his own mood.
    “I couldn’t get you to listen to me,” Gunther objected.
    Kurt bent forward and folded his hands. Their relationship was not the usual between brothers. It never had been. Their father had never “fathered” Gunther.
    Gunther rose. “So I go to school tomorrow after supper?”
    “We’ll go with you,” Kurt said. “Maybe I can learn, too.”
    This thought obviously startled Gunther. Then the lad grinned. “We go to school together—you and me?”
    Kurt shook his head, standing. “Go to bed.”
    Gunther chuckled and went inside.
    Kurt stared at the last of the sunset and thought of Miss Thurston, so pretty and so caring. But she was going to be hurt over this baby and there was nothing he could do to help her.
    * * *
    On Tuesday evening, Ellen stood in the doorway of the school, waiting for Gunther to arrive. Would he? Or would he skip evening school, too?
    As she waited, she tried not to think of the contents of her sister’s letter, which she’d finished reading before she went to retrieve William from the Brawley’s. The letter’s contents still upset her stomach and played through her mind. She’d thought she’d left matters in the best way she could, but evidently that had changed for the worse.
    She sighed. The autumn days still lingered in a long twilight. Then she saw a trio of shadows approaching. Apparently Gunther was not arriving on his own.
    Holding Johann’s hand, Gunther walked beside Mr. Lang, who marched toward her as if someone behind him had a rifle aimed at his back. The man, whose good looks still caused her some unease, had very definite ideas. Gunther’s head was lowered in obvious uncertainty. She hoped this solution would work for the boy.
    Even as she tried to focus on the important task at hand, her unruly mind kept drifting back to phrases from her sister’s letter.
    I know you couldn’t possibly live with our brother and his wife. It seems to me that Alice brings out all the worst in Randolph. Shouldn’t love bring out the best in a person?
    A very good question, Ellen thought. Was this evidence that her sister was maturing?
    “Good evening, Miss Thurston.” Mr. Lang greeted her as always, with that distinctive