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Authors: Gwen Kirkwood
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Janet looked back once, but her mother had already turned to accompany the tailor to his home.
Josiah Saunders was not in the habit of lingering to gossip after the kirk as many of the congregation did but as he stared out of the window of his coach he was surprised to see Mary Scott being driven away in one direction by Mr Cole while the child, Janet, was being driven off in the opposite direction in the pony and trap belonging to the man Foster. He did not know the man personally. He frowned, trying to recall what he had heard about him. He was sure it was nothing to the man’s credit. He knew he came from one of the outlying farms near the parish boundary, maybe even from the next parish. He leaned out of the window and beckoned Donald Baird.
‘Why is Mistress Scott driving off with Mr Cole and leaving her child with that man in the pony and trap?’
‘Mistress Scott needs the work, sir, and Mr Cole needs a woman to keep his books and help his wife who is ailing. He hasna room for wee Janet.’ In spite of his best efforts, Donald Baird’s voice was gruff with emotion. They all cared deeply for the wee lass they had fostered as their own when she was a babe, and rumours abounded about Foster from Braeheights Farm.
‘But surely the girl should still be at school. I recall Dominie McWhan had great hopes for her education.’
‘Aye, I’m sure he was right, but Mistress Scott canna afford to pay the school fees now that the old dominie isna there.’
‘The school fees? Then I will pay the fees for the girl to complete her education,’ Josiah said immediately. ‘We must go after the child and bring her back.’
‘’Tis not only the fees, sir. Miss Janet doesna want to go back to Dominie Todd’s school. He caned her cruelly. I saw the marks he has left on the lassie myself. My own bairns say he enjoys using the cane but they were troubled by the way he picked on Miss Janet, poor lamb. They say he invented reasons every day to cane her. If she answered the questions first he caned her for being impertinent. If she got a question wrong, he caned her for being idle. He made her carry all the coal for the school and he forbade the other bairns to help her. We only heard this yesterday.’
‘But this is preposterous! The dominie is supposed to command respect from both pupils and parents. I shall speak to him myself.’
‘No! No, please, sir. Frae what I hear, he’s a spiteful, mean kind o’ man. He would guess who had told you and take it out on Angus and Beth, our own two bairns.’
‘I see. I had not considered he would make other innocent children pay,’ Josiah said thoughtfully. ‘All right, drive me home, Donald. I shall not speak to the dominie myself but I shall have a word with the Reverend Drummond and make sure he is aware of conditions at the school. He has already expressed concern about the number of boys who are not attending school regularly. The situation should not continue. Meanwhile we must hope the people at the farm treat Miss Janet kindly.’
‘Mistress Foster was a decent, kindly young woman before she married Foster,’ Donald Baird said. ‘She used to live on the outskirts o’ Rowanbank Village. Her mother is Mrs Fortescue and she still has a cottage on the road to the shore. We rarely see Mrs Foster now. She seems to have a bairn every year.’
Chapter Five
At first, Janet looked around with interest as she perched beside Molly in the trap. They wended their way around narrow tracks and roads she had never seen before. Gradually, she became aware of the biting cold and huddled more closely into her mother’s cloak, glad of its warmth now, even though it was far too long for her. Beside her Molly sat as silent as a stranger, indeed they might have been strangers, so different was she from the chattering, carefree schoolfriend of a few weeks earlier. As the road rose more steeply, the pony walked slower and slower. Every now and then, Mr Foster shouted and wielded the whip,
Josiah Saunders was not in the habit of lingering to gossip after the kirk as many of the congregation did but as he stared out of the window of his coach he was surprised to see Mary Scott being driven away in one direction by Mr Cole while the child, Janet, was being driven off in the opposite direction in the pony and trap belonging to the man Foster. He did not know the man personally. He frowned, trying to recall what he had heard about him. He was sure it was nothing to the man’s credit. He knew he came from one of the outlying farms near the parish boundary, maybe even from the next parish. He leaned out of the window and beckoned Donald Baird.
‘Why is Mistress Scott driving off with Mr Cole and leaving her child with that man in the pony and trap?’
‘Mistress Scott needs the work, sir, and Mr Cole needs a woman to keep his books and help his wife who is ailing. He hasna room for wee Janet.’ In spite of his best efforts, Donald Baird’s voice was gruff with emotion. They all cared deeply for the wee lass they had fostered as their own when she was a babe, and rumours abounded about Foster from Braeheights Farm.
‘But surely the girl should still be at school. I recall Dominie McWhan had great hopes for her education.’
‘Aye, I’m sure he was right, but Mistress Scott canna afford to pay the school fees now that the old dominie isna there.’
‘The school fees? Then I will pay the fees for the girl to complete her education,’ Josiah said immediately. ‘We must go after the child and bring her back.’
‘’Tis not only the fees, sir. Miss Janet doesna want to go back to Dominie Todd’s school. He caned her cruelly. I saw the marks he has left on the lassie myself. My own bairns say he enjoys using the cane but they were troubled by the way he picked on Miss Janet, poor lamb. They say he invented reasons every day to cane her. If she answered the questions first he caned her for being impertinent. If she got a question wrong, he caned her for being idle. He made her carry all the coal for the school and he forbade the other bairns to help her. We only heard this yesterday.’
‘But this is preposterous! The dominie is supposed to command respect from both pupils and parents. I shall speak to him myself.’
‘No! No, please, sir. Frae what I hear, he’s a spiteful, mean kind o’ man. He would guess who had told you and take it out on Angus and Beth, our own two bairns.’
‘I see. I had not considered he would make other innocent children pay,’ Josiah said thoughtfully. ‘All right, drive me home, Donald. I shall not speak to the dominie myself but I shall have a word with the Reverend Drummond and make sure he is aware of conditions at the school. He has already expressed concern about the number of boys who are not attending school regularly. The situation should not continue. Meanwhile we must hope the people at the farm treat Miss Janet kindly.’
‘Mistress Foster was a decent, kindly young woman before she married Foster,’ Donald Baird said. ‘She used to live on the outskirts o’ Rowanbank Village. Her mother is Mrs Fortescue and she still has a cottage on the road to the shore. We rarely see Mrs Foster now. She seems to have a bairn every year.’
Chapter Five
At first, Janet looked around with interest as she perched beside Molly in the trap. They wended their way around narrow tracks and roads she had never seen before. Gradually, she became aware of the biting cold and huddled more closely into her mother’s cloak, glad of its warmth now, even though it was far too long for her. Beside her Molly sat as silent as a stranger, indeed they might have been strangers, so different was she from the chattering, carefree schoolfriend of a few weeks earlier. As the road rose more steeply, the pony walked slower and slower. Every now and then, Mr Foster shouted and wielded the whip,
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