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Authors: Laurie Alice Eakes
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thing she wanted to do was fall on her face in front of Ayden and the Finneys. On the other hand, not overhearing the dialogue on the pavement might have been worth the risk of humiliating herself, especially the last bit. As she turned to close the church door, Mia caught the words of Dr. Finney regarding train riffraff and noticed his eyes fixed upon her. She pursed her lips to avoid the childish impulse to stick her tongue out at him.
“I graduated from your precious college, Dr. Finney,” she muttered through her clenched teeth. “You thought I was an excellent student.”
She had never liked Tobias Finney. She liked him even less when he took over the Classics Department, as he was the reason why Ayden had stayed behind instead of coming to Boston with her. He had invited the brilliant young scholar to join the faculty at the college, when it reformed as Hillsdale College, until they could fill the position with someone more qualified to make the position permanent.
Now the time had come to fill the position with a full-time professor, and Ayden was the front-runner for the permanent position. Marriage to the director’s daughter, according to Rosalie, would ensure Ayden acquired his lifelong dream of becoming a history professor with little fear of not having work the next year.
And if Mia didn’t get her articles written, she wouldn’t achieve her dream of becoming a journalist earning a salary instead of one paid whenever the editor chose to buy one of her articles. She would be forced to continue with her if not Spartan, far from secure existence, making enough money to live on however she could in a respectable manner.
The train wreck was not, of course, her assignment. It would, however, make a fine addition to the story about how Hillsdale College allowed female students to study right alongside male students. Most institutions of higher education considered women incapable of learning the same subjects at the same time in the same classroom with men.
“We proved them wrong.” With a smug little smile curving her lips, Mia strode into the church. Her right hand gripped a pencil. Her left balanced her open portfolio, ready for receiving notes on what she saw.
Chaos. Not as much as the night of the wreck, but there were still far too many people crowding the entryway and sanctuary, children crying, women looking like they wanted to weep, and men with faces a little too stony to be their natural expressions. They were stranded hours from any city of note, without proper shelter, food, or clothing. The room stank of wet wool, babies needing to be changed, and hot soup. She wondered when these people would be able to continue along their journeys. The railroad men would have to answer that.
Visit depot, she added to her list of impressions.
She began to move around, jotting down snippets of dialogue. “Momma, is my doll burned up?”
“What do you expect me to do, build you a house right here and now?”
“I just want to sleep.”
A hand caught at her skirt, halting Mia in her tracks. “Help me.”
She looked down at an older woman perched on a low chair. “What do you need?”
“Something to eat.” Rheumy eyes moved behind rimless spectacles. “I couldn’t get to the line when they served the food.”
“And no one’s with you?” Mia’s gaze strayed around the room in search of someone from the town aiding those stranded in the church.
She saw no one she recognized except for Ayden coming through the front door with Miss Finney. The latter’s smile appeared a bit stiff, and she pressed her back against the wall beside the door while Ayden carried a basket toward a table that still bore the decimated remains of toast and porridge.
Mia raised her right hand, still clutching the pencil, and waved to him, then dropped her gaze back to the diminutive old lady. “I’ll get someone to help you. Were you traveling alone?”
“On my way to see my daughter in Chicago.” The lady
“I graduated from your precious college, Dr. Finney,” she muttered through her clenched teeth. “You thought I was an excellent student.”
She had never liked Tobias Finney. She liked him even less when he took over the Classics Department, as he was the reason why Ayden had stayed behind instead of coming to Boston with her. He had invited the brilliant young scholar to join the faculty at the college, when it reformed as Hillsdale College, until they could fill the position with someone more qualified to make the position permanent.
Now the time had come to fill the position with a full-time professor, and Ayden was the front-runner for the permanent position. Marriage to the director’s daughter, according to Rosalie, would ensure Ayden acquired his lifelong dream of becoming a history professor with little fear of not having work the next year.
And if Mia didn’t get her articles written, she wouldn’t achieve her dream of becoming a journalist earning a salary instead of one paid whenever the editor chose to buy one of her articles. She would be forced to continue with her if not Spartan, far from secure existence, making enough money to live on however she could in a respectable manner.
The train wreck was not, of course, her assignment. It would, however, make a fine addition to the story about how Hillsdale College allowed female students to study right alongside male students. Most institutions of higher education considered women incapable of learning the same subjects at the same time in the same classroom with men.
“We proved them wrong.” With a smug little smile curving her lips, Mia strode into the church. Her right hand gripped a pencil. Her left balanced her open portfolio, ready for receiving notes on what she saw.
Chaos. Not as much as the night of the wreck, but there were still far too many people crowding the entryway and sanctuary, children crying, women looking like they wanted to weep, and men with faces a little too stony to be their natural expressions. They were stranded hours from any city of note, without proper shelter, food, or clothing. The room stank of wet wool, babies needing to be changed, and hot soup. She wondered when these people would be able to continue along their journeys. The railroad men would have to answer that.
Visit depot, she added to her list of impressions.
She began to move around, jotting down snippets of dialogue. “Momma, is my doll burned up?”
“What do you expect me to do, build you a house right here and now?”
“I just want to sleep.”
A hand caught at her skirt, halting Mia in her tracks. “Help me.”
She looked down at an older woman perched on a low chair. “What do you need?”
“Something to eat.” Rheumy eyes moved behind rimless spectacles. “I couldn’t get to the line when they served the food.”
“And no one’s with you?” Mia’s gaze strayed around the room in search of someone from the town aiding those stranded in the church.
She saw no one she recognized except for Ayden coming through the front door with Miss Finney. The latter’s smile appeared a bit stiff, and she pressed her back against the wall beside the door while Ayden carried a basket toward a table that still bore the decimated remains of toast and porridge.
Mia raised her right hand, still clutching the pencil, and waved to him, then dropped her gaze back to the diminutive old lady. “I’ll get someone to help you. Were you traveling alone?”
“On my way to see my daughter in Chicago.” The lady
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