Read Online Finding Grace: A Novel by Sarah Pawley - Free Book Online

family and the only home she’d ever known.
    Despite the hardships of this life, and the
hurt of the night before, she was proud of who she was and where
she came from. It was her home, the only one she'd ever known, and
she knew nothing of the world beyond it, except what she’d read in
books. She had desperately longed to get away and see the world,
but now that the moment of truth had come, she was simply
petrified. She was so tempted to stay, to give in to her weakness
and do what, deep down, she knew she would someday regret. Here at
home, harsh as things could be, it was safe and secure.
    But then she thought of Jack, and how he had
fostered in her an independent and strong spirit. She thought of
Jane, too, of course. That great lady was just a character in a
book, to be sure. And yet, she had been the mentor that had guided
her through so many of the lonely and uncertain times in her life.
This moment, like so many before it, was when her mind drifted to
Charlotte Bronte's beautiful words for guidance.
     
    … Laws and principals are not
for the times when there is no temptation. They are for such
moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their
rigor; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be...
     
    The words started a flow of strength and
courage coursing though her frame, and though her fear still
lingered, she at last rose…knowing that she must begin, and see it
through.
    She went about her chores as she always did.
Breakfast was a silent affair, with her brothers unusually quiet
around the table. That was not surprising, considering Mr.
Langdon's sour expression, which was obviously held over from last
night. The boys were wise enough not to provoke him, and Grace gave
silent thanks that there was no mention of Charlie or of anything
else that had been said. She ate breakfast quickly, helped clean
the kitchen, and stole a few moments to slip away to her room.
    From under the bed she took out of bag of
old flour sacks. None of their clothes were ever bought in a store.
They were all made from these cotton bags, which she and her mother
would cut and sew into new shirts and an occasional dress just
about every month. Now, one flour sack made a traveling bag for
her, and into it she put the few items in the world she possessed.
A few dresses and her nightgown, some under things, and her boots.
Those she would wait to put on, for if she wore them now, someone
would certainly catch on. Shoes, especially boots, were expensive
and only allowed to be worn in certain circumstances, such as on a
rainy, muddy day. Today was hot and humid, so shoes would be
suspicious. There was a pair of pants there that she had taken from
the laundry and a hat as well, which sat just underneath the bed. A
disguise was something she'd known she would need from the first.
The two men who worked at the depot were brothers she’s seen around
town. But they were not fellow church members, so she did not see
them often. Still, they might have recognized her from somewhere,
and that she could not risk. She added her books to the collection,
and now there was one small thing left to retrieve for her
escape.
    Quietly, she went to the front room and
opened the little stand beside the sofa. It was a drawer full of
junk where all manner of things were thrown, including an old pair
of her father's eyeglasses. Why he kept them instead of throwing
them out, she hadn't the foggiest notion, but now she was glad for
it. Carefully popping the lenses out of the wire rims - she would
be blind if she kept them in - she put the frames in her pocket.
Who would notice the glasses had no lenses? No one would be looking
that closely, she was quite certain. Knowing that her mother would
soon be wondering what she was doing, she quickly went out to tend
the garden.
Later that morning, as she sat picking beans from the bush, two
thoughts came to her mind. One was when and how she would go from
here. There was a train that left town at five