Finding Eliza by Stephanie Pitcher Fishman Read Free Book Online Page A

together.
    Lately Eliza hadn’t been stopping by her brother’s classroom after school. He had noticed changes in her behavior. She no longer wanted to spend free afternoons walking through town shops with her sister-in-law. They didn’t know why things had shifted in her personality and behavior, and they weren’t enjoying the changes.
    Today, Alston decided to wander the halls of Everett Springs High School in search of his absentee sibling. The school was quieting down as students made their way towards home. Alston walked through the main hallway hearing nothing but the sounds of his own shoes. He peered around doors and into classrooms to see if his sister was sitting in discussion with another instructor. Unfortunately, he found no signs of where she may have been.
    “The library ,” Alston whispered.
    Eliza was an avid reader. Although, they couldn't afford many books, his parents stressed the importance of reading. They saved advertisements, labels from seed bags, or newspaper articles for their children to read after school. Each turned into a story at bedtime or around the dinner table. They created games that encouraged their wild imaginations and creativity. Alston considered his mother a master storyteller, not unlike P.L. Travers. His mother had little faith in her talent. She didn't believe that a woman in the Deep South could have a career writing children’s stories in the 1930s. She also believed in conforming to the expectations of society, and she taught her children to do so as well. They could bend the bonds of status and class, but they couldn’t break them without feeling the sting of being different. Some changes needed to come only with the passage of time.
    The talent of Mrs. James showed in the minds and imaginations of her children, especially Eliza. During on one their afternoon walks, Eliza shared her dream was to leave Everett Springs. She wanted to ride a train to New York where she was sure she could be an author. She fancied herself the American Dorothy L. Sayers or Agatha Christie. While Alston and Anne wanted her to have dreams of living in Everett Springs, Eliza had dreams of being bigger than her home town. She wanted to move to a bigger city in a new part of the country where she couldn’t be limited by small towns and small minds. She had dreams of the life that she saw in newsreels and picture shows. Eliza James wanted to be cosmopolitan.
    Alston reached the school library and opened the door with great care and respect. Although he was a teacher, he was still one of the youngest members on staff. It was difficult for him to remember that he was no longer a student bound to the rules of his childhood. In contrast, he was a teacher who could now help determine and enforce those rules. This time his quiet entry worked to his advantage allowing him to see what may have otherwise stayed hidden.
    Peering around the heavy wooden door into the dark-filled library, Alston reeled back in shock. Hidden between two shelves of books was his youngest sister, Eliza, and she wasn’t alone.
    He couldn’t see his sister's face, but he recognized her clothing immediately. After a summer's afternoon with a Harper's Bazaar, Eliza became convinced that she had to own a dress just like Bette Davis modeled on the cover. It would be her first step toward creating a style like career women in the Big Apple. By selling eggs and baked goods in town, their mother saved the money to buy the fabric needed to make her daughter's dream come true. The straight skirt with a pleated bottom teased Alston as he stood there unable to find the words to shout out to his sister. He tried to adjust his eyes to the low light to see who accompanied her but the angle and location of the bookcase prevented it. The young man’s face may have been hidden, but Alston saw one important detail. Two dark-skinned hands wrapped around his sister’s waist.
    Alston started toward the couple. At the same time, the doors to the