Spirit of the Valley by Jane Shoup Read Free Book Online

“We’re never as alone as it sometimes feels.”
    â€œYou should probably turn in,” April May said to Pauline. “You look about half dead.”
    â€œApril May,” Cessie scolded.
    â€œI am tired,” Pauline admitted. “And I have a lot to think about. But I was hoping you could tell me about the town. Perhaps offer advice on possible employment.”
    â€œDon’t need to,” April May stated. “’Cause it just so happens the answer to your dilemma has already come to me.”
    Cessie cocked her head. “Is that so?”
    â€œYes, it is. And it is nothing short of brilliant. In fact, you should have thought of it, being the smarter one of the two of us. And for other reasons.” She looked at Pauline. “Why don’t you take a load off and I’ll tell you?”
    Pauline hurriedly sat.
    â€œWell?” Cessie asked. “Pauline and I are waiting.”
    April May looked smug. “The upside is this. Pauline here gets herself a nice little piece of property, and she stays a neighbor, so we can keep an eye on her and the children.”
    Cessie looked stricken, and then she smiled despite the tears that sprang to her eyes. “Oh, of course!”
    Pauline realized she was holding her breath, and released it. “I . . . don’t have any money,” she admitted. “N-not much money, I mean,” she amended.
    â€œThat’s fine because this particular piece of property isn’t for sale.”
    â€œOh, Pauline,” Cessie gushed. “We’ll never live this down.”
    Pauline was confused by the statement.
    â€œThe idea is brilliant,” Cessie said, dabbing at her eyes. “So much so that Sister here will never let us live it down. Never, not if we live to be a hundred years old.”
    â€œHow do you feel about changing your name?” April May asked Pauline mischievously.
    â€œOh yes,” Cessie said. “You’ll have to do that, although it’s a pretty name. Tell her. Tell her the story.”
    April May nodded magnanimously. “We had a dear friend by the name of Lionel Greenway,” she began. “He passed on about five years ago.”
    â€œSix,” Cessie stated. “It will be six years on the fourteenth of next month.”
    April May gave Cessie an impatient frown. “You going to correct every sentence I make?”
    â€œGo ahead.”
    â€œâ€™Cause you do that. You say ‘tell a story’ and then I start in and you start correcting.”
    Cessie shook her head and gave a wave.
    April May looked at Pauline. “Lionel was one of the most interesting people I ever met in my life. He was smart as a whip, always inventing things, although he liked his relaxation, too. Thing was, he was a man who kept to himself. He must have come off as more standoffish than he really was because folks called him a hermit, though he wasn’t one. The thing was, he moved here late in life and most folks don’t do that. You’re born here, you die here.”
    â€œPeople do move in now,” Cessie interjected, “but at the time, it was a more unusual thing. And those who did come were not warmly accepted.”
    â€œThey were outsiders,” April May said. “And they were treated as such. Lionel didn’t care all that much, at least, not at first.”
    â€œHe was a wonderful man,” Cessie said warmly. “A handsome man, really. He had white hair and a neatly trimmed beard.”
    â€œWhich he frequently stroked like he was some sort of wise man,” April May added. “An observation I shared with him on many occasions. He’d just give me this look.”
    â€œAs if to say you’d hit the nail on the head.” Cessie laughed. “Oh, but he was so smart and clever and amusing. Read a lot—”
    â€œThat’s mostly what he did. That and tinker with gadgets and grow grapes.”
    â€œHe made wine,”