The Revenant Read Online Free

pocket of my apron. All that day, despair had clutched at my innards, its dull ache nearly doubling me over. I’d dreamed up a thousand different ways to avoid returning to that farmhouse, where my father’s laughter had been replaced by the howls and crashings of twin boys. I’d offered to work at the school during the summer for paltry wages—most of which I sent home—just to avoid the place.
    I’d been sweeping the floor in the Athenaeum’s dormitory, sluggish under the weight of my doom, when fate intervened in the form of Angeline McClure’s golden head popping through her doorway to beckon me.
    Angeline was a young lady of refinement who kept her person perfectly tidy. Her room, however, always looked as though Mother’s little boys had been locked inside to run rampant. That day was no exception—the only difference was that two elegant trunks lay in the midst of the chaos. Apparently, Angeline was packing. When I entered the room, she stood next to one half-filled trunk, her eyes nearly bulging with excitement.
    She wanted me to ask why she was packing. Her entire body quivered with the yearning to blurt her news. I crossed my arms and waited for the eruption—I would not call it forth myself.
    “Willie, I am getting married!”
    Angeline had been courted all summer by a well-to-do landowner, so this did not surprise me. She was only telling me because there was no one else around. She’d never taken much interest in me, for I was younger and a charity student. I knew her disdain and tried to stay cool, but the small sentimental part of my heart perked up to be singled out by her.
    “Congratulations,” I said softly.
    She clapped her hands with glee, then shoved a stack of papers off a chair and gestured for me to sit. Still smiling fatuously, she settled herself upon the bed without bothering to move the clothing scattered upon it. Then she held out her hand and wriggled her fingers so that I could not miss the sparkle. I murmured my admiration.
    “It took some maneuvering on my part to secure this proposal, let me tell you.”
    “How romantic,” I said, knowing the irony would be lost on her.
    “In fact,” she continued, “I had to accept a teaching position to force his hand. And from quite a curious school! Can you imagine what sort of school it was?”
    I shook my head.
    “A seminary for Cherokee girls in Indian Territory ! Is that not a scream?”
    I tried to imagine Angeline, in her prissy clothes, demanding recitations from a group of sullen Indian girls. “Why did you want to teach there?”
    “Gracious! Can you imagine me teaching Indians ?” She frowned thoughtfully. “Accepting the position was the only way to push Jarvis into action. He was far too complacent before he knew I might leave for the back of beyond. It wasn’t until he set his eyes upon the letter offering me the position that he realized he might lose me.”
    “Quite a gamble,” I said.
    “Not really.” She tossed her head. “I knew it would work.” She looked at the disorder around her and sighed. “And now I must gather all this together, for on Saturday I leave for Arkansas so that Mother and I can prepare my wedding trousseau. But I’m already late for lessons with Reverend Wilson’s girls.” She tilted her head and scrunched her pale features into a pleading expression. “Would you mind, Willie—would it be a terrible inconvenience if I asked you to post a letter for me? I fear I shall forget.”
    This was why she’d asked me in—not to share news with a friend, not just to crow over her “victory.” She needed me for an errand.
    I forced a smile. “Of course. Give it to me and I will take it when I run errands for Mrs. Wilson.”
    “Oh, it’s written, but not yet placed in an envelope. I really must dash. It’s all there on the desk—would you mind finishing it up for me? I’ll return the favor somehow, I promise.”
    And with that, she was gone to teach her lessons. I stood up and waded