Page 4 of Because I Could Not Stop for Death

On shaky legs, I went to the window. A watery face appeared on the other side of the glass. I stifled my scream by covering my mouth with the hem of my apron and biting down hard. I hurried back across the room with my hand on the door handle. I needed to tell Miss O’Brien.

I stole a glance back at the window. The figure waved at me from the other side of the wet windowpane. As much as I wanted to run from the room and hide, I looked at the face, concentrating so that I could make out the features. “Henry?”

I hurried to the window, unlocked it, and pushed it open.

Henry tumbled into the room in a spray of water. I closed the window. “Henry, what on earth are you doing here?”

Henry bounced to his feet like a jack-in-the-box. A puddle spread in the middle of the floor where he had landed. “Look at this place! You’re living high on the hog, dear Sister. My, now I can see why you wanted to chuck your job at Mrs.Patten’s Boarding House. I would give my left foot to live in a place this nice!”

“Henry, shh. You will wake the housekeeper or the family dog and I will surely be fired for having someone in my room!” I glanced at the door, afraid that Miss O’Brien would throw it open at any second and tell me to leave.

“You worry too much.” He pushed his straw-colored hair that was the same color as mine out of his eyes. At the moment, his hair was two shades darker from being wet. He shook his head like a dog, and water hit me in the face.

I held up my hands. “Henry, please.”

“I feel like a drowned rat.”

“You look like one, too, and that doesn’t mean you have to share the rain with me,” I said hotly.

He laughed. “Is it true that the mother of the house is insane?”

“Henry, that is unkind.”

“Is it unkind if it’s true?” His green eyes that were so much like our mother’s sparkled in the candlelight. My own eyes were a dull brown.

“Have you seen her?” he asked.

“No, I have only seen the housekeeper and two sisters.”

“Spinsters, are they? Could they not find a man who suited them? They probably think they are too good for marriage.”

“They are young yet. The youngest sister is my age. Do you think I should be married at twenty?”

“No, not if it was going to be to—”

“Hush!” I cut him off. Henry knew very well that I didn’t want to speak of that man.

He lifted his chin. “When I marry I want a wife who will look up to me.”

I groaned. My brother with all his confidence thought that everyone should look up to him, even President Pierce and all the learned men in Washington. He thought he was equal to them all.

“Have you seen anyone else?”

I shook my head.

“Not even the father of the house? I heard he’s quite severe.”

“He’s in Washington at present on business,” I said. “Now, I am happy to see you, but you must go. I will be in trouble if you are caught in the house. They have a dog. He could sense you are here.”

“They won’t catch me.” He put his hand on his narrow hips. “I’m like a cat with nine lives.”

I sighed. “Please, Henry, go. If I lose this position, I can’t return to the boardinghouse. Mrs.Patten was angry when I turned in my notice. She won’t take me back.”

He marched around the room, taking everything in. Had he not been taller than me, I might have been tempted to take him by the ear and force him out the window. However, I hadn’t been able to do that since Henry was in long pants.

“You have done well for yourself, Willa. Quite well,” he said.

“It’s not just for me. The money I make here will help both of us.”

---