“My name is Edith but you can call me Edie,” she said. Edie had dark hair, almost black, tied up in a low bun, brown eyes, and an inviting smile. It was a little strange to Maud, as she wasn’t used to living in a house with a hired girl. Grandfather and Grandma Macneill didn’t have one; Grandpa Montgomery did, but the maids lived in a separate part of the house near the kitchen, so Maud didn’t know them very well.
The upstairs had four bedrooms: there was the master bedroom facing the front of the house, a nursery beside it, and a “spare” one where Maud was sure she was staying. She stopped in front of it, and was surprised when Edie kept going to the end of the hallway. When they arrived at the south bedroom, Maud was immediately confused. There were two beds. Did Mamma expect her to push them together, or pick one?
“Which bed do you want?” Edie asked, leaning against the doorframe. “I have been sleeping on the one next to the door in case Mrs. Montgomery needs me.”
Coolness swept over Maud, and she dropped the carpetbag she was holding. Father hadn’t said anything about her sharing a room. And with a complete stranger who was—no offense to Edie, who seemed nice enough—a hired girl!
Maud almost turned around and marched back downstairs to have a word with Father and Mamma, but she remembered how Grandma had told her to be respectful of her stepmother’s rules. This was Mamma’s house, and there must have been a valid reason why she wanted Maud to stay in this exact room. It did have a lovely view of the sloping prairies, covered with newly planted trees.
“How about I take the other one?” Maud said, sitting down on the bed. “I enjoy sleeping near an open window anyway.”
“There is a lovely view from that window. Facing south.”
Now, as she came to the end of the long entry, she wrote, Southview. A place I can name.
CHAPTER TWO
It was strange for Maud to be in a place where she didn’t know every corner, where she wasn’t part of its history. In Prince Albert she wasn’t sure where she belonged, and she began to wonder if Mamma thought that it was in the kitchen with Edie.
After the first few days, Katie’s shyness faded, and she quickly became Maud’s little shadow, following her wherever she went. It reminded Maud a little bit of her Campbell cousin, Frede. When Frede was little, she would get upset when her parents sent her up for her nap because she wanted to “play with Maudie.” But something told Maud she couldn’t quite let her guard down around her new stepmother. Mamma was nice enough: polite and cordial, making sure Maud was comfortable in her new surroundings by having Edie place fresh-cut flowers in their room, and providing whatever else she needed. Mamma was also often exhausted, complaining that the late August heat wasn’t good for her. Since Maud wanted to make a good impression, she often helped Edie with the dishes and meals. Mamma rewarded Maud for this good behavior by tasking her with the weekly dusting.
Maud missed her daily rituals: walking along the shore with Pensie, helping Grandma with supper, and her adventures with Mollie and the other Musketeers—including Nate. She tried not to think of him, but she often found herself wondering what he was doing. He must have left for Nova Scotia by now. Was he enjoying Acadia? Did he miss her too?
Thinking about all of this made Maud homesick. She wished there had been letters waiting for her when she arrived, despite the fact that it was too soon for any mail.
During Maud’s first week, Grandpa rested and prepared for his journey farther west. She had kept an eye out for the Pritchards, the ones she had seen her first day, but she overheard the neighbor, Mrs. Kennedy, tell Mamma that they had gone back to the ranch a few miles outside of town. A place called Laurel Hill.
One morning when she had been there for about a week, Maud asked Father if he might take her and Katie on a drive around Prince Albert so she could get better acquainted with the town. Mamma was tired and Grandpa was sending telegrams, so she finally had Father (mostly) to herself. She hoped she could show him Mother’s book, and perhaps, if she could get the nerve, ask him what had happened all those years ago.
That afternoon, Father borrowed Mr. McTaggart’s horse and buggy and drove Katie and Maud north toward the river, past the church, and then down the main street, which paralleled the North Saskatchewan River, where merchants were loading furs onto riverboats heading west. They also passed a cluster of Indian women in bright colors. Although they appeared tired and thin, they were industriously embroidering what appeared to be mittens, and one woman was working on a beautiful jacket. The way they were working reminded Maud of evenings in Cavendish with her grandmother. Father drove up the hill, past the McTaggarts’ house and the almost completed courthouse, and out of town. Poplars stood tall against the baby-blue sky, and as they drove along the countryside. Father pointed to some farms down the way. “That’s where many people, such as the Pritchards, are making their claims. You’ll meet them at church.”
Maud was more interested in Father’s life than in people she didn’t know. “You’ve been a lot of places, haven’t you, Father?” she asked, holding Katie, who was sleeping soundly against her chest.
“That’s right. As you know, I was a young sea captain and traveled to England, the West Indies, and South America—”
“So thrilling,” Maud said. “I wish I could do that.”
“A merchant ship is no place for a woman,” he said. “But it is a good way for a man to see the world…then I returned to the Island where I met your mother.”
For a while, the only sound was the horse’s hooves swishing in the grass and then Maud dared to ask, “And then what happened?”
Father cleared his throat and said, “I met your mother, and then you were coming along…so I had to make sure I had something closer to home.”
One answer spiralled into more questions. How had he met her? Why did he stay home? What wasn’t he telling her? But she was too slow to speak, and Father continued, “Afterwards, your uncle Duncan McIntyre, a drunk and a thief, I might add, ruined our general store and we parted ways. Then…after your mother died…it was time for me to make it better for you—for us—so I went back on the ship to Boston and worked in various trades there, which included my time as a clerk, and that has helped me run for office in Battleford. You never know where experience will create opportunity, Maud. Remember that.”
Being here had certainly given her opportunities to travel and see parts of Canada. And her family.
“Father…” Maud looked down at sleeping Katie. It was so peaceful listening to the clicking of the wheels, the wind talking with the trees. Dare she destroy this peaceful moment with more questions?
“Yes?” Father put his arm around her and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
“Nothing.”