Briar concentrated on keeping her balance so she wouldn’t fall on Miss Spence. A few pedals in and she’d found her balance. Miss Spence let her go. “You’re doing it!” she called.
Briar grinned as she rode down the road under her own power. What a marvel. She was getting the rhythm down and it wasn’t at all as hard as she thought it was going to be.
Until she road past Wheeler.
He stood amid a group of boys who had all stopped what they were doing to watch her attempt the bicycle. His jaw opened wide at the sight of her. Did he not approve or was he impressed? She had started to raise a hand to wave when her front tire hit a rock and the handlebars yanked her other arm sharply. It was all she could do to maintain her balance.
“Briar, is that really you?” Wheeler called out.
“Yes, but let me concentrate!” Riding under the scrutiny of the pack of boys made her nervous. She rode farther than she needed to so they couldn’t watch as she took a wide turn. She rode back to the boardinghouse without mishap and without giving the boys another glance.
Her legs were shaking as she got off, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Who’s next?” she asked. Riding a bicycle was one of the most exhilarating things she’d ever done.
Once Lizbeth was off, wiggling down the road, Briar searched the sidewalks for Wheeler. Now she had just the excuse to talk to him and find out about his move to Burlington. Only, he had disappeared. She’d have thought he’d want to tease her about the bicycle, as it was something they’d discussed before.
“We ought to form a wheel women’s club,” Mary said.
“Why?” Mim said. “We’ve only got one to share amongst the lot of us.” She brushed her hands like she was brushing off the dirt of the whole affair and marched back inside.
Mim might not be able to see it, but Briar and the small cluster of mill girls eager to try the bicycle saw potential in those two wheels.
While Briar watched the next girl ride off down the street, she imagined how the same conversation she had with Wheeler would have gone with Henry: “Briar, is that really you?” Henry would have called. She would have looked over at his grinning face.
“What are you doing here?” she would have said before snapping her attention back to the road, wobbling under the distraction. “Go away, Henry Prince. I need to concentrate.”
“Oh, do I distract you?” he would have asked with a wink.
She’d be able to feel his grin without even checking to confirm it, and would set her lips in a line, trying to ignore him. If only she could ignore him now. Henry had gone and left the valley; he should leave her thoughts as well. But she kept finding him there. She touched the letter in her pocket, wishing she knew where he was so she could send a reply. Henry. Are you well? How long before you send another?
Chapter Fifteen
Had it been a regular spindle, Briar wouldn’t have felt the need to keep it a secret. But the beauty of it and the manner in which she acquired it made her want to protect it. She was nervous leaving it unattended.
For the past few nights under Mim’s careful eye, Briar had sat on her bed, sewing delicate blue and yellow stitches into the tiny pleats of a little girl’s dress to make a pretty pattern. It was Briar’s first smocking job that Mim had shared with her, and they both needed it to be perfect.
With the spindle under the bed, she felt like a bird sitting on an egg, keeping predators at bay. She didn’t know how long she could go on like this. She was beginning to feel anxious and nervous all the time, afraid someone would take the spindle while she was gone. Just as she was anxious and nervous all the time at work, teaching Sadie and feeling pressured by the overseer to increase her production. Not to mention each day brought her closer and closer to her birthday and Nanny’s deadline for Briar to have a home for the children.
Something had to give, soon.
The house bell rang, interrupting Briar’s thoughts.
“Meeting time! Come on down!” called Miss Olive.
Ethel stood, pulling Briar with her. “This talk will be good for you. You’re a single woman who’s taken on the role of provider for your family, yet the law limits you.”
Mim harrumphed. “You overstate. Briar is doing a fine job with the little ones. She doesn’t need your lectures.”
“You need the lecture, too, Mim. Maybe you’ll have your eyes opened.”
“You have your strategy and I have mine. I’m going to find a husband who is rich enough so I don’t have to work anymore.” Mim took a step closer to Ethel.
“And if you marry a drunkard? What recourse have you?” Ethel closed the gap between the two, raising her voice so that the others passing the room stopped and stared.
“I shan’t marry a drunkard,” Mim said, eyes flashing. “Why would I do that?”