Searching for Anna Chapter 9 Iron Falls

 

Searching for Anna By Jenifer Carll-Tong

Chapter 9 - Iron Falls/Welcoming Committee

The sound of steel grinding against steel reverberated inside the railcar as the train finally came to a halt at the Iron Falls depot. The small, splintered platform was empty and nobody in the car moved. Apparently, Phoebe and her father would be the only passengers disembarking.

"Go on ahead, darlin’. I'll get our bags."

It was not a bright day, but the overcast sky seemed to fit the mood of the town. Gray – that was the color of this town. Worn wood siding covered the little train depot, but it was apparent by the few specks of paint still clinging to the crevices that the building had been white at some point in its history. That was more than she could say for the small buildings on either side.

"Mrs. Albright?"

Phoebe turned to find four women making their way toward her.

"Sorry our husbands weren't able to greet the train," said the smallest of the four women. She extended her hand. "But they haven't returned from the mine yet."

"That's quite alright. I'm just so grateful someone is here to show me the way." Phoebe took her hand. "I'm Phoebe Albright."

"We're so glad you're here, Mrs. Albright!" the woman continued. "Is your husband grabbing your bags?"

Phoebe was momentarily dumbfounded. Before she could recover, her father walked up.

"Good afternoon, ladies! I'm Reverend Albright."

The women looked a little confused.

"Oh, I see," said a second woman, older and a bit more severe looking than the rest. She gave the other women a knowing look.

Realization hit Phoebe. "No! Oh, no," Phoebe interrupted. "I mean, yes, this is Reverend Albright, but this is my father, not my husband."

Reverend Albright chuckled. "I've been mistaken for a lot of things, but never Phoebe's husband!"

The women laughed a little, apparently relieved that their new pastor wasn't a cradle robber, then turned their attention to Phoebe's father. "So, you are our new pastor?"

Rev. Albright scowled as his eyes darted quickly back and forth between all the women, including his daughter.

"I - I, that is, uh…"

Phoebe took a deep breath. "I'm afraid there has been some confusion. I am your new pastor, not my father."

The women looked at one another. It was several moments before the short woman spoke. "Ya aren't what we expected…" she began.

"That's certainly true!" said the second. "Not only have they sent us a woman, but an unmarried one at that? Well, I never!"

"What's more upsetting," Phoebe asked, "that you have been sent an unmarried pastor or that I am a woman? If I were an unmarried man, would you be as upset?"

The older woman's eyes narrowed. "Maybe things are different in that big city you came from, but up here in Iron Falls — "

"I have the same training and education as any man coming out of Bible College, of that I can assure you."

The short woman stepped between them. "I'm sure you are quite qualified. We've been praying that God would not only send us a new pastor, but that He'd send the right one." She turned and looked at the group. "He knows what He is doing, doesn't He?"

The youngest of the group nodded her head in agreement. The other two said nothing.

"Well, I'm not happy," said the second woman. "Pardon my bluntness, Miss Albright, but I am afraid that you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into. Iron Falls is no place for fancy city girls. We are a common bunch of people with no need of your genteel foolishness."

"Mrs. Smith!"

"I don't care! We are all thinking it. I'm just the only one not too polite to say it."

"I'm not thinking it," said the youngest woman. "I think we could use a bit more gentility around Iron Falls. Besides, I think a woman pastor is a grand idea."

"Of course, you would, Mary," Mrs. Smith said over her shoulder but keeping her eyes on Phoebe. "Our former pastor would visit my boarding house on a regular basis - trying to keep those young men on the proper spiritual track. Will you be able to do that, Miss Albright? Do you think a house full of young, single men will respect you at all? Let alone respect you as a preacher?"

"Probably not," Phoebe said.

All four of the women lifted eyebrows at her answer.

Phoebe squared her shoulders. "If I am unable to get the respect I deserve as pastor from the women of the greeting committee, then my hope of garnering respect from anyone in this town doesn't seem very likely."

Mrs. Smith gasped, and the others dropped their eyes.

"You ask me, Mrs. Smith, if I think I will be respected. And my answer is – probably not, at least not at first. But in my experience, respect is an honor that is earned, not passed out according to one's gender. God has called me to be the pastor of Iron Falls, and until He says otherwise, I will answer His call to the best of my ability. Now, if you don't mind, it has been a long couple of days, and I would like to get settled. If you would be so kind as to point me in the direction of the parsonage, I will go there now."

The youngest woman, who had been addressed as 'Mary,' was the first to answer.

"Welcome to Iron Falls, Pastor Albright." She hooked her arm in Phoebe's and led her away from the train.

Phoebe glanced back at her father, who was following along with their bags, smiling. She wondered what he'd thought of the confrontation she'd just had, but Mary's constant chatter about the town's landmarks gave her little time to ponder.

"And that's where you will find me," she said, pointing to a building with a sign that read Middleton Mining Company Store. "Pay no mind to the sign - the store is no longer company owned. When Middleton pulled out of town, my husband took it over. He hired me to help run the place but ended up with a wife instead!" Mary had an infectious laugh, and Phoebe couldn't help but smile along as the woman pointed out the various buildings and shops, attaching names to them that Phoebe feared she wouldn't be able to remember.

"Up that hill, you'll find the constabulary post as well as a few other businesses, - oh, and Mrs. Smith's boarding house. And that's the livery and the blacksmith is there beside it. McDaniels owns the livery if you are interested in riding. He has horses to loan. And over there is Dr. Langley's office, but he's the doctor for a few towns around here, so he isn't always there."

"Slow down, Mary. You're going to make her head spin," chastised the first woman.

The group came to a stop in front of a church. It was much larger than Phoebe had expected, with faded white clapboard siding and tall, arched windows flanking the sides.

"Well, here is your new home away from home," said the first woman.

Home. Yes. It has that feel, Phoebe thought.

"It's lovely," Phoebe said.

"Yes, well, back when the company was still here, they donated the land to build a church. Times were pretty good then, and there were lots of people to give and to help. It can seat nearly a hundred, which makes it bigger than most churches in towns the size of Iron Falls."

They walked only a few feet, then turned toward a tiny building, some sort of log-constructed outbuilding of the church - an office, perhaps, though only very large churches tended to have offices. Mary opened the door and they walked in.

"It isn't much," said the first woman, who appeared to be a spokeswoman for the group. "But we've made sure it was nice and clean for ya."

Phoebe looked around the room. There was a table with four unmatched chairs. In the corner, there was a small stove and another taller table pushed against the wall with shelves hanging above. In the opposite corner, she saw a double bed with a tiny table next to it. Then it hit her. This was the parsonage! This is where they intended for her to live! She hadn't expected anything grand, but this was little more than a shed with a stove to warm it.

Phoebe refused to let the women see her disappointment. "Well, this is lovely as well," she said, smiling brightly.

"I'm sure it's not what you are accustomed to, but —" Mrs. Smith grumbled.

Phoebe interrupted her. "It's more than adequate. And I appreciate you taking the time to clean for me. That is a blessing."

Mary smiled. "And we have loaded the cellar with canned goods and other staples. You shouldn't go hungry."

"I should say not! We were expecting a young married couple straight from Bible College. There's enough food on hand here for two people, at least!"

"I'm happy that there is an abundance of food," Mary said. "I won't worry, knowing she has something to put in her stomach every day."

"What a blessing," Phoebe said. "This is so much more than I expected. And Mrs. Smith, don't be fooled by my small frame. I'm a hearty eater. I may be out of provisions within the month."

Mary laughed at this, but Mrs. Smith continued to frown.

"Well, if you do, please let us know," said the spokeswoman. "We have already agreed to provide you with more canned items from this year's harvest, since it is too late for you to have a garden of your own."

"That is so kind of you, Mrs. — ?"

"Oh, dear me, we never introduced ourselves! How shameful. My name is Emma Speer. My husband Thomas and I and our six children live on our small farm on the outskirts of town. This is Mrs. Smith, the matron of the town's boarding house. And this is Mrs. Wiggins," she said, introducing the only woman who had not spoken. Mrs. Wiggins smiled shyly. "She lives two doors down from me. And I believe Mary has already introduced herself."

"Not properly," said Mary. "I'm Mary Simmons."

"Well," said Mrs. Speer, "We should be getting back to our families and let you settle in."

It wasn't until that moment that Phoebe saw her trunks sitting by the door.

"Oh, my things are here!"

"Yes," said Mary as the women began to leave. "One of Mrs. Smith's new boys helped one of our constables bring them in last night. He said he met you on the train?"

"Yes – Wendell. Very nice boy. How is he doing, Mrs. Smith?"

"Today was his first day in the mine. That's all I know," she said gruffly, walking out. Mrs. Wiggins followed.

Mary hugged Phoebe. "You must come for tea. It will be so nice to have someone to chat with." She winked and then followed the other women.

Mrs. Speer was the last to leave. "If you are so inclined, my family would like to have you and your father to our home this evening for dinner. I know you are tired, but you need to eat, right?"

Phoebe turned slowly and spotted her father leaning in the corner. He gave a slight nod.

Phoebe smiled. "That would be lovely, thank you Mrs. Speer."

"Alright, then. I'll have my oldest pick you up at six," she said, closing the door behind her.

"Well, you've been awfully quiet," Phoebe said, hands on her hips.

"Didn't have anything to say," her father laughed.

"You don't think I was wrong, the way I chastised Mrs. Smith at the train station?"

"You were nicer than I would have been," he answered. "And I'm proud of the way you reacted to your new home."

"Well, that was more stubbornness than joy, I'll tell you. I wasn't letting that Mrs. Smith see my disappointment. That's all she would have needed, and she would have been off to the station to buy my return ticket."

Phoebe looked around, shaking her head. How can a town that builds such a nice church provide such a dismal parsonage?

"Well, I think I'll take a walk around while you unpack and see what this town offers in the way of overnight accommodations."

Phoebe looked at the one bed in the corner.

"Oh, Daddy! I'll sleep on the floor. You don't need to…"

"No, you will not. I'm sure I can find something. Maybe that nice Mrs. Smith has a room for me," he said, winking.

Without her father - or the judgmental eyes of the welcoming committee - present, Phoebe finally let her true feelings for her new home settle into her soul. It was horrible. The cabin, the furnishings, everything. How could Dr. Berger have ever thought to call a woman into a pastorate like this?

Not only was the area small, it was so sparsely furnished that she wondered how anyone had ever existed here, not at all what his letter had promised.

'You'll find a quaint cottage near the church that will be outfitted with everything you'll need to begin your new life in the Upper Peninsula,' he had written.

"Quaint, my foot," she muttered under her breath. A small bed, an even smaller dresser, a table and chairs and a stove. How was she supposed to begin a new life with so few items?

'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests…'

"But you had nowhere to lay your head, Lord." She raised her eyes toward heaven. "Forgive me Father."

Feeling a bit better, she began unpacking her belongings into the dresser. Thankfully, she had packed lightly; the few items she'd brought barely fit into the bureau.

She was finished unpacking everything except her books. With no bookshelf, she had no other choice but to leave them in her trunk, as sad as that made her feel. She stepped back and crossed her arms. Had Dr. Berger's letter been more honest, she would have thought to pack additional items. Crocheted runners or doilies, some lace curtains or tablecloths would have made a big difference in making the cabin feel like a home.

'We are a common bunch of people with no need of your genteel foolishness.'

Phoebe wasn't certain what was more annoying, hearing the real Mrs. Smith say those words, or the imaginary Mrs. Smith that seemed to be settling into her brain repeat them.

Phoebe frowned. Something was off about the dresser, besides its size and a few broken off drawer pulls.

'It's missing something,' she thought. But what was it…

"A mirror!" she blurted out to the empty room. How in the world would she be able to make herself presentable without a mirror?

'You have no idea what you have gotten yourself into,' Mrs. Smith's caustic words echoed in her mind. "No." Phoebe spoke the word aloud to silence the grouchy woman's voice in her head. Everything would be fine, Phoebe realized, but there was no way around it - she would have to spend some of the little money she'd brought along on some essentials.

Intending to start a list, she dug through the trunk containing her Bible study materials until she found a pencil and a piece of paper upon which she wrote the word Mirror. She started a list of items, beginning with a mirror.

She next turned to the kitchen, if it could be called that. Dr. Berger had said in his letter that the parsonage would be equipped with everything she needed, but the corner of the room that would serve as her kitchen contained no more than a pot belly stove and two shelves. Phoebe sat at the table and scribbled more items, then crossed her arms again and leaned back in the chair, her foot tap-tap-tapping under the table. Her list was long, but as she looked it over, there was no fat to cut. It only contained necessities. Still, Phoebe knew enough about the cost of living to know her list contained far more than she could afford.

"This is impossible."

'They that seek the Lord shall not want for any good thing.'

Her foot stopped tapping. God had called her. He was here. He would not forsake her.

She looked at the list again. Maybe there was a little fat she could cut, after all. She began scratching items off.

With her edited list in hand and her hat pinned back in place, Phoebe set off for Mary's store.

It wasn't a long walk - no distance between points of interest was in a town the size of Iron Falls. You could pretty much see everything the town had to offer in the short jaunt from the church to the store, and Phoebe decided she liked the quaintness of the little village. The store stood on the corner of Commonwealth - the same street as the church - and what appeared to be the only other street in town. Mary had already pointed out all the buildings on Commonwealth. The other street, which ran up a moderately steep hill to the north of town, seemed almost identical to the first, lined as it was with a mixture of businesses and small homes. The only difference Phoebe could see was a larger, newer looking one-story building at the end that she couldn't identify. She spotted her father in front of that building talking with another man. Even from this distance, the man's khaki uniform and campaign style hat immediately identified him as a Michigan State Trooper. Of course; this building must be the Constabulary.

Her father waved, then shook the officer's hand and headed her way.

"Going shopping?" he asked, nodding toward the piece of paper in her hand as he approached.

"Just perusing," she replied. "The parsonage has none of the necessities that Dr. Berger said that it would."

"Can I see your list?"

"Of course."

As he read the list, she looked over his shoulder at the constable in the distance.

"Daddy?"

"Mhmm."

"Is that constable the one who delivered my trunks to the parsonage?"

"Why, yes. Yes, it is."

"Could you introduce me? I think it only proper that I thank him for his assistance."

"Oh, I'm sure you will have plenty of chances to thank him. He's a member of your congregation, you know."

Phoebe found it comforting that her church had a police officer as a member. "But couldn't you introduce me now? I would feel less awkward with you present."

"You're going to have to get over that awkwardness if you are to be the pastor here. Besides, we haven't the time now. We're going to have to hurry if we're gonna purchase your supplies and get you home before our dinner escort arrives."

Phoebe shook her head. "But I'm not ready to buy anything yet. I need to figure out what I can afford to spend, then decide what's most important…"

"Looks to me like everything on here is important."

"Well, yes, but I can't afford everything on the list. Some things will just have to wait."

"You can't afford 'em. Never said that I couldn't."

"Daddy, I know you and mother don't have much money. I can't expect you to — "

"Phoebe, listen. Your momma and I discussed this before I left. We have been saving up some money, and this is what we want to do with it."

"But Daddy…"

"No 'buts'," he said, ushering her toward the door. "Besides, without a few shiny, new copper pots, how will you keep up your 'fancy city girl' image. And we wouldn't want to disappoint Mrs. Smith, now would we?"