Family Stories

She sagged against the window, the implications of his statement suddenly clear. If she left with him, she would forfeit her father’s blessing. The whole town would know what she’d done.

And if she didn’t? Frank would go away and his pride would keep him away. It wouldn’t be long before some other woman convinced him to get married and then he’d be lost to her forever.

“All right, Frank, what do I have to do?”

She heard a long sigh from the shadows and knew he hadn’t been certain of her answer. A feeling of power fluttered through her. Initially this man hadn’t even wanted to get involved with her. Now he was risking everything.

But he hasn’t said anything about marriage, a tiny voice nagged her.

Why else would he take me with him? she told herself. He had to be planning marriage.

She listened carefully, barely breathing when he paused, both of them attentive to the voices down the road. He would be back at midnight with a ladder. They’d catch a freight train that usually passed through the edge of town around 1:00 a.m. and be far from Winston hours before daybreak.

Her heart was beating so hard by the time the clock showed midnight that she was afraid her parents would hear. They’d come up the stairs hours earlier, separately. Her father had gone into the guest room next to hers. He was usually a heavy sleeper but his tossing and turning signaled that he was as upset by the night’s events as she was. When the iron bed finally stopped squeaking, she swallowed a tiny part of her worry.

A light scrape against the wall of the house announced Frank’s arrival. She flew to the window on silent feet, her hands grasping the top of the ladder. His head appeared in the window a few seconds later.

“Ready?” he asked in a throaty whisper.

She nodded, afraid to speak. He took both her bags without a word and headed back down. She followed him, her hands clamped to the side of the ladder, her feet slowly reaching for each rung.