Horseback Librarian

Continued from February 9th

This week we will follow Lanette to a small community called Miracle, where Lanette will become acquainted with her host family and eventually learn the ropes of her new job as a horseback librarian.

Chapter One

October 1, 1934

Dearest Maisie,

I am no longer in Lexington, but currently writing this letter from a garret above the postmaster’s office of a tiny community called Miracle. The situations of this area are certainly not what I had expected. Besides the family I am staying with, there are only two other families located in this “town.” Not to mention, a schoolhouse and a church make up the other attractions of this community. I cannot believe how ignorant I have been when people talk about rural Appalachia. I am literally out in the middle of nowhere, Maisie! There isn’t hardly anything here! I guess I’m leaving out the train track that passes through and the fact that I can see the Cumberland River right below my window. Still, all around us are the pine covered slopes of the Appalachian Mountains. Of course, I was surrounded by those mountains in Lexington, but I sense that they are thicker here and…possibly not quite as civilized.

Perhaps this is where you would tell me that I was wrong to so readily agree to this job. Looking back in retrospect you’re probably right, considering I didn’t completely think through what I would be getting myself into. At the time I was just so thrilled to secure a job and be guaranteed money to pay off my tuition. Mother and Father are most likely concerned with the hasty decision I’ve made. I haven’t heard back from them yet, so I can’t say how they are taking this. I tried calling before I left Lexington, but didn’t get an answer. Here, I’ve discovered, there is no telephone. Pineville has the nearest telephone and that’s roughly sixteen miles by automobile. Letters will be my best form of correspondence as I’ve always been able to depend upon them. How convenient that I live right above Miracle’s Post Office.

Isn’t Miracle an interesting name for a town? I’ve learned it’s a namesake for the family who settled this area in the 1890s. They are still around, but I haven’t met them yet. Hard to believe I have not made their acquaintance when so few people live around here. I expect within the next few days I will be introduced to them. A small part of me sees this place as relating to the small miracle I received upon being granted this job.

I did not arrive in Miracle until around suppertime when Mrs. Lancing, the wife of my new host, had just set the table. We had taken our time this morning traveling to Pineville and once we stopped there we spent an hour dining before roaming around the town for a while peering in at all the shops. When at last I did leave Pineville, I was no longer with my original group. By then, I had been paired off when an old man named Mr. Harris. In his 1929 jalopy, two other girls and I rode with him southeast of Pineville down 119. We made one stop for Julie at Calvin, although I do not believe that is where she will be stationed. As soon as she arrived in Calvin she hopped in a buggy with a gray haired lady. So it is possible that wherever Julie is going a motorcar could not make it. Ada had a sneaking suspicion it would be the same circumstance for her. If I remember right, Ada was to go to Callaway a few miles north of here, but where from there I couldn’t say. While I don’t know either of those girls very well, I enjoyed visiting with them on the way to Pineville, so I hope I will get to see Julie and Ada again in the near future.

Mr. and Mrs. Lancing have made me feel very welcome here in their humble dwelling. For living out in the boonies, they are incredibly kind people. Do not fear for me in their company. I feel quite safe around them. They had known in advance that they would be receiving someone under their wing, for they had agreed to this arrangement weeks ago. Therefore, Mrs. Lancing had a plate set out for me when I joined them at their table in the living quarters behind the main office of their building. While I find their living situation cramped, I suppose for two people it is enough for them. Despite feeling crowded, I am not disgusted by the way Mrs. Lancing decorates her house. Rather, I am quite delighted by the frilly curtains around the double hung windows with the sashes and the framed cross stitch pieces that hang over the soft bird wallpaper. I am thoroughly surprised to see wallpaper in their house. I was expecting plain or log walls, but not in the Lancing residence. I guess for postmasters they have some “class.” Mrs. Lancing even keeps a vase of dried wildflowers, presumably from this summer, on the table. Don’t you agree that flowers, whether fresh or old, provide a certain essence to the room? The Lancings may be modest, but I find the Mrs. choice of decor cute and charming.

All throughout supper the back door was left open, so that a breeze drifted through the fly infested screen. From where I sat eating my green beans and pork, I could see fireflies blinking on and off in the trees along the Cumberland River. The croaking of the frogs was steady, along with the ticking of the cuckoo clock on the wall. I didn’t listen too much to the sounds of the evening, for Mr. Lancing sparked plenty of conversation.

I’ve deemed him to be a wonderful old man mainly for the hilarious stories he tells. I expect from being a postmaster he has seen and heard quite a variety of tales in his lifetime. He’s a thin man, Maisie, with an estimated age of seventy. On his crooked nose rests a pair of glasses while his head is covered in coarse white hair. He wears his shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbows. You should see when he smiles. His whole face lights up and his eyes dance with jollity.

I haven’t found a fault in Mrs. Lancing yet either. By the darkness of her hair I would say she’s at least twenty years younger than her husband. She’s slightly plump and I easily noticed her hands are dry and red, most likely from plenty of washing. I’d gather, even from the subtle signs that they may have never had children, that she keeps herself busy. Which makes me ponder besides cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry, if she helps her husband within the post office. Or perhaps she is a participant in community activities that I have yet to learn about. What they could possibly do here besides go to church is beyond me. I guess this means I need to use my imagination a little. Maybe there will be the occasional picnic, or a program held by the children at the school, or at least the opportunity to fish along the river. So few from what I could do in Lexington, but then…those activities don’t sound half bad either. I’ll be sure to let you know what they do for entertainment around here.

I apologize for my tangent. The reason why I don’t think they have children is because there are no pictures of kids on the walls. Course, it may be that they were never able to afford taking photographs. Nevertheless, I don’t see any playthings, highchairs, or bedrooms where a girl or boy might have stayed. Not that they couldn’t have gotten rid of all those things, but…you know how I am when I get intuitive. I just feel as if there is an absence of children here, which does not deter me from staying here. While my attic room is not what I had imagined, and the fact that I’m now living far from civilization is a bit worrisome, I find that I like it here. As hospitable as Mr. and Mrs. Lancing are, it would be near impossible to refuse them as my hosts. Not to mention, the supper I had tonight was filling and so much better to what they’ve been serving at the cafeteria on campus in Lexington.

While I will not begin my journey tomorrow, I am to be acquainted with the rest of the town as well as the selection of books I am to take with me on my trips through the mountains. I will not be able to begin until a horse and a couple pack mules are supplied for me. Once that is taken care of, someone is going to go with me on the first round, so that I become familiar with the area. As to who will be my guide I have not learned. I have a feeling whoever is in charge of all these arrangements hasn’t figured out who will show me the routes and introduce me to the families. In that case, since it will be a few days before I absolutely begin, I will have some time to work on my studies. I will greatly miss the lectures and being able to study with friends, but at least I can still do my studies from afar until I figure out a better arrangement. I probably need to find another job besides this one if I’m to make enough for the down payment in November. I would prefer not to think that far ahead right now, but if I don’t it will be too late.

Affectionately,

Lanette