Love In The Midst Of Injustice – Extended Epilogue

One week later

Jesse was in a hurry. He paced back and forth in the waiting room. Dr. Andrews was busy with a patient. His wife and nurse kept eyeing Jesse with growing irritation. She sat behind a desk that held folders of papers. Jesse knew this was Dr. Andrews’ system of dealing with his patients. After Mary-Anne Lester had tried to have him arrested for malpractice when he had apparently failed to do something or other, he now wrote everything down. Mrs. Andrews then filed it all. She was currently busy doing that, getting the morning’s patient load off her desk. 

“He’ll be done soon,” she said sharply. 

Jesse nodded. “I know. It’s just that the hearing started ten minutes ago.” 

She softened. “You know, I like that Miss Bender,” she said. “Our Olivia’s little Bonnie likes her too. Says she’s never had so much fun at school before.” 

“Well…” Jesse said with an inclination of his head. He didn’t know what to say, and frankly, his mind wasn’t equipped for small talk. Not with the love of his life facing disciplinary action for something that wasn’t her fault. 

“Yes, I certainly like her,” Mrs. Andrews said, her steel-gray head bobbing. “My granddaughter is a wonderful judge of character, despite her young age.” 

This was torture. Jesse almost wished he’d taken up smoking. Having something to do with his hands would have been wonderful about now. 

Just then, the room’s door opened, and a young child and their mother came out. The child had one of those plaster of Paris casts on his arm that Jesse had seen in a journal. It seemed the good doctor had decided to stay abreast of the latest innovations. 

Following them, Dr. Andrews, an old man with spectacles on his nose, came out. 

“Ah, Jesse,” he said, handing a folder to his wife. “I’m ready. Just let me grab my jacket and hat.” 

Jesse nodded. 

When the doctor was finally really ready, they headed for the door out of the clinic. As Jesse opened the door, Mrs. Andrews said, “Give her hell for me, would you?” 

“Yes, dear,” Dr. Andrews said. Then stopping, he said. “Oh, have you got my file?” 

Mrs. Andrews had moved to be right behind them. She gave her husband a large brown envelope. He kissed her cheek, and then he and Jesse were off. 

Jesse and Dr. Andrews climbed onto their respective horses, the good doctor secreting the envelope, now folded, into his jacket pocket, and they set off down the street. 

It wasn’t far to the town hall where the hearing was taking place. Jesse would bet that half the town had shown up for it. Seeing the teacher burn would make a great many people happy. He only hoped that Vivica had managed to state her case and call witnesses, character and otherwise, to speak on her behalf. 

They weren’t strictly necessary. The only voice they needed to hear on this subject was Dr. Andrews’. He knew once the board knew what he and the doctor knew, and Vivica suspected, they would have to clear her of all wrongdoing. 

The town hall had been built with a pitched roof and looked more like an oversized house than a communal meeting place. But that suited Jesse just fine. It made coming to the town hall less an auspicious moment than something that could be done on the regular for small, unimportant things as well as those that shook the earth. 

There were quite a few horses at the hitching post. In the open market ground that was down the street a little ways, Jesse could see a whole lot of carts tied up there too. So, he was right. The town had turned out to hear the new teacher’s fate. 

“In we go,” Dr. Andrews said, raising his bushy eyebrows. 

Jesse nodded. He only hoped they weren’t too late. 

The hall had been set up in such a way that the school board sat behind a string of desks facing the audience. Vivica, too, sat behind a desk facing them, and it all reminded Jesse of a courtroom he’d visited briefly when in Boston. A friend of his had been in trouble, and he’d gone to support the man. 

“Jesse,” a voice said. 

Turning, he found Sheriff Peters leaning against the wall by the door. 

“You got it?” he asked. 

Jesse nodded. 

The sheriff smiled. 

Jesse and the doctor walked further into the room and sat in two seats at the back of the rows. He could see most of the children from the school and their parents in the audience. Even Jason, Tommy, and Alice were there. 

Mrs. Boyes was standing in front of the school board at the moment, speaking. 

“…attentive to detail and very good with the children,” she was saying. 

“And would you say that she has the children’s safety in mind at all times?” Mr. Darling asked. He sat beside a large, older man who Jesse recognized but couldn’t put a name to. 

“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Boyes said. “She even asked me to look after them when she had to go and help when there was that explosion at the mine. Very conscientious.” 

Mrs. Lester, sitting at the end of the long table of board members, snorted and rolled her eyes. 

“And her science experiments?” the man beside Dr. Darling asked. “What do you know of those?” 

“Nothing,” Mrs. Boyes said. “Except that baking soda and vinegar don’t explode. Ever. At least I’ve never seen it. So that wasn’t baking soda.” 

“Ah, there you have it!” Mrs. Lester boomed from her end of the table. 

The other board members regarded her leaning forward. 

“She knowingly mixed up her chemicals and caused the beakers to explode,” Mrs. Lester said. “And I’m sure that gas was dangerous that came off it all. I’m sure the children could have ended up blown to smithereens.” 

“What gas?” Mr. Darling asked. “No one mentioned there was gas.” 

“What?” Mrs. Lester asked. “Of course, they did. And we could smell it when we arrived at the school that day. Don’t you recall Mr. Darling?” 

He frowned but seemed to concede the point. 

“Look,” Mrs. Boyes said. “You wanted to know if I thought Miss Bender would do anything like that on purpose, and I can tell you that I don’t. She loves the children and teaching and would never put them in danger.” 

With that, Mrs. Boyes turned to walk back to her seat. 

“Excuse me!” Mrs. Lester said sharply. “We haven’t dismissed you.” 

Mrs. Boyes turned back. “Oh, I think you should, or I might have a lot more stories to tell. Would you like me to tell some more stories, Mary-Anne?” 

Mrs. Lester, who a moment earlier had looked smug and on top of the world, suddenly balked. “Well, I’m sure your stories would have nothing to do with me. But fine, you are dismissed.” 

Mrs. Boyes scowled and walked back to her seat. 

Mr. Darling looked from one woman to the other. His expression of confusion was mimicked by many of the other board members. 

A thin man with pinched features looked over to Vivica. “Any other witnesses?” he asked. 

“Yes, sir!” Jesse said. “Dr. Andrews and I.” 

Hearing his voice, Vivica turned in her seat and beamed. She looked so hopeful that Jesse’s heart leaped into his throat. He smiled and nodded. She took a breath, and he wanted nothing more than to rush to her and envelope her in his arms. But that would have to wait, just a little longer. 

Instead, he and Dr. Andrews walked to the front and addressed the board. 

“Dr. Andrews and I have some evidence to present,” he said. “It’s a little technical, but we can walk you all through it.” 

“I protest!” Mrs. Lester said. “He is Miss Bender’s….” She faltered. “Well, they’re special friends.” 

“We’re stepping out, yes,” Jesse said. “So, what of it?” 

“So, you could say anything sciency you like, and we would never know if you were lying,” she said. “After all, you’d do anything to save the woman you love. Isn’t that true?” 

This was an odd tactic. Usually, people waited to be attacked before leaping to dismiss the attack. Jesse was taken a little aback. But he swiftly recovered. Mrs. Lester was making herself look more guilty by the word. If she kept speaking, she was likely to hang herself.

For a moment, he considered letting her and then decided this was about more than her. He needed more than this, and so did Vivica. They needed all doubt removed. 

“Well,” he said, “I certainly love Vivica more than I ever thought possible. But if she knowingly put my nephews in danger, I would stand behind you all to get her punished.”

Many people in the audience nodded. 

“And I have no association with the young lady,” Dr. Andrews said. “None at all. So, my evidence should be considered untampered with.” 

“Alright, Dr. Andrews,” the thin man said. “Let’s hear your findings.” 

“I don’t think they will be pertinent,” the man beside Mr. Darling said. 

That caused an uproar, and eventually, Mr. Darling had to slam his hand on the desk a few times to regain order. 

“Look, I think we need to hear the doctor out,” he said. “He is a well-respected member of this community, and I for one, want to know what he has to say.” 

“Thank you,” Dr. Andrews said. 

What followed was the doctor explaining the tests that he and Jesse had put the jar of powder taken from Vivica’s classroom through. The label stated it was baking soda, and there was baking soda in the jar, but there were also a lot of other things. 

“Too many for it to be a simple case of innocent contamination,” Dr. Andrews said. “In other words, it wasn’t that Miss Bender was careless with using dirty tools between jars. That’s not it at all. I tested the other jars from her class and found they were all perfect. The contents were exactly what the label said.” 

“Alright,” Mr. Darling said. “What does that mean?” 

“It means the mixing of all the different compounds I found in that jar was done maliciously,” Dr. Andrews said. “In other words, on purpose.”

A murmur ran through the crowd. 

“Lies,” Mrs. Lester said. shaking her head. “All lies.” 

“Is it, though, Mrs. Lester?” Jesse asked. “You see. When we found out that the jar had been tampered with, we spoke to the sheriff, who was only too happy to step in.” 

“So?” Mrs. Lester asked. “What are you talking about?” 

“We’re talking about you and your husband swapping out the jar from Miss Bender’s classroom, Mrs. Lester,” Jesse said. “In fact, the sheriff’s deputies have found the original jar in your house along with all the chemicals.” 

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Mrs. Lester snapped. “William sells chemicals to the mine. You all know that.” 

“Yes, and you used that to cause a dangerous situation to unfold in the classroom just to get rid of Miss Bender. Isn’t’ that so?” 

“No,” Mrs. Lester said, her face red and her eyes bulging. “No!” 

“You are saying your husband is a liar?” Sheriff Peters asked, stepping forward from his post at the door. “Because we have him at the station along with a lovely confession, all signed and sealed.” He smiled. “I think this farce has gone on long enough. Mrs. Mary-Anne Lester, you’re under arrest for endangering the lives of a whole lot of children you were tasked with keeping safe.” He nodded at her in a meaningful way. “Now, don’t resist.” 

Of course, she did. She tried to run for the back door out of the meeting room, but the thin man beside her grabbed her arm and slapped her across the face. 

“How could you?” he demanded. “Sheriff. Take her away.” 

And that was it. 

Jesse turned to find Vivica throwing herself into his arms. They hugged each other, and swept up in the moment, Jesse found himself kissing her as though his life depended on it. This was the happiest he’d ever been. 

“Um…” a voice said beside them. 

Parting, they found Sheriff Peters there with Mrs. Lester beside him. Her arm was firmly clamped in one of his large hands. “Thought you might like to know, Harry Willard was behind the whole mine disaster, both of them. He wants to bury Mr. Cooper. It’s some rivalry between them. I’ve handed it all over to the US marshals, and they will hunt him down.” 

“That’s great,” Jesse said. 

“Isn’t it, though?” the sheriff said brightly. “This has been a wonderful week. All we need now is rain, and all my wishes will have come true. Oh, that and you two being a little more discrete in public.” 

“Yes, sir,” Vivica said with a smile. She looked radiant. 

Jesse had to stop himself from kissing her again. How he loved her. He wanted to spend his life with her. 

“Viv,” he said. “Will you marry me?” 

“What?” she asked, laughing. 

“Just do it, marry me. I love you more than anything,” he said. 

Her smile grew enigmatic. “Well, you know what? You’re in luck. I happen to love you too. So, yes. Of course, I’ll marry you.” 

He didn’t care if it was inappropriate, Jesse kissed Vivica with passion, and she kissed him back with as much enthusiasm, their hearts beating like wild drums. 

And that was it. Vivica was reinstated at the town’s teacher, and the meeting broke up. Jesse was walking on air and didn’t think he could ever be happier. 

***

Five years later

“Stop fidgeting,” Vivica said, not unkindly. 

Jesse stopped trying to straighten his tie. Little Arthur, their three-year-old son, wasn’t about to let his father achieve a perfect appearance anyway. He seemed determined in his pudgy-fisted way to make Jesse messy, just as he was despite Vivica’s every effort to keep him clean.

“It’s just your father makes me nervous,” Jesse said. “He’s just like my college professors, always quizzing people as though their semester results depend on this one answer.” 

“He’s not that bad,” Vivica insisted with a chuckle. “Anyway, my father makes everyone just a little unsettled. It’s a knack he has.” Despite her words, she smoothed the front of her jacket and skirt. 

“Ah, see!” Jesse said, pointing. “See.” 

“Ssseeeee!” Arthur cried from his perch in his father’s arms. 

They were standing on the platform at the train station, waiting for the train to come in. Vivica reflected that although she was excited to see her parents, she wasn’t nervous. The rift that had formed between her and her father, especially when she took the job out West, had been mostly mended. 

He was still upset that she had chosen to teach in a tiny school in California, but ever since he and her mother had come out for the wedding four years ago, things had been better. Vivica found that she got letters specifically from her father now, and he sent her journals and magazines to make sure that she stayed abreast of the latest information in a variety of fields. 

When she’d asked him what changed his mind, he’d said it was Jesse. 

“Standing up for you as he did, in front of that school board,” her father had said. “That took guts and brains. Finding the scientific, irrefutable proof that you were innocent was brilliant, and to me, it proved that he was worthy of you.” 

Vivica had been moved to tears at that point, something her father had never known how to deal with. But he’d done his best to comfort her. Since that moment, her relationship with both parents had improved immensely. 

Jesse had introduced a whole lot of improvements at the Cooper Mine, which was still going strong. Better than ever, actually, and the little town of Aurelia looked set to become something a whole lot bigger soon. 

It was in lieu of this that the latest addition to the town had been added. It was only possible because of a generous donation by Mr. Cooper as thanks to Jesse and Vivica for saving his mine that the town now had a large and fully stocked library.  

Situated beside the school, Vivica was thrilled with the addition. It seemed to complete what she was calling the Aurelia Education Block. In addition to adding classrooms and two more teachers, all working under her guidance, Vivica had also introduced classes for illiterate adults in the evenings. 

She was determined that everyone would benefit from the library and the world of knowledge that books were the sole door to. Even Jesse was helping her teach those classes. 

“Good thing Mrs. Lester’s opinion doesn’t carry any weight anymore,” Jesse said as though his thoughts had been running in the same direction as Vivica’s. 

“Yes,” Vivica agreed. “How do you think she’s enjoying not being on any committees anymore?” 

He chuckled. “What do you mean? She’s still on the Christmas tree decorating committee or some such, isn’t she?” 

Vivica shook her head sadly. “No, she was fired from that one too for being too bossy and not allowing people to have their own opinions.” 

“Well, it’s only October,” he said, “I’m sure she’ll find her way back on it before December.” 

There was a definite line of something dark down the track. Vivica wondered if it was the train or her eyes playing tricks on her. 

“Is that the train, do you think?” she asked. 

“I hope so,” Jesse said, swinging Arthur around to keep him busy. 

Vivica sighed. She wished there were chairs on the platform. Being six months pregnant and standing like this was becoming uncomfortable. Actually, everything was becoming tight again. She was hoping for a girl, but of course, Jesse was hoping for a boy. 

She hadn’t told her folks, wanting it to be a surprise. This was adding to her excitement and, by association, her heartburn. She pulled a mint leaf from her pocket and nibbled on it. She’d taken to carrying them around with her. 

“Are you alright?” Jesse asked, suddenly looking concerned. 

“I’m fine,” Vivica said with a sigh and a hand on her belly. “Just fine.” 

It took another twenty minutes for the train to come into the station. Jesse let Arthur down when his grandparents were in sight. The little boy went over nervously, the wilted daisy he’d picked for his grandmother clutched in a clammy little hand. 

Vivica had been brought to happy tears at the sight, and as her parents greeted them and they all embraced, she knew she was as happy as she could be. 

Jesse’s family were waiting for them at home, in the house in town that she and Jesse had bought when they got married. It was a large house with ample room for a great many people as it even had a log cabin on the property. The previous owner had used it as a getaway when he needed to avoid his wife. Or so he’d said at the time of the sale. 

They sat around the table, the college-educated and the grassroots together, smiling, laughing, and enjoying a meal together. Vivica hoped and wished that life would always be this good and her home would always be this full. It was magical and wonderful, and nothing made her happier. 

Jesse took her hand in his. It was an unconscious gesture, one he often made even when speaking to someone. She knew in those moments that she meant as much to him as he meant to her and that they would always stand by each other. Thick and thin, it would never matter because they would have each other and their family. And what more was there in the world? 

“What do you think, Viv?” Jesse said, drawing her from her reverie. 

“About what?” Vivica asked. 

“About my idea to open up a science center here?” Jesse said. 

Vivica’s eyes went wide, and all she could do was laugh. 

THE END

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