Love for Sale

death today, he might as well have a talk with this Mrs. Tarkington.

    He arrived at the school just as the children were being let out for the day. Mrs. Tarkington, he supposed it was, stood at the front door warning them all to go straight home so that their parents wouldn’t worry about them. She seemed to be saying it by rote and the children pretty much ignored her.
    The older ones sought out any younger brothers or sisters and hustled them along, pretending to ignore them. Pairs of girls held hands and swung their arms as they headed away. Bigger boys talked in whispers and laughed uproariously. Probably saying dirty, forbidden words to amuse each other. Kids getting out of school for the day hadn’t changed much since he was a youngster, he supposed.
    He was in uniform and the older woman at the door, having waved the children off, looked at him with concern. “I’m Mrs. Tarkington. The principal. Is there something wrong?“
    “Nothing much. I’d just like to ask you some questions, if you have the time,“ he replied with a smile to allay her slight alarm.
    She took him into her office and closed the door. “Ask away,“ she said, sitting behind her desk and gesturing for him to pull up a chair. “I always have a cup of coffee when the children are dismissed, to keep me from going home and taking a nap. Would you join me?“
    “Gladly,“ he said, wishing he’d brought along a few of Miss Jurgen’s cookies to share. “I’m just wondering about your missing teacher, Miss Langston. I was called to her house this afternoon because someone appears to have used her automobile recently.“
    “How could that be?“ Mrs. Tarkington asked over her shoulder as she prepared two generous cups of coffee.
    “That’s what the woman she rents her house from was wondering.“
    “Isn’t Miss Jurgen charming?“ she said, handing him a hot cup of strong coffee and putting a little linen cloth on his side of the desk to set it on. “She comes once a year to school and shows the children what she does for a living. The boys are bored senseless and the girls love it. I always sit in because she’s so enthusiastic about her work. I hope to instill the same feeling in the students of liking their work, whatever it might be when they grow up. Maybe I could talk you into speaking to them occasionally about your job?“
    “You’re in a job you love as well, it appears,“ he said. “As am I. But I can’t count on being free any specific time.“
    “I’m flexible about schedules,“ she said. “I could fit you in whenever you have a little free time.”
    After this pleasantry, he came to the point. “After speaking with Miss Jurgen, who seems to be a bit alarmed by Miss Langston’s car being used, I started wondering what you could tell me about this teacher.“
    “I know very little about her,“ Mrs. Tarkington said. “I took her in a fit of panic a year and a half ago when the man who was teaching the class suddenly took off for greener pastures. California, of course. Don’t they all go to California when they’re fed up with their life and families?“
    “It seems so,“ Walker said mildly.
    “I was desperate to fill the spot with almost anyone until I could shop around among my peers,“ she went on. “But I kept her on. She was a good teacher. The children didn’t love her but they enjoyed their studies. That’s the most important thing.“
    “I suppose she’s made a lot of friends among the parents,“ he said.
    “Not at all. As far as I can tell, she has no friends. You must have never met her?“
    “I haven’t,“ he agreed.
    “She’s—it’s hard to explain—she doesn’t seem to like adults. I don’t know if they’re a threat to her or simply don’t interest her. She’s bossier and more aggressive with them than with the children.“
    “Have parents complained about her?“
    “Only a few. Most of them put up with her because they can tell she’s doing a good job teaching their children. What irritates them is that she insists on seeing their homes. She has some theory that what they have in their houses tells you a lot about how they think and who they really are. Teachers and principals in small towns are often invited for dinners or visits. Especially if they’re single or widowed as I am. But she doesn’t wait to be asked. She just turns up. They think it rude.“
    “So do I,“ Walker said.
    Mrs. Tarkington nodded in agreement. “What she does in her free time