"I closed it out when Tabitha passed away," he told Mary. "There wasn't much outstanding—only ten dollars or so—and I'll gladly absorb the loss. Tabitha did so much for me and the people of Utopia."
"I'm sure she was a paragon."
Jed laughed. "Oh no, she wasn't. She had a temper and faults just like the rest of us. She enjoyed having money while the mine was open, but she didn't like the way her uncle treated the mine families."
"Her uncle?"
"Arthur Ettinger," Jed explained. "He built Utopia and Ettinger House and owned the silver mine."
Mary smiled. "Arthur. I should have guessed."
"Yes, ma'am," Jed agreed. "Old man Arthur practically worshipped King Arthur and the knights of the round table. Too bad he didn't treat his subjects as well as King Arthur treated his."
"I don't understand."
"Up until Miz Gray, Tabitha, moved here, Utopia didn't have a general store. The mining company operated the store and the miners could only buy from the company store—at outrageously inflated prices. I had opened my store, but I could barely support myself on what I made off sales to the other residents of Utopia. When Art died, Tabitha inherited everything." He paused and scratched his beard. "I don't know why old Art didn't leave everything to your husband, ma'am, what with him being Tabitha's only brother and all."
"You might say my husband was something of a loner before we married," Mary told him. "I don't believe he had much contact with his family after the war."
Jed nodded. "I can surely understand that. I lost most of my family and everything I owned in the war." He reached down and rapped his knuckles on his right leg above his knee. "Even lost my leg at Vicksburg."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be, ma'am," Jed said. "It turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. My father owned a string of businesses back home and I was studying business. But I was a wild one before the war, hell-bent on destruction. I hated being confined. I hated the university. I didn't want to be a shopkeeper, I wanted to be a hero. I couldn't wait to enlist and fight for the South. I had to learn things the hard way. I saw enough destruction during the war to last me a lifetime. And after I lost everything, I decided to come west. I knew I couldn't work as a miner with a wooden leg, but I had sense enough to know that miners needed equipment and supplies. I scraped together some cash and came west."
"I settled in Utopia because the name and the location appealed to me. But I nearly starved the first year. I couldn't compete with the company store. Anyway, after Art died, Tabitha closed the store and allowed me to buy the contents. You could say she saved my business, and all she asked in return was that I treat the mine employees fairly. I agreed, and we did business together until she died."
Mary sighed. It was impossible to stay angry at a dead woman. Especially when the dead woman was someone she admired—someone she was sure she would have liked if they had met before Lee Kincaid came along. "I know about Tabitha's arrangement with the wives of the miners," Mary said. "How have you managed since the mine closed?"
"I managed because Tabitha used her savings to buy food and goods from me." Jed shook his head and scratched his beard again. "I don't know how she survived. She must have exhausted her money. Supporting a whole town is expensive. Kids always need shoes and clothes and even if they're thrifty, women have to buy things once in a while."
"That's what I want to talk to you about." Mary saw her opening and seized it. "I want to keep the arrangement with the miner's wives. I would like for you to continue to supply them with the necessary food and household goods and whatever school supplies they need—books, slates, pencils, pens, ink."
"The children in this town don't need school supplies, ma'am," Jed told her. "Utopia doesn't have a school or a schoolteacher."
Mary frowned. "What do the children do all day?"
"Most of them work or keep house and take care of the younger ones while their mothers work."
"But they should be in school!"
Jed shrugged. "Like I said, Utopia doesn't have a schoolhouse or a teacher."
Mary's face seemed to light up. "They do now!"
"Ma'am?"
"I'm a teacher, Mr. Buford," Mary answered. "The town needs a teacher and I need pupils. Please order a case each of elementary grade spellers, readers, and arithmetic books, to start. And slates and chalk, and a standing slate board for me as well as pencils, pens, and ink." Mary thought for a moment. "Oh, and desks. About twenty of them."
"I'll be glad to order any supplies you need, Miz Kincaid," Jed said. "But have you thought where you're going to put this school? We don't have any vacant buildings left in town except the jail, and even if it was suitable, it wouldn't be big enough."
"What about one of the saloons?" Mary suggested.
Jed shook his head. "The Ajax already doubles as the assayer's office and the bank and the Silver Bear—well, the Silver Bear has an upstairs business the children ought not to see."
"The servant's kitchen at Ettinger House is plenty big enough," Mary said. "But we need the seating space for meals."
"What about after breakfast and dinner?" Jed suggested. "You could have school in the afternoon between dinner and supper."