The Hushed Hearth, Stave 4

Stave 1 : Stave 2 : Stave 3 : Stave 4 : Stave 5

The woman strode straight up to Riley and deftly pushed his dinner plate toward Erin while picking up the guest book with her other hand. She was dressed in an apparently homespun woolen dress to match her cap, and thick leggings beneath that ended in workman style boots. She opened the guest book, flipped through the pages to where Riley had been writing, then finally looked up.

“You’ll be Skyler, then?” she asked, pointing toward Skyler. He nodded slowly, and couldn’t hide the slight smile on his face. “And you’re the Fosters, right?” she followed, shifting her pointing to the couple. They, too, had grins on their faces, and also nodded.

She clapped the book shut and set it back down on the table. “Right. C’mon, Riley. We’ve rooms to prepare.” She practically dragged Riley out of his chair, heading toward the guest rooms. She paused long enough to glance back toward Elys and state, “You can help Erin figure out the kitchen. We’ll come check on you in a bit. You two,” she said, somehow pointing at both Skyler and Reed at the same time, “can start getting this dining room spick and span and properly set.” With that, and with Riley in tow, she disappeared down the hallway, then turned left toward the first guest room on the first floor.

She stopped in front of the first door. “Room One will do for Skyler. Room Three, the Fosters. You and Erin will be in Room Eight.”

“Excuse me,” Riley said, finally gathering his wits enough to speak to this woman, “but… who are you, again?”

The woman looked back at him as if he’d grown a second nose. Squinting at his face, she seemed to decide that he had not, in fact grown a second nose and, nodding, said, “You can call me Maud. Let’s go!” Without further introduction or explanation, she opened the door to the first room and disappeared inside.

“First order of business: a little fresh air and a little less dust!” Maud said, moving around the bed to the window on the far side.

“Uh, Maud? That window is pretty sticky. I usually have to really work at it—” Riley began.

Maud swiftly thumped both sides of the frame with her balled-up hands, then smacked the top before grasping the lift and hoisting it open with apparent ease.

“I think I figured it out, Riley,” she said. She then turned to the bed and grasped two corners of the comforter on her side, looking expectantly at Riley.

Riley, moving as if in a daze, picked up the two corners on his side, and together they gave the comforter a smart flap to knock the bit of dust covering it off and toward the open window.

“Who are you?” Riley said as they laid the comforter back on the bed, folding it down for the occupant.

“Like I said, I’m Maud,” Maud replied, an impish grin on her face. 

Realizing that was probably the best he was going to get from her, Riley asked, “Well Maud, I… uh… certainly appreciate the help, but… what are you doing here?”

Her grin widened as she walked past him and out of the room. “I’m here to help. You’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.” she said from down the hall. She was opening the door to Room Three when Riley joined her. “Don’t worry — we’ll close the windows after the rooms’ve had a chance to air out.”

“OK.” Riley automatically replied, then followed up with a quick, “Wait, tomorrow? What’s tomorrow?”

Maud turned to look at him for the second time, again searching his face for the second nose. “It’s Christmas Day, of course!” she finally declared, managing to open the window in Room Three with the same ease as shown in Room One.

They repeated the comforter fluffing and turning down as Riley stated, “I know it’s Christmas Day, but that still doesn’t explain—”

“You’re going to be busy,” Maud said, cutting him off as she exited the room and headed towards the stairs that led to the second level. Riley practically had to jog to keep up with her.

“Busy? Are you joking?” Riley asked, then, deciding to take a different tack. “How could you possibly say that?”

“Riley, my boy… I know more about the Hushed Hearth Inn than anyone.” Maud replied simply.

Of all the things she’d said and done so far, this took Riley aback the most. “Really? I’ll have you know that the Hushed Hearth Inn is my family’s inn. I doubt you know more about it than I do.”

“Oho, is that so?” Maud chuckled as Riley looked slightly exasperated. “Let’s test it then, shall we? Tell me the story of the inn’s founding, if you please.” They were into Room Eight at this point, and Maud was repeating the same exercises she’d gone through in the other rooms. 

“Fine,” Riley said, still assisting her in the preparations. “The Hushed Hearth Inn was constructed by my eight-times great grandfather Jean Poissant in 1769. It was the first inn and public house in Whispering Fork, and has entertained everyone from paupers to princes, so to speak. It’s one of if not the oldest continuously operating inns in the state.”

Maud glanced up at him from where she was smoothing the comforter. “Nice story. You only mentioned a single line about the inn’s actual founding, and it’s not quite right.”

Riley was actually getting upset at this point. “Yes, it is,” he insisted. “Like I said, the inn is my family’s inn.”

Maud held her hands up at him, apparently attempting to placate. “Alright Riley, alright. Would you like a few more details about how the inn actually came about?”

Despite his best efforts, Riley was intrigued. “Yes, but only if they’re factual.”

“I promise that I will tell you the truth about the inn,” Maud said as she moved past him once more into the upstairs hallway. “Let’s see how everyone else is doing and what else needs to be done, and I’ll fill in some blanks along the way…”

***

As they headed down the stairs, Maud began speaking. Her voice seemed slightly different. For one thing, it was less bossy. For another, it was somehow… younger. No less strong, and no more energetic, but with a spark of agelessness that defied her appearance.

“It was the springtime of 1769,” she began, “and Jean and Mathilde Poissant moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Whispering Fork, Connecticut. Jean had made a modest name for himself in the textile industry, but after several encounters with industrious farmers and ranchers, decided a more rural lifestyle would suit him and his family much better. He obtained two parcels of property in Whispering Fork, over 100 miles from Boston, and moved there as soon as his affairs were in order. The parcels included thirty acres just outside of the village, and another two acres between the branches where the river forked. Jean determined that he would farm and raise a bit of livestock on the thirty acres, and figure out what to do with the other two acres at some point.”

Riley and Maud entered the dining room in time to see Reed and Skyler setting fresh tablecloths out to spread on each table. Maud nodded at them and they returned the gesture before Maud continued her story.

“The main problem with Jean’s plan was that he didn’t know the first thing about farming or raising livestock.” she said, helping gather a collection of napkins and silverware for the tables. Riley automatically fell into step with her, putting place settings out on the tables after Reed and Skyler covered them with tablecloths. “Try as he might, he couldn’t get anything to grow or take root. It didn’t matter if it was spinach or squash, legume or lettuce, it just wouldn’t grow. Combine that with the fact that the areas he’d staked out for pasture failed to produce any but the meanest of grasses, and he couldn’t keep his livestock fed. By the end of the second year of the Whispering Fork Expedition, as he called it, he was completely disheartened.”

“It was a good thing his wife, Mathilde, was as wise as she was industrious. She saw what was happening with the family farm by the end of the first season and started making plans for another venture: an inn on the two acres between the river’s forks, for what was quickly turning from village into town, with plenty of folks passing through on their way between Boston and New York City. Her dream was for the inn to become a place that not only they could call “home,” but anyone that traveled through might have the same opportunity. It would be a place of cheer and celebration during the good times, and respite and renewal during the hard times. People from all over would be able to share company and enjoy fellowship while under its eaves.”

“By the time Jean was ready to pack up the farm and head back to the textile industry, Mathilde told him they could keep his dream alive by making a slight alteration away from cultivating crops to hosting guests and travelers. Jean was skeptical at first, but he also trusted his wife, and they invested what was left of their capital in the construction of the Hushed Hearth Inn. By the next season, it opened, and has been open ever since.”

“And that, my dear boy, is the real story of the inn’s founding.”

Having finished setting all of the tables, Maud headed toward the kitchen. Riley followed, wondering at the story he’d just heard. Could it be true? Was the Hushed Hearth the result of a failed attempt to farm the same thirty acres that he had been trying to sell to pay off the tax lien?

On entering the kitchen, Riley saw that Maud was conferring with Elys and Erin about something. A moment later Erin waved him over. As he joined the group Maud and Elys went to the pantry and began digging around, apparently for ingredients.

“So, this is beyond strange,” began Riley.

“I know!” Erin exclaimed. “We’re going to bake pie crusts in this old wood stove!” She seemed genuinely excited.

“No, I mean her,” Riley said, pointing to where Maud was pulling items off of one of the shelves in the pantry. “She just told me in detail about how the inn started, and it’s not quite the same as the story I’ve always heard. None of the claims seem to be unbelievable, but... I'm not sure what to think.”

Erin yet again took Riley’s hand, squeezed it, and stretched up to kiss his cheek. “Honey, nothing about this evening has been normal. But we have a couple of paying customers, and we need to do something in order to make sure they’re taken care of. They all seem not only agreeable, but like they’re genuinely enjoying what’s happening. I get the sense that Elys and Reed know Maud, and really like her.  And I’m not sure why, but I do too. And I… trust her, somehow.”

It was Riley’s turn to squeeze Erin’s hand and lean down and kiss her cheek. “I won’t pretend that I have any idea of what’s going on here tonight, but I’m with you. As long as everyone’s happy and taken care of, I’ll try not to worry about it.”

Erin smiled up at him again as Maud and Elys returned with a square basket full of various dry ingredients as well as oils and preserves. Elys put the basket on a small table and began taking the contents out, motioning for Erin to help her.

“They’re in a good spot. Lots of work to do, but Erin’s a wizard with that stove,” Maud said. “We have one more task to do: gather some wood.”

***

They exited the kitchen via the service entrance. It was dark now, and the snow was actually picking up slightly, the flakes getting fatter and heavier. They crossed the small yard to the shed. It was used mainly for storage at this point, but was also where the inn’s main woodpile was kept. The woodpile was currently only about a quarter full, which given the state of disuse of the inn, seemed fine to Riley. He grabbed a few logs off of the pile and was about to turn back toward the kitchen when he saw that Maud hadn’t actually stopped at the pile. She had instead continued walking around the corner of the shed and was almost out of sight of Riley as she called back over her shoulder without looking:

“Not that wood. We’ll get some of that on the way back.”

Riley quickly put his small load down and followed her around the shed. They crossed the narrow but still well-maintained foot bridge over the dry creek bed and continued straight for a few more moments. The trees were somewhat thicker here, and the light was dim, but Riley knew where he was going in general. He was wondering if Maud was as familiar with the grounds as he was when he almost bumped into her. She had stopped at the edge of a tiny clearing, the grove circled by relatively small evergreen trees. The scent hit him a moment later — Balsam firs, and he was instantly transported back to every Christmas from his childhood.

“Here we are,” said Maud, her voice more quiet than it had been all evening. She turned to Riley and said, “You need to pick one.”

“Wait, you want me to use one of these as for a Christmas tree?” 

He could see Maud nodding in the dimness, then saw that she had produced a small hatchet for the job from somewhere in her long coat. 

“That’s what they’re here for, after all. Sometimes the inn needs a tree, and when no other is available, the grove provides.”

Suddenly Riley had a vision of a memory long forgotten, of himself as a small child with his mother, wandering around through the trees at the back of the inn, looking for a perfect Christmas tree. That had been a hard year, but his mother had insisted they get a tree and put it up in the dining room. They had eventually found what must have been this little grove, and his mother had said something.

“I need to pick one.”

Then, turning to Riley, she said, “Remember this Riley: take a tree, leave a tree.”

As this memory washed over him, Maud echoed his mother’s words.

“Remember, Riley: take a tree, leave a tree.”

Riley moved to the center of the small clearing, slowly turning to really look at each tree along the perimeter. Eventually, as he completed a circuit, the clouds behind one tree broke just enough to allow bright starlight to shine through. One tree in particular seemed illuminated, as if the stars above were somehow decorating the tree, with the brightest near the top.

“That one. I choose that one.” Riley said, moving toward it. He carefully lifted the limbs at the base of the tree and used the hatchet to quickly and cleanly create the first notch, then moved to the other side to finish the job. As he did, a single cone fell alongside the tree. Riley carefully picked it up and put it in his coat pocket, making sure the seeds were still intact. He would need those in order to plant a tree to replace this one. Once the cone was safe and secure, he handed the hatchet back to Maud and hoisted the tree onto his shoulder. Together, they headed back toward the inn.

As they passed the shed, Maud grabbed an armload of wood. Riley looked like he was about to try to do the same, but Maud waved him off. “You go get that tree set up. I’ll get the firewood.”

Riley crossed through the kitchen, drawing the attention of both Erin and Elys as he went. He didn’t pause, but continued on down the hall and into the dining room. Reed and Skyler had finished the rest of the settings and had found some boxes that looked vaguely familiar to Riley but which he couldn’t immediately place. He carried the tree to the back of the dining room and set it up directly in front of one of the large windows there. The clouds remained gappy enough that the twinkling of the stars continued to have the effect Riley had observed in the grove. Stepping back, he admired the tree, then realized what the boxes Reed and Skyler had found contained: decorations.

He joined the other two as they went through the boxes. He retrieved the tree stand and skirt, but before he could actually pull any of the decorations out, Maud entered the dining room. She dropped her logs in the firewood rack there, then crossed to the three of them.

“No decorations necessary. The skirt and stand will do just fine. Those,” she said, pointing at some candle holders and handles, “and those as well,” indicating some stockings, “but nothing else, if you please.”

“Are you sure?” Riley asked. Both Reed and Skyler also looked to Maud as she nodded.

“I’m sure, Riley. The rest will take care of itself in due time.”

Riley wasn’t sure what that meant, but he had promised Erin that he would not worry about it. Even more, he wanted to believe what Maud was saying, which is something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

With that, Maud took both of Riley’s hands. As she did, he felt a tremor of some kind, almost like a shock of static electricity, but warm instead of painful.

“Everything is set. Go close the guest room windows and see if they need anything else in the kitchen. After that, everyone should get some sleep.”

“Wait, we didn’t prepare a room for you, Maud,” Riley stated as the realization hit him.

She chuckled at him. “I’ll see to myself when I’m ready. For now, I’m going to tend to the hearth.” She let go of his hands, but the warmth the conveyed remained.

Riley did as she asked, closing the guest room windows and making sure the rooms were otherwise prepared. By the time he returned to the kitchen, everyone except Maud was there, finishing whatever cleaning and preparation had been underway.

Skyler was the first to take his leave with a courteous bow, and went straight to Room One. The Fosters lingered a bit longer, gazing around the kitchen, before taking each other’s arms and saying goodnight to Erin and Riley. 

Looking around the kitchen, Erin took in a breath and exhaled it quickly. “Well, that was an adventure! I’m a little bit beat, honey. Are you ready to turn in?”

Riley nodded, and they left the kitchen. As they passed the dining room, Riley glanced back to where Maud sat in front of the hearth, her feet propped on it, her eyes gazing into the fire there. He started to move toward her, but she held her hand up to him.

“Get some rest, you two. I’ll come get you if I need anything. If not, I’ll turn in soon myself. Just remember Riley — Mathilde had a vision when she built this place. That vision was realized and transformed, and became a legacy. You have it in you to honor the past while creating a new future.” Maud had shifted her focus from the fire to Riley and Erin, and Riley felt the love, joy, and good will her gaze conveyed. He wasn’t sure why, but he had quickly come to trust this stranger that seemed to know him and the Hushed Hearth Inn.

“Thank you, Maud. And good night.”