Katie Sanders hummed to herself as she corrected quizzes at her desk. The students had clearly been paying attention to Miss Carroll, the schoolteacher in Nowhere’s one-room schoolhouse. Katie was relieved that she would get to share a positive result with the students. She hated breaking the news when the students didn’t pass their quizzes. It always made her feel guilty, like she was letting them down.

Apart from that, Katie loved her job at the schoolhouse. She had worked there ever since her sister Theresa had married and adopted infant twins. Katie was now the only one of her sisters who was unmarried and living at home with their adoptive parents, Edna Petunia and Cletus Sanders.

Katie, Theresa, and the others had grown up in Orlan, New York. One day, the church board that ran the orphanage ruled that it was not appropriate for girls and boys to live under the same roof. They put the fifteen female orphans on a bus with their matron, Cassie Morgan, and traveled to Texas.

When they arrived in the small town of Nowhere, they learned that there had been a mix-up—there was no home for girls in town. Fortunately, Edna Petunia and Cletus Sanders, a couple who’d married late in life and had no biological children, had been willing to take in all fifteen girls. Edna Petunia and Cletus lived comfortably in a large house and their means meant that none of the girls ever wanted for anything as they grew up.

Edna Petunia and Cletus made sure that each of the girls earned her keep. Before they married, the girls were responsible for working either inside or outside the home. Katie had been content doing chores around the house and helping Edna Petunia prepare meals, but now that she had a job outside of the house, she realized what she had been missing for all those years.

Katie watched through the window as the children played in the afternoon sun. She loved working at the school and shaping young minds. The children she worked with were smart, curious, and kind. She felt honored to help teach them their lessons. Miss Carroll was sweet and kind, too. Katie loved working with her.

The only real thing missing in Katie’s life was a suitor. She had watched and waited patiently as each of her older sisters had married one by one. Even though there were a few sisters whose personalities made the family question if they’d ever get married, each sister had found a man who complemented her perfectly. Prim and righteous Sarah Jane had married the town pastor, Micah. Bookish Gertrude had hit it off with freewheeling Jedediah, proprietor of a traveling book wagon. Even by-the-book Hope had settled down with Stephen Bennett, one of the town’s two doctors.

Katie sighed as she thought about her sisters and their husbands. Would her time ever come? Single men in Nowhere were as scarce as snow in Texas. They weren’t typically found, and even when they were, they were few and far between.

Katie dreamed of getting married as her sisters had. She envisioned a big church wedding, with a flowing dress, beautiful flowers, and her family by her side. The only thing she couldn’t picture was the groom. There were simply not enough eligible young men in Nowhere. When Katie complained about this to her adoptive mother, Edna Petunia waved her away and said her time would come. But Katie was starting to question whether Edna Petunia was right about that.

Still, Katie loved her life in Nowhere. It was so much more interesting and exciting than her childhood in the orphanage in New York. Although Katie had always been a happy child, she had craved a family of her own. Now, thanks to Edna Petunia and Cletus’s love and her sisters’ marriages and children, she had that. Even if she never married, she had felt lucky to have experienced the joy of a tight-knit, supportive family.

Miss Carroll cleared her throat. “Recess is over.”

Katie smiled at Miss Carroll and stood to walk outside the schoolhouse. “Time to come back inside, children!”

The students began scurrying into the classroom.

In the distance, Katie saw a bus approaching the school. She frowned. All of the students were present. She went inside the classroom, where Miss Carroll was about to start the lesson. “Are you expecting any deliveries or visitors today?”

Miss Carroll shook her head. “No. Why?”

Katie pointed at the window. “There’s a bus on its way here!”

The children raced from their seats to the window to look.

“Children!” Miss Carroll scolded, but she walked to the window, too.

The bus drew closer.

“Who could that be?” Katie wondered out loud.

“Back to your seats,” Miss Carroll instructed, and the children begrudgingly returned to their desks. Miss Carroll walked over to Katie and lowered her voice. “Will you please find out who they are and what they want?”

Katie nodded and went outside the schoolhouse. The bus pulled to a stop a few feet away, and young men and boys began filing out one by one, dragging large trunks and suitcases.

Katie looked around in confusion as the boys streamed around her, laughing and shouting.

A small boy of no more than six with merry eyes walked up to Katie. “Excuse me, Miss, can you show me to the bunks, please?” He carried a bag that was nearly larger than he was as well as a hat box with holes poked in it.

“There are no bunks here,” Katie replied gently. “This is a school.”

The boy laughed. “I know that! It just looks smaller than our old school.”

Finally, a tall, handsome man strode in front of Katie. He peeled off his gloves and looked around inquisitively. “I’m Aaron Cavett, the headmaster. Is the dormitory in this building, too?”

Katie felt her heart leap into her throat, pounding faster than ever before. She couldn’t string words together to form a complete sentence. All she could do was stare. “Dormitory?”

Aaron sighed and looked pointedly at the small structure. “The only address I was given was for this school house. If the living quarters are elsewhere, we’ll need to discuss it with the bus driver. He hasn’t been paid for an additional destination.” He turned to the bus, where the driver waited. “Can you please stay until we get things straightened out?”

The bus driver grunted in response.

Katie finally collected her wits. “Excuse me, Mr. Cavett, but what are you referring to?”

Some of the boys had stacked suitcases and trunks in a large heap and were beginning to climb on them. Aaron put a hand up and looked them all in the eyes, and they stopped immediately. Katie was impressed at his easy command of the group. Aaron turned his attention back to Katie. “This is the group of orphans who will be living and studying here.”

The more Aaron spoke, the more befuddled Katie became. “What group of orphans?”

“This group of orphans,” Aaron said, clearly frustrated. “Who’s in charge here?”

Miss Carroll came outside. “Is there a problem? What are all these boys doing here in the middle of the day?”

“I’m Aaron Cavett,” Aaron said impatiently. “Headmaster of the former Robert Ballinger Institution for Boys in New York. My employer, Lazarus Ballinger, made arrangements for our young men to transfer to your school. I understand that you also run an orphanage, with dormitories for the boys on the premises. I just can’t seem to understand where they might be.” Again, Aaron looked around, seeming unimpressed with the small building.

Miss Carroll shook her head. “Mr. Cavett, I’m afraid there’s been some type of mistake. This is a school house, but we do not have dormitories on site. There’s no orphanage in this town.”

Just then, the bus driver grew tired of waiting. He started the engine and drove the bus off into the distance. Aaron’s face went white as a sheet. He looked around at all of the boys. “What am I to do with all of these boys?”