Love Finds a Home (Anthologies) (14 page)

Garth squinted his eyes, and Andy stared at the ground.

Judith rubbed her hands briskly over her arms as the stinging cold penetrated her skin. “If someone doesn’t tell me what happened, the whole class will be punished.”

Sarah stepped forward. “Garth was makin’ fun of Andy’s sister, calling her ‘sissy face’ and ‘runt.’ So Andy challenged him to a fight, but you got here before either could land the first punch.”

“Is it true that you were calling Grace names?” Judith asked, taking Garth by the shoulders and turning him to face her.

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

Judith’s patience was growing thin, and she prayed for wisdom. “Either you did or you didn’t. Which is it?”

Garth lifted his chin and glared at her. “Okay, I did, but the little baby deserved it.”

“No one deserves to be called names,” Judith said sternly. She remembered some of the names she had been called as a child.
Giraffe with the long neck. Judith the freak. The girl with the spooky eyes
.

“Garth, you will stay after school today, and we’ll talk about your punishment then.” She tapped him on the shoulder. “In the meantime, I want you to tell Andy and Grace you’re sorry for being rude.”

The boy folded his arms in an unyielding pose. “Why should I apologize? He’s the one who said he was gonna clean my clock for teasin’ his baby sister.”

Garth had a point. Andy shouldn’t have started the fight. However, Judith figured he was only defending his sister. “Andy, apologize to Garth, and Garth, you do the same. Then you must tell Grace you’re sorry.”

With an exaggerated huff, Andy wrinkled his nose and mumbled, “Sorry.”

Garth followed suit.

Judith shooed the others inside, then took Garth’s arm and led him across the schoolyard to the teeter-totters where Grace was still squatted.

“Sorry for callin’ ya sissy face and runt,” the boy said, his jaw tight.

“Let’s get back to class.” Judith reached for Grace’s hand, but the little girl stayed firmly in place. Garth had already sprinted toward the schoolhouse.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Judith pleaded. “You can’t stay out here—it’s too cold.”

“I want my papa.”

“He said he would return after school.”

“I wanna go home.”

“You can’t go home until school is over for the day.”

The child gave no response, and Judith, though shivering from the cold, knelt beside her. “I remember when I saw you at the general store last month,” she said. “You had licorice candy.”

Grace nodded.

“Would you come inside if I promise to give you a piece of licorice when school lets out?”

“You got some?”

“Yes, in my desk. I keep it there for children who’ve done well on their assignments or have been extra good.”

“I didn’t do nothin’ good,” Grace said, her chin quivering.

“Obeying the teacher is a good thing. So if you come with me now, your reward will be the licorice.”

The child clambered to her feet. “Okay.”

Judith breathed a sigh of relief. The role of a schoolteacher brought lots of challenges, and there were days like today when she wondered if she was up to them.

CHAPTER 4

T
he days sped by quickly as Judith settled in with her larger class. Five more children from the canal had started coming to school, so now there were seventeen. Grace wasn’t quite as shy as she had been at first, and Andy and Garth had calmed down, too.

Even though all the children behaved better in class and during recess, Judith felt some concern because of their lack of interaction. She had tried a question-and-answer time following their lessons, but most of the children just sat there, staring at their desk or out the window.

Today Judith decided to try something new—something she hoped everyone would take part in.

“Children,” she said, clapping her hands together. “I’ve come up with an idea I shall call the letter box.”

She reached under her desk and retrieved the small cardboard box she’d put there before class, placing it in the middle of her desk. “During our art lesson today, we’ll decorate this and put a hole in the lid. Then each of you may write down any questions, ideas, or concerns you have and put it in the box. If your letter is signed, you will receive a letter back. If it’s not, I will respond to it orally in front of the class.”

Ruby’s hand shot up.

“Yes?”

The freckle-faced little girl grinned. “I’d like to get a letter from you, Teacher.”

“Thank you, Ruby.”

“Me, too,” several of the girls chorused.

Noisy snickers from the back of the room drew Judith’s attention to the boys who sat in the last row of desks. “Would one of you care to tell me what you think is so funny?”

“Nothin’, Miss King.” Roger folded his hands in front of him and sat as straight as a ruler.

“What about you, Eric?” Judith questioned. “Why were you laughing?”

The boy slunk down in his seat, and Carl, who sat beside Eric, jabbed him in the ribs.

“Hey, cut that out! Want me to slug you?”

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea
, Judith thought with dismay.
If the children don’t take this project seriously, nothing will be gained by doing it
.

“I like the idea of a letter box,” Andy spoke up.

“Why is that?” Judith asked.

The boy pulled his fingers through the shaggy brown hair curling around his ears. “Seems like a fun way to learn about others, that’s all.”

Judith nodded, feeling more hopeful.

“Can we decorate the box now?” Karen asked.

“I suppose we could.”

“Yes!” the children shouted.

“After I hand out some glue, scissors, and paper, you can all get busy,” Judith said. “If you each make a small decoration, we’ll take turns gluing them to the box.”

The room became quiet, as every child began work on their decorations. A short time later, the plain cardboard box had been transformed into a collage of brightly colored squares, circles, and triangles. Judith printed the words L
ETTER
B
OX
on a piece of white paper and glued it to the center of the box. She allowed Beth, the oldest girl, to cut a hole in the top, and the box was placed on Judith’s desk.

“For the next half hour, you may each write your questions or comments on a slip of paper. When I ring the bell for recess, you can deposit them in the box,” Judith announced. “A few minutes before it’s time to go home, I’ll read some of the letters that are unsigned and hand out my reply to those who have included their name.”

“I hope Teacher reads mine,” she overheard Ruby whisper to Grace.

Grace only nodded in reply, as she seemed to be concentrating on the paper before her.

Judith drew in a deep breath and returned to her desk.
This project might be the very thing that will make my class successful
.

Ernie shivered as he clomped through the fresh-fallen snow, on his way to the small building where the ice he’d been cutting would be stored. It was early December, and the weather had turned bitterly cold. He hated to think what the rest of winter might be like.

“Probably need to get me a heavier coat and a new pair of gloves,” he muttered, glancing at the gaping hole in the thumb of his left glove. “Sure hate to spend money on clothes for me, though. Not when there are so many other needs.”

Ernie’s children came first, and they always had. That was why he worked such long hours hauling coal during the warmer months, and it was why he also planned to work hard this winter, cutting ice. If anyone needed a new coat, it was Grace, and he hoped to get her one for Christmas. Andy needed a new pair of boots, too. The ones he wore now were pinching his toes.

Ernie thought about his helper and wondered if Jeb had been able to find work in Easton. Jeb had a daughter who lived there, and he would stay with her, even if he didn’t secure a job for the winter.

The thought had crossed Ernie’s mind to look for work in the city, but his home was in Parryville, and he hated to uproot Andy and Grace. They were happy here. Happy with their new schoolteacher, too.

A vision of Judith King flashed into Ernie’s mind. Several times he’d gone to pick up his kids after school, yet he’d never said more than “Howdy, how are you?” or “Hope my kids are doin’ okay” to the schoolmarm. He’d wanted to say more. Truth was Ernie would have liked to invite Judith to join him and the kids for supper at Baker’s Café, but he couldn’t work up the nerve.

“Not that she’d give me a second look,” he mumbled. “She’s probably had all kinds of offers from men a lot smarter and handsomer than me.”

Ernie was glad when the icehouse came into view. He was supposed to meet Abe McGinnis there, and the two of them would spend most of the day cutting ice on a section of canal nearby that hadn’t been drained. Ernie figured hard work was good. It kept him too busy to do much thinking, and when he worked up a sweat, he didn’t mind the cold so much.

“Yep. That’s what I need all right,” Ernie mumbled, opening the door of the icehouse. “Need to get busy and quit thinkin’ about that purty schoolteacher.”

While the children romped in the snow during recess, Judith sat at her desk, reading the letters that had been deposited in the letter box a short time ago. The first one was from Bobby Collins, and it read:

Dear Teacher:

How come you have two different-colored eyes?

The boy was new to class and was one of those who led the mules along the canal. Judith knew he hadn’t been at school the day she’d explained to the students about her unusual eyes. Therefore, he deserved an answer to his question.

Dear Bobby:

God makes each person different, and He chose to give me one brown eye and one blue
.

Miss King

She unfolded the next piece of paper.

Dear Teacher:

How do I get to be a teacher like you?

Ruby Miller

Judith’s reply was:

Dear Ruby:

Study hard, get good grades, and someday you might be offered the job of teaching school, too
.

Miss King

The next letter caused Judith to do some serious thinking.

Dear Teacher: