The Winds of Autumn (8 page)
Well, we had heard that before and it hadn’t amounted to anything, but I didn’t argue. I packed up my little valise, threw it in the back of the wagon, then went back into the big farm kitchen to tell Gramps and Uncle Charlie goodbye, scooped up Pixie and we started off for town.
“Feel that bite in the wind, Boy?” Gramps said as he turned up his collar. The wind really caught a body all right when you were perched up on the high seat of that wagon. I nodded my head and turned up my own collar.
“Winter might finally be on its way. Don’t know when we ever had us a fall like this one.”
I nodded again and looked at the trees lining the roadway. The branches were whipping back and forth and the leaves were dancing here and there, as though scurrying about to find the right bed for snuggling down before the snow started falling.
Grandpa clucked to the horses to hurry, and then I saw him look toward the sky.
My eyes followed his, and it sure did look like snow weather all right. I purposely didn’t think about the wood it would take for the fires and the extra work in choring. I smiled to myself and thought instead about sliding down snow-covered hills and skating over frozen ponds.
When we got to Aunt Lou’s there was no one to answer our light rap on the door. Grandpa walked right on in, like it was our custom when he brought me back to town, sorta halloing as he did.
“Guess Lou is out—“ He stopped quick-like when we heard a noise from the bedroom.
Grandpa cocked his head and listened a minute. “Lou?” he called.
“In here, Pa,” came the weak answer.
We both walked to the door of Lou’s room. She was laying there with flushed cheeks and the blind on the window drawn.
“Ya feeling poorly?” asked Grandpa softly, and I wondered why he even asked. Lou wasn’t one to lay around in bed in the middle of the day.
She smiled, but it was kind of fragile-like.
“Not too bad,” she answered, “but Doc says I’m to stay here for a couple of days.”
Grandpa walked over to Lou’s bed. Automatically, it seemed, his big work-calloused hand reached out and rested on Lou’s brow.
“You had the doc?” he asked. I knew that fact concerned Grandpa. One did not call the doc just for sniffles or a tummy ache.
“I’m fine, Pa, really I am,” Lou assured him quickly. “Why, I really don’t feel too sick at all—but Doc says at my age, I best stay in bed. Measles can bring complications.”
“Measles?” I guess Grandpa and I both said the word together.
Lou looked just a mite embarrassed.
“Little Sarah Smith had the measles and then her mama got them, too. I took over a couple books and some chicken soup— and—well, I guess I had no business being there. Anyway, I now have the measles and Doc says, ‘Stay in bed,’ and Nat says, ‘Stay in bed,’ so—I stay in bed.”
By the way she said it, I knew staying in bed was not easy for Aunt Lou.
“You should have sent for us, honey,” Grandpa was saying.
“I’m not sick, Pa. Really. I sure didn’t need to go trouble someone else over it.”
“Well, Josh is here now,” said Grandpa. “He’s right handy.
He can do any running that needs being done. He can cook, too. Charlie’s been teaching him a few things since he’s been so bored this week.”
Lou gave me a smile. “Good to have you back, Josh,” she said. “I’ve been missing you.” I knew it was more than just someone to run her errands. Aunt Lou really did miss me when I was gone—me and Pixie.
I put Pixie in Aunt Lou’s outstretched arms and the little dog lay there, her small tongue busy on Aunt Lou’s face. For a moment I was scared—could dogs pick up measles? And then I figured likely not and dismissed my fears.
“I’ll just put my things in my room,” I said.
By the time I was finished unpacking my few belongings, I could hear the kettle singing. Grandpa was busy making Aunt Lou some fresh tea. I’d noticed some laundry on the line when we drove in, so I decided I’d best slip out and get it before that storm arrived. When I had finally untangled the things that were wrapped around the string of wire, my fingers were tingling with the cold. Yep, winter sure was on its way.
Nearing the house, I could hear Aunt Lou laughing. I don’t know what story Grandpa was telling her, but they seemed to be enjoying it together. I folded up the wash, enjoying the fresh, outdoorsy smell of it, and put it in the basket. By then the feeling was back in my fingers.
“Josh,” called Aunt Lou, “there are cookies in the pan on the table. Mrs. Brown just brought them this morning. Help yourself and bring some in for Pa, please.”
“Anything you need before I start hauling wood?” I asked Aunt Lou around the cookie in my mouth as I handed the pan to Grandpa.
“Could you run to the store for some pork chops for our supper?” she asked me. I nodded that I could and pushed the last of the cookie into my mouth so I’d have two free hands to button up my coat.
The butcher shop was always a busy place. Sometimes I had been there when I’d had to wait in line for ten or fifteen minutes. It wasn’t my favorite spot. I didn’t care for the smell, the mixture of sawdust and fresh meat. I didn’t like to look at the cases full of chunks and pieces that used to be someone’s cow or hog, either. I would have rather waited outside, but the wind was cold so I stepped in and took my place in line—for once a short one.
The butcher took care of each customer one by one, and when he had handed Mrs. Olaf her brown-wrapped hamburger and marked it on her sheet, he turned to me.
“Howdy, Joshua. I’m supposin’ you’ve heard the good news?”
I hadn’t heard any news, good or bad, that I recalled, so I shook my head.
“No, sir,” I stated.
“You didn’t? Well, boy, yer holiday is ’bout over. The new teacher arrived on today’s train.”
I guess he’d expected my face to fall or me to start to grumble or something, for he was all ready to laugh a big laugh at my expense. There must have been a little smile that crossed my lips or showed in my eyes or something, ’cause he looked real surprised and then sad, like I’d spoiled his fun or something.
“Ain’t ya upset?” he asked me.
“No, sir,” I answered honestly.
“Ya like school?” he went on, incredulous.
I was a little slower to answer that one. I mean, I didn’t want to be thought strange or something. I swallowed. “I reckon I do,” I said.
He shook his head as though to clear it of cobwebs, and then he said a funny thing. “Good for you. Maybe ya won’t need to spend yer life standin’ over foul-smellin’ meat all day.”
He handed me my package and turned to enter it on the sheet that he kept for Uncle Nat.
I didn’t rightly know what to say, so I just mumbled my “thank you” and pulled open the door. Besides, I was suddenly in a great big hurry to get home. I had real honest-to-goodness news!
When I reached the house out of breath from running against the wind, Uncle Nat had arrived home from the church and was sitting by Aunt Lou, looking relieved to see her obediently in bed and visiting with Grandpa.
“New schoolteacher’s here!” I gasped out to all three of them.
“Is she now?” said Grandpa with a smile. “Then the rumor was right this time.”
“He,” put in Uncle Nat mildly.
We all looked at him.
Grandpa’s eyes returned to my red-flushed face.
“When did she get here, Boy?”
“He,” said Uncle Nat again.
We seemed to catch his meaning then—at least Grandpa did.
“It’s a man?”
“Right,” said Uncle Nat.
“How old a fella?” asked Grandpa, and I wondered if he was thinking about whether the new teacher would be able to handle the older boys.
“Near middle age, I expect,” responded Uncle Nat.
“Middle age,” repeated Grandpa, seeming to ponder the information. “Did he come alone?”
“No, he has a wife and child.”
“Child?” This question, too, was from Grandpa.
“A girl,” said Uncle Nat, and I immediately dismissed the fact from my mind. If it had been a boy I might have been interested in his age.
“That’s nice,” Grandpa was saying. “Real nice. You’ll be able to get back to yer studies, Boy.”
I nodded and then realized I still held the brown-paper-wrapped pork chops in my hands.
Grandpa stood to his feet and gathered up the cups. “I’d best be gettin’ on home ’fore that storm strikes,” he said. “Josh, did you bring in the milk and butter?”
“Yes, sir,” I answered him.
“Then I’d best get a-rollin’. You take care now, Lou, ya hear? Josh is here and he’s happy to do yer runnin’.”
Lou smiled. “I promise!” she said. “Though I sure don’t
feel
sick anymore.”
“I’ve had an awful time keeping her down,” remarked Uncle Nat.
“No use takin’ chances,” Grandpa reminded Aunt Lou. Then he added thoughtfully, “I thought you had the measles when you were just a little tyke.”
“Doc says that they were the Red measles,” Aunt Lou replied. “These are the German. One is not usually as sick with them, but occasionally there are complications.”
“Well, you take care.” Grandpa leaned over to plant a kiss on Aunt Lou’s cheek, reached out and tussled Pixie’s ear, and then turned to me.
“Glad about your school, Boy,” he said again with a quick pat on my shoulder.
He turned to Uncle Nat. “Any idea when classes will start?”
“I heard them say next Monday,” he replied.
I was rather disappointed about that. It was Wednesday. I’d been hoping that school would take up again the next morning. I was anxious to get a look at that new teacher. I’d never had me a man teacher before.
“Guess he needs a couple days to settle in,” Grandpa was saying.
He placed his hand on my shoulder again and gave it a slight squeeze like he always did when we said goodbye, and then he was off. Uncle Nat went out with him.
It was then that I finally delivered the package of pork chops to the kitchen.
Uncle Nat turned to me good-naturedly. “You can have your pick, Josh,” he said. “You want to cook supper or haul the wood?”
I didn’t hesitate for one minute. “I’ll haul the wood,” I responded and went to slip out of my good jacket and into my choring coat before leaving the warm kitchen.
The wind sure enough smelled of snow.
O
VER THE NEXT FEW
days there was little time for chafing over school to start. With Aunt Lou still confined to her bed and Uncle Nat busy with church duties, I had plenty to keep my hands and mind busy. The first snowstorm came sweeping in too, and that meant more wood and coal to haul. Boy, was it cold! It seemed that Old Man Winter wanted to make up for lost time, all in a day or so—thought we’d had it warm and sunshiny for quite long enough. The snow piled up overnight and the north wind whipped it into little drifts all around the corners of the house. I had to shovel my way to the coal shed and the woodpile. It did look awfully pretty out though.
Now and then one of the fellas would drop by with the latest bit of gossip about the new teacher. I couldn’t invite anyone in because of the house being in quarantine, so we’d talk through the open window or over the front gate. You’d be surprised how many things were being passed around town about the schoolmaster.
One story said he was running from the law, and another one said, no not the law, but the army, and still another said he wasn’t running at all but it was his wife who was on the run. Then there were those stories that said he’d been put out of his last school for beating a boy to within an inch of his life, and another that he had lost his school because of some jealous woman who falsely accused him because he wouldn’t leave his wife for her.
There were even stories about his finances. Some said he was only a step ahead of creditors, and others said he had lost his home, his horse and his holdings to the town banker where he had last taught.
Nobody seemed to know for sure where he had taught. Nobody seemed to know many
facts
at all, but the gossip kept sweeping over the gates and into the homes of the town folk. Uncle Nat was getting right put out about it all and said that someone should call a town meeting and put an end to all the foolishness. “A man is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
It was all rather mysterious. I could hardly wait to get my first look at the man. I felt quite confident that when I got that look, I would be able to tell right off just which one of the stories had any basis in fact.
By the time Monday finally rolled around, the doc had let Aunt Lou out of bed. She was right anxious to take over her own house again, and I guess Uncle Nat and I were just as anxious to let her.
My lunch pail in hand, well stocked by Aunt Lou, I left for school with a great feeling of excitement. Avery, Willie, Jack and I had agreed to meet at the corner of Main Street and all go to school together. None of us could live with the thought of one or the other of us fellas getting the first look at that new schoolmaster.
Willie and Avery were already there when I came puffing up. The air was frosty and it hurt one’s lungs to run hard on such a morning. My insides felt frozen as I came wheezing up to the fellas.
We had to wait for Jack. The three of us stood there stomping our feet and clapping our hands, trying to keep warm. We were about to give up on Jack and go on to school when he came panting around the corner. His cheeks were red—I just figured it to be the cold wind. Then he grabbed my arm and squeezed it real tight.
“You’re not gonna believe this,” he said. “I wouldn’t have believed it myself iffen I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
“Seen what?” asked Willie, and Avery and I both perked our ears up too.
“Well, you know the new teacher moved in over near us.”
We waited, wondering what news Jack had that would top the tales we’d already heard.
“Well, on Saturday Ma sent me into town for some eggs and milk, and there she was—comin’ right outta their gate.”
“Who?” we all said together. “Who?” I know our minds were all busy wondering where this new story was going.
Jack looked at us like we should have known “who” without asking.