Courting Miss Amsel Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Give your note to your parents as soon as you get home.” She gave William Sholes an extra stern glance. He was the only child who hadn’t brought a response to her request for a convenient meeting time. She hoped the time she’d chosen would fit his parents’ schedule.
    Children murmured excitedly. The ones holding notes puffed with pride while younger ones with empty hands poked out lower lips. Edythe swallowed a chuckle at Robert Townsend’s crestfallen expression. Maybe Johnny would allow his brother to carry the note part of the way home.
    Flashing a smile, Edythe said, “I look forward to visiting with each of you and getting to know your folks. Have a good weekend, boys and girls. Class is dismissed.”
    Whoops erupted. The children dashed for the doors, except for Martha Sterbinz, who approached the teacher’s desk with a shy look on her face.
    “Ma’am, my ma told me to ask you if you’re more partial to berry or pumpkin pie. She’d like to favor you with your pick when you come to our house.”
    William Sholes ambled back into the room and dawdled beside the paper-covered display board. What was he doing? Edythe frowned.
    “Ma’am?”
    Edythe shifted her attention to Martha, offering a smile. “Thank your mother for wanting to favor me. Since I don’t have a kitchen or a means of baking right now, any baked goods are a real treat. Why don’t you have her prepare your favorite – then I’ll know what kind of pie you like best.”
    The girl rewarded Edythe with a wide grin. “Thank you, ma’am.”
    William suddenly zipped into the cloakroom, and Edythe followed. Martha and William retrieved their jackets and lunch buckets, then clattered out the door. Edythe stood on the schoolhouse porch, watching until every child had left the schoolyard. When all of the children were safely on their way home, she went inside to straighten the room and collect her shawl. She passed the paper backdrop where essays titled “What I Did This Summer” by her sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students hung in a neat row against the blue flowers. The sheet bearing Louisa Bride’s essay seemed to poof out in the middle, pressing against the restraining tacks on the bottom corners. She remembered William standing there, and trepidation struck. Had he pushed something disgusting beneath the page to tease Louisa? The boy seemed to take delight in pestering the girls.
    Holding her breath, she worked one corner free of the tack. A folded piece of notepaper fell to the floor. Edythe sucked in her lips, biting back a rise of fury. Even before she picked it up and unfolded it, she knew what it was.
    “Oh! That boy!” Wadding the note in her hand, she marched to her desk and retrieved her shawl. She flung it around her shoulders, knotted the ends, and then clomped to the porch. She slammed the doors, pretending to box William’s ears. Giving the key a vicious twist, she secured the lock and then headed for the road.
    So William Sholes wanted to hide his note rather than take it home. Well, he wouldn’t avoid a visit from the teacher that easily. She stomped toward town, dust swirling in a cloud around her feet. Mrs. Kinsley had promised her the use of her wagon and mare whenever she needed it. As soon as she reached town, she would drive to the Sholeses’ place. It was time for a serious talk with William’s parents.
    Edythe sat stiff-backed on the edge of the parlor settee, her hands in her lap. Despite the churning in her belly, she maintained an even tone as she shared William’s misdeeds from earlier in the week. His mother, a thin woman with lank brown hair straggling from a sagging knot on the back of her head, seemed more bored than indignant concerning her son’s behavior. Edythe wondered if Mrs. Sholes had even heard anything she’d said.
    “So I hope you agree, Mrs. Sholes,” Edythe said in conclusion, “that William’s behavior is not only a disruption to the class, but could very well impede his own