Little Teacher, Little Sister

Clarence couldn't believe it when he saw the new teacher. She was small, pretty and younger than he was. How could someone so… new be a schoolteacher?

She introduced herself as Laura Ingalls, but they were to call her Miss Ingalls. She was happy to be here and to teach them, and she hoped they would work hard and understand the privilege of an education. Clarence almost laughed. She was so young, and so unsure of herself, but she made it sound as if though she studied day and night. Which of course she didn't. Girls like her spent most of their time preening. They didn't study or think hard if they could avoid it. Not that he had anything against girls, but surely Miss Ingalls didn't think much about her own education once she had gotten a teacher's certificate.

But he noticed how nervous she was, how she looked at her students, and he would bet his pocketknife that this was her first school, and she already wanted nothing more than to flee home. Not that he blamed her. Everyone knew about grouchy, mean Mrs. Brewster.

Amazingly, she kept up with them for the first week of school. She smiled at the Ruby and Tommy, and encouraged the others. She did stay inside all recess, studying her books. He began to wonder if he had been wrong, and she really did study all the time. Clarence made small amounts of trouble, but she ignored him for the most part, slightly correcting his ways for the rest.

Miss Ingalls played in one snowball fight with them, and she was as good as he was. She was fast and light on her feet. Clarence managed to hit her full in the face once, and she had smiled and told him he was good at this. He had responded by wiping the snow off her face with his muffler.

And on Friday afternoon, he watched her face grow longer and longer, and saw her glancing out towards the Brewster homestead, a slight shine in her eyes, a frown on her mouth. But when they all heard the sound of sleighbells, and she glanced out the window, she transformed. She went from the slow and almost mournful schoolteacher to what she really was, a girl. She practically danced around as she sent them out of the schoolhouse. Clarence didn't mind. Whoever had come for Miss Ingalls had some of the best horses he had ever seen. The man in the sled nodded to him, but kept his eyes on the school doors. A look of relief almost had swept his face as Miss Ingalls came out and got in beside him. So, this man was her beau?

The second week of term, Clarence decided to test Miss Ingalls' limits. He found that they were wide, but whenever she blew, boy, did she ever blow! She had the entire school quivering after he had played a prank on Martha and she had found out. And she had kept his pocketknife for the rest of the week. It was amazing, how much spitfire fit into such a tiny person.

He retaliated to the loss of his knife rather well. When the man with the horses came again, he had opened the schoolhouse door wide and yelled, as loud as he could, "Teacher's beau's here!"

Miss Ingalls' cheeks went so red with mortification; he almost thought she was an apple. But she calmly put away her books and helped Ruby into her wraps. And the man had just blinked, a small smile forming on his face. Clarence understood. The man wanted to be Miss Ingalls' beau, and she wasn't sure. It was funny.

He made a mental note to tease them both as much as possible.

The third week, Miss Ingalls didn't blow up. At all. It was frustrating. She acted like everyone was her best friend, especially on Monday. It was like that beau of her's had some magic powder that brightened her up. Clarence would swear she loved going home.

It turned out that she did study often, and voluntarily. She studied harder than anyone he had ever known. But her ambition kindled his own, and soon he was her best student (something that he was very proud of). After that, he was as good as any of the others, and Miss Ingalls no longer frowned so much when she left after school. It was almost nice to see her so happy.

When the school board came to visit, he made sure to be as good as he could be. Miss Ingalls' face broke out in relief after he had gone, and she quietly thanked them all for being so good, and her eyes shone.

After that, Clarence was as good as he could possibly be. He kept up with his lessons, took care of the fire, and generally left Miss Ingalls alone.

But guilt rode with him. After the first terrible weeks, he always looked at her with a little voice nagging in his ear. Why had he been so bad? And for the rest of the term, he meant to apologize to her, but he never did.

Finally, on the last day, he gave up. Playing with his hat, he told her he was well and truly sorry. She had smiled, and told that it was alright. And he could tell she meant it. He said good-bye, and she nodded, joy shining in her eyes, and Clarence knew that it was at the prospect of going home again. He left, feeling that he had left his own little sister behind him. She wouldn't be back, he knew it. But having a little sister who could play with him and advise him, it had been nice. He would remember Laura Ingalls the rest of his life.

Yeah, the ending is weak. I know. But when I re-re-re-re-read These Happy Golden Years, I spent more time on him. I think that he should be remembered more. Seriously, re-read the book, and spend extra time looking at his character. It's really interesting.

'Til next time!

-The Irish Lass