Country Boys
Luke's POV
"Martin. Luke. Come down for breakfast." Ma called up to us.
"Alright, ma." I heard my brother call back down to her, still trying to comb his blonde hair until it looked just right. "Luke, hurry up. Don't you dare make us late for school on the very first day."
Martin ripped the covers away from my head, exposing my face to the fresh morning sunlight. However, the only thing I did in return was give him a mean look. "I'm not going!" I pulled the covers back over my head.
I heard Martin climb down from the loft and say good morning to ma and pa. There was a quick conversation in the front room, probably about me refusing to go to school. The next thing I knew, someone climbed up into the loft with me and sat on the side of my bed.
"What's the matter, half-pint?" It was pa. I knew he was going to try and make me to go to school.
"I don't wanna go to school." I responded, my voice muffled under the sheets.
Pa lifted the covers away from my face. "It's kind of hard for me to understand you with those covers over your head." He said with a warm smile on his face.
"I don't want to go." I told him once again, hoping he would change his mind and let me stay home. "I wanna stay here...with you."
"I wish you could stay son, but I made a promise to your ma. I promised her that once we got settled and if there was a school near by, you and your older brother would go." Pa informed me of his well-intended promise.
"But, you need me here." I finally sat up in bed. "Who's going to help you with the fish traps? Who's going to take care of Jack and look after Christopher?" I tried to come up with any good excuse for my pa not to send me to school.
"You're going to have time for all that after school. Besides, you wouldn't want me to break a promise I made to your ma, now would you?" Pa said, trying to place a hint of guilt on me.
"No, sir." I shook my head.
"Okay." Pa ruffled my brown hair, messing it up even more. "That's my boy. Now, you hurry up and get dressed. Breakfast is getting cold." Pa began to walk down from the loft. I sighed and kicked my feet over the side of the bed.
"I'll tell you something you don't know." Pa said, while climbing down the ladder. "You're going to like school."
"Yes, sir." I finally got out of bed and started to get dressed for the day ahead.
After I finished eating breakfast with Martin and Christopher, ma came into the front room and told us to stand up, wanting to make sure we looked as clean as we could for our first day of school. "Let's have another look at those hands." She told the three of us, as we lifted our washed hands up for her to inspect. "Very good. Oh especially you Christopher. Nice and clean." Ma bent down to little Christopher's height.
"Ma." I tried to get her attention by rubbing my neck and shoulder. "My neck hurts."
"What now?" She walked around to look at the back of my neck.
"Martin scrubbed so hard, he must of took the skin right off." I glanced over at my older brother with a sour look on my face. This was just not my morning.
"You're big enough to do your own scrubbing, only you won't!" Martin yelled back at me.
"I hate being big." I admitted. "I wish I was Christopher. He doesn't have to go to school." My little brother smiled at me, probably not really understanding what I was saying.
"Ma." Martin turned back towards ma with a worried look on his face. "Do you think the kids at school will like us?"
"What kind of a silly question is that?" She replied with the brightest of smiles. "Of course they'll like you. Just remember to be friendly and mind your manners. Now, let me have one last look at you." Ma stepped back, so she could get a full view of us. "You boys are growing up so fast, there's nothing left of those pant legs for me to let down. But, you're all cleaned up and ready to start school. That's the important thing."
I walked up to my mother. "How long is all this learning stuff going to take, ma?" I asked, hoping for an answer of only a few months.
Ma laughed slightly. "We start learning when we're born, Luke. And if we're wise, we never stop learning until the Lord calls us home."
"That long?" I replied, not liking the answer my mother gave.
"Yes. Now, I have something for the two of you." Ma walked us into the back of the house, where her and pa's bedroom was. Ma knelt down on the floor and pulled out a wooden trunk from under the bed. She carefully opened it and took out a set of school books. "Take good care of these books, boys."
Martin took the books from our mother. "We will, ma."
"Well, I think it's finally time to head off to school." We all walked back into the front room. "Luke, you take the lunch pail and remember to bring it back home."
"I will."
Everyone walked outside to find pa chopping wood. When he saw us all ready for school, he stopped and came over to us. "I see my boys are all set for school. Now get on out of here. We can't have you two being late on the first day."
"Alright. Bye!" Martin and I both responded. My brother and I started to walk away from our little house, until I felt the need to do something. I turned around and ran back to the rest of my family. I gave my ma and pa a big hug. I really did not want to leave them, but I guess I had to. After saying my final goodbyes, I ran to catch up with Martin, who was already well up the hill.
After a few minutes of walking, my older brother and I finally reached the small town center. My feet felt tired and I was a few good yards behind Martin. It did not make any sense to me how could he could be so excited for school.
"Come on! You're gonna make us late." Martin ran back to me, grabbed my arm and tried to drag me forward. I would not have it though and pulled my arm free from his grasp. "Luke, hurry up!"
I glanced up and saw the big, white school house. A large group of kids were playing in front of the building with an old ball, kicking up a whole lot of dirt in the process. To tell the truth, seeing all those bigger kids running around scared me or at least made me pretty nervous. I walked up next to my brother, as we both stood there and watched the other kids.
"Go ahead, Luke." He had the nerve to say.
"What?" I responded. "No way! You go first."
"Why do I have to go first?" Martin asked, looking equally as nervous after seeing all those kids.
I looked up at my big brother. "Because you're always bragging about being the oldest. It's your place to go first."
"We'll go together."
Martin and I walked up to the group of kids. As soon as we got close, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at us. This was exactly what I was afraid of. "From the sound of you, I figured we walked into a flock of chickens." I said, trying to ease the tension of everyone staring at us.
"Luke." Martin pushed my shoulder.
"Look at you!" One tough looking little girl walked up to us. "Your pants go half way up your legs. You got freakish long legs or something? Daddy long legs! Daddy long legs!"
My brother and I looked down at our pants. They did look pretty short on us. Then, the rest of the kids started chanting 'daddy long legs' at us, like it was some sort of clever insult. They all started parading inside the school us, chanting that annoying phrase.
Then, one certain boy walked up to us with a look of disgust on his face. "Country boys."
After that, Martin and I slowly and indifferently walked inside the schoolhouse. I did not know about Martin, but if I walked in and they were still chanting 'daddy long legs', I was running straight back home. After getting inside, we watched everyone take their own seats from the back of the schoolhouse. We did not know what to do or where to go.
"Won't you come in, boys."
I looked to the front of the classroom and saw a very beautiful woman speaking to us. The school teacher no less. Everyone looked back around at us. Martin and I went to the front of the classroom, minding our posture and trying to not look anyone directly in the eye. Of course, that one boy, who called us 'country boys' stared at me like I was from a different world and was not welcome.
"You must be the boys from Plum Creek. I'm Miss Beadle." The teacher spoke with such a nice voice when Martin and I got to the front.
"I'm Martin Ingalls, ma'am. And this is my little brother, Luke Ingalls." Martin responded for the both of us.
"Well, I'm very pleased to meet both of you." Miss Beadle smiled. "Let me just put your names in the school register."
We walked up besides Miss Beadle's desk as she wrote our names down. I looked over at the crowd of kids, watching and inspecting our every move. Especially that one boy. "We have our own books." I said with a certain tone in my voice, like I wanted to show off the fact that we were prepared for school. Martin, of course, elbowed me at my purposefully ill-mannered comment.
"They belong to our mother." Martin handed the books over to Miss Beadle for her to look over.
"Well, I see she took very good care of them. Now, how much schooling have you boys had?" She asked us.
We both looked to the floor. "None, really. But, I can read and write a bit." Martin explained our situation.
I looked back at the crowd of kids, then walked behind my brother to tell Miss Beadle something personal. "I can't really read, but I know the alphabet."
"That'll be just fine, Luke. And don't worry about a thing. You'll learn fast and I'll help you every spare minute I can."
"Thank you, Miss Beadle."
The school teacher rose from her chair and addressed the class. "Now, I would like everyone to welcome our two new students: Martin and Luke Ingalls." A muffed 'hello' could barely be heard and Miss Beadle was not happy with that. "I won't call that much of a 'hello'. I would like to hear everyone say 'Good morning, Martin' and 'Good morning, Luke'."
The class repeated what Miss Beadle requested them to say. However, they did not sound one bit happy when saying it. That one boy did not even attempt to open his mouth or move his lips.
"Well then, there are two open seats up front, so you can sit together and share your books." Miss Beadle pointed us to the set of desks right up front, close to her's. "Did you bring a slate?" She asked us as we were sitting down.
"No, ma'am."
"Well, you can't learn to write properly without a slate. I'll lend you mine for today." Miss Beadle handled Martin her slate and something to write on it with.
"Country boys." That boy said again, for the whole class to hear no less. Even Miss Beadle must have heard that, too. I turned around wanting to punch him in the face, but Martin pushed me down in my seat.
"Thank you, Miss Beadle." We both said to clear the room.
"Alright class, today we're going to start with sums, then we'll move onto spelling." Miss Beadle informed the class. Everyone moaned and groaned at the plan for the day. "Wilma?"
"Yes, ma'am." The little girl, sitting besides us looked up.
"By threes, please, on the side blackboard." The teacher told her.
I watched Wilma get out of her seat and walk over to the blackboard. She picked up a piece of white chalk and started writing out some addition problems.
"Ma'am?" I looked up at Miss Beadle with a question in mind. "How's she ever going to get those numbers off the board?"
Suddenly, everyone started laughing, most likely at me.
Miss Beadle grabbed her ruler and slammed it down on her desk hard. "Silence! There will be silence in this classroom." Everyone stopped. "Now, Wilma, Luke just asked a question. Will you please show him the answer." Wilma grabbed a big cloth attached to a block of wood and started wiping the blackboard down with it. The white numbers disappeared after she wiped the cloth over them.
"Martin, look." I turned to my brother. "It's as clean as a whistle."
"What did I say, country boys." That same boy again. "They don't even know how a blackboard works."
"Noah!" Miss Beadle yelled at the boy. Noah. It did not sound like a bad name, if only it did not have to belong to such an awful person. Martin tugged at my sleeve and the two of us started going through our books together.
"C-A-T. Cat." I spelled out, while pa checked my answer. Miss Beadle had given me a whole row of words to practice for school the next day. So after dinner, I wasted no time studying them.
"Yup." Pa said, his pipe sticking out of his mouth in a funny way.
I looked to ma, who was listening to my homework session, while helping Martin dry the last of the dishes. "B-A-T. Bat."
"Right." Pa nodded his head.
I looked back at ma again, still having that same smile plastered all over her face. "M-A-T. Mat." Pa nodded his head once again. "P-A-T. Pat. I just finished the whole first row." I excitedly told everyone.
"Hey. Why don't I give you one that isn't even on the first row." Pa took the pipe out of his mouth. "How about the word 'rat'?"
"Rat." I repeated. I had to take my time on this word. "R-A-T. Rat."
"Perfect." Pa said. I felt even prouder of myself. "I say you put in a fine day's work, son. It even seems to me that you kind of like school."
"I do, pa." I answered him, surprising even myself. "And you should see Miss Beadle, our teacher. She's the best teacher in the whole world and she smiles all the time. She's the most beautiful lady I've ever seen." I saw pa's eyes look up and immediately knew what he meant. "Except for ma, of course."
"Well, Miss Beadle must be really something special if she even comes close to your ma." Pa said, smiling at ma.
"Charles." Ma laughed.
"How about you, Martin? Did you like school?" Pa asked Martin, who took a seat in between ma and myself.
"Sure did." Martin smiled. "At recess, I got picked second for kickball by this boy named Connor. He said I could come play with him whenever I wanted."
"Anyone you made friends with at school today, Luke?" Pa asked me this time.
I tried to think about all the new names I learned today, but one kid's name stuck out for all the wrong reasons. "There's someone I really don't like, that irritating Noah Oleson."
"Luke." Ma yelled at me for what I said about Noah. If only she could have seen this boy at school and everything he did.
"You know what he called us today: country boys." I went on to explain. I could already feel my blood boiling.
"Well, what's wrong with that?" Pa asked. "You are country boys."
"Well, there was something wrong with the way he said it." I sat up in my chair and swung my head around. "Look at those country boys." I said in a higher tone to represent how annoying Noah was to me. "It made me so mad, I wanted to go up and smack him good."
"No hold on, young man." Pa looked at me with concerned eyes. "I don't want to hear you talking like that. You go to school to learn, not to fight."
"Luke, part of what you have to learn is how to get along with others. And remember, do unto others." Ma reinforced what pa said. They always backed each other up like that.
"Alright." I looked at my feet. "I'll try."
Pa got up and walked behind me. "And that means no name-calling, no teasing and certainly no fighting. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright." Pa walked over to me and handed me something. When reached for it, I saw it was a shiny nickel. "Take that into Oleson's mercantile tomorrow, before school and by yourselves a slate and paper tablet.
"Thank you, pa." Martin and I both said at the same time. I planned to guard that nickel with my life until we got to the store tomorrow.
"Now, you two better get up to bed before I can say Jack-" Pa began to say. Immediately, Martin and I ran upstairs to the loft. After both of us had gotten undressed, Martin jumped into bed before me. When I sat down on the side of the bed, I felt a tap on my upper arm. "What?" I turned around and saw Martin smiling.
"Fat. F-A-T. Fat."
Martin and I walked up to the town mercantile before school the following morning. As we went through the front door of the shop, I immediately started looking around at all the items to buy. It would have been nice to have some spare money to spend, but we were on a mission.
"Good morning." I heard someone say.
"Morning." Martin replied to the voice.
I looked over to the counter and saw a man writing something down in a giant book. I figured that man must be the mercantile's owner, Mr. Oleson. "I'll be with you two boys in just a minute." He told us.
I pulled on my brother's sleeve, trying to get his attention. "Do you still have the money?"
"It's right here in my pocket, Luke." Martin shoved his hand into his pants pocket to make sure the money was still there.
Suddenly, a loud crashing sound, like a thunderous storm, came from upstairs. Two kids sprinted down the steps, into the main section of the mercantile. I immediately recognized the faces to be Noah and Wilma Oleson. Just the people I wanted to see.
"Hey you two, this store is not a play-house." Mr. Oleson yelled at them. They did not seem to listen to their pa however and went straight for the jars of candy sitting on the counter. If Martin and I did not listen to our pa like they did, we would have gotten a horse-whipping for sure. Mr. Oleson shook his head at his kids and walked over to us. "Well, what can I do for you two?" He asked us kindly.
"We would like a slate and paper tablet, please." Martin said very politely.
"I've got just what you need." Mr. Oleson walked behind the counter to get our new school supplies.
I looked back over at Noah and Wilma, who were still trying to grab as much candy as they possibly could. "Hey! That one was mine, Noah." Wilma yelled at her older brother.
"Whatever, keep it. It's all ours, anyway. We can take as much candy as we want." Noah said, glaring back at us with a certain look in his eye.
Martin and I just stood there, not knowing how to react to the indirect insult. Mr. Oleson walked back over to us with our supplies and Martin got out the money pa gave us. I took the paper tablet and slate from Mr. Oleson and started looking through them. I had never seen anything like these things to write on before.
"Our pa said that this should be enough to pay for them both." Martin handed over the money to Mr. Oleson.
"He was right, but you'll need a slate pencil to write on that. Unless, you already have one."
Martin shook his head. "Oh. No sir, we don't have one."
"Well, that will be another penny." The older man informed us.
"I don't think those country boys have another penny." Noah interrupted, listening into our conversation with his father and smiled at Wilma for support.
Mr. Oleson turned back around to his kids with a face of anger. "I'm telling you two for the last time, get on out of here!" I watched Noah and Wilma grab their candy and leave the store. I almost wanted to smack the candy right out of their hands with the slate, but I knew that would not have been the best idea, especially in front of their father.
"Well, why don't I give you boys the pencil today and you tell your father to pay me the next time he comes into town." Mr. Oleson offered us.
"No, sir." I replied. "Pa makes it a strict rule to always pay in cash."
"That's a good rule." He agreed. "But, it is a very hard rule to live by."
"Thanks anyway, Mr. Oleson. Bye." Martin said.
"Goodbye, boys."
We walked out of the store together, feeling defeated after not having enough money to buy everything we need for school. It felt like that was always the case and will always be the case for us. Martin sat down on the steps of the mercantile and I joined him. "That Noah Oleson is the meanest boy I have ever seen."
"And his little sister is no goody-goody either." Martin added. "I don't know how anyone could be that mean."
"I could be that mean. Probably even meaner if pa and ma let me."
"Well, what are we going to do about the slate pencil, Luke? We need it for school, but I hate the idea of going to pa and asking for more money." Martin reminded me of our predicament.
I felt the same way. "I know. Not after everything he's already given us."
"Our Christmas pennies!" Martin suddenly yelled out in excitement. "We could use those to buy two slate pencils, one for each of us. Or, we could buy just one pencil, share it and save the other penny for something else."
"Hey, yea!" I agreed. "They're still under our bed."
"It's settled. Now, come on. We'll be late for school."
Martin and I got up and started walking to school together, both feeling proud about coming up with a way to get a slate pencil on our own.
During school, Miss Beadle often picked me to write the day's sums on the board. When I realized she was watching me try the basic calculations, I attempted to write everything down faster to make myself seem smarter. Every compliment she gave me on my improving work made me like her even more. I could not think of a better person in the world to teach me how to read, write and do arithmetic.
During lunch recess, instead of playing kickball with my brother and the other boys, Miss Beadle would sometimes let me eat lunch with her, so she could help me practice my reading skills. One day, she had me try to read a book called 'Dicky Bird Land', which I thought was a funny name for a picture book. Miss Beadle helped me pronounce every word, giving me hints and clues on how to say each one properly.
After school was over, I would always sit by the creek and start the homework Miss Beadle assigned to the whole class. Jack would run over to sit with me, but I did not pay much attention to him. I had to focus on my school work, so ma, pa and Miss Beadle could see how much I had improved in such a short time. Eventually, when I looked at pages of books, I did not just see letters anymore, I say words that I actually understood. Arithmetic came even easier than reading. It was writing I had the hardest time with. I had no idea how I was ever going to write big word like Martin did.
In the end, I would never let my pa know that he was more than right about school. It was fun and I was enjoying every minute of it.
A few days later at recess, I was playing red rover with a group of boys, the same group of boys I always played red rover with everyday. Do not get me wrong, I liked red rover, but it was getting boring after playing it every single day. My arms were really starting to get sore. And whose fault was it that we always had to play red rover? Who else besides the bratty Noah Oleson.
"Can't we play something else?" I screamed out, after having someone smash their way through my left arm, breaking our chain. However, no one listened to me and someone else ran through the chain on my other side, before I could recompose myself.
I guess I could have left the game, but I did not want to spend recess alone and they needed me to have enough boys to play the game fair. I did not want any of them to be mad at me for refusing to play. Ma did always say, do unto others. I wondered of Noah's mother ever got around to telling him that.
However, after getting my arms crushed by one of the bigger boys, I finally decided to leave the game anyhow. "What's wrong, Luke? You don't want to play?" Connor, my brother's friend asked me as I was walking away from the game.
"Why do we always have to play red rover?" I responded to his question with another question.
"Because I said so." Noah yelled at me.
I had no idea what came over me after that. In anger, I ran up besides the schoolhouse and picked up an old stick and baseball laying on the ground. I stood a short distance away from the group of boys, threw the ball up in the air and hit it towards the direction of the red rover game. To be truthful, I meant to hit it in Noah's direction.
"Luke Ingalls!" He screamed. Noah ran up to me and shoved me on the ground. I tried to get back up, but he pushed me back down before I could stand on my own two feet.
"Fine! If you wanna fight, I'll fight!" I jumped up and grabbed Noah's knees, bringing him to the ground with me. He tried to swing his arms at me, but I started kicking him so he could not get back up. It felt good to finally give Noah some pay back after all the mean things he said about my brother and I.
"It wasn't all my fault, pa." I tried to explain to ma and pa the incident that happened earlier that day at school. "Noah pushed me down first and wouldn't let me get back up. I realize I shouldn't have done what I did, especially after you told me not to get into any fights. I just had all this anger building up inside of me from Noah teasing Martin and I."
"Well, at least you did one thing right, half-pint." Pa walked up to me.
I looked over at ma, then back at pa, wondering what I could have possibly done right. "What do you mean?"
"You came to us and told us what happened yourself." Pa told me. "We didn't have to hear it from anybody else. Now, what do you think we are going to do about it?"
"Punish me." I answered, not liking my own response.
"Now hold on." Pa jumped in. "This was your first fight at school, you thought you had a good reason for doing what you did and you're not entirely to blame. Just promise me you're never going to do it again, Luke."
"I promise, pa."
Pa smiled and ruffled my hair. "Well, in that case, I won't say anymore about it. Now, get on up to bed."
"Alright." I smiled back, happy I was not going to get punished. I ran over to the ladder and started climbing up to the loft.
"Luke, make sure I never hear about you fighting again." I heard my pa quickly say.
I turned back around. "I said 'I promise' and I'm going to keep that promise, just like you kept your promise to ma for us to go to school. Besides, Noah is afraid of me now."
The next day, after Martin and I got home from school, ma called everyone into the front room to show us what she had purchased at the mercantile. I was expecting silverware or a new book, but I was surprised when she unraveled a set navy and dark brown fabrics. I reached out to touch the fine looking cloth, but Martin smacked my hand away.
"Don't touch it, Luke. You'll get them all dirty." Martin yelled at me.
"I don't know what possessed me to spend so much money on fabric when I have no plan it for." Ma told us. "If only Mrs. Oleson hadn't gone on so much about 'country folks'."
"I'm glad you bought it." I told her with a smile on my face. I knew how she was feeling.
"So am I." Martin agreed with me.
"So am I." Pa said. Ma looked up at him with that certain look on her face and gleam in her eye.
Ma shook her head. "No, I couldn't. I'll just take it back tomorrow and see if Mr. Oleson will give me some money back on it."
"Caroline." Ma stepped up. "Why did the Lord work so hard on making you look so beautiful, if he didn't want you to have a fine new dress?" It was true. Ma was beautiful and she never liked showing it off. She would rather work on taking care of her family before taking care of herself.
"You'll look so pretty, ma." Martin added.
"I can't wait until everyone in town sees you." I also added, trying to convince my ma to make herself a well-deserved fancy dress.
"Oh." Ma turned around, almost like she was about to cry, until she turned around with a wide smile. "What am I going to do with you? What am I going to do with the lot of you?" Ma ran over and hugged all of us. That was the first time I ever saw her so happy that she teared up.
"Ma!"
"Ma!
"Pa!"
Martin and I yelled for our parents as we ran up to the house after school. Once we saw ma and pa working by the barn with Christopher, we sprinted over. "What in the world is going on?" Ma asked.
"You're never going to believe it." I managed to say, still trying to catch me breath. "We're going to have a visitors' day at school."
"Practically everyone in town will be there." Martin added. "All the parents and all the kids. Reverend Alden and Doc Baker."
"You get to see where Martin and I sit for school."
"And Miss Beadle is making everyone write an essay about anything we want, then we have to stand up in front and read them out loud for everyone."
"You can wear your new dress, ma." I told her. "You better get started soon. Visitors' day is at the end of the week."
"Well, you two should be getting started on those essays." Pa told us to stop are rambling.
"We will." Both Martin and I said. We ran inside and wasted no time on starting our essays. We both worked hard to come up with a topic to write about. As the days went by and visitors' day drew closer, ma's new outfit and Martin's essay were done. My essay, however, was not even close.
"I'm finished." I heard Martin say with a sigh of relief. "I wrote about how pa built our little house on the prairie and the Indians and the blizzard. Also, how we had to move to Plum Creek. How does it sound?"
"It sounds good to me." Pa answered with enthusiasm, rocking little Christopher on his knee. "What did you write about, Luke?"
"Um..." I did not want to tell anyone that I had wasted three sheets of paper trying to figure out what I wanted to write about, then came up with nothing. "It's a surprise."
"Fair enough." Pa commented. "Now, I think it's time for you boys to be getting to bed. I know it's bedtime for Christopher." He picked up Christopher, who was already nodding off, and brought him to his bed.
"Come on, Luke." Martin got up and went to the loft.
"In a minute." I responded, still thinking about my essay.
Ma walked over and stood besides me. "What's wrong, Luke? Is it about your essay?" Of course she knew what was wrong. She always knows what's wrong? If only she could help me finish my writing.
"It's not an essay." I admitted. "Not like Martin's."
"It's not supposed to be like Martin's." Ma sat down in the chair next to mine. "He's older than you are and he knows how to write more words."
"I know lots of words, ma. I-I just can't get them out of my head and onto the paper where they're supposed to be. I only know how to write little words."
Ma smiled. "Well, that's all you're supposed to know for a boy your age."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"I'm saying that because it's true." Ma put her hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me.
"Ma." I paused for a moment. "If I told you something, could you keep it a secret?"
"Of course I would."
"I'm scared." I confessed. "I'm scared to get in front of all those people. I just know they are going to laugh at me."
"Luke, they won't laugh at you." Ma said with a serious face. "All Miss Beadle or I or anybody else is asking of you is for you to do your best. As long as you always do your best, we'll always be proud of you."
"But, they laughed at us before for being country boys." I told ma, remembering the first day of school not so fondly.
She shook her head. "That was just teasing and before they got a chance to know you and your brother."
"But, what if they do laugh?"
"They won't laugh, Luke." Ma pulled me into a hug, one that I really needed. "They won't."
The following morning, pa called Martin and I down for breakfast. I was still worried about speaking in front of all those people at visitors' day, but talking with ma did help some. We climbed downstairs and said good morning to pa. We were just about to seat down and eat.
"Good morning everyone."
We all turned around and saw ma holding up two sets of royal navy blue shirts and crisp dark brown pants. Martin and I stared at the clothes in wonder. I had not seen such nice boy's clothes before. We walked over to ma and reached out for the clothes.
"Ma." I said. "You used your good fabric to make us shirts and pants."
"Of course." She said with a smile of accomplishment. "My brown dress is perfectly fine. Besides, I don't have to get up in front of all those people like you boys have to."
"We wouldn't have mind wearing our normal clothes." Martin said, feeling the new soft fabric.
"Well, I would have mind." She started laughing. "Now, how long are you going to make me wait to see how your new clothes look on you?"
"I'm going to put mine on right now." Martin grabbed the clothes and ran back up to the loft to get changed.
I ran over to ma and gave her a big hug. "I sure do love you, ma." She handed me my set of clothes and I followed Martin upstairs to try our new outfits on.
The schoolhouse was packed that day, with everyone from town attending visitors' day, which made me all the more nervous. Wilma was presenting her essay and was doing an okay job. She had written her essay about horses and only stumbled a few times. But when she did falter on her words, the kids in the back quietly laughed. When Wilma was done, she sprinted back to her seat in relief. Everyone clapped of course.
"Thank you very much, Wilma." Miss Beadle smiled, then looked in her book. "Next, we'll hear from Noah Oleson."
I rolled my eyes as Noah stood in the front of the crowd. I could already tell his speech was going to be hard to listen to.
"My Home. My home is the best house in all of Walnut Grove. We have carpets and oil paintings in every room. We have three sets of dishes: one for everyday, one for Sundays and one for when someone very special and very important comes to visit, which we've never even used before."
I started to zone out after that sentence. I honestly did not care to hear Noah brag about all the stuff his parents had in their house. I was more focused on what I was going to say when it was my turn to speak.
I was snapped out of my trance when I noticed Noah walk down from the front of the classroom and everyone started clamping. Suddenly, Miss Beadle called my name. I slowly took my place in front of everybody. I glanced over at Miss Beadle, who gave a slight nod to start reading aloud. I looked out over the sea of faces and took a deep breath in. Then, I saw my ma and my pa and my little brother Christopher and knew there was nothing to be afraid of.
"My Mother. My older brother, Martin is going to tell you about how our pa moved us here to Walnut Grove and how hard he works everyday. I don't mean to take any praise away from him, but I want to tell you all that our ma worked plenty hard herself. She sews. She cooks. She cleans. And she takes care of all of us. I remember once when I was little...littler and was coming down with a fever. Ma sat up with me all night long. I slept some, but she never did. Anytime I would open my eyes, she'd be there smiling and putting a cold cloth to my forehead. Now, with Martin and I growing up, if there is the smallest noise in the night, ma would come climbing up into our loft to make sure we were alright.
I know there must be times when she gets so tired, but you would never know it. Her smile is the last thing I see when I close my eyes at night and the first thing I want to see when I wake up in the morning. She's been selling her eggs at the mercantile and saved enough money to buy some real nice fabric to make herself a new dress. But this morning, Martin and I found out she made us brand new outfits to wear today instead. That's because she loves us so much. That's the kind of mother my ma is. That's why we love her so much."
I stopped speaking and everyone started clapping for me. I look across the crowd, seeing pa with a wide smile and ma with glossed over eyes. I too sighed in relief after my turn was over and returned to my seat next to Martin.
After all the essays had been read, we all left the schoolhouse for some fresh air. However, instead of standing with my family, I walked over to the side of the schoolhouse. I felt bad for lying about my essay and I did not know if I should have told anyone about what I did.
"Luke." Suddenly, my ma walked up behind me. "What you said in there was beautiful and I'll treasure it always. But, it wasn't what you had written down on the paper, was it?" Ma asked me.
"No." I answered her honestly. "It's what I would have written if I knew how."
"I know that Luke, but it wasn't really an essay."
"No, ma'am. It wasn't." Ma took the paper from my hand and looked at what I really had written on it. I looked back at the rest of my family, then looked back at ma. "You're not going to make me give that to Miss Beadle, are you? What do you think she'll do?"
"Let's go ask Miss Beadle." Ma motioned me to follow her back inside the schoolhouse. After walking inside, ma took me by the hand and walked me up to Miss Beadle's desk.
"Mrs. Ingalls. You and your husband must be very proud of your two boys." Miss Beadle said with a smile.
"We most certainly are." Ma responded.
"And you, young man." My teacher turned her attention to me. "You gave one of the finest presentations I have ever heard."
I glanced up at ma, not knowing what to do next.
"Miss Beadle, Luke wanted you to see his paper." Ma said for me.
I slid Miss Beadle my paper and she took a look at it. I could not tell by her face what she was thinking. I just hoped she would not be disappointed with me.
"Yes." She smiled and nodded her head. "Luke's spelling has improved a great deal. His penmanship does need a bit of improvement. I'm sure with a little more hard work, by the time the school year is out, he'll have that mastered as well."
I looked up at ma and smiled after hearing what Miss Beadle said about my essay. I just knew that she was the best teacher in the world.
"Thank you, Miss Beadle." Ma put her arm around my shoulder and took my essay back. We walked back out of the school house, not being able to wipe the smiles off our faces.
A few years later, while ma was showing me some of her treasures that she kept in the wooden trunk under her bed, I noticed Martin's essay and my essay in there, too. I asked her why she kept them and she told me that they were her way of remembering our first days at school and the day we read our essays. The day we made ma and pa so proud.