Part 1: Chapter 28: 1887: Red Deer, Alberta,
Colleen Starts School Again
There was an in-flux of visitors in the newer Red Deer train station. Regina and Harris were going back to Ted and Wilma's apartment (to begin with) to help find Wilma a good doctor. They also wanted to find a house large enough to hold everyone should anyone want to visit. Regina was also hoping that they would be able to convince the older couple to come live with them. So, Regina had paid for everyone's train tickets when they were all supposed to leave.
The Grant family were all present.
James was in his uniform with them, holding some packages.
There was a lot of hugging and crying and goodbyes.
"James, thank you for your help," Regina said as she approached her little brother.
"Regina, it was truly my pleasure. I am glad to see how you've changed," James smiled down at her.
Regina reached up to pull him into a hug.
"Edith wants me to tell you to keep in touch. And she wants you to have these," James said as he handed over two of the packages.
Regina grabbed them and tucked them under her arm and nodded.
"Aren't you going to open them?" Colleen asked from Ophelia's arms.
"They're hers, ya know. It's none of yer business," Archie teased his daughter as he held Nate.
"Sorry, Regina, Colleen loves watching people with presents," Ophelia explained as she kissed her daughter's hair.
Regina smiled at Colleen.
"I don't blame her," Regina said with a wink. "Are they safe for the kids?"
James glared at her.
"They're from Edith. What do you think?" James said firmly.
"That they are kid appropriate, and I shouldn't have asked that question," Regina said as she pulled open the first package. Inside was a framed drawing of Harris, Colleen, and Nate from the lake. Edith had drawn it in colors and it was very detailed and lifelike. Regina laughed at it.
"This is going up on a wall, when we have our space," she said as she showed it to the group.
The next package was also a framed picture, but this one was of when they had been at the garden party. Edith had managed to draw a moment where everyone had been present and around. Ted, Wilma, and Harris were talking with each other with soft smiles in the upper right corner. Archie, Colleen, and Nate were sitting on the porch steps. Archie and Colleen were chattering away happily to Nate. Regina, James, and Ophelia were standing nearby in deep conversation.
"This is beautiful," Regina said as she looked at the picture.
"Edith's drawings always are," Ophelia said.
"But tell her that next time I expect her to be in the drawing," Regina stated as she looked at her brother.
"Edith hasn't drawn herself in years," James added.
"So she is due for one then," Regina gave him a look.
"I doubt she will be convinced to take on the task," James said with a sigh.
"Well then, Colleen, you need to draw your Auntie Edith for us," Regina said as she looked at the girl knowing that Colleen had liked to draw in her spare time.
"Of course, Auntie Regina!" Colleen nodded in agreement.
"All aboard!" the train conductor shouted through the crowd.
"Stay in touch, Regina," Ophelia said as they waved.
"Of course, we will," Regina answered before they were all shuffled onto the train and waved from the compartment. The train began to slowly move from the platform heading towards Calgary.
The family waited until everyone was gone before slowly leaving the platform. Colleen noticed that James still held a package in his hands.
"Uncle Norman, why do you still have that?" Colleen asked.
"Because it isn't for anyone on the train," James replied simply.
Colleen looked at him with eager curiosity.
James just started whistling a battle song.
Colleen glared at him through one eye.
"Well, who's it for?" Colleen asked impatiently.
"Colleen!" both parents reprimanded.
"Well, it has to be us otherwise he wouldn't have brought it," Colleen stated knowledgeably.
Archie laughed at his daughter's logic.
"Well, almost nothing gets past her," James said with a wink.
Colleen beamed at him.
"It's a family gift. From Edith," James said as he held out the package.
Colleen took it and opened it eagerly without waiting for permission. It was also a framed drawing, but it was of the Grants dressed and sitting nicely at the garden party.
"I agree with Regina, this is very nice, but next time Edith needs to include you both," Ophelia said as she put it in her bag.
James smiled at them. Then the men shook hands in farewell having to go their own ways.
With the Typhoid Fever outbreak and with Nate's injury it was soon the end of summer and it seemed like not much of one at all. Life in Red Deer had come back somewhat to normal. Businesses were bustling. But Archie was also being asked again to 1. help Ed with his poker game and 2. join the games on Saturdays. So far he had brushed them both off, but Nate's medical treatment had diminished their savings again (and that was just the cost of house calls and bandages and whatever the doctor prescribed and gave them. If Nate had been in the infirmary or had to go to hospital, it would have been so much worse!).
The Grants and the Normandeaus made a by-weekly dinner night. It hadn't been too much longer after the fishing trip that the doctor and James said that Nate was fully recovered and could go back home. By this time; however, both families felt it was very weird to not be in each other's company. Edith and James offered to host the by-weekly dinners. These were held on Fridays and Sundays as these were days the Grants were already commuting into town for whatever reason.
Regina had sent a telegram telling the others that they had made it to Ted and Wilma's apartment in Winnipeg and they were looking for a doctor and a house. The rest of their news would be sent by letter, and they hadn't seen one yet. The first letter was almost a month old when they received it.
To Everyone.
We found a house in Winnipeg that has all the amenities Harris and I are used to, and it is large enough for all of us to fit in. Ted and Wilma took some time to convince to move in, but they did eventually agree. We hired some movers to get them out of their dingy, old apartment. We have also found a doctor for Wilma and Harris, and (to no one's surprise) Wilma has the same thing. Her brain infection the doctor thinks will impact her faster than Harris, but he also thinks that it is pure chance for both of them.
We are all getting along splendidly! Harris, Ted, and Wilma are all talking about different things. Memories of Nathan amongst them. Things we did in Sicily as well. I think with the doctor confirmation we have all realized it is a matter of time, and are trying to leave something to remember each other by.
We are all anxiously awaiting your news! I know Edith will have a pile waiting for the current address.
We miss you all!
Love,
Regina
The letter had been sent to James and Edith and they had waited for their dinner before reading it. The group discussed the news and joys in having the family together. Edith gave the Grants the new address.
"I'm glad we can send her letters too, now!" Colleen said eagerly.
"Are you excited to start school again?" Edith asked Colleen.
Colleen shook her head.
"You seem so eager to learn the things I have been teaching you. Why don't you like school?" Edith asked softly.
"Ms. Fletcher," was chorused by the entire Grant family.
"Oh? What's wrong with her?" Edith hadn't heard anything about the school teacher yet.
"She's mean," Colleen stated firmly.
"From what we've heard, she's the type of teacher who only went into teaching so that she had an income before marriage. But she's never had any serious suitors, and that has made her grouchy," Ophelia explained.
"Grouchy is a nice way of putin' it," Archie shook his head.
"How would you describe her then?" Edith asked.
"Bitter, resentful, spiteful, nasty tempered, somethin' I can't say with children present," Archie said as he winked at his children.
Edith looked at her husband. James just nodded.
"Really? I thought teachers were supposed to be kind?" Edith said as she looked at Colleen and Nate in sympathy.
"Thought? You've never been in a public school room, have you?" Ophelia asked.
Edith shook her head.
"The boarding schools were too far away for our mothers' liking. We had highly advanced tutors for our lessons," Edith explained.
"That's why you know so much!" Colleen complimented.
Edith nodded in thanks with a slight blush.
"We would like to hear all about your day tomorrow, if it is okay with your parents, we would like you all to come for dinner after school and work," Edith invited them.
"That's fine wit' us,'' Archie agreed without even needing to ask his wife's opinion on the topic. Ophelia smiled widely.
The next day all of the Grants walked Colleen to school that morning. They were only slightly surprised to see James in his uniform sitting on General watching the families approach the school house.
Colleen saw and greeted the Clarke family when she saw them.
"Becky! Elle!" Colleen had run up to them. They ran to meet her and embraced.
"How do you feel, Colleen?" Elle asked.
"Better. Much better. Still get tired faster, but that hasn't been too bad, either," Colleen said.
"How's Nate?" Becky asked the next question.
"Like he wasn't even hurt," Colleen smiled and gestured for her brother to join them. Nate shook his head and held their mother's hand tightly.
"Hi Nate," Elle waved kindly.
Nate just waved back.
Ophelia just walked him over to where the girls were talking.
"We heard you got hurt over the summer. How are you doing?" Natalie asked as she bent over.
"Better. Thanks to Uncle Norman," Nate said.
"Uncle Norman?" Becky asked.
"Lieutenant Normandeau," Colleen said both words perfectly. The girls looked surprised.
The Clarke parents soon joined the group.
"We are also glad to see both of you doing so well," Emily said as she looked at the Grant children. Colleen smiled widely. Nate looked up and nodded.
"I bet you have a pretty awesome scar," Kevin said, kneeling next to Nate.
Nate nodded.
While the girls were exchanging summer stories, Kevin had bent down to whisper into Nate's ear. Nate smiled mischievously at him.
Then pulled up the left side of his shirt to show Mr. Clarke his scar, like he had asked. The girls reacted just like their father thought they would.
"Oh wow!" Natalie had gasped.
Becky, Elle, Kathryn all shrieked in surprise and gross.
Colleen glared at her brother and Mr. Clarke.
"I told you; brothers aren't all that they are cut out to be, especially mine!" Colleen shook her head at Nate who was smiling up at her.
"You wouldn't trade him in for the world," Ophelia reminded her.
"I know, but that doesn't make him any less annoying," Colleen stated.
The adults laughed.
It was at that moment that Ms. Fletcher opened the school house doors, and let her students in. The group was slowly filing in, and being towards the back of the mass, the Grants and the Clarkes were all content to wait. James gently approached on General, he held out a perfectly ripe apple for Colleen to take. She smiled up at him in thanks, grabbed it, then quickly put it into her lunch pail. General and Nate being so close to each other began their own playing. General was resting his head on top of Nate's. Then Nate once more pulled a carrot out for the horse. General took in his treat with a happy lick that made Nate giggle.
"I can't trust General to be a professional around Nate anymore," James lectured and teased his horse.
The group laughed.
The Clarke sisters were still a little uneasy with such a large animal. But they were smiling at the ease that Nate had with General around.
"Learn lots of interesting stuff," Archie reminded the girls to go inside.
They nodded and said last good-byes.
"See you tonight, Uncle Norman!" Colleen shouted and waved from the top step.
Mrs. Fletcher's eyes widened at the statement.
"Have an excellent day, Colleen!" James said as he waved and turned to leave.
Colleen beamed before turning to put her things away where they were supposed to go.
Ms. Fletcher closed the school house doors behind her, seeing that Nate had been put on the back of Lieutenant's horse, and all three looked happy as can be. She watched as Nate was confidently handed back to the Grants and they waved to each other with the confirmation of dinner plans that night.
The school day started a bit differently, since Colleen had been the first kid sick with Typhoid Fever, and then they had a few weeks of school, then they were out for the rest of the semester. Then summer. Ms. Fletcher knew she would need to see how far behind everyone was and especially the Grant child.
She waited for them all to take their seats and to get quiet.
"Colleen, I'm glad to see you better," the eldest Wallace boy whispered. His brother didn't seem to agree.
"Thanks," Colleen said with a short smile.
"Your socializing can wait until lunch. We have ALL missed out on a lot of school and we need to get you caught up. This is going to take a lot effort and determination on your parts," Ms. Fletcher said, then got into their reading assignments instructions. The younger students were reading age appropriate texts, and the older students were reading something similar in French, the only language other than some basic knowledge of Latin that Ms. Fletcher knew. Colleen was reading the instructions for the day and saw the name of the book that the older girls were reading.
"Elle, you get to read Sophia's Misfortunes! That is a good book!" Colleen whispered to her friend.
The entire class looked at her in surprise.
"How would you know it, Colleen?" Elle couldn't help but ask back.
"Auntie Norman read it to us when Nate was recovering," Colleen explained as she turned and went to her reading.
"I imagine it was a translation, Ms. Clarke," Ms. Fletcher glared at the interruption.
"No, it's in French," Colleen stated.
Ms. Fletcher turned the glare upon Colleen.
"Sorry, miss," Colleen turned back to her reading.
The class worked without interruption until lunch. But it seemed as if every kid had a question for Colleen. But the boys would have to wait until after school. Some of them with sisters, gave their sisters a pleading look to get as much information from Colleen as possible.
"Colleen, how do you know that book?"
"Colleen, how do you know the Lieutenant so personally?"
Questions like this came at her from every direction when they went out to recess.
"Back off," Elle warned them when they began to swarm the group.
"Or you'll what, Elle Clarke?" a bigger girl threatened.
"I will go immediately to the fort and let the Lieutenant know that you are threatening Colleen," Elle said back. The girls all gasped and calmed down, sitting nicely. Colleen smiled in thanks, as she opened her lunch pail. Nate had left her a message with Auntie Norman's drawing of the two of them. Colleen pulled out her sandwich and cookies and the apple. When she was done, she finally started explaining.
"When Daddy and I got sick in April, Nate had to stay with Lieutenant and his wife so HE wouldn't get sick and die. They took very good care of him and grew to love him as much as we do. Then Mama got sick with something else, and also went to stay there. Mama and Mrs. Normandeau were writing to each other and to us about what was happening. When we got better, they had to come see us and stay with us, so that Mrs. Normandeau wouldn't get sick. Then Nate got hurt in our barn and we had to rush him to the fort so that they could save his life. We couldn't move him again for a LONG time after that. So we were in their house a lot. Nate and Mama the most," Colleen explained loudly.
"But how do you know about the story?" one of the girls asked.
"Auntie Norman knows a lot of different languages. She taught Nate first, but she includes me when I am there," Colleen explained.
Soon recess was over and the boys came out looking like they wanted to go home already.
"What's wrong?" one girl asked.
"Ms. Fletcher is giving you a skills assessment test. It's harder than I remember" the eldest boy said.
All the girls took a deep breath in and then went into the school house. Where Ms. Fletcher was ready with the test papers.
Colleen thought that the test was hard, but not any harder than normal. The boys came in from lunch and they started Math, the last subject of the day.
When the school bell rang to be let out every student was in a brain fog, both from the test, and the math that wasn't explained well. Ms. Fletcher had given out the homework and they eagerly went to their coats and pails. The families saw a dragging group of pupils exiting the school house.
James was on General again watching the process. Nate and Ophelia were standing near the back of the crowd watching for Colleen.
"What's wrong girls?" Emily said as she noticed the frowns on Elle's and Becky's faces.
They both groaned.
"We had the hardest test in the world right after lunch," Becky complained.
"And then the hardest math in the world right after," Elle added with a groan. "My head has never hurt so much."
"A test? On your first day?" Kevin asked in surprise.
"Well, she said it was to see how much we lost over the spring and summer," Becky said.
"Yeah, but there were things I don't remember her teaching us," Elle said.
"Colleen, how do you think you did?" Ophelia asked.
"The math was awful. It usually is. But I think I did alright on the test," Colleen said confidently.
"How could YOU have possibly been okay on the test. You were out the longest," Elle protested in a bit of anger.
Colleen thought about her answer for a bit.
"I...I...I...think it was Auntie Norman. She taught us a lot over the summer. I didn't even realize it," Colleen said as she looked at her Uncle.
James just smirked and nodded his head at her.
"Has Edith ever told you what she did to volunteer her time when she was a young girl, before her attack?" James asked softly.
"Nope," Colleen shook her head.
James raised an eyebrow to Ophelia.
"No, she hasn't mentioned that to me either," Ophelia said.
"She tutored younger school age children. She set up a time at the local library to offer free sessions to young students who were having difficulty in their school rooms. She got very good at making her lessons fun. Her sessions were always full," James said with a large amount of pride and love for his wife.
"Can she tutor us?" Becky asked desperately.
"Obviously not, she gets sick easily, stupid," Elle reprimanded.
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Becky smiled back in apology.
"It's no problem. And she can't do more complex math either. But she is creative about how she got the younger years to remember their lessons," James said. "They also remember her vividly. We will get a letter or a Christmas card from them, thanking her for all she did."
"That explains a lot about her," Ophelia said with a small shake of her head in annoyance that Edith hadn't told her that yet.
James nodded in agreement.
"Well, are we ready to go? I don't think I can control General's urge to find Nate's carrots, wherever he's hidden them this time," James glared over his shoulder where General was sniffing Nate's pockets. Nate and General both didn't look at all phased to be caught. James just walked over and put Nate on General's saddle and tied a rope around the saddle so that if Nate wouldn't fall off.
"Colleen, would you like to ride General?" James asked politely.
Colleen's eyes went wide in fear and shook her head.
"No, thanks. General is a bit too wide for my comfort," Colleen replied.
"Wide, not high?" James asked in surprise.
"Uncle Norman, if height was an issue, I wouldn't like you twirling me about like you've done," Colleen said firmly.
James nodded; then smirked.
"Like this?" James then picked her up and spun her about.
Colleen shrieked in surprise then giggled in happiness.
"Yup, just like that," she said from his arms.
Instead of putting her on the ground, like he had always done before, he put her on his shoulders.
"Let me know if you want down," James said as he grabbed General's reins to lead the horse with one hand and another was placed on Colleen's ankle to hold her in place.
"I'm good, Uncle Norman," Colleen said happily from above him.
"Ophelia, do you want on General?" James asked to be polite, but since he had never seen this woman on one, he figured she wouldn't accept.
"NO! No, walking does me just fine," Ophelia said.
"Bad experience?" James asked as they walked towards the fort.
"Yes. A horse smaller than General threw me when Archie was trying to teach me how to ride. Even Galileo gets skittish when I come near him with a saddle. No offense, General, but God intended for me to walk," Ophelia said.
"They probably sense your fear. If you're calm, they're calm," James said as he pointed to Nate and General as they were both showing their happiness. General was doing a small trot to make Nate bounce. The bounce made Nate giggle.
"I think I have been replaced in General's affections," James whispered with a tease.
"Not replaced, but you're in second place now," Ophelia whispered back. "Sorry about that."
"I most certainly am not. If it keeps Nate coming here, I am okay with being in second," James said.
"Well, that it most certainly will," Ophelia said back. "You do know that if Nate shows up, Colleen is likely to follow?"
"Followed by you and Archie, yes I am aware. Your family is special, Ophelia," James said.
Ophelia didn't quite know how to take the compliment.
"You're part of our family now, Uncle Norman," Colleen said from above their heads.
"That is true," Ophelia said with a smile.
"And you have no idea how happy and honored that makes Edith and I feel," James added, his grey eyes shining brightly at Colleen.
They entered the gates of the Normandeau yard. Edith was waving at them with her veil and wig from the window. James put Colleen on the ground.
"Why don't you go inside while Nate and I get General settled?" James said to Colleen and Ophelia.
Colleen nodded eagerly. Then ran into the cleaning room.
James and Nate took care of the saddle and brushed General down and were approaching the cleaning room themselves when they heard Colleen through the walls.
"Auntie Norman! Uncle Norman said you were a teacher," she said loudly before she had settled on Edith's lap.
Edith looked up at him through the window and gave him a look. James just nodded and walked them into the cleaning room, knowing his wife was going to have words with him later.
Sorry for the long delay on this chapter. My introduction of Regina and Harris, (and the whole closeness of the Grants and the Normandeaus) have caused me plot problems for Archie's gambling addiction and their money issues. As I have been thinking about how to fix them, I finally settled on a way. But then I didn't know how to get from here to there. I would sit at my computer and scroll through the parts I have written trying to find inspiration. I ended up writing when General dies (which emotionally wrecked me for a few days), and Nathan's and Elizabeth's wedding reception. I will admit it was the chapter on General that finally helped me focus on this one.
This was in addition to my busyness both at my retail job (holiday hours!) and my teaching, (end of the semester is always crazy, because I have students ALWAYS ask me how to improve their grades a week before the end of classes).
Thankfully, I was supposed to visit my sister in a different area, and that trip was cancelled due to COVID, but I didn't tell my retail job that I was available during the time off I requested. So, in two weekends and one week, I will have a break from BOTH JOBS!
