Part 1: Chapter 50: 1888: Red Deer, Alberta
Nate and Thomas Build Their Friendship
On the next Monday morning, Mrs. McSweeney and Thomas met the Grants on the road between their properties to walk to school. Thomas was yawning and dragging his feet a little bit, but he was slowly waking up.
"'Ello," Thomas waved and smiled.
"Hi, Thomas! How are you this morning?" Ophelia asked kindly.
"Sleepy," Thomas replied.
They all chuckled at that.
"Did you have a good weekend?" Colleen asked.
"We were unpacking most of it," Thomas admitted. "You?"
"It was fun. We go see Auntie Edith and Uncle James after church on Sundays. She helps us with our homework and makes learning an adventure," Colleen replied. Nate nodded in agreement.
"Why isn't she a teacher herself, then?" Thomas asked.
"She can't be around germs," Nate said.
Thomas and Mrs. McSweeney both looked up in surprise.
"It's why we all have spare clothes in her house. We have to shower and clean a lot when we're around her," Colleen added.
"How did she end up in Red Deer, then? There's no indoor plumbing," Thomas pointed to an outhouse.
"Her house was the first, and Uncle James had it built for her," Colleen added.
"Where is her house?" Thomas asked.
"Inside the fort," Nate replied.
"Seems like a lot of work," Thomas said.
His mother gave him a glare of reprimand.
"It is. But she's worth it," Colleen added with a smile.
"She is very kind and generous," Ophelia added.
The families finally made it to the school yard where James was watching on General. He tipped his hat to them in acknowledgement.
"IF I get married, I want my husband to love me as much as Uncle James loves Auntie Edith," Colleen admitted in a whisper.
"That's setting a pretty high standard," Archie said as he teased his daughter. "On second thought, that IS actually a good standard."
Colleen blushed but nodded.
Thomas looked at them in confusion.
"You haven't seen them together, but it's pretty obvious how in love they are," Colleen added as she looked at her uncle.
"Yeah, I don't think Uncle James would last long without her," Nate said.
"Really?!" Thomas said in skepticism.
The Grants all nodded.
James must have felt that their attention was on him because he looked in their direction and met each set of eyes.
"We're talking about Edith," Archie said with a tease.
James smiled.
"Ah, my favorite subject!" James replied back.
The Grants all smiled at his retort.
Thomas and his mother were both surprised to hear his awe and admiration for his wife in just those four words.
Ms. Fletcher soon came out to ring the bell. The parents all watched as their children walked into school and went about their days when the door was finally shut.
Inside the school, Ms. Fletcher took attendance then started her first lesson of the day again.
"Mr. Grant, please come to the front," she instructed with his reader out in front of him.
Nate sighed and nervously approached. He grabbed the book and read the lines three times quickly in his head before turning to face the group.
"Mmm…mmm…" Nate started.
Thomas caught Nate's attention. He had drawn a "U Got this!" on his slate and had held it up for him to read. Thomas also smiled and gave him an encouraging look. Nate nodded took a deep breath and kept his focus on Thomas rather than Bobby Wallace and his breed of bullies sitting a little farther back.
"M…my mom is named Milly," Nate read with much more confidence.
Everyone in the classroom stopped what they were doing to watch him.
When he was done with his sentences, Nate looked up to see the Clarke sisters were smiling at him, and Colleen was full on beaming with pride. Nate handed the book back to Ms. Fletcher when she released him and sat in the row in front of Thomas. Thomas patted his shoulder proudly.
"Knew ya could do it," Thomas whispered in Nate's ear before leaning back.
When the boys were finally released for recess, Nate and Thomas walked out together, sat at their table, and began to eat. Nate's had extra cookies.
"My mama says these are for you," Nate said as he passed over the extra.
Thomas looked up in shock.
"Really?" he asked as he took them.
Nate nodded.
Thomas put them aside hesitatingly.
"You're going to want to eat those. Mama's are the best," Nate said as he looked at the cookies.
"Doesn't everyone say that?" Thomas asked warily.
Nate gave Thomas a look that was a dare to try the cookies.
Thomas grabbed one then tenderly took a small bite out of the corner of the cookie.
"These are delicious!" Thomas said as he scarfed the rest down.
Nate looked smug.
"Sorry, me mum is not that good of a cook," Thomas said. "And the one time me auntie visited our farm, they made cookies. I'm certain I broke a tooth."
Nate laughed.
"Not my mom's. She's a really good baker," Nate said with pride.
They boys ate their lunch happily and then they played tag with just the two of them. Nate was taller and faster even with the age difference. Colleen and the Clarke sisters had to pick up their things when the recess bell was rung so that they weren't late.
"Thanks," Thomas smiled in gratitude at the girls.
Nate waved as they rushed into the school room.
"Thomas seems nice," Elle remarked as the girls watched the boys retreating backs.
Colleen nodded.
During their math lesson, Ms. Fletcher had shown them how to do their work at each grade level once and then worked in silence. Nate was using his slate to write down his work. This was very easy for him. He was done with it much faster than others and set it down for Ms. Fletcher to look at later. Nate noticed that Thomas seemed to be struggling with his.
"Need help?" Nate whispered in Irish.
Thomas looked up and met his eyes and gave a small nod.
Nate took a quick look at Ms. Fletcher to see where she was. She was lecturing on the girl's side. So, he explained to Thomas how to do the assignment in Irish in a whisper.
Bobby and his friends had heard them whispering to each other in another language and felt like it was the perfect opportunity to get them in trouble.
"Ms. Fletcher, Nate and Thomas are summoning demons," Bobby said loudly. The entire class gasped in horror and were staring at the boys in fear.
Thomas and Nate both sighed and glared at Bobby.
"They were whispering in a language I don't recognize," Bobby added.
Ms. Fletcher stalked over to the boy's side of the classroom.
"We were speaking in Irish, ma'am," Nate explained quietly.
Ms. Fletcher looked cross at them.
"Since when do you speak Irish, Mr. Grant?" she asked incredulously.
"Since always," Nate replied softly.
"He's telling you the truth. Daddy has taught us, and Aunt Edith has learned it to help," Colleen piped up.
Ms. Fletcher turned her glare at Colleen.
"Whatever language it was, it sounded like they were doing something evil," Bobby said.
"Yes, that's entirely correct. We were making a deal with the Fae to curse all ya in this town," Thomas yelled sarcastically back at Bobby before rolling his eyes. "He was helping me with me math!"
Ms. Fletcher looked at the two boys.
"Your instructions are to work quietly by yourselves. Mr. McSweeney, next time ask me…" Ms. Fletcher said.
But Thomas was a bit of a hot head when angered and couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"Ask ya! That's the silliest thing I've ever heard come out of yer mouth. I've only been yer student for a week, and I already know that we don't ask questions in here. So excuse me for asking someone who will actually help me," Thomas glared.
"Detention, Mr. McSweeney," Ms. Fletcher glowered.
Thomas glared back, "Totally worth it!"
"Get back to your tasks," Ms. Fletcher glared at everyone else in the room.
At the end of the school day, Thomas stayed behind while everyone else filed out of the classroom.
"Where's Thomas?" Ophelia asked as she noticed that he was missing from the group.
"He has detention for telling Ms. Fletcher off," Colleen said.
James laughed soundly.
"He is a brave little soul. I think we are going to get along splendidly," James said with high praise in his voice.
Ophelia just nodded.
"How long is his detention?" Ophelia asked.
The Grant children just shrugged their shoulders.
"Well, why don't we go to the Mercantile, and then come back?" Ophelia suggested.
They nodded and walked towards town.
When Thomas came out of his detention, he was covered in chalk dust.
"Sorry, Mrs. Grant, I forgot that yer the one getting me home. I'm sorry for making ya all wait," Thomas said as he approached.
"That's quite okay, Thomas. We don't mind," Ophelia smiled at him.
Thomas smiled in relief, and they walked to the Grant's home.
"Thomas, we do our homework first," Colleen said as she showed him inside and pointed to their table.
Thomas nodded and put down his bag.
They all unpacked their schoolbooks and started their homework. Nate also went into explaining Thomas' math that he had tried to do inside the building.
"You just misplaced a number," Nate said.
"Oh, that's easy to see now. It's me handwriting; it's horrible," Thomas explained.
"Practice will only make it better," Ophelia said with a smile as she brought over a plate of snacks.
"Thank you, Mama," Colleen took one and snacked on it.
Ophelia just caressed both of her children's heads and kissed them in affection. Thomas looked surprised that she was showing it so much.
"You okay, Thomas?" Nate asked.
"Yeah, I'm not used to adults being so open and loving in front of me," Thomas admitted.
The Grants all looked at him in surprise.
"You mean that your parents don't show you that they love you?" Colleen asked in surprise.
"No, not often. Ma and Da are reserved people. Uncle and Auntie don't show Luke much affection either. They would show us off a bit, but leave us to his nannies," Thomas admitted.
Colleen and Nate both looked at their mother, not knowing how to help him, because they hadn't ever experienced being ignored or brushed away by their parents.
Ophelia sat next to Thomas and grabbed his face gently between her hands.
"I don't know how else to be with my children. You're welcome to the same from me if you want it?" Ophelia said kindly.
Thomas was looking at her with his brown eyes. She could see an affection starved little boy. Thomas just nodded.
Ophelia brought his head down so that she could give him a gentle kiss of affection.
Thomas was blinking back tears.
"Thanks," Thomas was only able to breath out.
"When you're down with your homework, why don't the three of you go outside to play?" Ophelia suggested kindly.
They all nodded and quickly finished their assignments. Then they played outside with Sirius. Archie found them like this as he came home from work.
"Daddy!" Colleen said with happiness before racing to him. Nate followed.
"Hello, me loves," Archie said as he picked them both up with a bit more effort than he was used to. He kissed both on the cheeks before putting them both down. Ophelia and little Thomas were standing on the porch watching the scene.
"Welcome home, Archie," Ophelia said as she approached.
"Ophelia, me love," Archie said tenderly as he pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss in greeting. She held it longer than normal for when they were in company. He gave her a look of surprise.
"I'll explain later," Ophelia whispered into his ear.
Archie just smiled at her before turning his attention to Thomas.
"Hello, Thomas. How was yer day?" Archie asked as he bent over to be at his level.
"Thomas got detention," Colleen answered for Thomas.
"Oh, did ya now?" Archie looked at Thomas.
Thomas nodded.
"Yeah, Ms. Fletcher and Bobby Wallace got me so angry, I couldn't control meself," Thomas admitted with a little shame.
"Well, if those two are involved, I'm sure they both deserved it," Archie said.
"ARCHIE!" Ophelia reprimanded him.
"I'm just saying what yer thinking me love," Archie shrugged his shoulders.
Ophelia just shook her head at him.
"Are you ready to go home, Thomas?" Ophelia asked as she turned her attention to the boy.
Thomas shrugged, but grabbed his things anyway and was surprised when the entire Grant family decided to walk him the far end of their land.
His father was waiting for him on the road.
"Thanks for taking care of him," Mr. McSweeney said emotionlessly.
"It's our pleasure," Archie said.
"See you tomorrow, Thomas," Ophelia waved gently goodbye.
"Thanks, Mrs. Grant," Thomas waved.
"Let's go, Thomas. Yer ma is waiting," Mr. McSweeney said as he gestured to his son towards their house. Ophelia made sure to linger about a bit. Mr. McSweeney hadn't hugged Thomas at all and was just gently walking behind his son. She gave them a long look of concern before turning back to her family. And the Grants could be heard singing together back to their yard even with a bit of distance between them and the McSweeneys.
Archie and Ophelia waited until their children were in bed until they had a conversation about Ophelia's concerns.
"Thomas said today that his parents don't show him much affection," Ophelia said.
Archie looked surprised.
"Eoan said that the reason he chose to be here was that it would be better for Thomas. He was a bit stoic, but I got the impression he loves his child," Archie said. "Did ya get an impression off of Mrs. McSweeney?"
"She reminds me of my mother, when she was younger," Ophelia said with a tone.
"Oh," Archie said with a look. "You were lucky with yer Da, but to have two parents with yer Ma's personality…"
Ophelia nodded in agreement that would be bad.
"That's why I let our public kiss go longer. Thomas needs to see that showing affection with words and actions is okay and normal," Ophelia said.
"He'll be fine," Archie said with every confidence.
Ophelia gave Archie a look.
"Yer involved now. He'll be fine," Archie said as he kissed her forehead.
When the McSweeneys had gotten home, and they had their meal and talked about Thomas' day, Thomas had excused himself with the need to write a letter to his cousin.
Dear Cousin Luke,
Me Da wasn't joking about Red Deer. Although I don't know why we thought he would be, he doesn't have a sense of humor. We are here. Ma is not at all pleased with this place. I think she wanted us to move to a small city, not a small town. We aren't finished unpacking yet. But I have been attending school again.
The teacher is horrible, but we can't switch because she is the only one. (Yes, Red Deer is that small). I have made a new friend, though. His name is Nate. Nate was being bullied by everyone, including the teacher, on me first day. So, I sat with him at lunch. He's very smart! He has only just begun school, and he can already read and speak in at least two languages. He has an older sister and his ma and da show how much they love each other and their children multiple times a day. They show that they care. It threw me off when I watched them. I didn't know that parents could be so loving. And Nate's Ma has included me in this.
As much as Red Deer is horrible and small, I think it will be okay so long as Nate and his family are here.
Wishing you well,
Thomas
Sorry, this is a bit of a short chapter, but I wanted to end it with Thomas' letter to his cousin. Thanks for the positive feedback!