Chapter 2 An Unwelcomed Return
Laura, Mary and Carrie were busy eating breakfast as the morning sun beamed into their little house. Charles and Caroline were also at the table and there was an unusual silence amongst them.
Laura and Mary had gone with their Pa over to the Sims' place the previous night to see how Mrs. Sims was holding up following the bad news. It was an awkward visit, as Mrs. Sims was very hurt with the news, but was trying to put up a tough front. It was also hard on Luke Sims, as he was still attending school.
Laura was the first to break the silence, though, "I hope the new teacher is just as nice as Mrs. Sims," she said.
Caroline looked at her middle child with a serious look on her face, "Regardless of who the teacher is, I expect you to be on your best behavior, young lady," she said in a serious tone.
"Yes, ma'am," Laura said, "I'll try."
Charles decided to add to the conversation next, "And that goes for you too, Mary," he said, "I know it's a bit more hard on you, as Mrs. Sims was training you to be her successor."
"Yes, sir," Mary said.
The family finished eating their breakfast and went on to do their chores before going about their day at work or school.
The stage came into town and parked across from the mercantile.
Inside the store, Harriet was busy getting the store ready to be opened for the day while Nels was cooking breakfast. Nellie and Willie were still in bed, so neither of them were seen sneaking candy.
There was a firm knock at the front door, distracting Harriet from what she was doing, 'Oh, for Heaven's Sake!" she exclaimed in an irritated tone, "Who could this be at this hour? There's clearly a sign at the front door that says closed."
The irritated heavyset woman made her way from behind the counter and made her way to the front door and peaked through the window. She jumped and her face went from one of irritation to one of pure joy as she unlocked the door and opened it.
A middle aged man with light brown hair, a permanent scowl wearing a black suit walked into the store, "Mr. Applewood, it's great to see you!" Mrs. Oleson exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting you so soon."
The man known as Mr. Applewood let out a light chuckle, "Well, Mrs. Oleson, I knew I had to come the moment I received your letter," he replied, "And I am most grateful for you standing up for me the last time I was here."
It was true. Two years ago, Mrs. Oleson was the one that sent the letter out asking for a new teacher when Ms. Beadle, as she was known as back then couldn't handle a few older boys roughhousing. Mrs. Oleson smiled at the disciplinarian, "Well, it was my pleasure!" she exclaimed.
While Harriet and Mr. Applewood were in the middle of talking, Nels had made his way into the storefront. His face immediately turned to one of shock and anger at the arrival of Mr. Applewood, "Harriet, what is he doing here?!" he demanded as his face turned red from anger.
Nels Oleson was usually a calm man and very polite to his fellow neighbors. Despite Nellie and Harriet's rivalry with the Ingalls family, he got along well with them. A few years back when he and Harriet were arguing over who judges the eggs, she broke the eggs over his head and still paid Mrs. Ingalls full price for them. When Nellie had Willie secretly record Laura's voice and played it for the class, he gave both Nellie and Willie a good whipping. When Nellie owned Laura's horse, Bunny, she mistreated her. Then one day after school, Bunny had finally had enough of Nellie's mistreatment and bucked her off. This led to Nellie pretending to be severely injured, with Laura peaking through the window and catching her in the act of faking. This led to Nellie being pushed down the hill in her wheelchair and Mr. Oleson giving Laura Bunny back. Then just last year, a girl named Anna with a stuttering problem was being bullied by Nellie. Laura stole her music box, but in the end, only Nellie got a whipping from Nels.
Harriet had just turned to her husband and didn't seem to care about how he felt about the situation at hand, "Oh, Nels, we need a new teacher," she stated.
"Harriet, you know these decisions have to be voted on by the school board!" Nels shouted out of frustration.
"And the majority of the money the teacher gets paid comes out of our pocket," Harriet argued back, "So the decision is final. Mr. Applewood is the teacher."
Nels let out a long sigh of frustration and defeat. Harriet was not an easy person to argue with when money's involved.
Mary, Laura and Carrie had their lunch buckets, but the older two of the three had nervous looks on their faces and didn't want to go to school.
Charles saw their looks and took a deep breath, "Mary, Laura, I know Mrs. Sims won't be there to teach, but you have to go," he stated.
"I know, Pa, but," Laura started.
Caroline cut Laura off before she could say anything else, "No buts, young lady," she said sternly, "Now you three get off to school. You don't want to be late on the new teacher's first day."
"Yes, ma'am," Laura said in a defeated tone before she and her sisters made her way towards the door.
When the three left and shut the door behind them, Caroline looked at her husband, "Charles, are you sure they'll be alright?" she asked with a bit of concern in her voice.
When Caroline asked this, Charles had a look of concern on his face, "Caronine, I sure hope so," he said, "But if what that letter said is true, at least they won't have Mrs. Oleson as their teacher."
Laura, Mary and Carrie were walking towards town carrying their lunch buckets. Neither of them said a word to one another. Neither of them were angry at each other, but it was just nervous silence.
The three girls crossed the bridge and made it into town square where Hanson's Mill, the bank, the post office, Oleson's Mercantile, Doc Baker's office and the blacksmith's shop were located.
Several kids, including Andy Garvey, Spotted Eagle, the Oleson kids, Luke Sims and a few others were playing outside the schoolhouse.
Laura and Mary breathed a sigh of relief as the kids playing outside was a good indication that they were not running late for school.
That last stretch to the schoolyard felt like an eternity for the Ingalls girls, mainly due to them not knowing who the new teacher was. The three finally reached the schoolyard and Carrie went to go find one of her friends to talk to, while Laura and Mary went over to Andy, "Hi, Andy," Laura greeted.
Andy looked up from what he was doing and saw Mary and Laura, "Hi guys," he greeted, "You both look nervous."
Mary let out a long sigh before sitting on a tree stump, "I'm a bit nervous about who the new teacher is," she stated.
Andy, clearly not knowing who the teacher was, looked at Mary, "Wait, you know who our new teacher is?" he asked.
Mary shook her head no, "No, what I meant is I'm nervous because I don't know who our teacher is," she corrected, "I just hope he or she is as good as Mrs. Sims."
"Look!" Laura exclaimed as she saw Nellie making her way up the school steps to ring the bell for class.
Nellie began ringing the bell and the students stopped what they were duing and began making their way up the steps.
"Well, I guess it's time to find out who our teacher is," Mary said before grabbing her lunch bucket and standing up from the tree stump.
The Ingalls girls and Andy made their way up the steps and into the classroom before hanging their bonnets and putting their lunch buckets away. When they reached the classroom area, all the color on Laura's face drained. Standing at the head of the classroom was someone she had hoped she'd never have to see again. That someone was none other than Mr. Applewood and his permanent scowl on his face.
The same thing was going through Mary's mind. Even though Mr. Applewood didn't target her during his first stint as teacher, she was still afraid of him, as the sound of the ruler coming down on a misbehaving student's hand would make anyone flinch in fear. She remembered Laura's two swats with that ruler.
The students began taking their seats, and Willie Oleson had a nervous look on his face, as despite his mother getting along with him, he didn't like him, either.
The aforementioned Mary took a deep breath and gathered what little confidence she had and began making her way to the front of the class to grade the previous day's homework assignments. Mrs. Sims knew Mary wanted to become a teacher and knew she'd be graduating soon. She allowed Mary to help grade papers and teach some of the younger students to help her get her feet wet.
Unfortunately for Mary, the moment she reached the front desk, Mr. Applewood glared at her, "Why aren't you in your seat?" he demanded.
Mary had to stay strong, and she stopped herself from walking away in fear, "I help Mrs. Sims grade the homework assignments from yesterday," she replied.
"Mrs. Sims isn't here, so I'll be grading the papers," Mr. Applewood said, "Now go to your seat."
"But Mr. App-," Mary started.
"NOW!" Boomed Mr. Applewood as she hit his desk with his ruler as a warning.
A now dejected Mary slowly made her way to her seat as tears were threatening to flood her eyes and roll down her cheeks. Laura looked at her sister with concern and felt bad for her. Mary's feelings were very hurt. It really meant a lot to her that she had come a long way and was finally given the opportunity to not only help grade papers, but teach a couple of the lessons.
Once Mary took her seat, Mr. Applewood began speaking again, "Now then, I will go over the guidelines and new rules that you will all abide by," he said.
For Laura, Mary, Nellie and Willie, they had heard this lecture before, as they were there for the first time Mr. Applewood was the teacher. He went over the fact that all students must write their names at the upper right hands of their papers or receive a failing grade. Students couldn't have traces of eraser marks or they would receive a failing grade.
Laura looked at Mary and then back to Mr. Applewood. Her heart was beating so fast as she listened to him speak. Ironically, she was sitting in the exact same spot she was currently sitting in when it was time to write down the new rules. Sven Jacobson had wrote and passed a note, which got to Nellie Oleson and then ended up under her hand while she was writing down the rules, which led to her getting hit twice with that ruler and she had to write on the blackboard, getting behind on her actual schoolwork.
This time around, Sven and his buddies Herman Stone and George Jackson weren't sitting in the back dropping books on the floor and wrestling. She was very nervous, as she was afraid she'd find another piece of paper talking down on the new teacher she didn't write. Fortunately for her, there was no note passing going on this time around, but there was something about to happen that would make her blood boil.
Nellie Oleson was sitting directly behind Carrie and she took out a stick of licorice and slowly moved it behind the youngest Ingalls girls' ear and began moving it up and down, making her laugh.
Nellie pulled her hand back just before she got caught by the mean teacher.
This was not good for Carrie, as she was caught by Mr. Applewood, "Carrie Ingalls," he called out.
"Yes sir," Carrie replied.
"Why aren't you doing your writing assignment?" Mr. Applewood asked, "And more importantly, why are you laughing?"
"Someone tickled behind my ear," Carrie stated.
Laura had witnessed what Nellie was doing, and she was angry. She wanted to walk up to her and punch her so hard. In most cases, Laura could handle Nellie teasing her, but it always made her blood boil when Nellie said anything about her family.
"Did anyone see Carrie's ear get tickled?" Mr. Applewood asked.
"Yes, it was Nellie Oleson," Laura responded, "She tickled Carrie's ear with a stick of licorice."
Mr. Applewood turned his attention to Nellie next, "Nellie Oleson, did you tickle Carrie with a stick of licorice?" he asked.
"No sir," Nellie lied.
The disciplinarian turned his attention back to Carrie, "Carrie Ingalls, come here," he demanded.
Carrie got up and made her what to the front of the classroom. Mary and Laura watched as she was about to go through the same fate the Laura did. He grabbed his ruler and walked around the desk to stand in front of the scared little girl.
"Hold out your hand," Mr. Applewood demanded.
Carrie slowly held her hand out and the teacher grabbed her by the wrist and held it in place before grabbing the ruler and positioning it before raising his hand and coming down hard, striking the little girl, causing her to wince in pain as tears began to form in her eyes.
Laura watched this and seeing her sister getting punished unfairly was making her more and more angry.
The usually calm and well behaved Mary was even getting upset. It took a lot to get Mary upset, but when she did lose her temper, she could be very fierce. A few weeks ago, a handyman had come to the Ingalls' place to fix up the kitchen and Harriet Oleson had began spreading rumors about Caroline having an affair with him, which Nellie echoed during recess one day. This resulted in a rare loss in temper by Mary and she slapped Nellie across the face, causing the rich blonde to run home crying.
Then, the second swat from the ruler happened, and Carrie hadn't felt pain like that before and she was in tears.
But Mr. Applewood wasn't done yet. He held onto Carrie's wrist and brought the ruler down for a third time.
This was a first for even Mr. Applewood. He had never hit anyone more than twice.
"That's for laughing in class, lying and not doing your writing assignment," Mr. Applewood said, "You won't have recess or lunch hour today, either."
Carrie went to her seat and tears were streaming down her face as she sat down.
Mr. Applewood wasn't done yet, as he turned his attention to Laura, "Laura Ingalls, come here," he ordered.
Laura did as told and she got two hits with the ruler for lying, and she got her recess/lunch hour taken away for the day.
Caroline was busy cleaning the kitchen when the door to the house opened and Laura, Mary and Carrie entered the house, taking the mother away from what she was doing.
Mary and Laura didn't look happy and Carrie's tears had long since dried, but you could tell that she had been crying.
Carrie had ran to her mother and embraced her, and so did Laura and Mary. Caroline returned the four person hug, as she knew that there was something wrong.
Caroline broke the hug and looked at her three girls, "Girls, what's wrong?" she asked with concern in her voice.
"Mr. Applewood's back and he's the teacher," Mary announced to her mother.
This stunned Caroline. Mr. Applewood had resigned on his own following the day Charles had to come in and intervene when he was about to his Laura with a ruler for knocking over his chair and pushing his bag onto the floor.
"Oh, no," Caroline said in a low tone, "What happened at school today?"
Laura told her Ma about Nellie tickling Carrie and getting her in trouble with Mr. Applewood. She told her Ma about her being punished for reporting it, as he thought she was lying.
"I'm going to tell your father about this when he gets home," Caroline said with anger in her voice, "In the meantime, I want you to get started on your chores and wash up before supper."
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