Chapter 3 Demand for Answers
Charles' face was so red that a ripe tomato would be jealous. He had an angry look on his face just moments after coming home. Caroline had delivered the news to him that Mr. Applewood had returned to Walnut Grove as the teacher in place of the recently fired Mrs. Simms.
Caroline had put an arm on Charles in an attempt to calm him down, "Charles, I know you're upset about this news, but losing your temper will only make things worse for the girls," she said in a calm tone.
Charles' hard head nature reared its ugly head after his wife tried to calm him down, "No, Caroline," he snapped as he pulled his arm away from her, "I was nice to him the first time he was here. And now I here he's putting his hands on one of my other girls and getting in the way of my other girl from pursuing her teaching career. I won't have it, Caroline!"
Laura, Mary and Carrie had been excused from the dinner table. Carrie was sent to her room, while Laura and Mary were up in the loft.
Caroline was standing in front of the door blocking Charles from going over to Oleson's Mercantile in haste, "Charles, you need to calm down," she calmly said.
"Caroline, move out of my way," Charles demanded, already not happy, "That man put his hands on two of my girls and threatened the other. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it right now!"
Caroline let out a long sigh of defeat. There was no way she was going to calm Charles down. He had already had a rough day at work, only to come home to hearing of the problem teacher's return.
Charles' buggy sped through the dirt roads of Walnut Grove in haste with an angry Charles riding on the buckboard. He crossed the bridge and made it into town before making his way to the parking space by the side of the mercantile. He put the horses to a stop before climbing off the buckboard, running up the steps of the mercantile before frantically banging on the front door of the store, which had the closed sign hanging in the door.
Charles kept pounding on the door until it finally opened with an annoyed Harriet Oleson standing on the other side, "Mr. Ingalls, you kno-," she was cut off.
"Mrs. Oleson, we need to talk," Charles demanded.
Before Harriet could reply to Charles' demands, Nels had made his way to the store front to see what all the commotion was, "Harriet, who's at-," he stopped his sentence when he saw an angry Charles standing outside the door, "Charles, what brings you here?"
"Nels, gather everyone on the school board," he said, "You and everyone else will know why I'm here when we meet."
Harriet was quick to object to this, "Mr. Ingalls, a sch-," she was cut off again.
"Harriet, be quiet," Nels ordered before turning his attention back to Charles with an apologetic look on his face, "Charles, I'll go gather the other members right now. And between us, I don't like this any more than you do."
Charles couldn't help but smile. Nels was always good to him, "I appreciate that, Nels," he said, "I'll see you at the meeting."
The school board was now gathered at the schoolhouse for the meeting. The school board consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Oleson, Charles Ingalls, Doc Baker, Mrs. Foster and Mr. Hanson as head of the school board.
Mrs. Oleson had a scowl on her face, as she didn't want to be there and thought it was a waste of time.
The Reverend Alden was also present to serve as peace keeper even though he wasn't a member of the school board. Nels had asked him to come, as he knew things could get heated between his wife and Charles.
Charles, who asked for the emergency meeting didn't hesitate to start the meeting, "I'm sorry for short notice, but I feel that this meeting is necessary," he stated before turning his attention to Harriet Oleson, "I called this meeting because without mine or anyone's knowledge, a new teacher was hired behind mine and all the other members of this school board."
This confused Mr. Hanson, Mrs. Foster and Doc Baker. Mr. Hanson turned his attention to Charles and had questions, "Charles, what are you implying?" he asked in a German accent.
"Mr. Hanson, what I'm saying is when I got home today, my wife informed me of my girls being mistreated in school today," Charles stated.
Mrs. Oleson was quick to interject, "Charles Ingalls, you and me both know your daughter is known for bullying my Nellie and my Willie," she stated, "And we needed someone with a will to punish those that misbehave."
This made Charles angry. He knew his daughter Laura had a temper, but he was NOT going to allow Mrs. Oleson to call Laura a bully, "Perhaps you should look in the mirror before calling my little girl a bully, Mrs. Oleson!" he yelled.
The reverend had to step in between the two before Mrs. Oleson said something to make Charles even more upset, "Now you two, just calm down," he said calmly, "We are in God's house."
Mrs. Oleson then turned her attention to the reverend, "Reverend, might I remind you that you're not a member of this school boar-," she was cut off by her husband grabbing her arm and pulling her down.
"Harriet, knock it off!" he exclaimed.
Mr. Hanson then turned his attention back to Charles, "Charles, please continue," he said kindly.
Charles cleared his throat before continuing what he had to say, "As I was saying, I was informed that two of my little girls were punished unfairly and my oldest was denied the privilege to help teach the class," he started, "The teacher behind this is none other than Mr. Applewood," he turned his attention back to Harriet, "Mrs. Oleson, why on earth did you bring that man back to this town?!"
The others, save for Nels were shocked and a bit upset upon hearing that Mr. Applewood had returned to Walnut Grove.
"Mr. Ingalls, its my money that contributes the most to this town," Mrs. Oleson stated, "So it is my right to ensure that the school has a proper teacher."
Mr. Hanson glared at Harriet, "And I'm the head of the school board, and founder ot this town!" he shouted with anger, "You know in the bi-laws of this board that the hiring of a new teacher has to be voted on by all of us."
Harriet kept her cocky look, "And might I remind you, Mr. Hanson, you may have founded this town, but my mercantile brings in more business than your mill," she stated before turning her attention back to Charles, "And Charles, its just like an Ingalls to complain when your daughters don't get their way."
"ENOUGH!" Lars Hanson shouted before calming himself down.
This made Harriet flinch. She was not expecting Lars Hanson to get very upset.
Charles had just about enough of this meeting, and Mrs. Oleson was really making his blood boil. He wanted so badly to seek out Mr. Applewood and beat him within an inch of his life. But he knew it wouldn't be the Christian thing to do.
Doc Baker, who was one that had been quiet throughout the meeting had stood up and made a suggestion, "Why can't we just let Mrs. Simms continue teaching?" he asked, "She's been a great teacher all these years. So what if she's married. We did hire Mrs. Ingalls to teach a few years back when she hurt her ankle. And when Mrs. Ingalls got frustrated and quit when Mrs. Oleson interfered, we allowed her to teach."
Mrs. Oleson got over her shock from Mr. Hanson shouting and gave Doc Baker a dirty look, "Because, Dr. Baker, the new rules states that women that are married can no longer teach, per this letter!" she exclaimed before pulling out the letter.
This time, Mr. Oleson decided it was time to say something, "A letter that was sent here because YOU wrote to the state after Mrs. Simms took Nellie's candy away from her when she hit another girl in the back of the head with a peppermint stick!" he exclaimed.
Harriet glared at her husband, "Nels!" she shouted.
Charles had calmed down enough to finally speak again, "As long as Harriet's rule is in effect, my girls will not be coming back to school," he stated, "My wife can teach my girls at home."
Nels, Mr. Hanson and Doc Baker had looks of concern on their faces when Charles said this. Mrs. Foster, who was the only one that was close to Harriet, didn't have a look of concern.
The reverend was also very concerned.
"I move that the meeting be adjourned," Doc Baker said.
"I second the motion," Mr. Hanson said.
Harriet looked at her husband, "I'll see ou at home," she said angrily before standing up and storming out of the schoolhouse with Mrs. Foster in tow.
Charles was about to leave, but he was stopped, "Wait, Charles, can we have a word with you for a minute?" Mr. Hanson asked.
"Sure," Charles said as he sat down on one of the benches, "What is it?"
Mr. Hanson took a deep breath before continuing, "Charles, before you and your family moved here, Mrs. Oleson was the teacher of Walnut Grove," he stated, "Willie had just started attending school and he and Nellie were always causing problems for the class. Harriet would punish the other kids instead. Things got so bad that the parents had decided to pull their kids out of school and teach at home or travel further and go to other schools."
Nels was next to speak up, "And because of that, many of the families had moved away, which hurt the town's economy," he added, "We as a town had to do something, and that something was to vote Harriet out as teacher. She didn't take it very well, so we promised her a permanent position on the school board, but would never be allowed to teach unless she was a last resort when a substitute quits, like when your wife had stepped down. That's when we hired Ms. Beadle, or Mrs. Simms now. Harriet has been bitter about it ever since, and that's why she interferes so much with the teachers. I'm really sorry, Charles."
This was a lot to take in for Charles, but it all made sense. He took a deep breath, "It isn't your fault, Nels," he said calmly, "But I really need to get home to my wife and talk to her about this."
Charles stood up and began making his way towards the front doors, "Good night, Charles," everyone in the room said.
After Charles left, Mr. Hanson let out a long sigh, "Thank you, Harriet Oleson," he said sarcastically.
"I think it's a blessing that no one got physically hurt tonight," the reverend stated.
Dr. Baker couldn't help but chuckle at this, "That's very true, reverend," he said, "I'm no surgeon, so if any bones had been broken tonight, I wouldn't be able to help them."
Mr. Oleson stood up, "I better get home," he stated, "I know I'm bound to catch hell from Harriet when I get home."
That's it for this chapter.
Thanks to those that read and reviewed the last chapter.