Chapter 8

Hetty King, August 1878, Aged 19

"Hetty King. We are ready for you now." Said Emily Potts from the doorway of the schoolhouse.

Today was the final interviews for the position of Avonlea's new school teacher. The competition had been particularly fierce, with only two of us left in the running. Normally going up against another person, as qualified as I was, would have made me even more confident. But, today my competition was Muriel Stacey.

Muriel and I had gone to college together, with Muriel winning the gold graduation medal. Winning the silver medal I was not jealous of Muriel in any way, however, I did not want to lose out to her. Although we never ran in the same circles, Muriel was the only connection I still had to Wallace, the only reminder of my times at college and the pain that came because of it. In some ways I saw Muriel as the physical embodiment of my pain, she never did anything malicious towards me, but I saw her and every time was reminded of the pain, eventually I associated her with my pain, as she succeeded so to did my pain. I knew I had to win the position.

As I entered the school room that I had been in hundreds of times before, I could see nothing had really changed, even with Miss Wigins departure. Yet, even in these familiar surroundings I felt strange, and small, which was exacerbated by the fact that sitting in front of me were three of the adults that I knew were the most disagreeable in Avonlea.

Thankfully out of all of them, Doctor Carter was the one in charge, perhaps the most pleasant out of the three.

"As you are aware Miss King Avonlea is in need of a good teacher for our children. After many rounds of interviews, the only two candidates left are you and Miss Stacey. The order we have called you in is no indication of your standing or anything else, but simply was alphabetical order. For this last interview we have only a few questions. Firstly, you graduated from teachers college in...?"

"I graduated from the Prince Edward Island Normal School in 1876, when I was 17." I answered his question, but couldn't understand why he had asked it. I was asked this question before, at my first interview, I did not see any need for it to be asked again. Perhaps they were making sure of things, make sure I wasn't lying.

"And in what place of your class did you graduate?" Emily Potts asked with near venom in her voice.

So, that was what they were after, a point they already knew, but one they wanted me to repeat. If that was there point it didn't surprise me that Emily Potts was doing the questioning, I had gone to school with her son Bert and her new daughter-in-law Clara. Clara always had a vicious tongue, which matched her mother-in-law very nicely. "Second place, Mrs. Potts."

Dale Chase then looked at me with something akin to pity, in fact all three of them looked at me with similar piteous expressions. However, it was Mr. Chases' turn to talk. "Miss King, as you know Miss Stacey, who has also applied for the position, received the gold medal that same year. Now, is there any reason you would like us to know about, why you came in second to Miss Stacey, any faults that may hinder your success in a teaching career?"

I knew then that I had lost the job, I wondered if it would even be worth it for me to answer the question. But, then again no King ever gave up when the going was tough.

" I do not know of any reasons Mr. Chase. I do know that Miss Stacey is a bit more progressive in her methods, while I am a bit more traditional, but other than that there is no real difference that I know of."

Looking at the three before me I could see they were disappointed. My answer was not exactly what they had expected. I stated the truth, plain and simple, I did not embellish anything or gossip. In short I bored them.

"Well, thank-you Miss King, if you would be so kind as to wait outside."

Walking out of that room with my head held high was one of the more difficult things I had to do in my teaching career. I knew I had lost, but I still had to maintain the dignity that my family was famous for. To act in any other way would be to betray the family name.

As I exited the building and walked towards Muriel Stacey in the schoolyard she looked up and smiled at me. "How'd it go in there?"

"Not the best. They asked me some purely useless questions, when they have already made up their minds."

"Have they?"

"Yes. Well, not officially. But, I could tell. I think you've got the job Muriel, you would have got it without the interview. "

"But why?"

"Why? Because you won the gold medal of course. They even asked me why I didn't win it."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing of interest. I said I didn't know of any real reason. The only difference between us is our methods of teaching"

"Well, that's true. I suppose. But I should never have won the medal, you should have come in first Hetty. You would have too, if you hadn't been so distracted and busy."

"Oh well, some lessons are best learned the hard way. Besides, with you here I might be able to get a job somewhere else."

"Oh Hetty! I'm sure you will! Besides, I won't be here forever, if I get the job that is, I'd go mad in one place for the rest of my life."

Talking to Muriel I was surprised at how genuinely open and friendly she seemed to be. I wondered if maybe this was the reason she was actually chosen.

"Miss Stacey, if you'd like to come in we're ready for you know." Emily Potts smiled as she called for Muriel. I don't think I had ever seen Emily Potts smile.

No, Muriel Stacey wasn't being given the job because she was friendly or open. She was getting to the job because she won that blasted gold medal. As long as she was here, I knew I would never win. Forever I would be stuck in the house, raising the children. I could never leave Avonlea, the house would fall apart. With father courting Irene Steamer, it seemed liked half of the house was overjoyed, and half were about to begin a rebellion. Even Ruth was beginning to show anger at father over his choice, perhaps for no other reason then that she wants to be an adult, like she thought that Alec and Roger were.

Either way the environment seemed so tense, I could never leave. No, I would have to stay in Avonlea, take care of the children, take care of the house. I promised I would, and although it had been five years, the children, except maybe Alec, were all still so young. If I left father alone with them it would not be fair for anyone. No, my place was in Avonlea, I may have dreamed of more in the years previous, but I could no more leave than go to the moon, every time I went outside Avonlea I was hurt, and I never wanted to be hurt again.

By the time Muriel came out of the school building I was in a right state. I tried to not let it show on the outside. That smile that calmed me 15 minutes ago, now infuriated me. Muriel Stacey with all her progressive ways and methods was going to get the job, she was going to have a life outside of the four walls of her home, and for that I resented her.

"So..." I ventured

"I don't know anything. They said they wanted to deliberate first. But I - "

Muriel never did get a chance to finish her sentiment as Mrs. Potts called us inside. Walking into the school building I no longer felt fear, but anger, especially with the smug faces of Mister Chase and Doctor Carter, with Mrs Potts joining them I saw three of the most despicable human beings to grace this earth, the looks on their faces showing the enjoyment that they got from being so.

"Now ladies" began Doctor Carter "As you know these past few days have been very difficult for all of us. The retirement of Miss Wigins left us with a very important position to fill. Luckily we had many qualified candidates, and at the end we were left with you two. Our job was not easy, but after careful deliberation we have decided that the one of you who will be taking over as schoolmistress of Avonlea is Miss Stacey."

Now of course this information was of no real surprise to me. I had expected it, and there it was. I was angry, but needed to maintain as much dignity and composure as possible. However, despite what I had already told her, Muriel Stacey looked as shocked as I had ever seen a body.

"Congratulations Muriel" I said a I patted her shoulder and walked out of the building. Walking out of that building I felt as lonely as I had in a long time. I didn't blame Muriel, clearly she didn't apply out of spite, that was just the way things went.

As I journeyed back to King farm I wondered just exactly how I would tell my family. I knew that the children had been very confident in me, with Ruth and Olivia even laying in bed with me last night and telling me so.

As much as I had ever complained about it, it was nice to still have the children want to come sleep with me once in a while. Alec, being almost an adult had tried to come in my room since was about 11, the year after mother died. Roger all but stopped after he found out I would be going away to teachers college. Now, Ruth was pulling away, she was so much younger than the others were when they stopped, I was thankful that she was still a little girl sometimes. Olivia, out of all of my siblings was the one I could always count on to sneak into my room in the middle of the night. Whether it was a bad nightmare, or because she was simply lonely and needed a cuddle, more nights than not she would crawl into my bed and there she would stay until it was time for me to wake-up.

Arriving at King farm I was greeted by two sights; a large congratulations banner - reused from my graduation - and veritable party with all my siblings, Irene and Mrs. Steamer. This was going to be harder than I thought.

Out of all the people, Ruth spotted me first. "Hetty!" she yelled as she ran towards me. As she reached me I threw open my arms and she jumped into them, much like Olivia usually did. "Did you get the job?"

"No, Muriel Stacey did."

"Rats! I wanted you for a teacher."

"Well, even though I'm not your teacher at school I can always teach you things around the farm. Maybe soon I'll teach you to make biscuits like you're always asking me too. How does that sound?" Ruth didn't answer me, but instead laid her head on my shoulder and nuzzled her face into my neck.

I had to admit, it was odd seeing Ruth act this way, at seven years old she had been trying more and more to act like a little grown up, with sometimes disastrous results. As the other children reached me, and I broke the bad news, Alec said he had some bad news of his own, the cause for Ruths' sudden change in behavior. "One of the cows died while you were gone. Ruth found it when she went to go and milk it."

In raising the children I tried to not baby them, it did not make for productive members of society. However, as Alec told me the news I couldn't help but begin bouncing Ruth up and down as if she were an infant who was upset. I wondered how Ruth would react to that, but she said nothing and only nuzzled into my neck further.

"We're still having a party for you, even though you didn't get the job." Roger said. I knew he was trying to be nice, it just didn't fully seem like it. "I'll go tell father and Irene to grab the cake and ice cream."

"Ice cream?" I asked incredulously

"Yes!" Olivia said "We all made it for you."

"That's why Ruth went into the barn." Alec finished.

I wanted to say something to the seven year old, to cheer her up, but nothing seemed like it would fit exactly. So, instead I kept her in my arms and walked over to the chairs and table that they had all set up. Knowing full well that I shouldn't I kept Ruth in my arms, and, when I went to sit down, held her in my lap.

As father and Irene, along with Mrs. Steamer, came out of the house, I had to admit that she did make him very happy. It was odd to see someone with my father, but if it ever had to be anyone besides my mother, I would pick Irene every time. Looking at Roger, I could see I would still have a long way to go, in convincing him of Irene, but I knew I would get there eventually.

"It's never going to happen" Said Alec, who sat next to me, as he read my thoughts.

"Who knows," I said "I was the one who convinced him he might like to start a rock collection, and we see how well that's working out.

Alex smiled at me. "Well, if anyone can do it, it will be you."

"You can do anything." Said Ruth from my arms. And, while earlier I felt as though I couldn't do anything right, at the moment I could see the one thing that I was doing right."