Chapter 4
Abraham Smallwood ran the short distance home and burst through the door. "Hey, Ma, guess what! Our teacher's a Injun!" Pearly Smallwood froze with the iron skillet in her hands.
"What did you say? Francis Clover is a Injun?"
"No, Ma, he's not there today. We're bein' taught by Mr. Boone's Injun."
"That high-toned fancy Cherokee?" Abraham nodded and grinned. Pearly slammed the skillet down on the plank table and walked toward the door, muttering. "We'll just see about this! That Boone fella has gone too far this time!"
On the way to the fort she passed Nathaniel, Thaddeus, and Pip. She questioned them about their "teacher" and received the same information, plus the fact that Josiah had been detained after the dismissal and was now being corrected for improper behavior. This information made Pearly Smallwood even angrier.
Her name did not suit her at all. Pearly Smallwood was a heavy woman, rough and uneducated. Her husband Ruben had insisted that the children attend Boonesborough's school. She had reluctantly accepted his decision, but had never agreed. And now her children were being "instructed" by a half-breed heathen. This was too much!
As she topped the final rise she met Josiah coming home for lunch. She grabbed the boy's arm tightly and turned him back around. Her high-pitched voice scolded him the entire way back to the fort. Mixed in with the scolding were words of indignation and anger. Her ranting made her son very uncomfortable as he compared her behavior against the behavior of his teacher. His mind whirled with the disparity.
Pearly burst into the fort right behind Timothy McCarthy. The little blonde Irishman was livid with anger. He dashed into the schoolroom, then wheeled and nearly collided with Pearly Smallwood and Josiah. The knot of gossipers outside Cincinnatus' store watched in satisfaction. Their conversation had all been in the same vein: it was terribly, terribly improper, no, downright WRONG, for a heathen to be instructing Christian children and something needed to be done. Now it looked like that something was about to occur. The crowd followed behind the two parents as they entered the store. They were primed to witness a very interesting confrontation.
Mingo and Cincinnatus looked up as the heavy wooden door burst inward. Pearly Smallwood was already ranting before her feet touched the plank floor.
"Where's Dan'l Boone?" she addressed Cincinnatus, totally ignoring Mingo.
Before the lively storekeeper could answer, Timothy McCarthy pushed past her and stood in front of Mingo with both hands balled into fists on his narrow hips. "My Dolly came home with a bloody gash on her head! What kind o' teacher are you, you can't even keep my younguns safe?"
Before he could reply, Mingo's arm was poked by Pearly Smallwoods's pointed finger. "And what do you mean by scoldin' my Josiah? Nobody but me and the mister's got the right to be talkin' to my boy about his behavin'!"
Mingo addressed the small Irishman first. "Your daughter fell because another child fell against her. No one was at fault. We were engaged in a spelling contest and it was an accident. Children do have accidents, Mr. McCarthy."
Mingo's answer did nothing to ease McCarthy's anger. He pointed his finger at the Cherokee and raised his voice. "And Molly told us that you made Pauley cry! He's just five years old: don't you have any feelin' for the little ones?" Before Mingo could explain the situation that had caused Pauley to cry, Mrs. Smallwood poked his arm again.
"Ain't you got a answer for me? Scared to talk in front of all these witnesses, Injun?" Her baiting tone irritated Mingo but he maintained his composure. Behind his mother Josiah cringed in embarrassment.
"No Madam, I am not afraid to explain my actions. Did you ask Josiah about it?"
"Air you sayin' that I cain't talk to my own youngin'?" Mrs. Smallwood's voice rose to a screech. Just at that moment Daniel walked through the crowd at the door.
"What's the trouble here? Mingo, Mrs. Smallwood, Mr. McCarthy?"
Pearly Smallwood and Tim McCarthy began to speak at once. The crowd at the door grinned in delight. Mingo stood in silent dignity, Cincinnatus beside him glowering. Josiah tried to make himself as small as possible and disappear.
Daniel was able to smooth the ruffled feathers by suggesting that Mrs. Smallwood and Mr. McCarthy spend the afternoon in the schoolhouse with the children. Neither adult wanted to be responsible for twenty children, just as Daniel suspected. They both huffed out the door, the crowd of spectators right behind them. The voices continued complaining as they shifted into the compound. Mingo sighed and looked at Daniel, his expression relaying his uncertainty.
"How did it go this mornin', really?" Daniel asked.
"Very well, after we all got used to each other. Your daughter is a very perceptive youngster. I am afraid that I wounded Israel unintentionally, though. I'll tell you about it later. I need to get back to the schoolroom and find the beaver set before the children return. "
"Find the what?" Both Daniel and Cincinnatus said together.
"You heard me. The beaver set. A prank one or two of the boys played this morning. I suspect it was the Himmel boys. They arrived early and then went back outside. I should have been suspicious but I was too preoccupied to think straight."
The three men waved in farewell and Mingo stepped through the door. Daniel and Cincinnatus looked at each other and grinned.
Mingo sniffed out the beaver set and removed the stick that contained the oil. It had been carefully placed in a hole they had bored through the chinking. Mingo mixed a mud plug and pushed it into the small hole, hoping to seal the smell away from the classroom. The two windows and open door did little to dispel the scent as the day was both warm and still.
When he finished the patch and walked back around to the front of the schoolhouse he saw Josiah standing against the far wall, nearly invisible in the building's shadow. Knowing that the boy was greatly embarrassed by his mother's behavior Mingo pretended not to see him, giving the boy the opportunity to begin the conversation when he was ready.
After a few minutes Mingo looked up as a shadow crossed in front of the door. Josiah silently approached Mr. Clover's desk. The boy reached out and lifted the volume of Shakespeare plays off of the desk. He swallowed, and keeping his eyes cast down began to speak.
"I want to know about the places you were talkin' about. I'm sorry about what I said. I do like that whenever Mr. Clover corrects me, and he always backs down. I know it's wrong to do it, but I like how it makes me feel. At least I used to." The youth fell silent. Mingo waited several seconds before he replied.
"It takes maturity to admit a wrong, Josiah. I accept your apology on one condition. I never want to hear from Mr. Clover that you have challenged his correction again. Agreed?" Mingo held out his slim brown hand to the boy.
No one had ever done that before. Josiah looked at the outstretched hand and slowly placed his own against the Indian's. Mingo's hand closed around the boy's small hand and shook it three times. Then Josiah Smallwood beamed. Mingo smiled back and released his hand.
"And the next time that I am in Boonesborough, I would be pleased to tell you anything that you want to know about my travels. Alright?"
The boy's smile broadened into a grin and he nodded his head emphatically. The Custer children entered the door and right behind them came the other fifteen. The afternoon classes were ready to begin.