Return to Harmony by Janette Oke

Author:Janette Oke [Oke, Janette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2010-11-02T20:00:00+00:00

Jodie entered the school building with a sense of dread. She was fairly certain she knew why Miss Charles wanted to see her, and it was the last news in the world she wanted to hear. The very last.

The evening before when she had been making a delivery for her father, she had seen Miss Charles coming out of the train station. She had returned home, her heart a hollow gourd. If Miss Charles left Harmony, there would be one less person with whom she could really talk. But Miss Charles was going to leave. Why would she stay? She did not have family here. There was nothing tying her down. She could go anywhere she liked. Jodie knew if she were Miss Charles, she would be on the next train out. But the very thought of Miss Charles going had left Jodie with legs encased in lead, her feet dragging sadly in the dust.

Jodie now walked down the silent hall, stopped in front of her classroom, and knocked on the closed door. When a muffled voice answered, she opened it and said, “Miss Charles?”

“Oh, good, it’s you. Come in.”

She entered the classroom and glanced around. It was empty save for them.

Miss Charles rose from her desk with a bright smile of welcome.

She wore an appealing dress of pink and white, and with her coppery hair and touch of rouge on her cheeks, she looked like one of the Parisian ladies in the magazine. A happy one. “Go sit down in that chair next to my desk. I will be right back.” She left, closing the door after her.

Jodie walked over and seated herself. The air smelled of chalk and heat. The silence seemed strange, as though uncomfortable after the noise and energy of the now-departed students. Through the open window came the sound of children filled with spring fever.

“My goodness, these are heavier than I thought.” Miss Charles came into the room, her arms wrapped around a wooden crate. She shouldered the door closed, walked over, and put down her package. She looked at Jodie, her eyes dancing with excitement. “I have a surprise for you.”

Jodie gaped at the teacher. “For me?”

Miss Charles nodded and reached for the scissors. She began cutting away the binder twine. “One of my closest friends from school is now assistant librarian at State College. I had her send these to me. They arrived by train yesterday evening.”

That explained why she had seen Miss Charles at the railway station. Jodie felt a great burden lift from her shoulders. Miss Charles wasn’t leaving after all. “What is it?”

“Something to occupy you this summer. You have just one year left here, and I assume you still want to go to college.”

Jodie nodded slowly. “But my daddy is against it. He says I should stay here and take over the shop. He says I don’t need college to do that.”

Miss Charles stopped and asked gravely, “Has he forbidden it?”

“No. He wouldn’t do that. At least, I don’t think he would.

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