The Island by Nancy Lee

Author:Nancy Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud
Published: 2015-08-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18: Miss Thoreson

The sixth grade, under the direction and encouragement of Miss Thoreson, was proceeding far better than the “three musketeers” ever dared hope. Miss Vivian Thoreson was a born teacher. Taller than most women and sturdy from her youth on a nearby farm, after completing the two-year teachers’ training program, she had been hired to teach at Garfield School in Cloquet. For the past fifteen years, she awakened every day eager to open the door to her classroom. She loved every day, standing before her students and opening their minds to learning. Her goal was to fill all of them with knowledge and a large dose of curiosity.

A quick glance measured Vivian Thoreson as plain, ordinary. Closer inspection saw her as having warmth and winsome charm. Her eyes, bright blue, were as eager as a child’s. Needing spectacles only for small print, her face was framed by light brown, wavy hair done in braids wrapped together at the nape of her neck and secured in a bun with large pins.

She often wore a colorful apron over her modest dress. The large pockets always contained some interesting object pertaining to the subject for the day. Students always remembered their time in Miss Thoreson’s sixth grade class.

Once school began, reports circulated about the stabbing on the Island. Most students had seen the headlines on the Pine Knot, telling how Oscar, Henry, and Maggie were involved in helping the injured man. This created awe and wonder in their classmates. How exciting, they thought.

The three friends saw changes in their classmates’ attitudes even on the first day of school. No one called them names, no one shoved Oscar in line. Henry and Maggie didn’t have to defend themselves because they lived on the Island. Their classmates came up to them and commented on their bravery.

“Did you ever find the knife?”

“I bet there was lots of blood everywhere!”

“Did you get any of the blood right on your clothes?”

“Wow! I would’ve been scared the bad guy was still there!”

“Which one of you ran up to the saloon and got help?”

“Could you see what was going on inside the saloon?”

“Did you see anybody you knew from town?”

“Were you scared?”

“What did your parents say when they found out you were by the saloons?”

The questions went on and on. After the first week of school there had been so much conversation among the students and the three “heroes” that any previous social walls had now crumbled completely.

Oscar was pleasantly surprised to be chosen third or fourth instead of last by the leader of the boys’ kickball team. Henry always fared better than Oscar in that regard, so Oscar felt he had definitely made social progress. Whenever Miss Thoreson posed a question in class, Oscar’s hand shot up boldly. He loved feeling confident and he loved being enthusiastic about all the knowledge he had tucked away. Some days he just could not wipe the smile from his young face.

Since the first day of school, Maggie was constantly accused by her peers of being Miss Thoreson’s “pet.

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