Tomorrow's Garden by Amanda Cabot

Author:Amanda Cabot
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2011-08-29T16:33:33.204000+00:00

14

“Miss Kirk! Miss Kirk!” Eva’s cry of excitement preceded her as she rushed into the schoolhouse, her blonde braids flying behind her. “Come look!”

“What is it?” Though she guessed there was only one thing that would bring a child in from the midday recess early, Harriet wanted Eva to have the thrill of announcing the news.

“They sprouted. Six of them.” She reached for Harriet’s hand and tugged. “Come look.”

Harriet shook her head as she looked down at Isabelle’s stepdaughter. She had been the only one of the schoolchildren who had commented on Jake’s absence. The others, Harriet surmised, had heard the tale from their parents. Fortunately, though gossip had been rife for several days, the story of Jake’s vandalism had been eclipsed by the rumor that Michel Ladre and his wife had been seen boarding a ship in Galveston, apparently bound for Europe. The idea that the town’s founder was returning to the Old Country was so shocking that nothing else seemed important.

“We’ll wait until everyone returns,” she told Eva. “Then we’ll go out again. We can practice our orderly exit.” The past few days had been cool and rainy, and Harriet had forgone the egress lessons, even though she knew that soon she would have to light the stove. Despite the increased possibility of a fire, the children could not continue to shiver in the classroom. “It’s your surprise,” she said to Eva, “so you can lead us outside.”

The smiles on the children’s faces when they saw the sprouts and the barrage of questions they fired at her told Harriet they would accomplish little this afternoon when they returned to the schoolhouse. Bowing to the inevitable, she spent the time that would have been devoted to geography discussing the role of warmth, moisture, and sunshine in a plant’s life. Though she stressed how much time was required, Harriet suspected that was one lesson her pupils were not absorbing.

“I’ll check the sprouts tomorrow,” Pierre Berthoud announced when class was dismissed.

“And I’ll come on Sunday,” Anna Singer volunteered.

“There’ll be lots more on Monday” was little Heidi Gottlieb’s prediction. But when the students returned on Monday, there were still only six plants. Though those six had grown over the weekend, the children were not satisfied.

“When will the others sprout?” Heidi demanded.

Harriet would not lie. After all, the garden was meant to teach them patience. “Maybe not until spring.”

Anna’s scowl left no doubt of her opinion. “That’s too long.”

Pierre nodded. “I don’t want to wait.”

But they had to.

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