Heaven's Gate Bridge twenty-five

Heaven’s Gate Bridge twenty-five

The school day went slowly for the Miller children. Timothy was doing as much of his homework so that he could spend more time with Buddy. The only problem with this is that his parents expected him to bring work home so they could what he was doing. They also liked to check some of his math and review work that he felt he knew as well as the other children in the class.

William was not happy with the work that he missed. His favorite subject was geography. He liked to study about the other states and dream of the day that he might go to a particular spot that he studied. As he listened to his teacher talk about the Chesapeake Bay and then compare it to the Hudson Bay, he thought that the earlier explorers had a pretty exciting life. He remembered the few trips that the family had taken to the Chesapeake Bay when he was younger. He laughed to himself as he remembered the red-jointed fiddler crab that he picked up and scared his older sisters. Later he looked at the beautiful herons as they flew around looking for food. For the family’s other trip, they rode by an old lighthouse. There were several in the area which helped with the navigation of the bay.

In Catherine’s classroom, Miss Phillips was telling the students about history. She was discussing the time after the Civil War and how the government worked. Since the sixteenth amendment that permitting income tax had been voted on the students were given Miss Phillips view on it’s importance. Miss Phillips was listing the other previous amendments with such accuracy that the students marveled at her grasp of the subject. The students were to copy the amendments onto some paper and be ready to answer some questions in the next few days.

The students worked at a slow pace and began their routine to begin to go home. Each teacher was instructed to let the students know that the spelling bee would be during the first week in May. The students were encouraged to practice. Margaret smiled at her friends and began to imagine who her competitor would be. She knew that most of the girls had average spelling skills. She, of course could spell words that no one had heard of. She got out of her chair when the teacher told the students to go to the cloak room and get their things for home.

“Oh Catherine. I see that Harriet did not come to school today. Did she just not feel like coming?” said Margaret with an air of false interest.

“She will be back soon. Tomorrow maybe. She was quite ill and our parents felt that extra rest would be acceptable for her.” responded Catherine as she picked up a pencil that fell on the floor.

“I just hope that she can keep up with the class. We would not want any slow student to hold us back.” she drawled slowly and turned around with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Catherine stood speechless and then picked up her books. She was taught to act like a lady, but if Margaret wanted to be rude or insulting, she would take care of herself. She also felt that Harriet might need just a little sisterly support too.

Catherine saw Margaret go over to her two best friends. Margaret whispered something in their ears and they all laughed. The last thing that Catherine remembered was the two girls walking out of class behind Margaret like baby animals following their mother. In the hallway there was the sound of laughing again.

“Oh Catherine,” spoke Penny. “I am glad that I finally have the time to tell you that I will not be here for a few days. My grandmother is ill and Mother and I are traveling to see her.”

“Goodness, Penny. Is she serious? Is it the measles like we had?”

“I don’t know. Mother says that the letter she received just told her that we need to come. I have not seen her in a long time.”

The girls both walked out together and waited for the four other children who walked with them on the way home. They enjoyed walking as a group because they felt safer that way. But the three girls walked together and the boys walked a small distance behind them. Each group had its own subject that they wanted to talk about. Catherine and William knew that their father would have picked them up if he felt that the walk would have been too exhausting for them. Since the group as a whole walked slowly, the thirty minutes was just like any other day.

When the Miller children arrived home, they waved good bye to Penny and wished her a safe trip. They also hoped that her grandmother would get better. Catherine had promised to let Penny know if anything special happened in school.

As the children entered their house, they saw a strange lady in the house. She looked like she was getting ready to do some work.

“Hello, Mrs. Beverly Noonan. I am going to help with some of the house work until your mother gets better. I went to your father’s shop this morning and was hired. “ she said as she held out her hand to shake the hands of the children.

The children were a little speechless. Mrs. Noonan was Billy’s mother. They did not know that she worked. Billy had always bragged that his mother was very well educated and stayed at home to take care of him and the new baby brother, Theodore. Billy always said that his baby brother was a beautiful baby.

Harriet next came into the room with a bowl full of potatoes. She had just peeled them and wanted Mrs. Noon to look at the ones with dark spots. She smiled at her brothers and sister as she gave the bowl to Mrs. Noonan.

“Yes you did a lovely job Harriet. I will go cut out these dark spots. Children, go change your clothes and then say hello to your mother. She has been feeling better today, but seeing you would make her happier.” said Mrs. Noonan.

All three of the children hurried upstairs to change and see their mother. They also had a few questions that they wanted to ask. They needed to know if Billy or the baby would be coming by the house with their mother.