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I listened patiently as Mrs. Jo told me that my father was coming to visit the day after tomorrow. Why would he come now? He had never visited me before.
Then I realized that Mrs. Jo was still talking. She told me that my father had a surprise for me and that he was bringing someone for me to meet.
I nodded, then left the room. I started walking up the stairs towards my room, when I met Dan and Nat coming down.
They said that they were going fishing and asked if I wanted to come. Did they really think that I would say no? They told me to go tell Bess that they were leaving and to ask if she wanted to come.
I ran up the rest of the stairs and grabbed my pole, quickly explaining what was going on to Bess. She agreed to come and we went down the stairs to find the boys waiting for us.
The fish weren't biting, but we had a lot of fun anyway. Bess managed to stay on the bridge this time and we all laughed about that.
As the day started to darken, we headed back to Plumfield. Mrs. Jo was waiting for us to come so that everybody could eat.
I noticed that Nick wasn't at the table, so I asked Mrs. Jo where he was. She smiled and said that her was in town doing a few things for Mr. Gerson. We all were a little relieved that Charlotte had gone home. Who liked that woman anyway?
Soon after dinner, Nick returned and we stayed up late listening to some more of his adventures at sea. But, Mrs. Jo told us it was time for bed so we headed up the stairs.
Saying goodnight didn't take long and we were all in bed as the clock struck twelve. I snuggled down in my blankets and sighed content. For a few minutes I listened to Bess' heavy breathing, then I fell asleep comfortable, safe, and warm.
*****
The next day was normal. We dragged ourselves out of bed in the morning, ate pancakes, and muffins for breakfast, then went to school.
In school, Dan was caught daydreaming, and almost got in trouble but as usual Franz was stern but gave him no punishment. Typical Franz.
After school, Bess headed to the house and the rest of us went to find Nick to get our assignments. I got the assignment of carrying the wood that Emil chopped and stacking it by the house. It wasn't that fun, believe me.
That evening, after dinner, we sat around in the parlor while Mrs. Jo read to us from "Robinson Crusoe." Then I went to bed not giving a second thought to my father.
*****
My day started out normal. I got up, and went down to breakfast. We had porridge and eggs.
I went to school with the rest of the kids, but at luch Mrs. Jo came up the hill and told me that my father had arrived.
I was surprised. I had forgotten that he was coming. I smiled and ran to the house. Mrs. Jo had said that he was in the parlor, so that's where I went.
I ran into the room smiling. He had a woman with him. She looked at me at what I thought looked like disgust. I could tell that I wouldn't like her.
My father hugged me, and told me that he had wonderful news. He told me that he was getting married again to the sour-faced woman on the couch. (Okay, so he didn't say she was sour-faced, that was just my impression of her.)
I was upset with him. How could he betray my mother like that? How could he?
Part 2 -
I ran from the room in tears. How could he? And to that woman!
I ran, and ran. Out of the house, past Mrs. Jo, up the hill, through the surprised kids, and into the woods. My tears blinded me. I couldn't see, but I kept running.
Finally I became exhausted and I fell to the ground. The tears wouldn't stop. I needed my mother so badly.
I sobbed for so long that I cried myself to sleep. I woke a couple hours later, uncomfortable. My head was against a log and my arms were tangled underneath me.
I stretched out and tried to figure out where I was. I figured I was about a mile from Plumfield. Nick had brought us here once to go berry picking.
I started walking back. Where else could I go? The trip took longer and was much more difficult because I was in pitch blackness. I kept stumbling over rocks and sticks. I saw a light up ahead so I walked towards it.
When I got to the light I found that I was at Plumfield. I walked in the door, a little wary about what would happen.
Mrs. Jo saw me first and ran towards me. She was sobbing and she pulled me close against her. She kept telling me about how she was so frightened and that I must never do it again.
As I stood there, I realized that I too was crying. After Mrs. Jo finally let go of me, I was hugged by Bess, then Nat. Dan patted me on the back, and Rob smiled shyly at me.
Long after everyone had gone to bed I laid awake. I got up and went down the hall. Not really thinking, I pushed the door to Mrs. Jo's room open.
She asked me if I was alright and I asked if we could talk. Then suddenly I felt guilty and said that I would leave.
Mrs. Jo told me to come in and sit down next to her on the bed.
I told her everything, about how I felt. How I felt like my father was betraying me, and that I was worried that he wouldn't love me anymore, and how I hated the woman for getting my father to marry her.
Mrs. Jo sat patiently listening to everything I said, and when I finsihed, that's when she spoke. She told me that my father would always love me and my mother, but that he needed to fill a void in his life.
I asked her why he couldn't fill his void with someone like her.
She smiled, then asked how did I know he hadn't. She told me to put myself in "Miss Kelly's" place. Miss Kelly had finally found the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but this man had a daughter who loved her mother more than anything else in the world. Miss Kelly was worried about this, because she had never had a real family in her life and now she had to be an instant mother.
I could understand the whole instant mother stuff, but I still couldn't understand why my father would want to marry someone as sour face as that woman.
Mrs. Jo was shocked at that remark. She quickly told me that Miss Kelly was just shy, and that she was one of the most pleasant people she had met in a long time, and that I just needed to get to know her. She asked me to give her a chance and I agreed to try.
Mrs. Jo nodded and pulled me into another hug saying that she would always love me no matter what happened.
I had said that I would give Miss Kelly a chance and so I would. Besides, the way I figured it, even if Miss Kelly didn't become my new best friend, I still had Mrs. Jo. :-)