An Old-Fashioned Education by Fiona Wilde Page B

cured me. But being in the hospital was scary and because my parents had to go home some nights to take care of my sister and brother. They got Roscoe so I wouldn’t be scared and lonely. He was a good protector.” She held him up and looked at him. “Some people just see a toy when they look at Roscoe, but I’ve always felt he was real. That’s the power of a child’s love. It can make amazing things happen.”
    Kerry smiled. Even Aidan seemed interested now.
    “Can I hold him?” he asked.
    “I want to hold him!” Kerry objected.
    “You can take turns holding him while you sit,” Polly said, motioning to the couch. “Just be careful. He’s still magical, but he’s an old dog now so we need to treat him gently.”
    The kids retreated to the sofa with the dog.
    Polly looked up to see Walt staring down at her.
    “I didn’t know you had leukemia,” he said.
    “Why should you? I never told you.”
    “Is that why you wanted to be a teacher, because you had such a rough childhood?”
    “My childhood wasn’t rough, Mr. Springer. I had a fantastic childhood thanks to some really remarkable people who loved me and took care of me, doctors, nurses, my parents, and teachers who cared enough to bring work to me when I couldn’t get to class. It was the people who made a difference in my life that made me want to be a teacher.”
    He grew quiet.
    “Can I ask you a question now?” she asked.
    “Sure.”
    “How is Kerry handling her mother’s absence?” Polly didn’t tell him that she believed the child’s clinging to the dress was really just a way of clinging to her mother.
    “She’s doing fine. She goes to school, has friends, plays with her brother. She doesn’t talk about her mom much anymore. I think she’s gotten over it.”
    Polly raised an eyebrow.
    “What?” he asked.
    “Nothing,” Polly said, unwilling to engage Walt Springer in the conversation. She was stuck with him now, and the last thing she wanted to do was make him feel defensive. And there was no way that she could say the things that were on her mind at that moment without making him feel like he was being judged for exhibiting clear signs of denial.
    But the sad face of the little girl haunted her that night as she went to bed. As Polly sat in the dark holding her stuffed dog, she wondered what she could do to help Kerry and her brother. It was clear from Walt’s resistance to any kind of testing for the obviously hyperactive Peter Criner that he did not hold a favorable view of the kinds of interventions that could help struggling children. It made her angry, and in her mind, it was just another sign of his arrogance; Walt Springer obviously thought that he could handle everything on his own, whether he could or not.
    It didn’t help matters that her bottom still hurt. With Roscoe she felt safe, but tomorrow she’d emerge from the Springer’s cabin and face a sea of hostile faces. She’d take the helm in a classroom filled with children who had overheard their parents talk about how she’d broken the radio and been spanked by Mr. Springer. How was she supposed to earn the kids’ respect? Judging by some of the hateful looks she’d seen from the Pepper’s Hollow community that very day, most of them would have likely heard directly or indirectly about her sins against the community.
    She turned over, clutching Roscoe. Outside the snow continued to fall and the wind was howling. She could hear the trees around the cabin groaning. Somewhere a wolf howled, a long, low, mournful sound. Pepper’s Hollow was a lonely place for someone who felt alone.
    Polly heard a rap at her door. She opened it and was surprised to see Kerry standing there.
    “Hey, sweetie,” she said. “Is something wrong?”
    “I heard a wolf,” the little girl said.
    Polly knelt down. “I heard him too. But I think he’s far away.”
    “My mama used to say that,” Kerry said. “She used to say the wind carried their voices down from the mountain,