Chương 13: Chapter 13

Leigh stood at the door of her class and took a couple of deep breaths. This was what she wanted. It didn't matter that her knees were shaking. Besides, she couldn't let Dr. Hallace down. After his tirade to Mr. Ryckle, she had to do well. She pushed the door open and saw Mr. Henry sitting at her desk.

"Welcome back." He stood up and motioned her to her seat. "The children are very excited."

"I want to thank you for all your notes," Leigh said, "I hardly feel like I've been away."

"It's nice to work with an enthusiastic group. You have these children primed and wanting to learn."

"I know they need teachers," Leigh hung her coat up and changed her boots for shoes. "Why aren't you teaching full time?"

"I have my own project I'm working on - a different response to the lost generation of children in our town. It will change the lives of people in towns like this across the north."

"Sounds exciting."

"It is mostly, but it is also a lot of hard work and time in the bush. I couldn't do it if I had to teach full time."

"Oh, I hope I haven't kept you away from your work."

"I have some young fellows keeping an eye on things. With the snow, it's slowed down a lot anyway. Come by my office some day and I'll tell you about it. I'll see you tomorrow."

Leigh walked through the room looking at the work on the walls. The little greenhouse was planted and herbs were growing. The name signs were still there, and Leigh allowed herself to feel a little triumph. Some were so decorated it was almost impossible to read the name. Even Anna's had some decoration. They looked like bees surrounding her name.

Leigh turned when the door opened and smiled as Anna came in. The girl saw the name sign in Leigh's hands.

"They're bees from birch bark biting." She ran to her bag and dug in a side pocket and pulled something out. "See? My kohkom showed me how. I did this one for you."

"Kohkom?" Leigh took the piece of birch bark and looked at the design.

"Grandmother," Anna said, "You went on the airplane with her."

"Right." Leigh rubbed her fingers across the bark. "I remember, she was very proud of how you are learning."

Anna looked down, but Leigh was sure there was a smile on the girl's face.

"We said prayers for you and did a smudge." Anna looked up her eyes bright.

"Thank you." Leigh put the bark on her desk. "That means a lot to me."

The bell rang and the rest of the class poured through the door. Leigh moved to the front of the class to give room for everyone to get in the door. Soon Anna's birch bark was joined by a host of other little gifts. Macky had drawn a picture for her. Georgia had made her a book full of all her favourite poems. There was one she wrote herself. Jamie had a bag of cranberries for her and another student had wild rice. Steve had made her a tiny canoe out of birch bark, and Tom made paddles to go with it. There were other pictures, and poems and cards. There was even a card from William with his illegible scrawl. Sally had just given her a hug.

"Thank you all," Leigh said. "It means so much to me that you made things yourself for me. I love them all."

"Was it scary being sick?" Macky asked.

"Yes, it was." Leigh looked out at her class and her heart lifted. "It was scary for me, and it was scary for Mr. Dalrymple."

"I thought men weren't supposed to get scared." Tom frowned and crossed his arms.

"They get scared, just like the rest of us," Leigh said, "But they have to do their job anyway."

"They're brave then, aren't they?" Georgia said.

"Yes, they are."

"Are you brave?" Jamie asked.

"I'm here," Leigh grinned at the students.

"You aren't scared of us, are you?" Steve said, and the class laughed.

"No." Leigh leaned against her desk. "I'm not frightened of you, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to teach anymore."

"My brother said you went nuts and killed Mr. Tanist with an ax," Jamie said.

"Don't be a goof." Tom glared at Jamie. "If she was an ax murderer they wouldn't let her back here,"

"No," Macky said, "She'd be over in the High School." The class laughed again.

"So what really happened?" Georgia said.

"What really happened is my brain wasn't working right. It told me things that weren't right. The world was really scary and noisy. I had to go to a hospital to be quiet and get my brain working properly again."

"So do you have to take pills?" Anna asked, "Kohkom takes pills for her heart."

"Yes, I take pills, every day."

"So your brain is working now?" Macky asked to general laughter.

"Yes, Macky, my brain is working, and it's telling me it's time to look at the spelling words for the week. Grade Fours, take out your spellers and do the questions for the week. Grade Three, paper and pencils and we'll go through the list."

"You'll tell us if you're getting sick again, won't you?" Jamie dug in his desk for some paper.

"Yes, Jamie, I will."

They worked through the rest of the day. Occasionally one or another of the students would check to make sure she was feeling OK.

The next day, Mr. Henry was waiting for her again.

"I heard all about how your brain got sick and needed medication," he said, "Are you sure trying to explain mental illness to children was wise?"

"They understood it better than some adults," Leigh said before she could stop herself.

Mr. Henry laughed. "Now that's the truth. Have a good afternoon."

The class came in and she had to answer questions again, but they settled quickly and got to work.

At the end of the week, the class gave Mr. Henry a big card and a compass. The compass was Tom's idea.

"Because all of his stories of being in the woods. He told us how he looks for all kinds of mushrooms. Mrs. Dalrymple, you always have to have a compass along."

"Or a GPS," Jamie said.

"You need a compass if you run out of batteries," Tom said and that was that.

Mr. Henry liked the card and the compass. He agreed with Tom that compasses were always useful.

Monday morning, Leigh came back to full days. She didn't find it much of an adjustment because she'd been getting up in time to go to class all week.

Mr. Ryckle stopped in just before the end of school on Monday.

"I thought that since you missed parent/teacher night, that we'd schedule a special parent/teacher night just for your class."

"That's a brilliant idea," Leigh said, "I would love that."

"Well then, I'll get Mrs. Hampton to type up a letter to go home with the children.

"Thank you, Mr. Ryckle."

"He actually seemed human, Jim" Leigh said over supper that night. "I don't know if anyone has ever thanked him before. It was like he didn't know what to do with it."

"Well, if you're sure you're ready for all the public attention, it does sound like a great plan."

"The parents have the right to ask the same questions as their children. Since the children will be there, I doubt anything will get out of control."

"When is it happening?"

"Thursday evening."

"I'll be working," Jim said, "You can always call me for back up."

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