Get What You Asked For
The following Monday morning, a full three days from her encounter with Mr. Stamine and her discussion with Mr. Lawless, Hope walked into the schoolyard to see a fully erected swing set, a slide, and an elaborate climbing gym the likes of which she’d only ever seen in photographs. She could hardly believe her eyes. She was still marveling at it when Mr. Stewart stepped around the climbing apparatus, a scowl on his face. “Miss Tucker!” he barked, and she wiped the smile off her face.
“Mr. Stewart, good morning.”
“What is the meaning of this?” he asked, gawking at the new playground equipment. “Did you order this?”
“No. I mean... not exactly. I may have mentioned to a parent or two that I thought the children needed more play equipment. It’s important to their learning, Mr. Stewart. Without proper play, they cannot pay as much attention to their lessons.”
“Miss Tucker, children come here to learn, not to cavort outside and have fun....”
“While I wholeheartedly agree, sir, that learning should be our number one priority, I believe you will see an increase in the children’s assessment scores if you allow it to stay. Give me until the end of the school year to show you, and if you’re not convinced by their end of year exams, then you can have it hauled away.”
Mr. Stewart folded his arms across his stout chest and took in the petite woman in front of him for a moment. “Very well, Miss Tucker. You have three weeks. I’ve seen the children’s scores recently, you know? While they were better than I expected considering where they started out, the last thing I want is for parents to think their children cannot learn at our public school.” He started to walk away but stopped and came back. “And if one parent complains that their child is spending too much time playing....”
“I understand, sir,” she said with a nod, hardly able to contain her excitement. She watched him exit the schoolyard before she let her smile loose again. The children would be so excited. It’s too bad she couldn’t give them an extra few minutes during school to play—but she wouldn’t stop them once the day was over. She ran her hand along the frame of the swing set, wondering how in the world this had all been put together so quickly. There were chains on the three swings and the seats looked to be leather. It was all finely crafted despite the fact that she’d just dreamt it up three days ago.
But then, she imagined the same people who had put this together had also managed to put an entire barn together in a third of the time.
How in the world could she possibly thank Judah for doing all of this? The simple answer was she couldn’t. He had taken her rant and made it a reality far beyond what she had even imagined. Of course, she reminded herself, he had done it for the children, his niece and nephew included, and not for her. But still, she couldn’t help but think that the person who went to all of this trouble for someone he hardly knew must’ve been the kind of husband a woman dreams about, not a nightmare in the least.
It was hard to walk away from the lovely playground equipment, but she had a bit of work to do inside before her students arrived, so she pushed through the schoolhouse door. Her eyes fell on two stacks of slates situated neatly on her desk, along with a sizable box marked “chalk,” and another large white object that appeared to be a hat box with a folded piece of paper on top. Once again, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She picked up one of the slates and examined it. She could tell they were handmade, but they were of a high quality, and there was no doubt her children would be able to utilize them. The classroom already had enough chalk to last her for the rest of the school year, but he wouldn’t have known that, and the fact that he’d somehow managed to get that for her, too, only proved his thoughtfulness.
Setting the slate aside, she opened the white box and found a fancy hat, the sort one would wear around the streets of Paris. It was mostly blue and green, with a bit of purple, like a peacock, with one long blue feather out the top. Hope covered her mouth with her free hand as a giggle escaped her lips. She tried it on and wished she had a mirror so she could see herself. It only took her a moment to remember the fancy shop on the square she’d visited when she first arrived and she assumed it must’ve come from there. She tucked it back into the box, hoping it hadn’t cost too much because she couldn’t imagine where she’d ever wear it. She was delighted, though. Putting the lid back on the box, she was reminded that she should be careful what she wished for. With a sigh, she picked up the note and read:
Dear Miss Tucker,
I’m sorry to report I could not find enough iron to build a railroad track for your special train but am working on it. Likewise, the Egyptians did not wish to part with their library. Give me some time on the other items. Hope these help. Great teachers deserve the tools they need in order to teach.
JL
She read the note over twice before holding it to her chest for a moment and thinking of him sitting at a desk or a table, probably one he carved himself out of twigs and tree branches, writing these words just for her. Hope slipped the note into her pocket, suddenly realizing she was in much deeper water than she’d ever imagined, and while she knew how to swim, she felt there was an undertow, dragging her down to depths previously unfathomable.
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