by Olivia Myers
“Ann...Ann...Ann!!!” Miss Barnum would have to raise her voice for Ann to awaken from her reverie, and then she would clear her throat and straighten her dress as if yelling had wrinkled her clothing and horribly strained her voice. Ann rolled her eyes every time Miss Barnum did this, which with Ann’s short attention span was quite often.
After lunch, Ann practiced her Latin for an hour and a half, and then she had an hour of piano. She didn’t mind playing the piano; it was much more fun that learning Latin. But because piano was the last lesson of the day, Ann was always fidgety, anxious to go outside and play. Throughout the entire lesson, Miss Barnum would instruct Ann to sit still until finally the lesson was over. Ann would violently push the piano bench back as she ran outside to play with Henry.
Miss Barnum would call after her saying that she was supposed to say, “Thank you Miss Barnum and good afternoon,” which Ann yelled down the corridor as she continued to slide down the banister and dash outside.
This went on for nearly a few years. Miss Barnum had every confidence that she would train Ann to become a proper young lady, that she would be able to tame Ann’s wildness. By the time she was fourteen, Ann was speaking and writing beyond her age level, and her Latin was impeccable, yet there hadn’t been very much improvement in Ann’s demeanor. Ann’s etiquette and patience with Miss Barnum had improved, but every day that propriety ended as soon as her lessons did.
After much thought, Miss Barnum finally decided to discuss Ann’s progress with Roderick. Since Jane’s death, Roderick had become a cantankerous man, one whom no one wanted to displease. Miss Barnum asked Neala if she could speak to Mr. Blockstone about Ann, so Neala directed Miss Barnum to the parlor to have a seat while she fetched him.
Neala knocked on Roderick’s study door, and he gruffly bid her to come in.
“Miss Barnum would like to speak with you. I have her sitting in the parlor.”
“I am busy,” Roderick replied without even turning to face Neala.
“She seems very concerned. I think you should talk to Miss Barnum.”
Roderick groaned and mumbled some things under his breath as he pushed out his chair to stand. As he walked out of the room, Neala looked down at her toes to avoid eye contact with him.
Miss Barnum stood as Mr. Blockstone entered the room.
“Hello, Mr. Blockstone. Thank you for coming down to see me.” She reached her hand out to him, but Roderick just sat down in his chaise.
Miss Barnum cleared her throat and adjusted her skirt as Mr. Blockstone eyed her curious behavior.
“Well, I’ll just get right to it. Ann is doing very well in school, and her piano play…”
“You dragged me out of my office to tell me that Ann is doing well with her lessons?” Mr. Blockstone interrupted.
“No, of course not. I mean, Ann is doing very well with her lessons. But, I am concerned that she is not progressing behaviorally as much as I’d like.”
“What do you mean? Is she being disrespectful?” Mr. Blockstone leaned forward showing his growing concern.
“That’s not it. Ann is very respectful to me, but I don’t see that progress outside of our lessons. She is always very anxious to go outside and play with Henry…”
“Henry? Who is Henry?” Mr. Blockstone interrupted again.
“Henry. Her friend. He works with his dad in your stables.”
“Oh. The stable boy. Yes, I am aware of him. So, you think that he is having a negative impact on Ann’s development as a proper young lady; is that correct?”
“Well, I think Henry is a fine boy, but I think Ann would benefit from less time with Henry and more time with family, especially other females. He is a boy, after all, and she is a girl. I’m not saying they’re doing anything inappropriate, but—”
“I see. Thank you for your input, Miss…”
Realizing Mr. Blockstone didn’t remember her name, she said somewhat acrimoniously, “Miss Barnum. And, I thought we could talk about ways to help Ann…”
“Right, Miss Barnum. Well, thank you again for your time. That will be all.”
Mr. Blockstone stood and nodded his head to Miss Barnum, and as she curtsied he briskly walked out of the parlor.
Miss Barnum was stunned at the brusque interaction she had just had with Mr. Blockstone. She had known that he wasn’t the friendliest person, but she had no idea how uninvolved he was with his daughter.
Roderick slowly walked up the stairs toward his study, but as he passed by one of the hallway windows, he caught a glimpse of Ann and Henry chasing each other in the yard. He was very concerned about his precious Ann, but he had never known how to properly raise a little girl. He missed Jane more than ever. As tears welled in his eyes, Roderick bent his head back and asked Jane for her guidance. “Jane, my beloved, please show me a sign. Show me how to raise our daughter. Help me know how to help our little Ann.”
Roderick looked back down toward Ann who was hugging her friend before returning home for the evening. He couldn’t help but let a few tears fall as he felt he was letting Jane down by not raising Ann properly. He felt something soft, a quiet presence behind him, but when he looked, the room was empty.
Roderick stayed home from work the following day because he wanted to talk to Ann about her lessons and what else she might want to learn. He was secretly hoping to discuss her friendship with Henry, but as soon as her lessons had ended, Ann was nowhere to be found. He searched for her all over the house and all over the grounds, and he couldn’t find her. He paced around the house waiting for Ann to return. Finally as the sun was beginning to set, Ann and Henry trudged up to the house completely covered in mud. Ann was carrying her shoes, and her dress was ripped at the bottom.
When Ann saw her father waiting for her, she ran up to him with such delight that he was actually in front of her and not just in his study. She started telling her father of the fun she and Henry just had playing in a mud pile. Henry stopped at the bottom of the stairs looking timidly up toward the house at Mr. Blockstone. Without saying a word, Roderick grabbed Ann’s arm and dragged her into the house.
Roderick sat his daughter down in his study and turned his back to her. He stared out the window at Jane’s garden. Ann tried to speak, but her father just raised his hand to silence her. He turned around and spoke quietly at first.
“You are too old for this behavior.”
“I don’t understand, Father.”
Ignoring the slight pressure between his shoulder blades, Roderick said, “Ann, you must never see that boy again.”
“What?”
Roderick raised his voice, “I said, you must never see that stable boy again!”
“What? Why father? Why? What did I do wrong?” Ann’s chin started to quiver and she started to sob uncontrollably.
Roderick tried to speak over Ann’s crying, “It’s inappropriate. Ann, that boy is not good for you. He distracts you and encourages you to do things little girls shouldn’t do…” His voice trailed off. Roderick didn’t know what else he could say.
Ann continued to cry. Roderick tried patting her back, but his awkward gesture was to no avail. Jane would want him to comfort their daughter, but he didn’t know how.
He exited his study as Ann screamed, “Why? He’s my only friend! Why?”
Roderick’s heart broke upon hearing that Ann didn’t have any friends, but he had to be firm with his decision. He didn’t want to show any weakness; plus, he knew that this would be Ann’s best chance to become the young lady Jane would be proud of. Thinking of Jane, he felt a gentle push in his soul, that maybe there was more he could do for Ann. Maybe he could find some acquaintances for her from amongst his connections in Parliament.
The next day when Ann didn’t show up at the stables, Henry decided to look for her at noon when he knew she’d be eating lunch. He sneaked around Ann’s house trying to get a glimpse of her through the kitchen window, and at first no one was there except for the cook, Archibald, preparing the day’s meals.
Henry knew the cook pretty well because Archibald was friends with Henry’s dad, and he let Henry call him Archie. Archie turned around to start peeling potatoes, and Henry quickly ducked out of sight but not quick enough. Archie opened the window and whispered, “Psst...Henry...It’s all right.” Looking around for signs of anyone else, he finally said, “The coast is clear!” Archie then told Henry everything the maids had told him the night before.
As Archie explained that Ann was no longer allowed to play, Henry became more and more sullen. Ann was his best friend, and he didn’t mean to get her in trouble. Seeing this, Archie felt bad for the boy, so he gave Henry a slice of bread with some cheese. “You should go soon, Henry. You don’t want to be caught around here right now.”
Just as Henry started to walk off, though, Ann walked into the kitchen and spotted him. She ran to the window nearly screamed Henry’s name. Henry turned around and ran back to the window. Tears started welling up in both of their eyes as Ann continued to apologize that she couldn’t be friends with him anymore.
“I wish that we could still play together,” Ann whimpered.
Then Henry got an idea. He glanced over at Archie who now seemed to be busy preparing the chicken but was actually listening intently to what the kids were telling each other.
“What if I sneaked out of my house and came to see you at night? Do you think you could sneak out of your room?”
Ann’s eyes lit up. “Yes. I think I could do that. Where should we meet? And what will we do?”
“Let’s meet at the stable about half an hour after you go to bed. We’ll decide on what to do there.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight. You better go before anyone catches you here.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tonight, Ann!”
“Bye, Henry!”
Ann turned around with the biggest grin on her face, and when Archie asked her what that was all about, Ann blushed and just said, “Oh, nothing. Thanks for lunch, Archie!”
“You’re welcome, Ann.” Archie returned to cleaning the chicken, anxious to tell the maids about the two young lovebirds’ tryst.
***
Ann had been so mournful yesterday that she had barely touched her dinner and hadn’t said a word to her father throughout the entire meal, but he noticed that she seemed to be in much better spirits tonight. Even though she didn’t speak much during dinner, her appetite had evidently returned. Ann inhaled her food, and eagerly waited for her father to finish his meal. As he pushed himself back and sighed with a delightfully full belly, Ann hurriedly excused herself from the table and said she was going to retire to bed early tonight.
Roderick looked at her puzzled and asked, “Is everything alright, Ann?”
“Yes, Father. I am just feeling tired. Goodnight.” Ann then scampered off to bed.
Neala went upstairs to help Ann get ready for bed. As she helped Ann with her nightgown, she could tell that Ann was up to something. She kept looking at Ann skeptically, and Ann kept glancing away.
Finally Ann exclaimed, “What? Why are you looking at me that way?”
“You’re up to something,” Neala replied.
“I am not.”
“Oh yes you are. You think I don’t know when you’ve got a secret? I can see it in your face.”
And Ann just looked away as she finished buttoning her nightgown. She jumped into her bed and pulled the covers up to her neck.
“Fine. Don’t tell me. Just don’t cause any trouble, you hear?” Neala demanded as she tucked the blankets around Ann’s body.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Nana. Can I go to sleep now, please?”
“All right. Goodnight, Ann. Sweet dreams.”
“Goodnight, Nana!” Ann sang out as Neala closed the bedroom door.
Ann counted to five and then jumped out of bed pulling her nightgown off over her head. She tiptoed to her armoire and searched for some warm clothing. She put on some bloomers underneath a wool skirt, and found a scarf and gloves. She couldn’t find her winter cap, but she pulled out a sweater and her winter coat.
After getting redressed, she realized that she still had to wait a little longer until Neala retired to her room and her father had gone into his study. She kept peeking through the crack under her door to see if anyone was in the hallway. Needing something to occupy the minutes of waiting, Ann rearranged her pillows to look like she was still in bed. It didn’t look too convincing, but she lost patience trying to make her covers look exactly right. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Ann was starting to sweat in her warm clothing, so she decided it was time to sneak out.
Candlelight flickered under the door of Neala’s room, so she knew Neala was in there reading before going to sleep. She peered around the corner to see if her father was in his study, but she couldn’t tell. Ann looked around and listened intently to see if she could hear him, but she only heard an owl hooting outside. She crept over to the study and pressed her ear against the door. At first she couldn’t hear anything, but then she thought she heard the sound of his chair scraping the floor. Ann dashed behind a window curtain in the hall, but her father didn’t come out of his study. When she thought it was safe, Ann quickly and quietly walked down the hall.
Walking down the stairs, she could hear Archie and some of the maids talking in the kitchen. Archie was quite entertaining and could always make the maids laugh. Ann tried bending over the railing trying to look into the kitchen, but she wasn’t quite big enough. Archie had cracked a joke that had all of the maids cackling in delight, so Ann took advantage of their noise. She ran down the rest of the stairs and out the door as stealthily as she could.
Ann walked around the house toward the stables, but she remembered that the kitchen window faced the stables. Crawling in the flower bed, she tried looking into the window to see if anyone was paying attention to the outside. Too afraid that she would be spotted, Ann decided to not risk peeking her head up to the window after all. She ran toward the stables.
Little did she know that Archie and the maids were actually waiting for this moment. One of the maids saw a figure moving in the dark, and she pointed out of the window asking, “Is that Ann?” Archie and the maids squinted into the dark to try and make out the shadowy figure. When it stopped right in front of the stable, they knew it was Ann waiting for Henry.
Archie opened a bottle of wine and poured glasses for everyone. “Here’s to young love!” he toasted. Everyone raised their glasses reminiscing about their own first loves. They drank and Archie began a story of his first love with his dog, which had all of the women in stitches.
***
Ann’s feet started feeling tingly from standing in the cold grass, and she could see her breath in the night air. Thinking it might be warmer in the stables, she opened the door and stepped inside. She had never really set foot in the stables and certainly never did so by herself. She felt a certain exhilaration at the rules she had broken tonight. At first she was too scared to walk around, but boredom got the better of her. She slowly walked past all of the stalls looking at the horses. Most of the horses were still getting some sleep. Their ears would perk up as she poked her nose through the bars on the stalls. The horses just adjusted their weight on another leg and flicked their tails before returning back to their slumber.
Ann passed several horses and started to worry that Henry wasn’t coming.
“Where are you, Henry?” Ann whispered out loud to herself.
A horse whinnied and stomped its hooves. Something must have disturbed it, so Ann decided to take a look. Feebly, Ann stepped up to the stall. The horse was spinning around, whining and stomping, but Ann couldn’t figure out why. Ann tried talking to the horse in soothing tones and even singing, but this only aggravated the horse more. It started bucking and kicking the stall doors, and it was breathing really hard. Ann wondered if there was something in the stall that she couldn’t see that was upsetting the horse, so she slipped into the stall to see if she could help. The horse t
urned around and faced her. Its eyes were black and wild with fear. The horse pulled its ears back and started pawing the ground.
Ann stepped toward the horse reaching her hand out to show she wasn’t going to hurt it. But the horse bucked up and started pawing the air.
Just then, someone pushed her to the side of the stall. She tripped and fell into the hay. When she looked up, she saw Henry trying to calm the horse down. Henry shouted at Ann, “Get out. Get out of the stall!” Ann crawled behind Henry and out of the stall. She stood up and the horse bucked up again. Henry tried ducking out of the way, but the horse kicked Henry in the head. As the horse’s hoof made contact, Henry fell to the ground.
Ann screamed for Henry to get up, but he wouldn’t move. Then Ann saw something wet dripping from Henry’s forehead. It was blood. It pooled around Henry’s head like a dark, morbid halo. Ann felt dizzy. She tried to say something, but she couldn’t breathe. Stumbling backward, she ran into the stall behind her, startling another horse. She heard its loud breath and spun around. Ann started screaming again.
As the maids were still laughing and drinking with Archie, they all slowly stopped talking, setting their glasses down and trying to hear a little better. They could hear something, and as Archie looked back toward the stables, his glass slipped from his hand and crashed onto the floor.
He and the maids ran out to the stables. Archie reached the stables first and flung the doors open. Ann looked at them with terror and looked back toward Henry. Archie ran up to the stall, dodging the still agitated horse. He scanned the stall for Henry, spotted him and pulled him out by his leg.
One of the maids held Ann, trying to shield her from seeing anymore of the blood. Ann still caught a glimpse of Henry’s pale face and lifeless body. Archie told the other two maids to fetch the doctor and Henry’s father. Archie turned toward Ann with a painful look then told the maid to take Ann back to her room.
