Looking for Home

by Arleta Richardson

  Ethan hoped that Hugh wouldn’t return. Even though Hugh wasn’t in sight, Ethan still worried that he would carry out his threat to go to Mr. Lehman. He knew that Hugh had been angry with him this morning.

  Ethan stirred restlessly in his bed. He was the only one who knew that Hugh wanted the box. If only there were someone he could tell about it without getting into trouble. Suddenly his eyes flew open.

  If the Lord were watching him every minute, Ethan reasoned, He would be listening, too! Ethan could tell Him. This was a comforting thought. After explaining to the Lord all that had happened that day, Ethan felt much better. He wouldn’t tell Mr. Lehman what he knew, Ethan decided. He would let the Lord do that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ethan Makes a Surprising Discovery

  Hugh didn’t appear the next day, either—the first day of school. As Matron bustled around preparing school clothes for the children, she looked sad.

  “I think Matron really misses old Hugh,” Ethan remarked. “I don’t see why. I’m glad he’s gone.”

  “So am I,” Bert agreed. “But we haven’t known him as long as Matron has. He was younger than Will when he came here.”

  “How come he grew up to be so ornery? Didn’t he want people to like him?”

  “Yeah, prob’ly. But he found out that nobody did when other kids got adopted and he stayed. Now he’s too old for anyone to want him.” Bert chewed thoughtfully on a straw. “I can sorta see how he feels.”

  Ethan glanced at his friend. “How come you’re not ornery?”

  Bert grinned. “I like it here. I don’t want anybody to adopt me, ’cause my folks might come back. They’d be awful disappointed if I was gone. If they don’t show up by the time I’m sixteen, I’ll hunt for ’em. How about you? Are you going to look for your pa?”

  “I have to stay here until Will is sixteen. I promised Russell I’d look after the little kids.”

  “Guess you’ll never be adopted, then. Not many folks want four at one time.”

  But Ethan didn’t worry about that. He only wanted the Cooper children to stay together.

  Later, when the others raced on ahead to the schoolhouse, Ethan held firmly to Alice’s hand. The older girls had offered to escort her safely there, but Ethan had declined.

  “This is her first day,” he’d explained. “I need to make sure she isn’t scared or anything. Tomorrow she can go with you.”

  Alice chatted happily as they walked along.

  “Will I get books to take home like the big kids have, Ethan?”

  “Yeah, sure. You’ll have some books.”

  “Will I be able to read them tonight?”

  Ethan smiled at her. “Not all of them. You may learn some words today, but it takes a while to be able to read a whole book.”

  Alice sighed. “At least I’ll be able to carry them in my book bag.” She skipped a little to keep up with Ethan. “I already have a pencil box in there. And a clean hankie that Matron gave me. And an apple for recess.”

  “Mmm. That’s nice.” Ethan listened with only half an ear, answering when it seemed appropriate. The others were ahead of them, and he was anxious to get there in time for a game of stickball before classes started. Alice had to run to keep up with him.

  “Will you open it for me?” she asked.

  “Open what?”

  “My pencil box! I just told you!”

  “Sure, remind me when we get home this afternoon, and I’ll do it.”

  Alice stopped in the road. “Ethan, I told you it has lots of pencils in it, and I need them for school! You have to do it now.”

  He could see children running toward the schoolhouse as the bell began to ring.

  “I can’t, Alice. See? The kids are all going in, and we’ll be late if we don’t run. Here, let me carry your bag. I’ll open the box at recess.”

  Alice was assigned to the primer class. After an examination, Ethan joined the third reader with Bert. Mr. Smalley welcomed everyone to a new year and started to hand out books. Alice beamed with delight as the primer, speller, and arithmetic book were given to her.

  Ethan had already been told that only girls carried book bags. The boys had straps to hold their books together. Even so, he wasn’t prepared for the number of books that were handed out.

  “… four, five, six, seven! Do we really have to learn all this?” He was astonished and a bit dismayed.

  “Yep,” Bert replied. “Don’t worry about it. Matron helps with studying in the evening. Just pay attention here, and you won’t have any trouble.”

  Ethan wasn’t sure about that, but he determined to do his best. For a moment he thought about how proud Ma would be that he was in school. Maybe his older brothers and sister would like to know too. He’d ask Matron to help him write a letter to them.

  Lessons were assigned, and everyone settled down to work. When the primer class was called to the front of the room, Ethan looked up to watch Alice walk proudly to the bench beside the teacher’s desk. The seat she had been sitting in was directly in front of him, four rows ahead. Ethan glanced at her desk, and his eyes widened in horror.

  What was that on her desk? It certainly didn’t hold pencils! No wonder Alice couldn’t get the box open. It was made of metal and fastened with a lock. As he stared at the box in fascination, Ethan knew exactly what it was and where it had come from, even though he had never seen it.

  It was the box of money from Mr. Lehman’s desk.

  How had Alice gotten it? She couldn’t have taken it from the office.

  Ethan forgot about the books in front of him. His mind was in a whirl. Somehow he had to get that box and hide it from sight. He started to get up, but Bert tugged on his overall strap.

  “You can’t walk around without permission,” he whispered. “Where ya going?”

  Ethan sat back down. There was nothing he could do while the whole room looked on. At recess he’d get the box. By then maybe he’d know what to do with it.

  He looked around cautiously to see if anyone else had noticed, but everyone seemed to be reading. Fortunately the older students were in the next room. One of them would certainly recognize the box, and then there would be a lot of explaining to do. The Coopers would be sent away at once.

  There was still a lot of explaining to do, Ethan decided as he waited for recess time. Was there any way to get the money box back to the office without anyone knowing?

  As soon as the children were dismissed for play, Ethan rushed to the front of the room. “Alice, go get your book bag from the coatroom.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to put your … your pencil box in it. We have to take it back home.”

  “Why?” Alice wailed. “It’s mine. Matron said I could keep it. I want the pencils out of it!”

  “Don’t cry,” Ethan said. “Look. I have to take it home to get it open. See? There’s nothing here at school to take the lock off. Here, you can have my pencil today. All right?”

  Alice was reluctant, but Ethan was finally able to persuade her to give him the box. Quickly he crammed it into the book bag. Now what would he do with it? He couldn’t leave the bag in the coatroom, out of sight. What if some other girl took it by mistake or peeked into it at lunchtime?

  There was nothing to do but keep it with him. That meant he wouldn’t be able to go outside to play all day. Wearily he returned to his desk and put the bag at his feet.

  The happy sounds of laughter and games floated in through the open window. Once again, through no fault of his own, Ethan wasn’t a part of the fun. If only he had just himself to take care of, life would be a lot easier.

  The rest of the morning dragged. Ethan’s class hadn’t been called on to recite, so he had no reason to leave his seat. At noon, however, he was faced with a dilemma.

  “Come on, Ethan. Get your dinner pail and
come outside to eat,” Bert said.

  “Uh, I guess I’ll eat in here. You go ahead.”

  Bert regarded him with suspicion. “What’s the matter with you? You never came out for recess. You stuck to that desk or something?”

  “Naw,” Ethan mumbled. “I think I’ll do some extra reading this noon. Tomorrow I’ll go out with you.” He pulled a book from his desk and flipped it open.

  “You gonna read the arithmetic book?” Bert shook his head in disbelief as he made his way to the door.

  After looking forward to school all summer, Ethan was disappointed. This certainly wasn’t what he had envisioned. As he munched his sandwich, his head ached over the problem of what to do about that pesky box. Any way he looked at it, he could foresee only trouble for the Coopers. What if Mr. Lehman sent him away and made the others stay there?

  And where had Alice gotten hold of that box, anyway?

  The first class after lunch was penmanship. Ethan sat with his copybook open in front of him and hoped that no one would notice him.

  “Ethan?” Mr. Smalley’s voice seemed to echo through the room.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You’re not writing your exercise.”

  “No, sir.”

  “I presume you have a good reason for not doing this lesson.”

  Ethan sank lower into his seat. His face warmed as all eyes turned in his direction. “Yes, sir. I don’t have a pencil.”

  “I see.” Mr. Smalley glared at the giggling boys and girls. “And how did you expect to do your work without the proper tools?”

  Ethan opened his mouth to answer, but Alice spoke for him. “He gave his pencil to me.” Then she added proudly, “He’s my brother.”

  “That’s commendable, I’m sure.” Mr. Smalley said. “Perhaps you’d let him borrow it this afternoon.” He looked at Ethan. “Tomorrow it would be well to provide one for each of you.”

  “Yes, sir.” Ethan bent his head over his copybook.

  Would this day never end? At least when school was out, he’d be safe from discovery until he could decide what to do next.

  When they were finally dismissed for the day, Ethan strapped his books together and then picked up Alice’s book bag. He was determined to hang on to it until they got home.

  “You gonna carry her bag every day?” Bert wanted to know. “The guys will tease you for sure.”

  “She can carry it tomorrow,” Ethan answered. “This is her first day. It’s pretty heavy for a little girl.”

  Bert was right. The older boys joined them on the walk home, and they were quick to notice what Ethan had.

  “Well, look at mama’s boy with the book bag,” one of them called. “Maybe we should help him carry it!”

  Before Ethan knew what was coming, the boy grabbed the bag and ran with it.

  “Hey! Give that back!” Ethan yelled and started after him.

  “Here, Fred … catch it!” The boy threw the bag to one of his companions.

  In less than a second, the worst happened. The box flew out of the bag, hitting the ground with a thud, and the contents scattered in front of the astonished children.

  “Boy, oh boy,” Bert muttered as he helped Ethan scoop up the money and stuff it into the book bag. “Are you in for it now!”

  A silent group of children gathered as Ethan and Bert continued to pick up the money and put it in Alice’s book bag. No one offered to help them, even though some of the bills had blown over into the grass beside the road.

  “I hope we got it all,” Bert finally said when they thought they’d picked up the last piece. “Do you know how much was in there?”

  Ethan shook his head. “I never saw it before.”

  Bert looked him in the eye. “I know you never took it. And we know that Alice didn’t. So how did it get there?”

  Ethan had no answer. He could think only about what needed to be done. He closed the bag securely and then grabbed Alice’s hand. After the first cry when the boy had snatched the book bag, she too had remained silent. Now she hurried along between Ethan and Bert.

  “There weren’t any pencils in my box, were there, Ethan?” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “The teacher said we both had to have one by tomorrow. What will we do?”

  “You’ll have a pencil, Alice. Don’t worry.” I’m sure I won’t be needing mine, he thought glumly.

  Bert sighed. “The first day of school is usually hard, but I never seen anything like this before. It makes my stomach hurt to think about it. Where did you get that box anyway?”

  “I don’t know,” Ethan answered, sounding miserable. “It was in Alice’s bag. She said she had a pencil box, and I never saw it until we were in school.”

  Alice sniffed again. “Matron told me I could keep it.”

  “Did Matron see the box, Alice?” Bert asked her.

  “No. I put it away for school.”

  “But who gave it to you?”

  “Nobody. I found it out by the barn. Otis said he didn’t want it.” Alice bit her lip. “Are we in trouble, Ethan?”

  “You’re not,” he replied. “We’ll just hope that Mr. Lehman doesn’t think I’m the one who left it out there.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Bert inquired. “Are you going right to his office as soon as we get home?”

  Ethan looked sick. “I suppose I’ll have to. Nearly every kid in school knows about it. What do you think he’ll do?”

  Bert shrugged. “Don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened since I’ve been here. But I never saw Mr. Lehman whip anyone, even when they did something real bad.”

  “He could send me away.”

  Bert didn’t reply.

  Matron met the children at the front door of the Briars. “Put your books away and change your clothes, boys,” she said. “Otis needs you in the barn for a job. Then you can play until suppertime. We’ll work on your lessons right after you eat.”

  Ethan pushed the book bag into the cupboard and was grateful for some extra time before he had to face Mr. Lehman. He couldn’t understand, however, why none of the other children were rushing to tell what they’d seen. Several of the onlookers had been from the Home, including Shala.

  Ethan mentioned this to Bert, who seemed surprised at the question.

  “Nobody tells nothin’ to Mr. Lehman,” Bert explained. “You’re expected to take care of stuff yourself. We don’t tell on anyone around here.”

  “You mean if I never told Mr. Lehman about the money, he wouldn’t ever know?”

  “Prob’ly not. But the other kids would know, and they prob’ly wouldn’t play with you or nothin’.”

  Ethan thought this over as he did his chores. That meant that Hugh was bluffing him when he threatened to go to the director. Did it also mean that he couldn’t tell what he knew about Hugh? Of course it did, he thought. He wouldn’t be able to tell Mr. Lehman that Hugh had asked him to get the box from the drawer, and that he had refused.

  Ethan decided there was nothing else to do except take the blame for the whole thing. He couldn’t say that Alice found the box. She was too little to be responsible. Besides, it wasn’t her fault. It was his for not standing up to Hugh. Whatever punishment was coming belonged to him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gridley Picks Up a Stranger

  Gridley, the Quincys’ driver, stood beside the big touring car and scanned the deserted road. This was a most annoying circumstance. If he hadn’t taken his eye from the road when a rabbit ran out of the bush, he could have avoided the rock that lay in the center of his path. He winced, remembering the grinding sound of a hole being torn in the crankcase oil pan. By the time he stopped the car, all the oil had run out and soaked into the dusty road.

  He could make an emergency repair, but unfortunately he had neglected to bring a supply of oil. The nearest village was only
a mile or so down the road, but it might as well have been ten or twenty miles, for Gridley dared not leave the car to go get it.

  He glanced at the sun and then took a watch from his pocket. He should have reached the summer house by now, where Mr. and Mrs. Quincy awaited the car to bring them home.

  Gridley prided himself on the care of his automobiles. How could he have been so thoughtless as to start out without extra oil? Well, he had, and the chances of anyone coming along this back road to rescue him were slim indeed.

  He sat on the running board and pondered his alternatives. He had already rejected the thought of abandoning the car. That left waiting for another conveyance or a passerby who would be willing to help him.

  The late afternoon was cool, and the view from where he sat was pleasant, but Gridley was in no mood to enjoy it. When half an hour passed with no change in the scenery, he started to pace.

  Suddenly, across the field, a man appeared. His head was bent, and he apparently hadn’t seen the car in the road. Gridley watched his approach. He was carrying a knapsack and seemed to be in no hurry. Gridley was about to call to him when the fellow looked up, stopped, and then turned as if to go back the way he had come.

  Gridley waved his arms frantically. “Hello! Hello, there! Can you help me?”

  The figure hesitated and then walked slowly toward the road. As he came nearer, Gridley saw it wasn’t a man but a boy.

  “I’m having some trouble here,” Gridley said. “If you could go up to the next village and get some oil for the car, I’d make it worth your while.”

  The boy gazed with admiration at the shiny vehicle and rubbed his hand lovingly over the hood. “Sure, mister. I’ll go.”

  Gridley handed him a bill. “This should do it. I need four quarts of oil. By the way, what’s your name?”

  “Hugh. Hugh Kelly.”

  “You live around here?”

  “Well, I’m sort of traveling right now.”

  Gridley studied the boy. Fifteen, maybe sixteen, he figured. Old enough to look out for himself. “All right. You can leave your knapsack here if you like. I’ll watch it.”