An Old-Fashioned Education

by Fiona Wilde

  “Nobody likes her,” he was saying sulkily.

  “I like her!” Kerry chimed in. “I’ll walk with her.”

  “You only like her because she babies you.”

  Finally, Walt had had enough. “Keep that up, young man, and you’ll find yourself taking a trip to the woodshed before school. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Aidan promptly replied, and Polly felt her face flush. She completely understood the child’s fear of getting spanked by his father. She had the same fear, and still couldn’t get her mind around the fact that she was subject to the same correction as his children.

  Aidan and Kerry were bundled up now, and she did the same. It had stopped snowing, but the sky was still dark with pregnant clouds, and when she stepped outside, the snow came up nearly to her knees. Walt carried Kerry, who would have floundered in the drifts.

  Someone had already lit a fire in the school’s potbelly stove. The one-room building was warm when Polly walked in with Walt and the kids. Several other adults were dropping off their children. The parents filed out as she walked in, lingering just long enough to make sure she had taken note of their icy stares.

  “This isn’t going to work, Mr. Springer,” she said.

  “It will,” he said. “Let them have their moment of indignation. It won’t last. This is overall a very forgiving community. You’ll see.”

  Polly sighed heavily. She wasn’t really sure. If she’d just broken the radio, it would have been bad enough. But she’d almost cost one of the members and her baby their lives. If she were part of a community as close as Pepper’s Hollow, how easy would it be to forgive a stranger who had done something so reckless?

  But she couldn’t think about it, at least not while she was teaching her students.

  “All right, everyone, let’s take our seats!”

  “Everyone’s not here yet!” Aidan protested.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Polly said. “School starts at 8:30. It’s 8:30 now. Pull out your primers and pick up where we last left off with reading. I may be giving a pop quiz today, so pay attention to your material.”

  Aidan and the boy beside him groaned but obeyed. Polly wondered if it was because Walt was still in the room, no doubt lingering close by to diffuse any tension that may arise between her and the parents. She walked over to him.

  “Hey, I appreciate your walking over here but I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.”

  He shook his head. “It may be easier–”

  “No,” she said, cutting him off. “The only thing that will make this easier is for me to do what you said I had to do, which is to just let things take their course. I’m going to have to take my lumps on this, and on my own. If you stick around to run interference, that’s just going to make the people here resent me more.”

  Walt nodded and reluctantly pulled on his cap. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll be by after school to pick up the kids.”

  “Or I could just walk them home,” she offered. “We’re going the same way.”

  He looked past her. “Aidan has asked me to come.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. The boy was her first lump, obviously.

  “Very well,” she said. “See you at three.” As he opened the door to leave, Polly saw Benjamin and Willow Criner come in with young Peter in tow. Walt looked back at her, his expression silently asking if she really wanted him to go. She motioned for him to keep going as Peter and his family walked in.

  “Ms. Perkins.” Ben Criner’s tone was formal and cold. Willow’s mouth was a tight line as she helped her son out of his coat and admonished him to behave himself that day.

  “I’m almost always good, mama,” he said. “I try to tell you but nobody believes me!”

  “Peter.” She walked over and the boy hid behind his mother’s skirt. Polly knelt down. Come here, please.”

  The boy looked up at his mother, who hesitated a moment before indicating with a curt nod that he should approach his teacher. Peter walked over, his eyes uncertain.

  “Peter,” she said, taking his hands. “The other day, I did something really bad and really stupid. I almost let you take the blame for it, because I was scared. At the last moment I did the right thing, but I should have done it sooner.” She paused. “Can you forgive me, Peter?”

  He looked up at his parents. Willow and Ben Criner were looking at each other. Willow’s face softened and Ben sighed. His mother nodded.

  “Yeah, it’s okay,” he said. “Sometimes I do bad things, too. I’m not mad at ya.”

  Polly hugged him, trying hard to swallow the lump in her throat as she blinked back the tears welling up in her eyes.

  “Off you go then,” she said, sniffing and Peter ran to his desk and pulled out his reading book.

  “Thank you.” Willow Criner’s eyes were filled with tears, too. “That took a lot, I know.”

  “Not really,” she said. “I’m really feeling awful for what I put your family, for what I put everyone through. If I’d thought for a minute…”

  “Hey, there’s no need to say more.” Even Benjamin looked a bit emotional, or as emotional as a bear of a man could look, Polly thought. “Part of being in a community is being able to get past things. I can’t guarantee everyone else will come around as quick as you want, but what you did apologizing to our son means a lot to me and the missus.”

  Polly nodded, turning now to welcome Noni and her children. She could sense that Noni wanted to speak to her, but Noni’s husband stopped her when she started to speak.

  “We have to be going,” he said, and Noni dropped her eyes from Polly’s.

  “I believe Noni was about to say something,” she said.

  “I don’t think she was,” Paul said, and turned his wife by the shoulder towards the door. Noni did not look back and Polly felt her sadness replaced by anger as the reasons she wanted to leave Pepper’s Hollow resurfaced in sharp relief.

  But she had to put all emotion aside as she turned to her class once the parents were gone. She had a roomful of kids to teach. Dealing with them turned out to be a good way to take her mind off of things. Walt’s assertion that Pepper’s Hollow was a forgiving place certainly seemed to be evident in the kids. Even the older ones who came in mirroring their parents’ cold expression warmed out as she helped them with their work and taught them how to make paper snowflakes for an art project. They sat in a circle and ate bag lunches as Polly read poetry to them.

  “I think Robert Frost is appropriate given the weather,” she said to giggles of the little kids and groans from the older ones. But everyone grew quiet as she read “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and “Dust of Snow,” the kids fell quiet as the white world outside the door.

  By the end of the day, Polly was feeling more positive and relaxed. Even if the adults of the village—with the ironic exception of the Criners—planned to cold-shoulder her until spring, at least she’d still spend half her time in the classroom with kids who enjoyed her company.

  I can do this, she thought as she bundled the children into their coats. Just a few more months and I’ll be able to leave.

  Willow was the first to arrive to pick up her son and was pleased that Peter got a good report. Noni was next, and apologized for not having Paul with her. Polly nodded, trying not to show her relief; she was secretly glad that he didn’t come. The hostility in his eyes bothered her.

  “Can we go have a snowball fight?” her son William asked as he pulled his brother Martin towards the door.

  “Okay, but don’t go near the woods or the edge of the building. Those icicles can kill you if they fall.”

  The boys promised they’d stay in the open.

  “The men try to keep the icicles knocked down, but they form so fast …” Noni’s voice trailed away and Polly could tell there was something else on her mind.

  “Is there something you need to talk about, Noni?” she asked.

  Noni looked at her, obviously debating whether to say what was on her mind.
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  “They say that Walt spanked you for what you did.”

  Polly felt her face flush.

  “And who are ‘they’ exactly?”

  Noni dropped her gaze. “You know, everyone else in Pepper’s Hollow.”

  “And how did they find out?”

  “Walt told us.” She looked up at Polly. “Is it true?”

  “If your leader says so, it must be.” Polly turned and walked to her desk, where she started packing papers to take back for grading. Noni followed her, apologizing.

  “Look, I’m not trying to embarrass you or anything. I just wanted to let you know that if Walt did that, you mustn’t think him a bad person. He’s really a good guy.”

  “Noni, I don’t want to have this conversation.”

  “If he spanked you, he must really care about you, Polly.”

  Polly shoved the papers into the bag and fixed the other woman with a hard stare. “Really? That’s what you think? That the only way a man can show he cares about a woman is by hitting her?”

  Now Noni looked angry. “No,” she said, stepping closer. “Not hitting. No man here would get by with hitting a woman. But correcting a woman to keep her safe, or to keep her from being an outcast in the community is not abusive. I understand that your ways aren’t our ways, but Walt is a good man and I really think he cares about you, otherwise he wouldn’t have insisted that you stay with him, because–”

  “Wait.” Polly held up her hands. “He insisted?”

  “Yeah,” Noni said. “Walt blamed himself at the meeting about what happened. He said if he’d been more careful screening potential teachers, none of this would have happened. I think he holds himself responsible because it was his wife who was the teacher, and she ran off and he blames himself for that, too.”

  “So the villagers didn’t insist I stay with him?” Polly asked.

  “No!” Noni said. “The women thought it was…improper. The men, well, they kind of sided with Walt when he said this was the best way to keep a close eye on you. He told us that he’s taken it upon himself to correct you in the Pepper’s Hollow way. He told us he wanted to assume responsibility for you and your behavior while you remain here.”

  “I appreciate your telling me the truth, Noni,” she said.

  “Of course I’d tell you the truth,” Noni replied. “Everyone here is honest.”

  “Are they?” Polly asked. “When Walt told me I was to stay at his house, he said it was because it’s what the community wanted.”

  Noni looked shocked, and then uncomfortable. “Oh.” She looked away and then around, as if searching for something. “Oh.” Her hand went to her mouth. “What have I done?” She sat down.

  Polly walked around the desk and took the woman’s hands in her own. “Noni, there’s nothing wrong with telling me what really happened.”

  Noni looked up, stricken. “There is if it’s not what Walt wanted you to know!”

  Polly bit her tongue. “I could have handled the truth,” she said. “And I wish I’d known this was what Walt alone had wanted. He may have been trying to make things better, but this makes things worse for me, especially if some of the community didn’t want me staying with him.”

  “I know Paul didn’t,” Noni replied. Her eyes welled with tears. “But Walt said you needed a strong hand, and that this was for your own good. You can’t tell Paul we had this conversation, okay? He’d whip me good for gossiping.”

  “You’re not gossiping,” Polly said. “You’re informing me of something I have a right to know. Do you think this is why Paul is so angry with me?”

  Noni nodded and sniffed. “Paul is a good man, but he’s a hard man and sees things through a narrow lens. He thinks it’s improper, your staying with Walt. He thinks you did what you did to get closer to him.”

  “What?” Polly couldn’t help but to feel angry.

  “Yeah, that’s what he thinks. He said Walt is a catch, with his big cabin and good looks. You’re the only single woman in Pepper’s Hollow. He said it’s only natural that you would find a way to get closer to him and that women sometimes act out to get attention.”

  “Your husband is delusional,” Polly said, standing up. “Walt Springer is the last man I’d ever be interested in, and if I’d known what he—or this community—was like I’d never have come. You need to tell Paul that if Walt were such a prize his wife would still be with him.”

  “It wasn’t Walt’s fault that Melissa turned her back on our way of life,” Noni said almost defensively.

  “No?” Polly knew there was no point in arguing with Noni, who thought that living in fear of one’s husband was perfectly fine and normal. She wondered whether Walt had made a habit of lying to Melissa “for her own good.” But she didn’t get to ponder it for long before Walt himself walked in to pick up the kids, who were playing a board game at the back of the room.

  Noni almost jumped up and said a hurried goodbye before heading out the door.

  “What’s got her so jumpy?” Walt asked.

  “I have no idea,” she said. If he could lie, so could she.

  “Did you have a good day?” he asked.

  “It was … illuminating,” Polly replied, picking up her bag.

  Walt was staring at her. “Is that a good thing?”

  All the other children had been collected and now it was just her and Walt now. She shut the door, looking across the room to make sure that Aidan and Kerry were still occupied.

  “You lied to me, Walt,” she said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You told me that the community insisted I stay with you, but that’s not true, is it?”

  Walt crossed his arms. “Who told you that? Noni?”

  “Why do you want to know?” she asked. “So you can tell Paul? So he can beat her for telling me the truth?”

  “Women here aren’t beaten,” he said. “They’re spanked.”

  “If women are spanked to keep them cowed and afraid then they might as well be beaten,” she said hotly. “And if they’re lied to then don’t be surprised if they want to leave.” She paused. “Even if they’re married to you.”

  “That’s not fair, Polly.”

  “It’s not fair that you lied to me,” she said. “You told me you were trying to make things easier, but I know that there was opposition to what you’ve done. People here didn’t think I should be staying with you, Mr. Springer, and I agree.”

  “Polly–”

  “So why did you do it?” she went on, ignoring his attempts to interrupt. “I have a right to know the truth.”

  “Because I want you to stay, okay? It’s hard for you to get a real feel for the community if you’re tucked away from your own cabin and keep to yourself, if the only contact you really have is with the kids. You see what you want to see. You don’t see us for who we are, you don’t see me as leader of this community for who I am!”

  She looked at him, shaking her head. “I’m not staying, Walt, okay? And you were wrong to lie to me. I have a mind to tell the community that you lied about them.”

  “Don’t do that.” His tone was hard.

  “Why shouldn’t I? Because you’ll spank me if I do?”

  “No. But don’t do it. Winters are hard enough. People are short-tempered.” He sighed. “I was wrong to lie to you. But I was afraid if I told you this was my idea you’d get the wrong idea, maybe think I was trying to lure you into my life somehow. But I’m not like that, regardless of what you think. I miss Melissa. God knows, I miss her every day, but I didn’t want you to think I was trying to lure a pretty female teacher in to take her place. I really did just want you to see things a little more clearly. I shouldn’t have lied to you; I sure shouldn’t have lied about the community. But if you go telling the community that I lied about them, it’s going to undermine my leadership during the toughest time of the year.”

  Polly scoffed. “So I’m accountable to you, but you don’t want to be accountable to them. Nice.”

 
“I deserved that,” he said quietly. “Will it be enough for you if I promise to come clean after the thaw? Before you … leave.” His voice was pained as he said the word.

  “I plan to hold you to it,” she said.

  He fell silent. “You’re a tough cookie, Polly.”

  “Thanks for noticing,” she said. “I’ll keep quiet for now. But don’t lie to me again, okay?”

  He removed his glove and extended it. Polly accepted the handshake he offered. His hand was hard and warm.

  “I promise,” he said.

  Chapter Seven

  Polly sat in her room, going over her hand-written lesson plans. She tried not to feel angry at being denied the computer—her computer—that Walt Springer had confiscated. It would make things much easier, she thought, to be able to type things out and organize lessons using software she’d installed specifically for that purpose.

  She sighed as she picked up the stack of papers and straightened them by tapping them on the small desk. It had been two days since Walt had admitted to her that it had been his personal decision—and not the community’s—for her to move into his cabin. His confession had explained why so many of the members of Pepper’s Hollow had been casting disapproving glances in her direction; in some cases the glances of women were openly hostile. Polly knew what they were thinking—she’d used her whiles to worm her way into the home of the most eligible bachelor in town, their leader, when the exact opposite was true. Walt had forced her to come live with him; he’d told her that the community had commanded it. Now here she was, stuck with him and his overbearing, patriarchal manner and knowing that he could and would spank he if he deemed it warranted. And there was nothing she could say to set those straight who suspected otherwise.

  There was a tap at the bedroom door. Polly laid her papers down and smiled. It was a small tap. She knew right away who it was.

  “Hi, sweetie!” she said, stepping aside as she opened the door. “Do you want to come it?”

  “If I’m not bothering you.”

  “You could never bother me.” Polly put her hand on Kerry’s shoulder and guided her into the room. The little girl was the one bright spot in the disaster that had become her career at Pepper’s Hollow. Kerry had been taught not to impose, but when she requested Polly’s company her little eyes were so earnest and full of longing that Polly could never say refuse. There was something sad about the little girl, although it wasn’t hard to figure it out. Being abandoned by her mother had been bad enough. But the way Walt had minimized the disruption in their family was taking its toll on the family. The kids needed therapy, especially Aidan, whose anger seemed too obvious to Polly.