Treasures from Grandma's Attic by Arleta Richardson Read Free Book Online Page A

know about?”
    Warren Carter raised his hand. “No, ma’am, you know about it all right. But we just found out, and we don’t like it.”
    “I don’t understand,” Miss Gibson said. “Just what do I know that you don’t like?”
    “Miss Gibson, is it true that someone called Mrs. Porter is going to be our teacher next year?” asked Walter Gibbs.
    Miss Gibson looked astonished, and then became serious. “Yes, Walter. It’s true.”
    “That’s what we don’t like! We don’t want you to leave!”
    “Why, I’m—I’m glad you feel that way,” Miss Gibson said. “It’s nice to be appreciated. And you know how much I love all of you.”
    “Then you won’t let Mrs. Porter take over, will you?” Sarah Jane asked.
    “I’m afraid that’s all taken care of,” Miss Gibson answered. “She has already been hired. But come,” she added cheerfully, “we still have several weeks of school left to enjoy each other. Let’s be happy and have a good time, shall we?”
    Everyone settled down to work, but no one was happy—unless you counted Miss Gibson. Every once in a while we saw a smile on her face that disappeared when she caught us watching her.
    “You’re doing a lot of woolgathering,” Ma said to me as I sat at the table that evening. “You haven’t turned a page of that book in the last half hour.”
    “I know.” I sighed. “I can’t concentrate on medieval history when my mind is full of Miss Gibson leaving. I don’t understand why she has to go!”
    “You don’t expect a young lady like Miss Gibson to spend the rest of her life teaching in the same school, do you? Maybe she has other plans that are important to her. After all, she’s been here for eight years.”
    “I just don’t like things to change, Ma. I want them to stay the way they are.”
    “Everything changes, Mabel,” Ma told me. “We’d be in pretty sad shape if it didn’t.”
    “I don’t see why.”
    “If the good didn’t change, the bad wouldn’t either. I think God knew what He was doing to allow some of both in our lives.”
    “Maybe so,” I muttered, “but I’m not very happy with the timing. Two more years is all I ask for. Is that too much?”
    My question fell on an empty kitchen; Ma had left to get her mending.
    “Are you still going to be teaching next year?” I asked Miss Gibson at recess the following day.
    “Yes, I plan to be.”
    “Can you tell us where you’ll be?” Sarah Jane asked.
    “Not right now. But I’ll let you know before school is out.”
    We didn’t know much more than we had before. “I suppose we should plan a farewell for her,” Sarah Jane said. “My heart’s not in it, but we can’t let her go without a party.”
    “Just remember to ask her to come,” I said. “Remember when we forgot to invite her to her own birthday party?”
    “We were just kids then,” Sarah Jane said, dismissing the thought. “We wouldn’t do anything stupid like that again. And, besides, you can’t let past mistakes run your life. Let’s go to my house and work on plans.”
    “All right,” I said reluctantly. “But, Sarah Jane, isn’t there anything we can do to make her change her mind?”
    “This may be one of the inevitables of life,” Sarah Jane said. “Miss Gibson has always told us that there are natural results of causes that you might as well not try to change.”
    “I think she was referring to natural laws, like gravity and death,” I replied. “I don’t think Miss Gibson is ready to fall or die.”
    We had reached the Clarks’ porch, and as we opened the door, Sarah Jane’s mother jumped and pushed something under her apron.
    “Goodness!” she said. “What are you doing here?”
    “I live here, Ma,” Sarah Jane answered. “Have you forgotten about me since morning?”
    “Of course not, silly.” Mrs. Clark laughed. “I just wasn’t expecting you so early. Are you going to your room to do homework?”
    “We have work to do all right,” I answered.