Heaven's Gate Bridge twenty-two

Heaven’s Gate Bridge twenty-two

The Miller children were more than ready to return to school. Mr. and Mrs. Miller decided that Harriet would follow the doctor’s orders and remain at home for one more day and go back to school on Wednesday. She agreed since she was not full strength and also a little nervous about how she would handle the class with her change in hearing. William, Timothy and Catherine dressed up and ate breakfast in the kitchen slowly. They loved the fact that their mother had obtained the new cereal, Quaker Puffed Rice cereal. The children laughed as the little puffed rice floated in their milk. Timothy even tried to blow the little puffed rice around in his bowl.

“Timothy, you need to eat properly. You don’t have time to play. Today is a big day back at school.” reprimanded Catherine as her mother would have done.

“Now wait. I went to school so I am not behind like you and William are.” he said as he returned to blowing on his puffed rice.

The children heard a knock on the front door. The two boys raced to see who would be there at this time. As they opened the door, Mrs. Hunt walked in.

“Hello boys. I see that you are dressed for school. You had better hurry because I see on my watch that it is almost 8:00.” she said as she looked at the broach watch that she wore.

“I thought that you couldn’t come over any more. Father said that your mother was ill.” said William.

“Well I am going on Wednesday after I get a lady here for an interview with your father.”

“Oh good morning, Mrs. Hunt.” said Mr. Miller as he came down the stairs. “Thank you for giving us today’s time. Did you make a list of qualified ladies to help around here?”

“Yes, Mr. Miller. However because the measles have made so many people sick, I excluded those who are sick or have sick family.”

“Hm. Yes, that is a good idea.” he replied as he looked at the very short list of three ladies.

Mr. Miller put the list into his pocket and returned into the kitchen where he saw Harriet eating with Catherine. Harriet had a plain brown cotton dress on while Catherine had a nicer blue cotton dress on. The girls also were eating the new cereal.

“Catherine it is time for you and the boys to go the car. I will drive you today since I have to talk to the teacher and give her the notes that Dr. Carson wrote for your excuses. Harriet, Mrs. Hunt is back for today so you both can work together to help your mother. Harriet you can still read and later let Buddy go outside for a while.” he said as he noticed that the young dog had his breakfast in the laundry room.

“Yes father” said Harriet. She drank the last bit of milk from her bowl in the spoon and then took both to the sink for washing.

The children were excited that their father was going to drive them to school instead of telling them to walk. They waved to the other children as their father parked the car on the street. As they walked behind him to the main office, they saw Margaret. She was talking to a little group of girls that she called her ‘special circle of elite friends.’ Catherine and Harriet did not belong to that group and did not mind socializing with other girls. Margaret watched the children enter the main office and then started whispering in the ears of her friends.

“Good morning Mr. Miller. I see that you have three children with you today. Who’s not here?” asked Meredith Vinson who could turn on a temper as fast as she could be sweet as honey.

“We have two here who have been examined and cleared by Dr. Carson from the measles. Harriet will return tomorrow but I would like to discuss her situation with her teacher. Timothy did not come down with the measles.”

“Why yes, I recall he was here last week and had to be cautioned about pulling a certain young lady’s pigtails in class.”

Timothy’s face turned a little red as he looked at the floor.

“I didn’t pull them hard and Cindy is a tattletale.” he mumbled.

“We will discuss the incident at home, but I want to hear that Cindy gets an apology today. Do you understand?” Mr. Miller ordered.

“Yes sir.”

“Go to class.”

Timothy turned around and headed to his class as the first bell of the day was ringing.

Mr. Miller was given the room number of the two children who been sick. William’s teacher accepted the note and reported that William was behind in a few subjects and would be given a couple of days to catch up.

Catherine and Harriet’s teacher was a fine lady who was in her third year of teaching. She had the enthusiasm of fine person who wanted to dedicate her life to educating children. Since she was single, she had a little extra time to tutor those who seemed to have problems grasping advanced concepts. Miss Marilyn Phillips was also a red headed lady who believed in the suffragette’s cause completely. She never forgot the feelings of hurt when her brothers got anything they asked for and she was told that the family had no money. She had a fine grasp on the political subjects and dreamed of the day that women would cast their first vote.

“Good morning Miss Phillips. My father wants to speak with you.” said Catherine as she went to her place in the middle of the room.

Miss Phillips turned around from the blackboard and walked over to Mr. Miller to greet him.

“Mr. Miller I am happy to see Catherine is well enough to return to class.” she said as she received the doctor’s note and began to read it.

“Yes. Catherine did not want to get behind any more but had to wait until she was fever free. Can we step into the hall?”

“Yes of course. But I do not see Harriet? I thought that both of your girls had the measles. That is what I heard.” she said as she stopped just on the other side of the doorway. She tried to remember who had given her that message.

“She is better and will return tomorrow but I want to let you know that she had a more serious time with the disease than Catherine did. Harriet has been having trouble hearing things and the doctor suspects that the disease may have damaged her hearing nerve.”

“Oh my how unfortunate! Is she completely deaf?”

“No, but will need to be helped if she does not understand words you say.”

“Oh well I am sorry for this problem. If I recall my last year in college, my neighbor’s son had a small problem like that. His learning ability slowed down considerably. They eventually let him quit school and go to work in a sweatshop where children did jobs that larger people could not work in. He made a little money, but was always in trouble. In the end he had to quit because he could not hear warnings and had an accident that made him unable to work. He” she stopped because the look on Mr. Miller’s face was becoming more shocked looking.

“Miss Phillips, I think that Harriet will be able to work as well as the other students. She will have the full support of the family and I hope you as well.”

“I apologize Mr. Miller. Yes I am sorry. Each child is different. I know that your girls have been excellent in their work and behavior. But if there is any thing else I will tell you and we can adjust our plans accordingly.” she said as she stood straight and emphasized the last sentence.

Before Mr. Miller could say another word, there was a bell that indicated the day was to begin. He said his good-bye and then went to his car to go to work. He would not mention this conversation to his wife until she felt better. As for Harriet, he said a quick prayer that her future would be different from the poor young boy from Miss Phillips’ past.

Margaret had pretended to be working on her morning writing exercise. However, she was really listening in on the conversation that Miss Phillips and Mr. Miller were having. She never really considered Harriet or Catherine as her friends since they were born here and grew up with most of the girls. Margaret always felt like an outsider. She had no other siblings. And because her parents were older than most parents, she felt like her parents were left out too. With this piece of information, she felt like she could become the top girl in class and have the Miller girls begging to do favors for her.