A Present for Miss Mabley
By
Valerie L. Egar
Camille
looked out the window at the apple tree blossoming in the nearby field. Though
she was supposed to be memorizing a poem, she was distracted.
The younger
children at the front of the one room schoolhouse were fidgeting in their seats,
anxious to go outside. The teacher, Miss Mabley, reviewed Latin exercises with
three of the older students who would soon graduate.
Camille sighed. The
breeze coming in the open window was inviting. It had been a long Maine winter
and a muddy spring. Finally, the earth was coming alive and the small town
bustled with activity. Ships arrived in
port with sugar and molasses from the West Indies. They were soon loaded with Maine
lumber and granite and sailing back to the islands.
Camille whispered
to her best friend, Harriet. “What do
you think Miss Mabley is going to tell us?”
That morning, Miss Mabley told the class she would make an announcement at
the end of the day.
Nathan overheard
Camille’s question. “She’s not coming back next year. That’s what Father said.”
Nathan shrugged.
“You’ll see.”
Secretly, Camille
worried Nathan might be right. Everyone liked
Miss Mabley. She’d taught at Willow School for five years and no one would want
her to leave Edgeport.
Anxious as
everyone was to leave at the end of the day, even the rowdiest quieted when
Miss Mabley stood to make her announcement.
She looked at the
class. “I want all of you to know I will not be returning to Willow School in
the fall.”
Camille took a
deep breath. Nathan was right!
Miss Mabley
continued. “My brother Ashton and his
wife are moving west to Wyoming. They’ve invited me to come with them.”
“But that’s
dangerous!” Camille blurted.
Miss Mabley
smiled. “I’d like to think it will be a wonderful adventure.”
“But what will you
do there?” Harriet asked.
“I’ll teach, like
I do here. The people of Laramie have
already built the schoolhouse.”
“What does Wyoming
look like?” one of the smaller children asked.
“I’m not sure, but
I’ll write letters to tell you about it. I know there’s a fort and people
travelling west to Oregon stop at the fort for supplies. I don’t think there’s a forest like Maine’s. And,
there’s no ocean.” Miss Mabley looked
sad for a moment. “I’m going to miss the ocean. And of course, all of you.”
Camille and
Harriet walked home feeling sad. “Let’s have a party for her,” said
Harriet. “We can give her presents she
can take west.”
For the next few days at recess
everyone whispered about the party and what they planned to bring Miss
Mabley. Nathan was giving her five yards
of dress cotton from his father’s store. Harriet embroidered six handkerchiefs.
All the children had quickly thought of gifts —a balsam pillow. Tin of matches.
Writing paper. Candles. Homemade soap. A straw hat.
“What are you
bringing Camille?”
Camille shook her
head. “I don’t know.” She wanted to give Miss Mabley something special that was
different from everyone else’s gift, but she didn’t have any idea what that
might be.
Every day the
party grew closer and Camille still didn’t know what to bring Miss Mabley.
The afternoon
before the party, Camille walked along the water and listened to the ocean,
thinking. She loved the scent of salt air and the sound of waves. She couldn’t imagine
leaving the ocean behind and perhaps never seeing it again. With that, she knew
exactly what to give Miss Mabley.
The
next day, Miss Mabley unwrapped a beautiful golden conch shell from Camille. Its
underside was shiny pink.
Miss
Mabley lifted the shell to her ear. She heard the ocean and smiled. Maine and the
ocean would never be far away.
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Copyright 2019 by Valerie L. Egar. May not be copied, distributed or reproduced without permission from the author.
Published March 16, 2019 Biddeford Journal Tribune (Biddeford, ME).
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