Little House Lewd: Chapter 14

Monday morning dawned groggily. After the awful events of the night before she had seemingly blacked out. She was surprised to find she had been untied at some point, and blacking out had left her unexpectedly rested, if a bit addlebrained. It was as if her mind could not come to terms with what had happened and chose instead to simply disregard it. She could clearly remember everything, but it just did not feel real.

Laura dressed and went into the other room to begin getting breakfast but found Mrs. Brewster at the stove instead. Mr. Brewster was presumably in the barn or starting a fire at the schoolhouse.

“Your jaw alright?” Mrs. Brewster asked, her tone still mean but she was not confrontational.

“It’s…very sore,” Laura answered tentatively.

Mrs. Brewster nodded, not looking at Laura. “He may be rough but he won’t actually rape no one; he likes to get a girl into those belts and worked up enough to ask him for it, then you cant go to the law and say he took you.”

“So he has done this before…” Laura said quietly, setting the table. “I had suspected as much. Thank you for telling me, Mrs. Brewster.”

The women did not say anything else. There was nothing else to say. Laura felt a relief to have confirmation that so long as her resolve held out she did not have to worry about the worst happening, she need only to manage like she was going to do with the school.

Laura made sure to arrive early to the schoolhouse. She took care to get the room cleaned and put extra coal on the fire to make it truly warm. She was at her desk thoughtfully studying her own lessons when the students came in.

“Good morning,” Laura said warmly, smiling at them as they unwrapped from their outdoor things. “How was everyone’s weekend?”

Martha was first to respond while the others looked apprehensive, making an effort to match Laura’s energy. “It was a good break, Miss Ingalls. How was yours?”

“The drive to and back was cold, but it was good to be home. I miss my family a great deal through the week, so I’m grateful that my Pa made arrangements for me to be able to go back the first two weeks,” Laura answered. She noticed an expression of deep thought settle onto Clarence face, though he did not look at her and went right to his seat.

“Miss Ingalls, I had a good weekend as well. My pig had babies Saturday!” Ruby piped up, her little freckled face beaming shyly.

“Mama let us name them,” Tommy added, “We’re calling them Breakfast, Dinner, Supper, and the littlest one we’re thinking to call Snack.”

Laura praised the joke of naming the pigs, and when she laughed the other’s joined in. All but Clarence. He did not laugh with them, but he smiled absently. He watched her carefully, trying to make it look as if he were not, and seemed to be dwelling on something.

Charles did not speak for how his weekend went, but she was pleased to see he looked at ease compared to the last time she had seen him.

Laura did her best to be chipper. When Tommy stumbled through his reading lesson she did not criticize; she focused instead on his improvements.

“You’re getting much better at your ‘th’ and ‘sh’ pronunciations, Tommy. I would like to reward you for your efforts. Would you like to copy your spelling lesson on the blackboard so that you do not need to share the book this morning?” she asked.

Tommy smiled happily. “Yes, Teacher; that would be a lot easier.”

She gave him a fresh piece of chalk and sent him to the blackboard, complimenting his handwriting that he clearly put effort into making look nice.

When Ruby finished her reading lesson, Laura complimented her as well. “You’re reading is getting better as well, Ruby. I can tell you and Tommy have both been trying hard to improve. How would you like to write your spelling lesson on the board tomorrow? You may take turns so long as you are both showing this same level of effort.”

Ruby beamed to be praised, and they were both pleased at the opportunity to not have to share the book at the same time anymore. They promised to continue trying their best.

All morning Clarence idled, but Laura remembered Ma’s advice and did not see him. He watched her more than he looked at his books, but she could never make out what he could be thinking.

During arithmetic Martha did not know the lesson at all.

“I’m so confused on fractions, Miss Ingalls. I’m sorry, I just can’t work them,” Martha apologized miserably.

“I think you must take this lesson over, Martha,” Laura said consideringly. “In fact, I would like to go back over it myself. Fractions are tricky, and I am also needing to refresh on them for my own class in town. Would you like to go over these at the noon hour with me?”

“Yes! Yes, I would!” Martha answered, relief clear on her face to have the opportunity.

It was a relief when she was able to dismiss the school for noontime and take out her dinner without having to see Mr. Brewster. It was a separate relief to be able to go out to the latrine alone as she needed without having to wait for a key or to be escorted like an unruly child. She felt almost free. Even the strange sensation of her bud being exposed by the hole in the belt was easy to ignore while she was busy.

So at noon when they had eaten their dinners, Laura and Martha sat together at Laura’s desk and took up their books. Laura worked through problems with her pupil on the slate until by the end of break Martha was able to figure the problems all on her own.

“I understand it now!” Martha exclaimed excitedly. Her whole face was bright. “After this I won’t dread the arithmetic lessons anymore.”

Laura understood then that Martha had dreaded the math lessons so much that it had hindered her ability to learn in the first place.

“As a student myself I can sympathize being overwhelmed by a subject, but never dread a lesson, Martha,” Laura said. “I will always be happy to go over any lesson with you if you need me to.”

For the first time all morning, Clarence spoke. “Is that why you’re always studying? To keep up with your own class?”

Laura nodded. “Yes, I am trying to graduate this spring when I go back from teaching here. I study at night, but I must study here as well or I might not be ready to pass the graduation exams.”

She heard him whistle under his breath, but paid it no mind. So far Ma’s advice was working well and she did not want to do anything to derail that progress. Even so, Clarence had more issues than just his disrespectfulness, but she had a plan for his history problem.

During History recitations she did not ask him any questions at all. He was far behind Charles and Martha, and did not want to waste time asking him questions for a lesson he would not have studied. She set Charles and Martha another seven pages at the end of the lesson.

“That doesn’t mean you, Clarence, it would make your lesson too long,” she said. She had him show her where he was in the book. “Would three pages be too many?”

She kept her face carefully set in an impersonal expression. His reddish-brown eyes looked at her somewhat suspiciously, but she saw a mischievous twinkle deep in them.

“No, three wouldn’t be too much,” he finally answered after a long consideration.

“If you find it to be too much when you go to review it then make the lesson shorter,” she said, and dismissed them

She wondered what Clarence would do. The others were simple to deal with if she were just a little creative and kept her temper, but Clarence was different. He was already a grown man even if he were still boyish. It did not help her situation that he was both extremely intelligent and clever, both traits that made his mischievous nature nefarious when he wanted to be.

When she dismissed school for the day he hung back a moment, and she waited patiently for him to say his peace but he only shook his head and went out the door. Whatever was on his mind, he was not yet ready to bring it up to her. She had half expected him to snarkily request a private lesson, or had she half hoped he would?

That annoying flutter returned to her stomach, but she pushed it away, resolute that she did not have room nor time for such fancies.

Besides, she was already having enough difficulties with Mr. Brewster to last her a lifetime for man troubles.