coming from the hallway. Supper must be over. She stood up and went over to the open door and saw Miss Minnie and Miss Millie being ushered out of the dining room by Herman Stein, Annie’s most distinguished boarder and a successful west coast merchant. He nodded to her in passing but continued to shepherd the two elderly seamstresses up the stairs, Miss Minnie talking steadily, her sister silent as usual.
Next came Esther Stein, the older boarder who was Annie’s closest confidante. She was listening to an animated Jamie, and they turned towards the back stairs that went down to the kitchen. Annie silently blessed Esther, a woman with numerous grandchildren of her own, for taking the boy under her wing after supper. Barbara may have asked the older woman to accompany her son down to the kitchen so he could let Dandy out.
Esther and Jamie were closely followed by Laura and Mr. Harvey, the quiet dry goods clerk who shared a room with David Chapman . Finally came Barbara, who was looking distracted by Chapman's usual attentiveness. When Laura and Barbara saw Annie standing in the hallway, they both broke away from their escorts and came towards her. Nate, standing in the parlor doorway, stepped forward, bowed politely to Mrs. Hewitt, and shook her hand.
Annie had already ascertained that Barbara would prefer to speak to Nate alone, so her responsibility was to make sure they weren’t disturbed. Seeing Laura approach , she said, “Could you keep me company for a spell? Your brother has some business with Mrs. Hewitt, and I would like to give them some privacy. Can you spare a minute to sit with me in the hall? I don’t know how long they will be, so I would like to stay close at hand.” Annie pointed to the bench next to the hall coat stand.
“What does Nate need with Barbara?” Laura asked as they sat down. “I hope he isn’t being an annoying older brother, checking up on me?”
“Good heavens, no!” Annie laughed. “It is about a case he is working on. He might want to talk to you about it as well, since it seems that someone is sending anonymous letters spreading malicious rumors about teachers. Have you heard anything of this nature at Clement?”
“I haven’t heard a thing like that. How disturbing.” Laura frowned. “On the other hand, that doesn’t mean anything. Truth is , I haven’t had a chance to talk much with the other teachers beyond greetings when we meet in the hallways. Last week, Jamie’s teacher was kind enough to sit and talk with me at lunch, but I confess we mostly talked about Jamie! And this week, after I agreed to supervise Kitty Blaine, the Normal class student I told you about, I spent my lunch hour with her, talking about my lesson plan for the day.”
“Oh yes, how is that going?” Annie asked.
“I really don’t know. Miss Blaine is very quiet, and I’m not sure what to make of her. It’s just been two days. The only time I have gotten her to say more than a few words was when I asked her about her language studies. Apparently, she is learning German from Hattie’s intended, Mr. Russell. She got very excited for a moment when talking about that. Since she is only observing my class this week and next, she sits quietly in the back of the room. I guess if you are a student at Clement Grammar you are used to having practice teachers, because none of the students batted an eye when I introduced her. I am the one who feels self-conscious.”
“I would hate having someone observe me when I work as Madam Sibyl, potentially criticizing my every move,” said Annie, “but you probably went through it when you did your practice teaching at San Jose, right?”
“Yes, and I was very nervous then as well. We rotated through all the different grades, from first to eight. Miss Titus, one of my pedagogy professors, was very kind and gave me good marks, but I never felt comfortable, with the younger children in particular.”
Annie nodded encouragingly and said, “Did you
Next came Esther Stein, the older boarder who was Annie’s closest confidante. She was listening to an animated Jamie, and they turned towards the back stairs that went down to the kitchen. Annie silently blessed Esther, a woman with numerous grandchildren of her own, for taking the boy under her wing after supper. Barbara may have asked the older woman to accompany her son down to the kitchen so he could let Dandy out.
Esther and Jamie were closely followed by Laura and Mr. Harvey, the quiet dry goods clerk who shared a room with David Chapman . Finally came Barbara, who was looking distracted by Chapman's usual attentiveness. When Laura and Barbara saw Annie standing in the hallway, they both broke away from their escorts and came towards her. Nate, standing in the parlor doorway, stepped forward, bowed politely to Mrs. Hewitt, and shook her hand.
Annie had already ascertained that Barbara would prefer to speak to Nate alone, so her responsibility was to make sure they weren’t disturbed. Seeing Laura approach , she said, “Could you keep me company for a spell? Your brother has some business with Mrs. Hewitt, and I would like to give them some privacy. Can you spare a minute to sit with me in the hall? I don’t know how long they will be, so I would like to stay close at hand.” Annie pointed to the bench next to the hall coat stand.
“What does Nate need with Barbara?” Laura asked as they sat down. “I hope he isn’t being an annoying older brother, checking up on me?”
“Good heavens, no!” Annie laughed. “It is about a case he is working on. He might want to talk to you about it as well, since it seems that someone is sending anonymous letters spreading malicious rumors about teachers. Have you heard anything of this nature at Clement?”
“I haven’t heard a thing like that. How disturbing.” Laura frowned. “On the other hand, that doesn’t mean anything. Truth is , I haven’t had a chance to talk much with the other teachers beyond greetings when we meet in the hallways. Last week, Jamie’s teacher was kind enough to sit and talk with me at lunch, but I confess we mostly talked about Jamie! And this week, after I agreed to supervise Kitty Blaine, the Normal class student I told you about, I spent my lunch hour with her, talking about my lesson plan for the day.”
“Oh yes, how is that going?” Annie asked.
“I really don’t know. Miss Blaine is very quiet, and I’m not sure what to make of her. It’s just been two days. The only time I have gotten her to say more than a few words was when I asked her about her language studies. Apparently, she is learning German from Hattie’s intended, Mr. Russell. She got very excited for a moment when talking about that. Since she is only observing my class this week and next, she sits quietly in the back of the room. I guess if you are a student at Clement Grammar you are used to having practice teachers, because none of the students batted an eye when I introduced her. I am the one who feels self-conscious.”
“I would hate having someone observe me when I work as Madam Sibyl, potentially criticizing my every move,” said Annie, “but you probably went through it when you did your practice teaching at San Jose, right?”
“Yes, and I was very nervous then as well. We rotated through all the different grades, from first to eight. Miss Titus, one of my pedagogy professors, was very kind and gave me good marks, but I never felt comfortable, with the younger children in particular.”
Annie nodded encouragingly and said, “Did you
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