Coming Home ~ Part Four
"I know what hap-nd next!" cried a small voice from the doorway, "Is-bel said yes!"
Franz turned to look in the direction of the voice, and saw a small child, Jo and Nick's son, standing in the doorway, holding a blanket and waving shyly at everyone in the room.
"Nicky, what are you doing awake?" Jo said as she got up and started walking towards the child, "you should be in bed, little man." Picking up her son, she tuned to face the other children in the room, she continued, "You should all be in bed."
A chorus of aw's, and do-I-have-to's rose from the crowd of children gathered at Franz and Isabel's feet. Out of instinct, as if he had never left Plumfield, Franz got up and started to lead the reluctant students out of the parlor. He paused in the doorway next to Jo, rubbed Nick's little head, and whispered in his ear, "yes, you're right."
Then just as he had done years before, he led the children upstairs to their rooms to get ready for bed.
"Now, yo go right to sleep," Franz said, "don't forget, you do have school tomorrow."
After closing the last of the doors, he walked down to the room at the end of the hallway, which had once been his room but was now the guest room. He walked over to the bookcase and removed one of his books. Blowing off years of dust, he wiped the cover and read the title in gold leaf on the front, "Alice Through the Looking Glass". Smiling, he walked over to the window and leaned outside, listening to the sounds of nature, the babbling brook, and whispering willows, the chirping of crickets.
Isabel finished tucking Fritz in, then checked on Josie, who lay sound asleep in the little crib, before she stepped behind her husband at the window.
"You've missed it, I can tell," she whispered into his ear.
Turning around, he wrapped his arms around her waist, kissed her on the forehead, and held her close. Sighing contentedly, he went to Fritz and Josie, kissed them goodnight, and walked downstairs with Isabel, where Jo, Nick and Nat were sitting in front of the fireplace in the parlor.
"So, Nat," Franz said as he and Isabel sat on the sofa, "how are my other students doing?"
"Well," Nat began, "Nan is in her first year of medical school, Dan and Bess are married and living in Colorado, Emil is a sea captain with three ships docked at Boston Harbor, and Tommy opened up a fix-it shop in town. I guess he wanted to make up for all of the things he broke while he was here at Plumfield!"
Laughing, Franz said, "It looks like all of my students have grown into fine young men and women. I just wish I could have been here to see all of you grow up," wiping a tear from his eye as it started to form, he remembered his teaching days at Plumfield. He could remember as clearly as if it were yesterday, the time he had taken the children down to Walden Pond, and the day he took them into town to discuss the "shot heard 'round the world". He also remembered the time he taught Dan how to add fractions by using a pancake, and could even recall the father-son ski race, when he had disguised him self with that ridiculous fake moustache and posed as Nan's father so she could enter. He had never missed a day of teaching, either, except for the time when he, and many other children were stricken with a measles epidemic. Even then, he was determined to help his Aunt Jo through the hardship.
He was woken from his reminiscent daydreaming by Nick's voice, calling to him.
"Franz...Franz," Nick said, waving his hand in front of Franz's face. Once Franz snapped out of his daydreaming, Nick continued, "So, what was it like livin' out west on dat cattle ranch?"
"Yes," Jo added, "please continue with your's and Isabel's story."
Franz took Isabel's hand, gave it a gentle, loving squeeze, and continued his story.
Isabel stared at the ring, then at Franz, then the ring, then back at Franz again.Trying to speak proved futile, for every time she opened her mouth, she found herself utterly speechless. So many thoughts were running through her mind. Why had Franz come here when he had a perfectly good life teaching in Plumfield, one that he had stubbornly refused to leave when she invited him to come to Arizona with her and her family? Did he want to take her back to Concord with him? If he was planning to stay, was he prepared for life on a cattle ranch?
Turning to face the house, Isabel sighed and fidgeted with her apron strings before turning back to face Franz.
"Franz," she began, once the words had formed on her tongue, "I'm flattered, really I am." Then, looking into his eyes, she could see so much hope in them. They were opened wide with anticipation of her acceptance of his proposal. She didn't know how she would be able to say what she was about to say to him, but she took a deep breath and continued.
"But I can't marry you," as she spoke those words, she could see the color drain from his cheeks, "You see, Franz, this is all happening so fast! We only met a few months ago, and already you're asking me to marry you. I don't even know why you came here. Do you expect me to just drop everything and be your wife? Because I can't do that! I told you back in Concord that my family is very important to me, and that I made a promise to my brother, one I intend to keep, no matter how long it takes."
Franz slowly rose to his feet as Isabel spoke. Everything she said was a blur except for the words, "I can't marry you". He couldn't beleive that this was happening, that she was refusing his proposal. The only reason why he had come here was because he loved Isabel. After she left Concord, thinking about living the rest of his life without her had made him ache with a pain greater than anything he had ever felt in his life. Now, the pain had returned. He felt like he was falling backwards into a deep abyss, and the sadness and pain of that darkness were slowly consuming him. Turning away from Isabel, he stuffed the ring back into his pocket. As he started to walk back towards the suitcases, which laid in a pile where he had dropped them earlier, he whispered through his sadness, "I thought you loved me."
Dumbstruck, Isabel just stood there as Franz walked away without saying a word. She thought she heard him mumble something under his breath, but couldn't understand it. Confused, she started to follow him, but then held back.
'Maybe he just needs some time alone to think,' she thought to herself, as she watched him walk towards the stable at the north end of the ranch.
Once he reached the stable, Franz set down his suitcases and carefully unlatched the door. Inside, six horses were sleeping, three on each side of a long hallway. Above one side was a hay loft, which he slowly climbed up to, pulling one of the suitcases up with him after leaving the others next to a bale of hay in the back of the barn. Once in the loft, Franz slumped back, falling into the hay. Closing his eyes, he could picture the inside of the barn at Plumfield.
I imagine you're very patient and kind, knowing all the answers.
Well, not all the answers. I still have a lot of learning to do. I haven't even attended college yet.
College?
Yes, I've been accepted to Harvard, but I've delayed going in order to help out with the class. I'm thinking of attending in a year, though.
And then what? I mean, after college.
I like teaching. I'd love to teach at Harvard one day, or perhaps come back here and continue teaching at Plumfield.
I bet the kids would like that the best. You know, they're really lucky to have you as a teacher. I would have loved to have gone to a school like this when I was growing up.
Well, it's never too late to continue your education. Perhaps I could even tutor you privately.
Oh, really?
Would you like that?
Are you kidding? I'd love it, although I don't know how I'd be able to keep my mind on my
schoolwork with such a handsome teacher.
Well, you'd better, otherwise I'll be forced to keep you after class.
Sounds good to me.
Sighing with frustration, he took off his hat and threw it hard against the wall at the other end of the loft. When it landed in the hay, he heard a sharp rattling sound; sitting up, he looked around the loft, trying to spot who, or what had made that noise. Not seeing anything, he crawled over to the wall and reached out to pick up his hat, but the moment he picked it up, an angry rattlesnake lunged from underneath the hay and sunk its fangs into the soft flesh of Franz's forearm. Crying out in pain, he lunged backwards. Then he sat up and looked at his arm, at the two marks where the snake had bit him. Slowly, the skin was starting to darken as the venom spread throughout his body. Panicked, he backed towards his suitcase and frantically searched for something, anything, that might help.
"I wish I were back at Plumfield right now," Franz mumbled to himself, "Nan would know exactly what to do."
Moments later, he could feel the room start to spin, and just before everything went black, he called out with every ounce of his strength,
"Isabel!"
~Part Five~