No Small Victory (16 page)

“That's a great idea,” exclaimed Bonnie. She might be picked last for baseball, but not for spelling.

Then, as she turned to smile at the teacher, relishing the thought of another win, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

Someone had fallen into the snow. It was a child, lying face-down in the frozen whiteness.

Bonnie ran back but the teacher reached his pupil first and was turning the child over.

It was little Grace Danford.

Her body was limp and motionless as Mr. McDougall knelt down to pick her up. Her face was as white as the snow in which she lay.

THIRTEEN:
FEVER

The children trailed along in silence beside and behind Mr. McDougall now as he carried Grace across the schoolyard. At the gate, he stopped and looking down at the child, whose eyelids flickered open, he smiled kindly at her. Then he turned to his pupils.

“Tom,” he said, “you run to Billy Weir's store and ask him to phone the Danfords and Dr. Wright. Tell them we'll be in the town hall.”

Tom darted on ahead through the gate and across the street toward the General Store. The forlorn pupils tramped slowly across the road and around to the big fence that Slinky opened wide. Bonnie glanced briefly in the direction of the ice pond that was now completely covered in snow. Then the children filed up the half dozen steps and into the upstairs hallway of the old town hall.

It was almost as cold and chilly inside the frame building as it had been outside. The wind and snow buffeted the northwest side, letting cold drafts blow in around the windows. Siftings of snow had settled there and also over most of the wooden chairs.

“Go to the basement,” said Mr. McDougall. “It'll be warmer.”

They found a roaring wood fire in the pot-bellied stove and beside it sat Mr. Hubbs. “Well, I've got her going good,” he said. “What have we here?” he added, when he saw Grace.

“Grace Danford fainted but she's come 'round. I sent Tom to phone for her parents and the doctor.”

“I'll go upstairs and wave them in when I see them coming,” said Mr. Hubbs. He hurried up the steep stairs.

“Now, children,” said Mr. McDougall. “We need a bed for Grace.”

Lizzie spoke up. “We'll put chairs together.” She and Angela dragged two chairs off the stacked heap of them, and it made just room enough for Grace's bed.

“Wait!” said Archie. He pulled off his coat and laid it on the chair. Grace's brothers stood frowning and motionless—almost as if in a daze.

“Thank you, Archie,” said the teacher. He laid Grace very carefully onto the makeshift bed—coat and all. Then he wrapped her snugly on all sides with Archie's coat.

The whole class crowded around Grace. Her colour had come back, and her cheeks were even a little flushed now. The younger Danford boy started to whimper. His older brother wrapped an arm loosely around his shoulder.

“Boys, please go upstairs and watch with Mr. Hubbs,” said Mr. McDougall. “We'll take good care of your sister.” The older boy nodded to Mr. McDougall and pulled his brother gently by the hand.

Then Mr. McDougall looked over the straggly bunch—some with books and some without—and said, “Now, everyone, grab a chair from that stack and make rows over here. It'll be a make-shift classroom. We'll—”

“You aren't going to make us do school work, are you?” said Slinky.

“That's exactly what we are going to do. We can go over some of your memory verses. This is just the time. But keep your coats on.”

Archie sat shivering. His big sister Lizzie took her coat off and handed it to Archie. But he shook his head and clasped both arms around himself. His face was almost as pale as Grace's.

Mr. McDougall stared at the irregular rows of chairs. All the grades were mixed up.

He sighed. “I've decided to read instead—as long as it's very quiet so that everyone can hear clearly.” There was a somewhat low mumble of approval and so the teacher shuffled through his bag of books.

Bonnie hoped they'd be quiet—not that anyone was making a great noise at all, but a couple of Grade Ones were sniffling and coughing. Some of the others, like Archie, were shivering out loud, their teeth chattering. Pearl was sniffling into her handkerchief.

“Ah, just the book.
The Adventures of Sammy Jay
by Thornton W. Burgess.” He glimpsed down at Grace and then took a chair a little distance away.

“Sammy Jay doesn't mind the cold of winter...” Mr. McDougall began. Bonnie settled into her chair. Soon she was lost in the world of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest where Sammy Jay liked to play pranks on his friends. Mr. McDougall read surprisingly well—Bonnie could almost imagine Sammy strutting around in his “handsome coat of blue, trimmed with white.”

“Sammy Jay never seems really happy unless he is stirring up trouble for someone else,” the teacher's voice rang out clearly in the little room that was gradually growing warmer and warmer. “He just delights in—”

“No, no!…Stay away!” screamed little Grace. Mr. McDougall rushed over to her side.

Grace was now sitting up and staring straight ahead in fear. “There's no one there. You're just fine,” said Mr. McDougall very kindly. “Now, please lie down.” He put his arm gently around Grace's small shoulders and helped her lie back. She seemed calmer now.

Clomp, clomp, clomp!

Mr. Hubbs led Dr. Wright down the stairs. “Where's the child?” he asked, opening his black bag.

“Right here, Doctor,” said Mr. McDougall.

Dr. Wright bent over Grace. Then he squatted beside her, listened to her heart, and took her temperature under her arm. He stood up and shook his head as he mumbled something to the adults.

Then more steps were heard from above. “She's down there, Dad. They're all down here.”

Then Mr. Danford flew down the stairs and rushed to his daughter. He knelt beside Grace and felt her forehead. “She's burnin' up—my little Grace is burnin' up.” He stared at the doctor.

“Just leave her here for the moment,” said Dr. Wright. “Mr. Danford, come upstairs. I want to give you medicine and instructions for her care. Mr. Hubbs, will you come as well?” Most of the class sat very still and waited.

But Bonnie wiggled on her seat. This day had turned out to be nothing like a holiday. Unexpectedly, it had become horrible.

Mr. Danford came back with two blankets. After warming them for a short time by the stove, he wrapped them snugly around Grace and carried her back up the stairs.

Then Mr. Hubbs joined them again. He mumbled something to Mr. McDougall, who turned to the pupils. “The storm is passed and the sun is shining,” he said. “I'm dismissing school for the day. You may leave for home now. Don't dawdle. One doesn't know when another storm might hit.”

All the pupils clambered up the stairs in a rush. Marianne poked Bonnie. “C'mon and have a ride with us. Dad won't mind. At our house, you're still a heroine for bringing me home in the snow.”

“Right,” said Mr. Hubbs. “We'd be honoured to give you a ride—all the way home.”

Bonnie and Marianne crowded together on the floor of the one-seater cutter, for the empty space beside Mr. Hubbs would be filled by Mrs. Hubbs, who was waiting at the General Store.

Riding backward now, they waved at their friends, who were straggling along in no hurry to reach home. A bright sun was shining and they were enjoying the walk.

“Best thing for all of us to be out in this fresh air,” said Mr. Hubbs.

“What's the matter with Grace?” asked Marianne. “Is she going to be all right?”

Mr. Hubbs hesitated. “We certainly hope so. Dr. Wright thinks she may have scarlet fever. He says there are a few cases in Peterborough. And the Danfords visited cousins there a couple of weeks ago.”

“How kind of you to bring Bonnie home,” said Mum. “Won't you folks come in?”

“We dropped off my better half on the way over. Marianne and I have to get back to the chores. Now, don't fret about me bringing Bonnie home. It's a small kindness compared to her brave act of dragging my daughter home. Half frozen to death, she was! And she might have been dead if Bonnie hadn't helped her.”

“Well, I'm thankful you've brought Bonnie home again. But I'm surprised that the children are out of school so early today. Is anything wrong?”

“Bonnie'll tell you all about it. Marianne and I have to get back home.”

“Bye, Marianne, bye, Mr. Hubbs. Thanks for the ride!”

As soon as the Hubbs were gone, Bonnie stepped inside the dining room and exclaimed, “Poor little Grace is awful sick. Dr. Wright thinks it might be scarlet fever!”

Bonnie flopped her bag full of books onto the kitchen floor with a gasp.

“Scarlet fever!” Mum looked worried. Everyone feared scarlet fever. The dreaded disease lasted six weeks or more and was worse than red measles. If the victim's temperature went too high, the person might be left deaf, blind, or brain-damaged. Or worse. “Poor little Grace. She's such a delicate child. We must pray for her.”

“I could be next,” Bonnie said. “I was so close to Grace. We kept warm under the buffalo robe together on the way to school.”

“You'll be fine, Bonnie,” said Mum, assuredly. “You were inoculated at your old school.”

Bonnie wasn't so sure. “I missed the last three of those five needles,” she reminded her mother. The two inoculations she'd had back in Massassaga had made her very sick. The second one had made her feel as if she were floating around the ceiling of the principal's office. Her teacher had laid her on the couch there to wait for Dad to fetch her home. Bonnie shuddered at the memory. If she got scarlet fever, would she feel like that for six weeks?

“I don't want to be sick again—not now!” Bonnie almost wailed.

“No one wants to be sick, Bonnie. And you may not be. Anyway, we'll face that when we have to.” She bent to pick up Bonnie's bookbag. “Why on earth did you bring so many books home?”

So Bonnie related to her mother all the events of the day. “Some of the others heard Dr. Wright say that anyone with a fever would be under quarantine, along with their whole family, too.”

“Quarantine!” Now Mum was worried again. Everyone knew how awful that was. The Medical Officer of Health gave you a cardboard poster that had to be nailed onto the front door to warn people to stay away. Only the father of the family could leave the home for food and bare necessities. Farm families could go around their barns and property, of course. In some ways, it was really easier for them.

“I'm worried about Archie,” Bonnie said. “Grace slept on his coat. And anyway, he didn't look well. He couldn't stop shivering—like Grace.”

“Go change out of your school clothes,” Mum told Bonnie. “I'm going to phone Dr. Wright.”

After supper that evening, Mum shared with Dad what she had discussed with Dr. Wright. She was so anxious, she forgot to send Bonnie out of the room. Bonnie tried to wash the dishes quietly, so that she could hear what was being said.

“He can't say if Bonnie's immune or not. Some of these inoculations are so new that even the doctors don't know much about them. Back in Massassaga, it was said that that serum was just an experiment.”

Bonnie started to feel weak and shaky. It had been a frightening day. This topped it all.

“The children around here have not been inoculated at all,” Mum added. “And Dr. Wright does not have any serum. There wouldn't be time anyway to do anything if this becomes an epidemic.”

The plate Bonnie was holding slipped out of her soapy hands and hit the edge of the dishpan with a loud clatter. Luckily, it didn't break, but Mum got up from the table.

“For goodness' sake, let me finish those, Bonnie, or I'll have no dishes left. You run along to bed, now.”

Her words were brisk but she smiled at Bonnie. “Take a lamp up with you if you like. That overloaded bag of yours must have a book in it that you're dying to read.”

That scared Bonnie more than anything else she'd heard so far. Mum must really be worried if she was encouraging Bonnie to read in bed.

Still, she wasn't going to miss her chance. After she'd changed into her nightgown, Bonnie sat up on her bed with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and opened the book she'd borrowed from the church library. It was called
Little
Women
; she was sure it would take her mind off school fires and scarlet fever.

FOURTEEN:
ARCHIE

“Teenie may have it,” confided Angela. “She's running a temperature. Mum's calling Dr. Wright today.”

“Is she as pale as Grace was?”

“I don't know. Lizzie and I have been at Grandma and Grandpa Chapman's since the weekend. Mum phoned for us to stay there—in case Teenie has the fever. It's a closer walk to school, anyway.”

“Is Archie there, too?” Bonnie asked.