Read Online A Promise for Miriam by Vannetta Chapman - Free Book Online Page A

lined up where the road narrows, and they each had a huge pile of snowballs.”
    “Your brother became the king of snow fights.” Esther sighed as she looked out at the white flakes still coming down.
    “Don’t worry about the storm,” Miriam said, patting her on the arm. “Even if it is as bad as they say, at least it will make for a good three-day weekend.”
    “So no school tomorrow?”
    “Probably not. We’ll have the children write notes this afternoon saying school is closed on Friday, and whether we open Monday will depend on the weather. Someone from the school board will be by later this afternoon to give us a final decision, and then we’ll be ready to sign them. I’m sure our students will be terribly disappointed.”
    Esther smiled. “Oh, ya . I always hated snow days.”
    “No doubt you still do. Think of it this way—it’ll give you an extra day to sew.”
    “And it’ll give you an extra day to decide what to do with Stanley.”
    Miriam shook her head, the strings of her prayer kapp falling forward as she did. “I’ve received a lot of gifts since I began teaching, but never a mouse.”
    “The note was very sweet.”
    They both stared at the sheet of paper Miriam had pinned to the board near her desk. Written in Grace’s young penmanship, which was improving by the day, it read,
MiRiam,
I’d like to give you Stanley. He is the Bestest thing I own.
GRAcE
    “I’ll think of something,” Miriam murmured. “I don’t think my mamm or my dog would appreciate a mouse in the house.”
    As she rang the bell to call the children inside, she realized what she needed to do. It was a bit manipulative, but because she had decided it was in Grace’s best interest, she didn’t feel too badly. So much of teaching was directing students’ behavior. You did it for their own good, and because they didn’t always want to do what was best for themselves.
    Not all students wanted to study arithmetic, memorize multiplication tables, learn to spell correctly, or commit to memory the states and their capitals. So teachers gave grades and came up with rewards, which worked much better than punishments.
    She’d make a deal with Grace, one that she hoped would return Stanley to Gabe Miller’s home and, in the process, move Grace one step further along the path she’d planned out for her.

    Grace scribbled a question on her tablet. “You don’t want Stanley?”
    “I do want him. I like him very much.” Miriam ran one finger down the back of the little gray mouse as the children put away their school books and prepared the building for the long weekend—what would be at least a three-day break because the snowfall had increased throughout the afternoon. “But I’m afraid my dog wouldn’t like him very much. He would smell him. You know dogs have a keen sense of smell, right?”
    Grace had been scuffing her toe against the floor, but when she heard this, she looked up in interest.
    “Pepper doesn’t just smell well, he’s actually a hunting dog, which means he smells very well—almost as well as you draw.”
    Grace smiled broadly now.
    “Pepper isn’t allowed in the house, of course, but he’d smell Stanley, and he’d probably sit outside the door and howl so loud and so long that he would keep the entire family awake.”
    Grace began to giggle, though she didn’t make any sound. She covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes almost squinted shut.
    “I thought I might ask you to take care of Stanley for me, as a favor. Because you gave him to me, and he is my mouse now. I would appreciate it an awful lot.”
    Grace’s eyes widened at the request, and Miriam pushed on.
    “I have one more favor too. You know we’ve been practicing our Christmas music. I thought I might send home the words to these songs, and you could look at them and think of a way you could help us.”
    Now the little girl’s expression turned to one of panic.
    “I’m not asking you to sing, Grace. I’m only asking you