The New Schoolteacher

By Tennessee

On the first day of school all of the kids were at their desks when a lady came in the backdoor. Everyone looked at her and she smiled and said, "Hello, class. My name is Miss Brown. I’m your new schoolteacher."

The class looked at her and she smiled. "We will have a great year of school. I’d like to be a friend to all of you."

Little Joe whispered, "She looks more like a kid than a teacher," and everyone laughed.

Miss Brown asked, "Who said that?"

Joe raised his hand. "I did."

"I’m older than I look, young man." When Little Joe made a face she asked him what his name was.

"Little Joe Cartwright."

"Your pa is Ben Cartwright?"

Joe nodded.

"I met Mr. Cartwright. He said if you gave me any trouble I should let him know."

Little Joe knew what Pa would do if he got in trouble at school - he’d come to school with him and everyone would laugh at him and call him a baby. He quickly apologized to the new teacher. "I’m sorry, Miss Brown."

She smiled.

The townspeople thought Miss Brown was too young to teach school, but the children loved her, and Little Joe was actually making good grades. Miss Brown made school fun even though they had to work hard.

One day she said, "Class, I was thinking last night that we need to have a school field trip."

Hoss asked, "What kind of field trip?"

She said, "I was thinking about maybe a camping trip to study the natural world outside the classroom."

The students liked the idea. Before the trip, they studied about trees, waterways, wildlife, leaves, and how to make a campfire and other survival techniques. The class could not wait until the weather warmed and they’d be able to take the field trip.

Margaret Green thought a camping trip was not right for young ladies, but Tess was old enough to make up her mind about going. Big Dan told Miss Brown a good place to camp. Miss Brown and the children rejoiced when spring came early and they were able to go on the trip two weeks before they’d planned.

The sun was bright and the wind was blowing lightly the day they left. Hoss had a packhorse to carry the food they’d need. And the whole class carried knapsacks and sang as they walked. It took them half a day to get to where they would make camp. The girls cooked a big supper and the boys washed the dishes.

That night they sat around the campfire and Miss Brown said, "We are all going for a hike to study the trees."

It got real cool that night and the next day they set off on their hike. They looked at trees and picked up rocks and found arrowheads and had a great time. Tess did not feel well. She had a cold and her fever was getting worse. But she did not saying anything.

Hoss noticed she wasn’t her usual self and asked, "Tess, are you all right?" He gave her his coat.

Tess said, "I’m fine, Hoss. Just tired."

They had one more night on their trip. That night Tess started to cough, and Ann went and got Hoss. He sat up with her and watched her all night. He fell asleep by her side and when he work up he saw that it had gotten much cooler and there was snow in the air. He yelled, "Wake up, everyone! It’s snowing!"

The wind picked up and sent the snow blowing into their faces. Miss Brown knew they were in trouble. She called out everyone’s names to make sure all the schoolchildren were accounted for. "Listen to me," she said. "We all need to stay calm. Everyone hold hands with the person beside you."

Little Joe, Ann, and Sue made it to Hoss and Tess. Ann wailed, "I want Adam." Sue was crying too and Tess was holding tightly to Hoss. The wind blew the snow so hard they could not see more than a foot in front of them. All the children started running and Miss Brown tried to see where all the kids were.

Hoss said, "Everyone make a circle." He got Miss Brown and they again made sure everyone was there.

Hoss asked, "Little Joe, where is that cave you and Sue play at?"

"I’m not sure," Little Joe answered. He looked around and then pointed. "I think this way."

"Everyone hold onto the person in front of you," Hoss said. "Don’t let go."

They walked very slowly. The ice burned their faces. Hoss helped Tess when she fell down. "We’ll be to the cave in a minute," he said.

When they reached the cave they did roll call again and everyone had made it.

When Adam woke up and saw the snow he called for Pa. Ben ran to look out the window. Hop Sing came out of his room and looked too. They heard someone yell on the front porch and ran to the door. It was Big Dan. He said, "I know where they camped. We better hurry. It’s getting colder."

Ben and Adam dressed quickly and Hop Sing got their horses ready. They rode out and met up with Mr. Goodman, who had rounded up the fathers of several of the other schoolchildren. Big Dan lead them to the camp but they found no one there. The camp was a mess. They had to get off their horses and walk.

At the cave Hoss made sure everyone was all right. Some of the girls were crying. Tess was coughing more and her skin felt very warm. She’d injured her face when she’d fallen on the ice.

"I’m sure the folks from town are looking for us," Hoss said.

"Hoss is right," Miss Brown said.

When Sue shivered, Little Joe gave her his coat. Hoss put his arms around Tess.

Ben and the rest of the searchers saw the horse the class had brought still tied to a tree. Adam found their cache of food. It looked like deer had been in it. Big Dan tried to pick up the children’s trail again but he could not because of all the blowing snow.

Finally it stopped snowing and Hoss told Miss Brown he would return to camp and ride the horse to town for help. "I will make the trail so I can find my way back," he said.

She said, "Be careful."

He smiled and said he would. He walked and watched the trees to make sure he was going the right way. He was glad for his big coat; the wind was cold. He kept walking, and he marked his route as he went. He saw the big rock and knew the camp was not far now. He walked faster. When he came out of the trees, he saw Adam. "Adam!"

The men ran to him. "Where are the others, Hoss?"

"They’re in a cave near here. They’re all cold. Tess is sick with a high fever."

Big Dan said he would ride to the Ponderosa and get Hop Sing and supplies. Hoss lead the men to the cave.

"Pa!" Little Joe shouted when he saw Ben. He ran to him.

"Are you OK, son?"

"I’m fine, Pa."

All the fathers comforted their children. When Ann saw Adam she ran to him. "Your brothers saved us," she said. She looked up at him. "Hoss rounded everyone up and made sure they stayed calm. Little Joe lead us right to the cave."

Ben heard her and smiled at his sons. He checked on Tess and saw that she really just had a bad cold. Miss Brown walked over to them and said, "Your sons are wonderful, Mr. Cartwright."

"I know," Ben said with a grin.

Hop Sing and Big Dan got there. They made a fire and prepared hot tea for everyone. Hop Sing passed out chunks of bread he’d made the day before.

The group walked back to town and Miss Brown made sure everyone got home safely.

At the Ponderosa, Ben praised his sons for the way they’d help save their new teacher and classmates. Hoss and Little Joe smiled. "We did what you taught us to do, Pa."

It snowed off and on for a few days. All the children rested. When they got back to school Miss Brown said, "Class, I’m so sorry our field trip didn’t go as planned."

Hoss said, "Out here that happens sometimes. The weather is unpredictable and we are used to it."

She smiled. "Our next field trip will be in the summer."

Everyone laughed and so did she. They were glad to be back in their warm, sheltered classroom.

The End