PART 2

Later that day, the stage arrived in Boston. As the stage slowed down, Nan stuck her head out the window in a very unladylike fashion, to look out at the big city that awaited her.

"Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve been here." Nan looked out the window, her face showing amazement.

"Been awhile since I’ve been here too, Nan. It’s nice to know that I won’t be running the streets of Boston anymore," Nat looked at her and smiled. She couldn’t help but smile back at him. Lately, the two of them had gotten real close. They were the best of friends and loved spending time with each other. Nan couldn’t help but wonder where their relationship was headed. Would they always be this close? She hoped so.

After the stage stopped and the other passengers had gotten off, Nat quickly stepped off and held his hand out to Nan. Nan took the outreached hand and stepped down.

"Nan!" They both heard somebody yell. Nan turned toward the voice as Nat went to retrieve their luggage.

"Father!" she called out to the man that was walking toward them. Nan ran over to hug her father. A couple of years ago, Joseph Harding went to see Nan at Plumfield. There had been a few problems between the father and daughter, but everything had all been worked out.

Mr. Harding was now living permanently in Boston, and Nan and Nat were going to be staying with him while they went to college. He only lived a mile from the university, so it would be easy to get back and forth. Also, they thought that it would be good to have him and Nan get to know each other again and better.

"Nan, my little girl, my how you’ve grown into a beautiful young woman," he said as he held her out at arm’s length. "Sending you to Plumfield was the best thing I could have done. I couldn’t have turned you into the woman you’ve become."

"Oh, father." Nan blushed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Nat," he looked over at the young man that just walked up to them. They shook hands. "It’s good to see you again."

"Good to see you to, Mr. Harding," Nat said to him. "The luggage is already on your wagon."

"Great!" he looked over to his daughter. "Let’s all get home then."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Joseph Harding’s house wasn’t big, but it was a nice house. It had three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and small parlor.

Later that evening after Joseph went to bed, Nan found herself sitting in the parlor staring up at the mantle. That was where Nat found her.

"Nan," he stood in front of her.

"Oh, hi, Nat."

"What are you looking at?" Nat sat down on the couch beside her.

"Up there," she pointed at the neatly lined up pictures that were being displayed on the mantle.

"Those pictures of you?"

"And mother and father," she added.

Nat stood up and took one of the pictures in his hand. It was a picture of all three of them. Nan couldn’t have been more than two years old when that picture was taken. A wave of sadness washed over Nat as he thought about his parents that he didn’t have anymore. The sadness passed as fast as it came. He laid the picture down and sat back down beside Nan.

"Are you OK?" Nat looked at her, a worried look across his face.

"Yeah, I’m OK," she said to him. "The pictures just brought back memories is all."

"What kind of memories?" he asked cautiously.

Nan looked over at him. There was a tear running down her cheek. "When Mama died," she said quietly.

Nat knew the story. He’d heard about her mother dying from "the fever". He pulled her into a comforting embrace and wiped away her tear. She let herself fall into his arms, and soon more tears were falling.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Here we are, kids; the University of Boston," Joseph pointed up to the big building in front of them.

"It’s bigger than I thought," Nan said, quietly observing her surroundings.

"Never used to be this big. It’s grown a lot over the past few years."

Nat jumped down from the wagon. Joseph had brought them over by wagon even though he only lived a mile from school. On the days that he was unable to take them or pick them up, they were close enough to walk.

"Come on, Nan," Nat helped her down.

"Just go in those front doors. They should tell you what to do from then on," Nan’s father said, before he left them on there own.

"Well, you ready?" Nat placed his hand on her back.

"Yes," she said excitedly.

"Then let’s go." They started walking toward the big building and their future.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That evening, Joseph took Nan and Nat out to supper at a nice, quiet restaurant.

"So, how did the day go," he asked the kids.

"Fine. Spent most of the day getting our schedules figured out, getting our books, touring the building, figuring out where our classes will be starting on Monday. That sort of thing," Nan replied.

"I thought it was all pretty confusing myself," Nat said.

"It’ll get easier as the days go by, Nat. Then it’ll be the normal routine," Joseph told him.

"I hope so," he smiled.

"Do you two have any classes together?"

"Just one," Nan replied. "Algebra."

"I was hoping we’d have more than that together, but I have to take English Composition and English Literature classes along with history." Nat said.

"And my classes are mostly pre-med. classes. Anatomy, health, science, those type of classes," Nan said.

"I’m sure you’ll make some friends in those classes," her father said.

"I suppose so."