Past, Present & Future

The carriage stopped in front of the Plumfield house, the sound of the horses could be heard in the classroom while the Plumfield kids were reading their assignment. Mrs. Jo had left with Mr. and Mrs. Laurence and Mrs. Brooke three days earlier and the kids knew that this was them returning. They all looked at Mr. Paddington, curious to see if they would be allowed to see the outcome of this voyage Mrs. Jo had undertaken to Boston. They all were hoping that she had managed to bring Nick back with her, but meanwhile Charles’ thoughts conjured up a lonely Mrs. Bhaer and he coming to the rescue.

“You may take a momentary break to see our visitors,but then it is back to the books,”Charles said, he also wanting to know who had actually come back from Boston, was it four or five people.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Jo was out of it and beginning to get her luggage without a word. Asia walked outside to welcome everyone back.

“So you are back, how did it go?,” Asia asked. She had not yet seen Jo because the carriage was blocking her view. As soon as Jo stepped away from the carriage, Asia instantly could read from Jo’s face some of what had occurred in Boston.

“What did that man do to you Jo?,” asked Asia, now a little upset herself too.

Jo said nothing, only took her luggage and went into the house solemnly. Asia walked past her to the carriage to talk to the others.

“Nick had already boarded ship and left. He had no idea that Jo was on her way to Boston to catch him. Jo tried to yell out to the ship, but it was too far for anyone to hear, so he never said anything to her to hurt her in any way. He’s not that kind of man. I think it is the silence that hurt her so much, and seeing that ship float away knowing that he was on it,” Meg recounted the events of the last three days to Asia.

At that moment all of the children ran up to the carriage before Asia could continue her conversation with the three remaining people.

“Hello,” Nan said.

“Where’s Mrs. Jo?,” asked Dan.

“Yeah, where did Nick and she run off to?,” asked Bess while laughing.

“Actually, kids, Mrs. Jo has not been feeling well, she went upstairs to take a nap and Nick had already boarded his ship and left,” Asia said with the full facts, she did not want to lie to them about any aspect, she would just leave out the part that Jo was now heartbroken. Charles knew what “Mrs. Jo not feeling well” meant and twisted his mouth into a smile, he knew he had won this game, or so he thought.

“How could he leave just like that?,” asked Tommy disappointed.

“It must have been the lure of the sea,” Emil tried to contemplate.

“Whatever the reason, we must pray that he will remain safe and that Mrs. Jo will be okay,” Asia reinterated into their minds.

Rob snuck out of the house and came up to Asia.

“Ma isss saddd. Please make her stop cry,” little Rob said to Asia.

“I wish I could little Rob dear, but your ma needs her time alone now to cry this thing out,” Asia told the little listener.

Now, Asia knew the kids had figured out that Mrs. Jo was upset and simply to them the reason was Nick’s absence.

In the kitchen, Meg was helping Asia with dinner. She had decided to stay at Plumfield for a couple of days to help her sister through this event in her life, just as Jo had done for her many times. Amy was going to watch over Demi and Daisy for those two days. The children had been ushered back in for school for the rest of the afternoon, and this left Meg and Asia alone to talk about what had happened in Boston.

“So Jo did not even see Nick before he left?,” asked Asia.

“No she did not. We were too late, but I wonder what he would have done if Jo had gotten there to see him,” Meg wondered.

“I wonder where his ship will dock at next?,” Asia thought out loud.

“Only one way to find that out is to send a telegram to the Atlantic Ship Company that his ship belongs to,” Meg said matter of factly. She had already found out the ship company to do this same plan.

“I thought that Nick sailed with the Merchant Marines?,” asked Asia.

“Well, he did, but he did not join back up with the Merchant Marines, he is just sailing on a regular ship I guess. I thought the same thing at first,” Meg said to answer Asia question.

“Then what are we waiting for?,” Asia said enthusiastically.

“Waiting for what?,” Jo asked rather quietly while walking into the kitchen.

“Ummm…… while waiting for the potatoes to boil, we were going to cut the carrots, right Meg,” Asia said sort of distractedly.

Jo said nothing, got a glass of water and went back upstairs to her room.

“She really is taking this badly. Usually she always catches me in a falsehood and has fun rubbing it in my face, but this time she was not even interested,”Asia said in a worried tone.

“Okay, let’s finish preparing dinner and then we will got into town and send that telegram,” Meg stated as if it was a complete plan.

They completed dinner and were soon in town at the general store sending the telegram.

While Meg and Asia were gone to town, Rob crept into his mother’s room, hoping to comfort her.

“Hello ma,” Rob softly said to her as he crawled up on the bed beside her.

“Hello, my dear sweet Rob,” Jo said.

“Why you cry?,” Rob asked.

“Oh, I’m just a little upset, nothing for you to worry about my dear,” Jo said even though she knew it was a falsehood.

“Its because Nick gone. He come back, your little Rob know this,” Rob said as if he could accurately read future events.

Jo felt comforted by Rob stating this and they both took a nap, well Rob did, Jo just laid there awake thinking about someone far away at sea.

Dinner at Plumfield was very quiet, Rob had managed to talk Jo into coming down to eat. All the kids ate in silence, sometimes glancing up to look at Jo. They now realized how upset she was and knew that they had to do something. In the midst of these glances, one was triumphant from across the table, and he was the only person to completely finish his plate of food, he seemed to be the only one in grand spirit this evening.

After dinner was completed the kids started their daily ritual, to clear the table and start dishes but, two people entered the room to briefly interrupt this particular evening. Amy and Laurie entered with a smile on their faces and ran up with a small piece of paper in their hands.

“Jo, great news, a telegram has come,” Amy practically screamed with excitement.

Jo still said nothing, the last time a telegram had come, it was from Nick and it had foretold what she did not want to realize.

“What does it say?,” asked Meg and Asia at the same time, not wanting to let everyone know that they were the reason for this mysterious event.

Amy read as follows:

From Atlantic Ship Company:

The ship Annie Marie will dock at Savannah, Georgia on the first of next month. It will remain at dock for 2 days and then continue on to the Caribbean.

Sincerely,

Mark Hodges, President

As Amy read this, Jo’s face changed to one of interest.

“Who sent a telegram to them?,” asked Jo.

Meg and Asia could no longer restrain themselves.

“Asia and I sort of sent it just to find out where Nick was headed, we thought it might help,” Meg said, finally confessing to the deed.

“Thanks,” Jo said rather surprised.

Jo walked away with the telegram in her hand, just staring at it.

While the kids were washing the dishes, they discussed their plan to help Mrs. Jo.

“We need to do something, but what?,” asked Nan.

“Well, we somehow need to let Nick know about everything and ask him to come back, but how do we do that?,” Dan said hoping someone could come up with a brilliant plan, unknown to him that he had gotten the idea.

“That’s it, we could send a telegram like Aunt Meg did,” Bess said with eyes that were excited with her own idea.

“That’s a great idea,” everyone chimed in at once. They quickly finished up the dishes and hurried upstairs to start writing what they wanted the telegram to say.

Asia looked at them funny as they ran up the stairs, but knew that they were just having their own fun.

“What should it say?,” asked Nat.

“Well, it should say that Jo and us need him to come back and that we miss him, including Jo,” Nan said, as if knowing exactly what the telegram should contain.

“What else then?,” asked Tommy.

“Well, we cannot put everything Tommy, because telegrams are better when they are short and precise,” Bess said as if she had sent many telegrams before herself.

“I think that we should mention that he means a lot to Plumfield,” Dan said.

“Okay, this is all good, but what if it does not get him to come back, we need to make sure that this telegram makes sure that he comes back,” Nan said in coniving manner.

She had just thought of one of her famous plots to get Nick back to Plumfield.

“Well, if you have any brilliant ideas Nan, then please share it with us now, because I would sure like to hear it,” Bess said in a rude tone.

“Well, we can send a telegram saying that Mrs. Jo is very ill. That should be sure that he comes back as fast as he can,” said Nan, bright with energy from this new plan.

“Not another plan Nan,” said Nat while shaking his head.

“Well this one has gotta work, because there is no other way,”Nan said.

Everyone agreed to put this into the telegram, so it was written.

They all asked to go shopping in town at the general store, so Asia took them in the hay wagon. They ran up with their telegram and it was sent. They left town that day triumphant and proud and walked around Plumfield all day like that.

The Annie Marie arrived at Savannah and docked there. When all people on board arrived they checked in at the office and were given any mail or possible telegrams. Nick was handed an envelope along with his money(pay check) that was owed him from the ship lines for them completing the first part of the trip. Nick looked at the envelope, but then just stuffed it in his pocket, not knowing that it contained something important.

“Well, let’s got settle down for the next two days and enjoy ourselves,” Tom told Nick and patted him on the back.

“Sure,” was all Nick could say, but he had a funny feeling about something.

Nick and Tom settled in their room, changed clothes and got something to eat. But, as Nick was cleaning out his pockets that night, he found that envelope and decided to open it and see what was inside.

At that moment, he noticed that it was a telegram. ‘Who would be sending me a telegram here, who knows that I am here,’ thought Nick, curiosity now entering his mind.

Nick read the following telegram:

To:Nick Riley( Atlantic Shipping Company)

Please come back to Plumfield as soon as possible, Mrs. Jo is very ill. We all want you to come back, including Mrs. Jo. Rob also wants to say hi.

Love,

Plumfield

After Nick read the telegram, worry entered his soul. Jo was will. ‘What are you doing here Nick Riley?’ he thought to himself.

‘You want to be back there at Plumfield, I can’t help Jo from here. I love her and I will not allow her to die without knowing,’ and with that thought Nick quickly wrote a short note for his friend Tom and left.

Nick went to the shipping company office and inquired about any ships that might be leaving soon to head back north to Massachusetts.

“You are in luck sonny, the ship Lady Jane is leaving tomorrow morning to Massachusetts,” the office attendee told Nick.

Nick sent a telegram to Plumfield foretelling his return in months time. Meg and Amy were the bearer of this grand news to Jo. As Meg read the telegram, Jo hugged Meg in a death grip with tears of happiness coming down her cheeks.

The kids were so happy that Nick was going to return, but never telling of the plot they had done to get him back.

A few days later, with Jo back to her normal self, was running around the kitchen humming to herself while cutting carrots for dinner. Asia could not help but be happy that her best friend was again happy.

But unbeknownst to the happy Plumfield household, unhappy news was to come upon it.

A carriage stopped in front of Plumfield, carrying two passengers.

Jo noticed them from where she sat writing in her conscience book, considering she had neglected it since coming back from Boston.

They came into the house, but this time they did not have the presence of happiness with them. Again, Meg was holding a telegram. Jo looked into her eyes and knew that this was not good news, but she was not ready for what she was about to hear.

“I’m so sorry Jo,” was all Meg could say.

“Sorry about what Meg?,” asked Jo.

“A telegram just came,” Meg said.

“Well, what did it say?,” Jo asked.

“Yesterday, the Lady Jane went down in a storm off the coast of Savannah,” Meg said, but could not finish before Jo interrupted her.

“Well, Nick has gone down in a lot of ships,” Jo said, trying to take the news in a positive light.

“No you don’t understand Jo, all hands aboard the Lady Jane were lost at sea,” Meg finally blurted out the unwanted news.

“No, that can’t be, if he was dead, I would know it. He can’t be gone,” Jo said as tears began welling up in her eyes. She ran out of the house to the fence outside.

‘It can’t be true. He was coming back to me. He can’t just be gone like that. I would know it, I don’t feel that he has left me alone,’ thought Jo to herself.

The wind blew through Jo’s hair as if a spirit was just coming through the pasture. Jo just leaned against the fence, sobbing into her hands for the loss that she has again endured in love.

What will happen next in Jo’s life now that Nick has left her life. Keep reading to find out what will happen in the next part.

Part 6 Coming Soon!!!!

Please email me at Minuet26@aol.com and tell me what you think of the story!!!