Another Governess / The Least Blacksmith: A Diptych

Chapter 30

69 ANOTHER GOVERNESS The nursery door is open. It is a wooden door, a small wooden door; a child could push open the door. Where are the children ? It is a dark time of day. Not night. No, it is a dark time of year. It is a dark season. The walls are very gray. The carpet is wet. The chairs are empty. Where are the children? The nursery is small. The nursery is meant for children, small children. There must be children somewhere in the nursery. Children laugh and play in the nursery. They play tricks. They tip the rocking horse. They tip the two chairs. They whistle to the dogs that go up and down the staircase. They kiss the dogs. They hit the dogs. They climb into the desks. They climb into the crib. They make holes in the carpet. They crawl into the holes. They wiggle. They laugh. They are rosy and dear. Little dears, that is what she called them. She counted to three. She put her hands on her eyes. She stood by the crib. She covered her eyes with a rag. She counted to ten. Charles has 10 apples. 30 70 JOANNA RUOCCO He gives his sister 7. How many has he left? He spends 6 cents for apples. 9 cents for cakes. A cake is worth 3 apples. How hungry is Charles? Twice he drinks 2 quarts of milk. 2 children start from the same place. They travel in the same direction . How many halves in 3 apples? On the wagon: 1 sack of apples. On the wagon: 1 sack of sugar. 1 pail of milk. 2 barrels of pork. Charles wishes to divide his books into piles. 3 piles. 10 books. How many books in each pile? How many dogs in each sack? A drover gave 7 sheep to the farmer. He got a cow and a calf. A book for 10 cents and a top for 7. Charles ate 5 apples as often as his sister ate cakes. Ann ate cakes. How many cakes? The man had 5 sacks. He had twice as many daughters as sacks. Not sacks. The remainder between apples and cakes. What is the remainder? The unit is cakes. How many cakes? His daughters are how many cakes? Where are the sacks? A tree has 10 branches. 2 apples hang from a branch. 1 apple kicks. 1 apple has spots. It swings. It dangles. She counted to ten. She counted ten apples. Ten little pigs eat ten little apples. The pigs are still hungry. Ten brown soft apples. Ten white hard pigs. Pigs are not little. They are hungry. They dig ten little holes. She felt with her hands on the carpet. Hairs stuck to her hands. Crumbs stuck to her hands. She felt the edge of the tray. She felt the belly of a dog, the thick hair, the stiff, cold belly of a dog. She felt the stiff leg of a dog. The little dears—where could they be? They’d left behind their crumbs. They’d left behind their dogs. The nursery door banged on its hinges. The windows were open. There was a draft in the nursery. It was a dark time of day. Through the rag, it was night. It was wet. She banged her hip on the crib. She banged her shin on the table. She felt the rails of the crib with her hands. Little dears. She felt the frame of the door. She felt the cold in the hall. She felt the first step with her toe. She felt the second step with her toe. She felt the second step with her heel. She felt the third with 71 ANOTHER GOVERNESS her heel. She felt the fifth with her knee. She felt the sixth with her wrist. She felt the seventh with her chin, the eighth with her chin, the ninth with her chin, the tenth with her wrist, her ankle, her hip, her neck, her nose, her palm, her shin, her spine, her rib, her chin, her chin, her chin, her chin. ...