The Peeler

By: Will B
(© 2009-2010 by the author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Frederick reached out to shake Edward’s hand, but somehow, the handshake became an embrace, and the embrace led to…a kiss!  Waves of happiness washed over both men as the first kiss led to another and then…

Let us just say that Edward never did make it back to his own bed that night.

 

Needless to say that of the five people in that building, only three: the youngest one and the two eldest people, slept soundly that night!

Chapter 5

Sunrise:

Frederick and Edward awoke with Frederick spooning Edward. Frederick gave Edward a kiss on the back of his neck and somehow that got Edward awake.

“Good morning, dear Edward. How are you?” Frederick asked.

“I’m so happy I don’t know how to express it,” replied Edward, who gave Frederick a kiss, which led to another and then…

The two young men finally got up and dressed. The fireplace had a hob* which held a kettle to heat some water, so they were able to clean themselves before they went down to breakfast. 

They found Williams and his sister, Jane, discussing who they thought the new Queen Victoria might marry, although Jane had some reservations.

“Well,” said John Williams, “Her Majesty, God Bless Her, could marry her cousin, George of Hanover, or her other cousin, George of Cambridge, but I don’t know…”

“Oh, botheration, John, she’s only eighteen. Time enough for her to be thinking of marrying in a few years,” said Jane Barton, as she dished up a platter of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, and tomatoes.

“Of course,” John went on, ignoring his sister, “The talk at the pub is that her mama and her uncle Leopold, King of the Belgies,** want her to marry her cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.”

“That’s as it may be, but I still think… oh! Good morning, Mr. Frederick, and Mr. Edward. Sit you down and have some breakfast.”

Just then young Nicholas came into the room, rubbing his eyes as if he were still sleepy, and said, “Can I have something to eat, please?”

“Good morning, Nicholas, and yes, you may,” said Jane.

“Nicholas, “ said Frederick, “after you finish, we’re going to get you some new clothes, and I think this afternoon you will start your lessons with Mr. Edward.”

“I’m going to have to get some writing materials for our school, now that we have our first pupil,” said Edward with a smile.

 As the groups finished their breakfast there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” said Williams.

When he opened the door, there was Digby, Mr. Dawlish’s clerk, and he had a large box. “Good morning, Mr. Williams. May I come in?” Dawlish asked with a smile.

“Certainly, sir. I’ll get Mr. Frederick—or would you like to join us for some breakfast, or at least a cup of coffee?” Williams inquired, at his most affable.

“Coffee would be very nice,” said Williams as he lifted the box and went into the dining room.

“Good morning, Mr. Digby,” Frederick said. “Come sit down and I’ll introduce you to some people you haven’t met yet….This is Edward Kent, my new teacher. Kent, Digby is a clerk for my lawyer, Mr. Dawlish.”

Kent and Digby shook hands.

“And this young man is Nicholas…Nicholas Lester, our very first pupil!” Frederick said.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, young man,” said Digby as he shook hands with Nicholas.

“We’re going to get Nicholas some new clothes and this afternoon he will start lessons with Mr. Kent,” Frederick explained.

“I think I have arrived at just the right moment,” said Digby. “I have here a present from Mr. Dawlish. He thought you might need some materials for your school, and so…,” Digby opened the box, and showed the group what he had brought: one hundred tablets of writing paper, and five hundred pencils. “These are a gift from Mr. Dawlish,” Digby explained.

“That was very kind of Mr. Dawlish,” said Edward. “I’ll be able to start teaching Nicholas right away. Nicholas, come over here for a minute, please.”

Edward sat the boy at a table and then sat across from him. Taking a pencil and a sheet of paper, he printed Nicholas’ name in large letters.

“Do you know what this word is, Nicholas?”

“No, sir.’

“That’s your name, ‘Nicholas.’ Now I will show you the sound each letter makes, and then we’ll go on to the other letters of the alphabet, and when you can recognize them all, we will put them together to make simple words at first, and then longer words.”

Nicholas sat there, entranced at the thought of learning this strange mystery. Then Edward gave him a sheet of paper and a pencil and said, “Do you think you could make one of the letters in your name? Try to make an ‘N.’”

Nicholas looked at the sheet with his name, and then picked up a pencil. Edward showed him how to hold the pencil properly, and then Nicholas, with his tongue showing between his teeth in concentration, slowly, laboriously made the letter. The he made it again, this time more smoothly. He looked at Kent, and then…he made the letter ‘I.” and then the ‘C’ and so on, until he had printed his whole name.

Oh, it wasn’t the beautifully formed letters Edward had made, but they were his letters and he had made them himself. No calligrapher, producing a beautiful manuscript, could have been prouder.

“Well done, Master Nicholas. We shall have you working as one of our master clerks in no time at all,” said Digby, who found he had a strange lump in his throat as he looked at the lad, so proud at his first attempt at writing.

Hmm! Several other people in the room had the same kind of lump in their throats, and a tickle in their eyes. There must have been something going around!

After a bit more conversation, Digby took his leave, and the others planned the rest of the morning’s activities. Frederick took Nicholas to a clothing shop and bought him several sets of clothing, and then took him to a cobbler’s shop where Nicholas received a brand new pair of shoes.

Looking at his companion, Nicholas said, “Oh, thank you, sir. You’re treating me just like my father used to before he…”

The boy couldn’t finish the sentence, and damn! There was that lump in Frederick’s throat again.

“That’s all right, so…, er, Nicholas. I’m happy to be able to do it,” Frederick said aloud, but then he thought to himself, ‘Did I almost call him son?’

Later that afternoon, Edward and Nicholas were learning the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they made. As they studied each letter Nicholas practiced making each letter as neatly as he could. Frederick was in his office when Williams came to the door.

“Excuse me, Mr. Frederick, but we have company. Reverend and Mrs. Bredon have come to call.”

“Thank you, Williams. I’ll be there directly.”

When Frederick went into the dining room, he found his visitors were examining Nicholas’ handiwork, and he was proudly showing off his new shoes.

“Well, sir,” said the reverend gentleman, “I can see that Nicholas is making excellent progress—and all in only half a day! Remarkable, just remarkable!”

“Mr. Kent seems to be a gifted teacher,” Mrs. Bredon added. “I’m so thankful that you have taken Nicholas into your school. I think the number of your pupils will grow.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I hope so,” said Frederick, and then added “Oh, Jane, might we have some tea and scones for our visitors?”

“Yes, sir. The kettle’s just on the boil.”

Soon the company was seated around the table enjoying the delicious tea that Jane Barton had prepared.

“There’s just one thing, Mr. Fitzwilliam,” said Mrs. Bredon. “You are taking care of Nicholas’ physical well-being, and his intellectual development—but what about his spiritual growth?”

Frederick was at a loss for words, but Reverend Bredon said mildly, “Now, my dear, we shouldn’t press…, but seriously, sir, if you and your family should be so inclined to attend divine service on Sundays, we should be most happy to see you. I promise you that my sermons are not long…. Not more than twenty minutes at the most!”

“Why is that, sir? I know some preachers can preach for hours,” Edward asked.

“Oh, a ‘higher power’ keeps me from putting people to sleep with a long sermon,” said Bredon, and he glanced at his wife with a smile, so that everyone present knew who the ‘higher power’ was.

“Fie! Reverend Bredon.” Mrs. Bredon exclaimed. “Pay no attention to him, gentlemen, Mrs. Barton. It’s just his whimsy to pretend that I can dictate to him….but, seriously, Mr. Fitzwilliam, I hope I do not ask in vain when I echo my husband’s invitation to join us on Sunday morning.”

Both Frederick and Edward found themselves liking the Bredons more and more and so Frederick said, “I think we would be happy to come to service this Sunday, and we’ll bring Nicholas, too.”

Soon it was time for the Bredons to take their leave, but not without Mrs. Bredon giving Nicholas a hug and getting a hug back.

As the entire household went to the door to see their guests off, Reverend Bredon remarked, "We’ll have to hurry, my dear." It’s only four-thirty, but look at how dark the sky is becoming. We’ll have rain shortly.”

As the couple walked quickly down the street, John Williams was about to shut the door, when he saw two people approaching the school.  As the two drew closer he could see that one was an older youth who appeared to be about seventeen, and the other lad to be about Nicholas’ age.

“Mr. Frederick, can you come to the door, please?” Williams asked.

The two youths approached and the older one spoke. “Good afternoon, sirs. I am Tom Rivers and this is my brother John. We have been told that you have a school where boys can learn to read and write. We’d very much like to attend your school, but we don’t have any money to pay. I was thinking that you might have some work I could do to pay the fees.”

Tom was a good looking young man, five-foot six, with curly brown hair. John was four feet tall with the same brown hair, but not quite as curly.

“I think you both should come in and we can talk about this,” Frederick said.

“Thank you, sir,” said Tom. Little John smiled and started to say ‘thank you,’ but a fit of coughing prevented him from saying anything.

Frederick and Williams led them to the dining room, where they were introduced to the others.

When they were seated, Frederick began. “This school does not charge fees for the education. We provide a school and a home where boys who have no other homes can stay. Your offer to work is much appreciated, but it’s not necessary.”

“Oh, but I…” Tom started to say, but Frederick held up his hand.

“On the other hand, there are some chores that you might assist Mr. Williams with, but you will still get an education,” Frederick went on.

“Excuse me, sir,” said Jane. “We’ve had tea, but I have some chicken soup that I was preparing for a light supper later on, but perhaps the young gentlemen would like some good hot soup now.”

“Jane, that’s an excellent idea. Thank you,” Frederick said. “Would you two like some chicken soup?”

“Oh, yes, please,” Tom said. “We haven’t eaten for…”

Little John had another fit of coughing.  Jane went to him, and felt his brow, and exclaimed, “Oh, mercy! The lad is burning up with fever.

Frederick said, “Williams, would you mind stepping around to Dr. Buchanan’s and ask if he could come back with you?”

“Yes, sir. Right away, sir,” said Williams and off he went.

To be continued...

Author’s notes:

* A hob was a ledge at the back of a fireplace. It was large enough to hold a kettle.

** Leopold of Saxe-Coburg had been chosen King of the Belgians some years earlier, and he had hopes of controlling the young Queen and, if she should marry him, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

As always my thanks to my reader, mentor, and friend, “Critter.”

Posted: 11/19/10