Chapter 22 #2
It was beyond curious, the fact that her stomach kept going all peculiar, especially considering she’d been contemplating kissing Seth often of late and had also been enjoying his company.
Frankly, it wasn’t as if the idea of a courtship with Seth came as a surprise, but for some reason, the very word was leaving her feeling all sorts of discombobulated.
Realizing that Louisa was now watching her closely, probably because she had a feeling she was sporting a look that matched the turmoil currently going on in her stomach, Annaliese summoned up a smile. “Forgive me, Louisa. I fear I was lost in thought.”
Louisa returned the smile. “Of course you were, my dear, as entering into a courtship is a most exciting time in a young lady’s life. I know I always felt as if I was on pins and needles until Seth’s father and I made everything official.”
“Did those pins and needles leave your stomach feeling odd?”
The smile on Louisa’s face dimmed. “Odd as in the feeling you get before opening your birthday gifts, or odd as in you’ve eaten a bad piece of fish?”
“I wouldn’t claim I feel as if I’ve eaten bad fish, but . . .”
Before Annaliese could finish the thought, Norma Jean came striding back to join them, stopping directly in front of her mother, which caused Louisa to come to a stop as well.
“Forgive me for interrupting,” Norma Jean began, her apology suggesting she’d actually been paying attention during the class Annaliese had taught about how to carry on proper conversations. “I just had a thought about something you said, Mother, and need a bit of clarification.”
“Clarification about what?”
“Appointing yourself as Annaliese’s chaperone.”
“I would think that’s rather straightforward.”
“On the surface, sure, but you see . . .” Norma Jean stepped closer to her mother.
“I don’t think Annaliese will want to delay searching for her aunt Ottilie if Charlie and Howard provide her with a map that’s credible, nor do I think Seth will want to return to Chicago and leave Annaliese to do that searching on her own.
” A distinct twinkle appeared in Norma Jean’s eyes.
“That means you’ll have to accompany them on their quest, and also means, since I know there’s no possibility of you sending me back to Chicago on my own, that I’ll have to tag along as well. ”
“And here I thought you’d figure that out the moment I proclaimed myself Annaliese’s chaperone.”
Norma Jean’s mouth went a little slack. “You’re really going to let me go after that treasure?”
“No, I’m going to let you come with us to an island Miss Ottilie Merriweather might be marooned on. However, if there happens to be a pirate treasure buried there, and perhaps one Ottilie hasn’t completely unburied, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to the two of us indulging in some shoveling.”
“That would be amusing, although . . .” Something that looked like calculation flickered through Norma Jean’s eyes as she turned to Annaliese. “Shoveling, while at first fun, might get rather tedious and, in fact, begin to seem like a form of punishment.”
“If that’s your way of suggesting that hunting for buried treasure with your mother should be considered your punishment for skunking up the school, think again,” Annaliese returned.
“It’s completely unnerving how you realized I was thinking that,” Norma Jean muttered.
“As a former student who occasionally had a certain disregard for the rules—something you pointed out—you really shouldn’t be unnerved that I’m capable of figuring out your thought process.”
“How unfortunate.”
“I think it’s delightful,” Louisa exclaimed.
“But since you broached the matter of punishment for your misdeeds, perhaps now is the perfect time for me to say something that has been on my mind ever since you left Chicago.” She stepped directly next to Norma Jean.
“I’ve realized that I’ve been delinquent with overseeing your upbringing, but that’s about to change. ”
“You’ve done a wonderful job with my upbringing,” Norma Jean argued.
“Nice try, but I’ve been negligent, which has allowed you to run wild,” Louisa countered. “I’m about to remedy that.”
“Remedy . . . how?”
Louisa smiled. “No longer will you be wandering around willy-nilly, doing as you please. Instead, you’ll be spending a great deal of time with me as I’m not intending on coming down with any additional cases of scurvy, or the plague, for that matter.”
One of Norma Jean’s eyebrows inched up a notch. “What about lockjaw? I recently read in a magazine I found in our library that there’s been an increase of lockjaw cases, and I’m relatively certain it’s the same magazine you got your idea for scurvy from.”
“Lockjaw cases are normally found in factory workers who’ve cut themselves on the job. Since I’m not intending on taking on a factory role anytime soon, I don’t believe we need to worry about that, or any other illnesses, since, as I’ve said, I plan to be more present in your life.”
For the briefest of moments, Norma Jean considered her mother, until her eyes welled and she blinked, which resulted in a single tear rolling down her cheek. “Do you promise to be more present?”
“With all my heart,” Louisa whispered before she drew Norma Jean close and hugged her quite as if she never wanted to let her daughter go, a sight that left Annaliese with the distinct feeling that even though she’d thought the skunking of the castle was a disaster of epic proportions, it was now beginning to seem as if it might have been a blessing in disguise.