Feelings
LHOP inspired fan
fiction by Cheryl C. Malandrinos
Disclaimer:
I do not own the Little House on the Prairie television series, book series, or
any of the characters.
Almanzo
watched Laura race to join her friends in the schoolyard. She joined the other children who were starting a game of baseball. Shouts and laughter
drifted from the schoolyard over to the platform of the Feed and Seed where
Almanzo worked. The only time the kids
seemed to have fun anymore was before Bart Slater arrived each morning.
Bart teased
and bullied the other students. He disrupted
class to the point where his sister and the town's school teacher, Eliza Jane, complained to Almanzo about the lack of
order in the schoolhouse. The school
board, led by Mrs. Oleson and her greed, refused to interfere. Wealthy Mr. Slater spent a great deal of
money in town, she had been quick to point out.
With no options left, Eliza Jane decided she and her students would be
better served by another teacher; someone more suited to dealing with the likes
of Bartholomew Slater. Almanzo and his
sister would have to move on.
Almanzo saw
Beth, that's what he called her, saunter up to home plate.
“Bring me
home,” her brother Albert shouted from second base.
The children in the outfield backed
up. She swung the bat a couple of times
and got ready for the pitch. Crack! The bat connected and the ball flew through the air. Her teammates shouted
when Albert touched home plate. By the
time the ball made it back to the pitcher, Laura stood on third base. Almanzo smiled. She was more athletic than a lot of the boys
on her team. No wonder they always
picked her first.
She sure
had pounded the dickens out of Nellie Oleson that day he had stumbled upon them
fighting in the mud. Almanzo
chuckled. Laura had an awful way of
getting into mischief.
Out of all
the people he had met in Walnut Grove, he would miss her the most. Why was he so fond of the girl? One of her pranks had left him gasping for
water and another had left his girlfriend standing in nothing but her bloomers
at the circus.
He knew she
had a crush on him, but he couldn’t help but say hi to Laura each morning as
she passed by the Feed and Seed on her way to school. Her smile and those freckled cheeks made his
day go smoother. Almanzo had made a
conscious effort since the circus not to encourage her feelings for him, but he
connected with her more than the ladies he had dated since coming to Walnut
Grove. And he loved that feisty nature
of hers.
Almanzo
remembered the day of Laura’s teaching exam.
After her mud fight with Nellie, he had brought Laura back to his house
to get cleaned up. Dressed in his robe
while her clothes soaked, the two chatted about her failing the test because of
Nellie tricking her into believing the test would be mostly vocabulary. Charles Ingalls had barged
in on them and punched Almanzo twice before Laura explained everything to her pa. Almanzo’s fatal error had been in telling
Charles that Beth was just a little girl. Laura's eyes had turned as red as her hair and she spat fire-filled words at her father and Almanzo before slamming the door behind her.
The school
bell rang and the children raced to get their books and pile inside. Laura shot a glance over at Almanzo, but
quickly turned away when she saw him looking in her direction. He tried to figure out what kind of man would
be a match for Beth’s temper. Whoever
married her sure would have his hands full.
Mr.
Slater’s wagon pulled into town. Bart
Slater sat triumphantly on the seat next to his father. Bart smirked at Almanzo as they drove
by. Almanzo glared at him. He hated feeling helpless. Because of Bart he was leaving the town he had
begun to call home. And being forced to
abandon his friendship with Beth gave him one more reason to dislike the boy
and his father.
Copyright Cheryl C. Malandrinos - All Rights Reserved.
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