Christmas Daisy Read Free Page B

sighed at the thought.  Just the kind of guy she would fall for, if she were the falling type.  Which she wasn’t.  She had learned long ago her life was smoother when she traveled her path alone, no baggage to speak of materially, and certainly no people she needed to depend on.
    She pushed the errant thought of Ben Wilson’s appeal to the back of her mind, and focused o n the task at hand.   There was a big wooden door with a square glass window at the top of the steps. She peered in.  Teenagers. She sucked in a large breath, pushed open the heavy door, and went in to meet her class.
    ****
    Ben hastily made a nice mug of cocoa for his new teacher, DAISY Donovan, not Davey. How exactly had that happened?  Wishful thinking probably. And bad handwriting. His high school class could be more than a bit rough, a fact affirmed by the revolving door of substitute teachers he had gone through this term.
    The hot chocolate process took only a few minutes, and he was busy rehearsing the speech he had a feeling he might need when he entered her classroom.  Esmerelda was standing in the upstairs hallway, smiling.   She flashed him the OK sign, with a grin from ear to ear.
    “You picked just fine this time, ” she whispered , “Even if it happened by mistake. I’ve been eavesdropping. I’m going to get a kick out of this!”
    Instead of the havoc he was expecting, there was nothing but silence coming from the room Daisy had entered. Could a miracle have happened?
    With a deep breath, and a hopeful prayer, he tapped on the high school door and gently opened it, having NO idea of what he would find going on.
    Eyes widened in surprise, he saw Daisy seated cross legged on the top of her desk, with nine students in their chairs, seated in a kind of semi circle around her.  They were still, mesmerized, and absolutely listening. She was wearing the ridiculously large school sweatshirt.
    “Ah, Dr. Dan!” she broke off her speech, and addressed him with a broad smile.  “Hot chocolate! Just what I was wishing for.”  She turned back to her students.  “Did all of you get yours on the way in? I think so.”
    A grumble of assent and several nods were noted.
    “Well, fine,” he heard himself stammering.  “Looks like you are getting settled just fine here, so I guess I’ll get back to my office.”  He glanced at her chair, pushed over against the wall, which now held the giant bundle she had toted up the stairs. “Is your chair adequate? Do you need a different one?”
    “It’s perfectly fine, thanks.  I’ll probably get to it sooner or later. Have a nice morning!”  Her lips were curled into a sassy smile, as if to say, “I’m happy sitting here on this desk, and that’s that.”
    “Very good,” he stammered again, and closed the door behind him, shaking his head.  He didn’t know what puzzled him more, the subdued and obedient behavior of his oldest challenging students, or his own flustered reaction to the perky tiny woman with the long blonde braid who had just invaded his world.  But he stepped into his office with a heart that was lighter than it had been in months.

 
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
    Daisy’s first morning at New Horizons was a fun one.  She had faced the group of slightly hostile and extremely cynical teens with a smile.  Many were twice her size, and she could sense the attitudes that lurked behind their questioning eyes.  But she could also sense their curiosity. 
    So she had curled herself into the lotus position atop the desk, and started telling stories.  She told them tales of Africa, of people struggling with the after effects of tribal civil war, of building a school out of rolled tin and wire, and attaching giant leaves to the rafters for a roof to protect the students from the hot midday sun, or from the occasional harsh rains during the rainy season.  She told of students who had walked over fifty miles when they had heard there was a school in the territory,