The Power of Love

April 1st, 1655, (Monday):

Alden had convinced himself so thoroughly, that when Monday came, and he waited and waited for Parker at the fork, he grew alarmed. Had Parker's father gotten too rough? Had he beaten his son so badly this time that Parker couldn't go to school? Or had the man finally decided to pull his son from his education? Alden was torn between going on to school and going to Parker's cottage. His worry won out and he ran down the right fork towards the woods.
The woodcutter's dwelling gave every appearance of being desolate, deserted. Alden knocked. When no one answered, he pushed open the door and went in.
"Mr. Parker?" Nothing . . . "William?" Again, there was no reply.
Alden's footsteps echoed eerily through the unoccupied building. Relief waited on the sidelines, growing stronger as the youngster continued failing in his search for an injured friend. But . . . if he wasn't injured, then, why wasn't he in school?
"Will?" His voice shook with dread as he hesitated before the opening to the tiny cubicle where his friend slept. He nudged aside the old, faded curtain that was the only door to privacy Parker claimed, and peered inside. Relief flooded the young boy; Parker was not lying within.
But the question returned in full force . . . where was he?
Alden noticed Parker's clothing was not hanging on the pegs. It was then that the truth hit him; Parker had run off to sea.
Desolation struck hard. He had lost his friend. William had promised to wait but hadn't. Parker had lied to him. Tears flooded Alden's green eyes. Blindly, he stumbled from the silent cottage.
He was calm when he reached the school, embittered and irate, but calm enough until he saw Hudson.
"You two are late. You'll stay after and make up for your tardiness."
"Mr. Hudson . . . " There was something in his tone that made the teacher glance sharply toward him. The fragile dam of anger Alden had built around his heart broke and the agony of losing his best friend, of that pal's betrayal, returned fourfold.
"Raymond?" Hudson's tone was quiet, his walk toward his best student slow and easy, but his blue eyes contained concern.
"He's gone! William is gone! He told me he'd stay but he lied! He's gone!" Tears blinded him. He felt Hudson's hands on his arms and allowed the man to turn him around so he faced the hallway again. "He lied to me!"
"Aye, so you said. Murphy, you're in charge. I expect the work you're all doing now to be finished when I come back, and if I hear any noise, I shall be angry. Is that understood?"
"I'll keep them in line, Sir, " Murphy bragged pompously.
"See that you do." Hudson led Alden down the hallway and on to his private quarters. "I'll make you a warm cup of tea. Sit." Alden sat. He blinked rapidly to keep the tears at bay. "What happened?" Hudson inquired gently as he put water on to boil.
"William's gone." The tears overflowed again. "He lied to me; He said he would stay and he didn't."
"Where has he gone?" Hudson was a man who did not believe in wasted time; As he talked, he measured dark tea granules into his tea pot. Alden did not reply; He simply sat there, wiping at the moisture on his cheeks, in his eyes. "Alden, where did he go?"
"I promised I wouldn't say anything." The tears had ceased but the depression that darkened his life at that moment made his inflection dull.
"Aye, " Hudson murmured dryly, "you would." In a louder, clearer voice, he asked, "Does his father know?" He poured water into the tea pot, covered it with a thick cloth. The teacher went to the small davenport and sat beside Alden.
"I don't know." Grief altered the color of his eyes, darkening them. "Why did he do it?"
"Did he not say anything to you?"
"He said there was nothing for him here and that he was tired of getting struck by you and his father."
"What I did, I did for his own good. Someday, he'll realize that. I fear he'll not find it any easier at sea; Most captains keep a tight hold on the men on board their vessels. Nay, I doubt he'll find an easier life."
"I would like to go home."
"Why?" At the perplexed, hurting shimmer in the green eyes, Hudson announced briskly, "Life is not an easy thing to face at times, but you'll not be doing yourself a service by running away and hiding whenever something's bothers you." 
Alden bit his lower lip so hard, drops of blood appeared on the torn flesh. 
"You'll go back into that classroom and continue with your education."
"Yes, sir." A wall of grayness grew around him, like a mist it was, growing thicker with each passing moment.
"I expect you to continue as you did before. I'll not allow you to slack off."
"Yes, sir." The tears had finally ceased but the mist of depression hung on.
Hudson's touch of understanding shocked the boy. "It is hard now, saying good-by, but I promise, it'll get easier."
Alden believed him, and that offered him a great deal of comfort. "Yes, sir."
The next day, Parker, senior came stomping into the school room. "I heard my boy has run off! You, Alden, did you know he was going?!" The rage on his face made him appear uglier than he was. Fear froze Alden's voice. "I asked you a question!" The grown-up stepped further into the room.
Hudson stepped between the furious man and the youngster. "You canna come into my class room with your wrath."
"Step aside, schoolteacher," Parker, senior said in disgust. He shoved the smaller man aside and took two more steps toward Alden. The man's thick, strong hand went up. "Did you know?"
"I'll not let you batter someone's else's child." Hudson worked a miracle; One moment, Parker, senior was standing, and the next, he was flying backwards into the wall. The huge man was up again instantly. The wrath he was experiencing had grown until his whole face was mottled. "You will act like a human, if you can, or you will leave my home."
"You..." 
Hudson's stance stopped him. "If you try to touch Ray Alden, I will trash you to the very inch of your life." Something in his voice told the huge, mountain of a man that he would . . . and that he could. Parker, senior tried to glare him down but Hudson would not be capitulate and it was the taller, heavier man who surrendered, angrily to be sure, but succumb he did.
"I want my son." His inflection revealed his extreme rage.
"We shall go into my private quarters and speak. Alden, you will accompany us."
"Yes, sir." His voice, to his horror, was barely above a whisper.
"Hold your head up, Alden. You've done nothing wrong, " Hudson ordered firmly.
Alden wanted to believe but that repellent glower on Parker, senior's face, produced icy dread within the ten year old's body. They went into the back room and Hudson shut the door.
"Did you know my son was leaving?"
Alden's mouth worked for a moment then, "Yes . . . I mean . . . he told me but I thought . . . he promised he would wait." His was so cold with the fear he was experiencing, he trembled violently. His face was ashen.
"Where did he go?" Parker, senior demanded.
"The sea; He ran off to become a cabin boy on a ship."
Parker, senior's fist slammed into a small table. It broke into huge, splintered pieces of polished wood. 
"You will kindly cease destroying my home." The warning look in George Hudson's expression informed the other man he meant business.
"If I find him . . . "
"That...sir..." Hudson said sharply, bluntly, "is one reason why he ran off to sea." Parker's father did not understand. "A child needs love, not violence."
"You! Oh, aye, you're with boys all day long, but what do you know about rearing one? Will would have spent his life playing if I had not kept a tight reign on him! Dallying doesn't provide a living; He has to be harder than the next man if he wants to get anywhere in this life! Aye, I smacked him around . . . when he needed it. Love doesn't fill an empty belly." Parker, senior shook his shaggy head. He turned hard, black eyes on Ray Alden. "You should have told me."
"I didn't think he'd do it. He promised me he'd think about it."
"If I find him . . . " Parker's father left, stomping from the room.
"I pity young Parker if that man locates him, " Hudson murmured. Alden shivered in apprehension. "Go back to the class room. You have to finish your essay."
"Yes, sir."
Three days later, Ray Alden was waylaid by Tommy McKay, the town bully, and Bolter, his crony. McKay jumped out of a tree right in Alden's path. Alden nearly swallowed his tongue. He clutched his books to his chest.
"You're alone, you are, " McKay said smugly. Alden inhaled raggedly. "Not so brave without that Parker, are you? He's not here to fight your battles, is he?"
"Let me pass."
"Or what? Will you cosh me? Huh?" He pushed Alden. "Will ya?" He viewed the younger boy's white countenance with conceited satisfaction. "Nah, not you. You're a coward, a regular peepbird, you are. I don't like your face." McKay struck Alden with an extremely accurate fist. Both boys jumped on the younger one then. They left Alden in the ground, weeping.
Bleeding, clothes torn and dirty, Alden picked up his soiled hat, plopped it wearily back on his head. He limped home. His father demanded the names but Alden refused to tell. Fear was the major reason behind the silence; If McKay was accused, he'd be even rougher the next time.
The next day, Hudson viewed the battered features, the withdrawn manner of the youngster in hidden dismay. "Stay after school." Alden nodded, too depressed to talk. At four, Hudson inquired, "What happened?"
"Nothing." Bright cheeked, Alden kept his eyes downward, centered on his scratched hands.
"I'll not have you lying to me. Falsehoods are one thing I will not abide. Do you grasp my words?" Alden nodded. "What happened?"
Panic made the boy's voice tremble. "I have to go home!" He shot up. Hudson grabbed his upper arm but just as quickly let go when Alden flinched in pain. "Please, Mr. Hudson." Green eyes pleaded with the man.
"Go then." Worried, he watched the ten year Ray Alden run from the room.
Ray's footsteps slowed as he neared the spot where the boys had met him yesterday. Surely they wouldn't be here again today. Surely once was enough. 
They were there.
"Cor, if it ain't the peepbird." 
McKay moved forward in relish as Alden backed up. The older boys were rougher than yesterday and Alden finally grabbed a branch from the ground. "Put it down, peepbird."
"Leave me alone!" His panic and terror could not be hid.
"I said, put it down, peepbird." McKay's mouth twisted. "I don't like that stick in your hand." He shot forward and jerked the branch from Alden. "Nah, I don't like it at all." He swung the large branch at the younger boy's face and Alden's right cheek bone was broken, the flesh split and gaping. The pain was so intense, he fell unconscious to the ground. He lay there bleeding. His father, concerned over the beatings and the lateness, went in search and found him comatose on the ground.
When Alden had recovered enough that the laudanum could be halted, Hudson brought homework for Alden to do. "This should keep your mind occupied while you finish recuperating."
Alden glanced apathetically at the books. 
"When you're better, I'll teach you how to defend yourself. Your father agrees that these beatings canna go on." Dull eyes glittered with humiliation as they gazed, briefly, into discerning blue ones. Hudson's heart ached for the young lad but he did not show it. It was not the teacher's way. "Who did it?" Alden closed his bruised eyes. "Was it Parker's father?"
"No." 
It was difficult for him to talk. His speech was slow and slightly slurred. IF he moved the muscles in his face too much or too fast, the pain returned. He reopened his eyes, met Hudson's scrutiny with numbness. If he did not think then he did not truly feel.
"You'll not do them nor yourself any favors by hiding their identities."
"I thank you for the books." "Wicked creatures they are to take advantage of an innocent such as yourself, but you'll not be staying that way. I'll see to that. I'll teach you self-defense."
"I don't . . . " Alden took in a deep breath, "I don't like to fight."
"I don't imagine you're overly fond of being battered either. It's settled then. When you're well enough, when that cheek bone has healed, I'll start the lessons. Until then, I'll be bringing your work here. Your father will be keeping you home."
"Yes, sir."
"And I'll not let you be slacking of because you're in a little pain."
"No, sir."
"See that you do all that work. I shall return tomorrow evening to fetch it and answer any questions you might have."
"Yes, sir."
Hudson hesitated then said in a perceptive voice. "Aye, I know things are dark right now but they'll not be staying that way."
"No, sir." 
Ah, but did the boy believe the man? 
No.

"You're a good lad, Ray Alden; Aye, a good lad, and I'm proud of you."
"Yes, sir, thank you." What did it matter? Parker was gone; Parker had lied to him. He tried to grit his teeth to keep the tears at bay but the pain of that action nearly over-whelmed him. Sickness churned in his stomach.
"Tomorrow is another day, Raymond."
"Yes, sir."
Hudson hesitated then said, "I will be back."
"Yes, sir."

Seven years later. . .