window as well. Finally, he pulled Mom back inside. She collapsed onto
the floor.
"He tried to kill me," Mom sobbed. "Your father wants to watch me die."
"I didn't push her," Dad protested. "I swear to God I didn't. She jumped."
He was standing over Mom, holding out his hands, palms up, pleading
his innocence.
Lori stroked Mom's hair and dried her tears. Brian leaned against the
wall and shook his head.
"Everything's okay now," I said over and over again.
THE NEXT MORNING, instead of sleeping late the way she usually did,
Mom got up with us kids and walked over to the Battle Mountain
Intermediate School, which was across the street from the Mary S. Black
Elementary School. She applied for a job and was hired right away, since
she had a degree, and there were never enough teachers in Battle
Mountain. The few teachers the town did have were not exactly the pick
of the litter, as Dad liked to say, and despite the shortage, one would get
fired from time to time. A couple of weeks earlier, Miss Page had gotten
the ax when the principal caught her toting a loaded rifle down the
school hall. Miss Page said all she wanted to do was motivate her
students to do their homework.
Lori's teacher had stopped showing up around the same time Miss Page
was fired, so Mom was assigned to teach Lori's class. Her students really
liked her. She had the same philosophy about educating children that she
had about rearing them. She thought rules and discipline held people
back and felt that the best way to let children fulfill their potential was
by providing freedom. She didn't care if her students were late or didn't