Anne and Sarah

                           "Anne! you have to go to boarding school from this fall!" the stentorian voice of Father echoed down to her. She was near tears. But she had to control herself, as it won't do to cry in front of Father.

                                   Unfortunately, her dear mother had died of consumption a few months ago. Anne was in the care of a young woman, her governess, Miss McGuire. But as her father decided not to have the governess with him in the house now, he was to send Anne to a boarding school.

                                   Now she had now one else to console her, as her mother used to do. So the little seven-year-old ran to see her governess. She clutched her skirts and broke out into sobs. "Miss," she sobbed out, "Oh, Miss, Father says I have to go to the Boarding school. It will be a terrible place for me. Please help me out, Miss. I don’t want to leave you and home."

                                   Sarah Maguire was twenty-seven and was a penniless woman who worked, as her parents had passed away suddenly. She was pretty and very intelligent. Her dad had been a Vicar of the Church of England. He couldn't put anything behind for her upkeep. But he had educated her well enough so she could get this job as a governess. Now that the lady of the house passed away, she was to seek another position. The situation depressed her. But the gloom of the little girl Anne broke her heart. She gathered her in her arms and made her sit. She spoke soothingly to her.

                                   "Well, child, listen to me. In life, we have to face many problems. Education is very important for us girls. Soon you will be a young woman. Like me, you may have to fend for yourself. So it is good that you are going to school. Yes, it may be a little difficult in the beginning. But you will get used to it soon.”

                                   Slowly, Anne got used to going to a boarding school. She still missed her dear Mother. She would cuddle on her bed and cry herself to sleep. But she was recovering slowly. The excitement of buying new dresses and books and stocking her trunk with things to take took her breath away. Sarah and she went to the market and to the seamstresses and gave orders for the little dresses for the boarding school.

                                   Sarah sat Anne up and told her all about her own experiences in the boarding school. Anne's father has arranged for a decent school for her. So Sarah told her, "You have to be careful what type of friends you make. All kinds of girls will be around there. Be sure you are with the decent girls. Say your prayers every day and read from your Bible. Write a letter to your dad every week. You can also write to me." She smiled.

                                   "Soon it will be time to say goodbye," said Sarah as they came back home from a hectic visit to the seamstress. "Have a good time, Anne. Remember me sometime!"

                                   Anne broke down. "Can I ever forget you, Miss?" she cried as tears rolled down her cheeks. Sarah wiped them with her handkerchief. She said, "You must behave like e lady always, Anne. That will please your Father enormously. He should get an excellent report of your studies from school. So live well there."

                                   The time came for them to be parted and Sarah packed her trunk carefully and sent her off on the train. Her father was taking her to school. They gave Sarah her severance pay, and she was leaving for another position soon. She came to the Railway Station to bid goodbye to Anne. Anne was struggling to keep her tears from rolling down. Sarah hugged her and kissed her and let her go. She stood at the platform waving her kerchief as the train left.

                                   They reached the station and went off the train. Took a cab to the school. They set the school in a remote area, a picturesque locale. The scenery was eye-catching. Anne caught her breath. "The scenery is so beautiful from here."

The school was an old Victorian mansion. The Principal came to receive them. She looked with approval at the dress worn by Anne. She had a long chat with Father. They discussed many things.

                                   Father had to go back as he had pending business at home. He looked at Anne and hugged her. He kissed her and left her. She sobbed and waved at him till he disappeared. The Principal handed Anne over to a stern-looking Miss Madison who was, she told her, the House Mistress. Miss Madison took Anne along with her trunk and bags to her dormitory. There she met other girls, many were also newcomers.

                                   Ruby was the one girl was on the bed next to her. They both spoke to each other and got to know each other. Both were very homesick and were snivelling for their homes. "How soon can we go back home?" was the question uppermost in their minds.

                                   The first night in the school, the small noises terrified them. "Are there any monsters in this schoolroom?" they whispered to each other. They kept tossing and turning. Suddenly a storm ensued. There were peals of thunder and flashes of lightning. The thunder pealed so loudly that these two girls and all the others in that dorm were terrified. They were trying to cover their ears with their hands and tried to cover themselves with their blankets.

                                   There was a power outage too. This added to the confusion. The Housemistress Miss Madison came into the dorm. She had a torch in her hand and shone it on the roof. She told the girls, "Don't be afraid, girls. This storm will soon pass away. You can all go back to sleep. We are here to look after you. Stay quiet and go back to sleep, girls."

                                   The next morning, bleary-eyed and confused, the girls came out of bed as a loud bell rang. “Get ready soon and come out to the ground for Mass drill," said the Drill Mistress. The ground was soaking with the rain and storm of the night. The sun was just coming out. In that bleak dawn, they were marched by the Drill mistress to do their exercises as a group. She punished those who took missteps with a cane. It terrified Anne and Ruby. They tried their best to follow the instructions.

                                   Once it was over, she asked them to go for their baths and get ready for breakfast. As soon as they reached the refectory, they wanted to eat as they were starving. "Stop girls! Don't you say the grace before you eat?" said Miss Madison in a loud voice. They grabbed their spoons away. The prayer was a long one, and the girls kept sneaking a look at the food on their plates, perhaps afraid that it will disappear.

                                   Finally, it was over, and they ate. The mistress was observing them keenly to see how they were eating. She objected to some of them. Fortunately, Anne and Ruby both were taught proper etiquette and escaped harsh correction.

                                   The day of instruction started. They were whisked away to the dorm to change into the uniform skirts and blouses. They had to be neat and prim and proper. The housemistress scrutinized each one of the girls, carefully. Then, they went to the classroom for the school hour to begin. Some of them sat down on their benches. he Principal came and shouted at them. "Stand up all of you!" she commanded, "you must keep standing till I come and make you say your prayers. Understand!"

                                   She made them say their prayers and then began a long talk. Mostly it was about how they should behave and how not to behave. It was boring, but they had to grin and bear it. She did not allow any talk or whispering. Her experience made it easy for her to pick up the odd girl who was trying to whisper or look elsewhere.

                                   The classes went on monotonously with a brief lunch interval. They gave them some tea and sent them to play on the ground. One teacher supervised them. After that, they were taken back to their dorms to get ready for supper.

                                   Such was the strict regime of their day. This went on for days together and the girls got used to it slowly. Most of the girls got used to the routine. But not Anne. She pined away for her dad, her home and her old governess. She started writing letters to her dad and to Miss Sarah. Her newfound friend Ruby tried to console her but Anne continued to pine away. She became so sick that the school nurse took her away to the sickbay. She asked for a doctor's consultation. Poor Anne burned with a fever that wouldn't come down. In her delirium, she called out for her dad and for her governess. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Miss Sarah, please come," she shouted.

                                   They tried their best to quieten her. In vain. She continued to scream and scream till her lungs gave out. Her fever turned toxic by evening and she was gasping. The doctor came and asked her to be shifted to the hospital immediately. As the ambulance arrived, poor Anne breathed her last. Ruby was not the only girl. Many little girls cried their hearts out.

                       Father arrived at the school. He was in mourning. There was no one to console him. He collected the body of the little girl and had it escorted to the funeral parlour. The Housemistress packed the belongings of Anne and handed them over dutifully to him. He did not utter a word to anyone. He just suffered in silence.

                       The Principal said, "We are very sorry this happened, Sir. We never thought this would end like this. Please accept our sincere condolences. But sometimes some children do not adapt well to a new situation. Understand. That has what happened with little Anne. Poor, poor Anne."

                       Father was unmoved. He seemed to be deaf. He merely did the formalities and left the school as soon as he could. He went to the funeral parlour and waited for the coffin. Having arranged a hearse to go to his home, he also left with the coffin and reached his home.

                       It was now a cold home for him, and he went to his room to mourn. He asked his manager to handle the funeral arrangements. Alone in his room, he retired to mourn.

                       Late in the night, there was a loud noise, and the servants ran helter-skelter. The butler went to the master's room and found it locked. He waited until the morning. Still finding it locked, he was shocked. He rang up the family doctor, solicitor and the police. They all arrived a while later. The police officer took the butler and broke open the door of Father's bedroom. They found him fallen with a gun in his hand. He had apparently shot himself after having his nightcap. The police called for the forensic expert and arranged an autopsy. They called the Coroner too.

                       Miss Sarah Maguire heard of the double tragedy in her new place as a governess. She mourned silently as she held the letter poor little Anne had written to her. She read the tear-stained letter for the umpteenth time.

                       “My dear Miz Sarah!” the little one had scribbled,

                                   “Come, take me away, Miz. I canna be here anymore. Pleezz. Come. Promise!

Love and kisses

Your Anne"

                       She took leave and went to the Cunningham house. The moment she arrived, she heard of the suicide of the Father. She was shocked. She didn't know what to do. She was in a daze and suddenly she heard the solicitor calling her. He was a sober old man called Grindlay. "Miss McGuire, I want you to come and visit me in my office sometime when you are free. I have something to speak to you about."

                       Sarah was wondering. "What would this hard-hearted solicitor have to talk to her about?" She couldn't even imagine. Anyway, she talked to the servants and stayed at the place for a day. She wanted to attend the funeral of little Anne. "Both her dad and I have failed her. He took his own life. What should I do?" This thought was reverberating in her mind as she tossed and turned in her bed.

                       The next day, as the police were getting the autopsy done, Sarah went to meet Mr Grindlay. He greeted her gravely in his office.

                       "Miss McGuire, it is my duty to tell you that you have to be here later, perhaps a week later when the last will and testament of the late Mr Cunningham will be read. You may be one of the beneficiaries. Please leave your address with my secretary. I will send a telegram to you. Please come without fail." He got up and escorted her to the outer office. She sat and wrote out her present address to give his secretary.

                       They held the funeral in a sombre state with many local people attending. Sarah was the main mourner as there were no Cunninghams of this family still alive. "The poor little girl Anne was the last scion of the family, and now she was no more. Perhaps that was what drove Mr Cunningham to desperation and suicide." said the butler James to Sarah as she came back for the wake. They served some cold meats in the house for the few visitors.

                                   Soon the few visitors left. The servants gathered in the hall, worry writ large on their faces. Sarah was with them for a while. They all spoke highly of their master and broke down when they remembered the sweet little child, Anne. Sarah tried to say a few words of comfort. But the Cook expressed their anxiety, "Miss, now hat will happen to us? You have left and got a place. But what about us? The Master is not there to give us a letter too. We are feeling so sad for ourselves now. What will happen to us?"

                                   "I will write letters for each of you, explaining the circumstances of the unfortunate deaths of Anne and the master. I think that will help you get a better position," said Sarah kindly as she gazed at them looking so forlorn.

                                   She sat the next day and wrote letters describing the circumstances of the Cunningham household and gave them to the servants. Soon she had to go back to her new position.

                                   A week later she got a telegram from the solicitor, asking her to report to his office on the next Monday. She took leave again and came back to the house. The butler James told they also asked him to attend the meeting. As they both set out to the solicitor's office, he told her, "this will be for the reading of the Master's will. I wonder if he left something for us."

                                   There was a small crowd at the office as Mr Grindlay stood and opened a sealed envelope. He declared solemnly, "I am now reading the last will and testament of the demised Mr Benjamin Cunningham Esquire of Lansdown's house. He has asked me to be the executor of this will." He went on reading all the will step by step. The old man was a very considerate man. He left some donations to the Church and various orphanages and old age homes. He also left some not inconsiderable amounts of cash to his long time servants - the cook, the butler and the charwomen.

                                   "The major part of his estate and savings in the form of shares, debentures, however, he left to Miss Sarah Maguire, formerly the governess of his dear and late child Anne Cunningham. There is a condition. The said Miss Maguire has to use the mansion of his and start a compassionate boarding school for children. The school is for Orphan and semi-orphan children and is with no fee. Miss Maguire has to manage the school and the boarding. He has appointed me as the Trustee of that school. He wants us to name that school as ‘the Anne Cunningham Memorial Compassionate Boarding School’. He has asked Miss Mcguire to ensure that all children are cared for with compassion and love in that school."

                                   He looked at Sarah. She looked dazed. "Er. How can I manage that school, Sir? I have little experience?" she blurted. The Solicitor seemed to unbend a little. And a grin appeared on his face as he spoke. He said, "Miss Maguire, late Mr. Cunningham was a great discerner of persons. He saw in you an excellent administrator with a heart of compassion for children. That was why he gave you this responsibility. I hope you will accept it for the sake of the poor little girl Anne."

                                   All eyes were looking at Sarah. She was near tears but tried to reply boldly, "I will try Sir. But you all must help me." "We will all be behind you, Miss Maguire. We will form a Trust and work things out. I want you to go to your present employers and resign from that position. You can come back here and stay in the mansion. If you like, you can continue the same set of servants under the supervision of the Butler Mr James."

                                   Looking bewildered but happy, a little hesitant at the responsibility conferred on her, Sarah nodded. The butler James appeared relieved. They both left the office and went back to the mansion to deliver the good news to the other servants. Sarah left to resign her position and come back to the mansion.