Chapter Text
The next morning comes slower than anyone can bear. Nellie, who once heard what happened, let them stay in the vacant hotel for the night. Mary, Adam, and the baby make their way to the Ingalls farm early enough, and knock on the door.
Caroline, who awoke at the knock, stifles a yawn. "Mary? Adam?"
Mary flings herself into her mother and cries as her mother wraps her arms around her and holds her. "It's gone, Ma. It's all gone!"
"What's all gone?" Laura asks, practically throwing herself down the ladder at the sound of her sister's cry, though she's not the only one as Carrie, Albert, and Charles have all woken from the commotion.
"The school!" Mary cries. "A fire... burned it to the ground."
"Come inside, I’ll put some coffee on, you must be exhausted." Caroline says, looking at the grief-stricken faces of her daughter and son-in-law.
Adam gently rocks Amy to settle her as they enter the house and sit at the table. She takes no time nestling herself back in to his arms and falling back asleep, unlike her father, who seems to be using every ounce of strength in his body to stay awake in his chair.
“Adam, you look like you’re going to pass out. Why don’t I take the baby while you wake up with some coffee?” Caroline asks, placing the two cups of coffee in front of Mary and Adam.
“No!” Adam protests, but his voice comes out barely louder than a squeak.
“Adam, please.” Caroline says back.
But Adam doesn’t respond, he just holds Amy closer as tears silently fall from his face.
“I didn’t grab enough…” he says after a moment, his voice almost disappearing at the end of his sentence.
“Adam, your voice… we should get Doctor Baker.” Mary says in the direction of her husband.
“I’ll go fetch him. It’s best to get that checked sooner rather than later.” Charles says already opening the door.
As Charles leaves, Adam finally gives in and hands Amy to Caroline before taking a long sip of coffee.
“First order of business is getting your throat checked.” Mary says after a moment. “And second order of business is mailing out letters to the children’s families that they’ll be coming home sooner than usual.”
“Well why do you have to send the children home? We could find you a place to teach in the meantime.” Laura says, pulling out her chair and sitting. But Mary shakes her head.
“Nellie’s already been nice enough to let them stay in the hotel for the time being. The blind school was their home, we don’t have the funds to rent the rooms any longer and we can’t let the hotel lose good business.”
“How did a fire start in the blind school?” Carrie asks suddenly.
“Carrie!” Laura whispers at her sister.
“No… it’s a fair question. I’m honestly asking myself the same thing.” Mary says fiddling with her empty cup. “It started in the basement, but we shouldn’t have had anything down there that would even catch fire. There aren’t even windows down there for sun to creep in.”
“I’m just glad you’re all alright.” Caroline says, bringing her own cup of coffee to the table and sitting down.
“In the basement?” Albert asks, doing his best to hide the fear in his voice.
Mary nods as she buries her face in her hands to cry again. Carrie walks over to her sister and wraps her arms around her delicately, Mary pulls her into a hug and continues to cry into her shoulder. Charles returns with Doctor Baker before the silence in the house suffocates the family.
“Mary, Adam.” Doctor Baker greets as he enters. “I am so sorry about the school.”
Mary lets go of Carrie’s hug and acknowledges the doctor. “Thank you, Doctor.” she says, wiping the tears from her face.
“Adam.” Doctor Baker says walking over to Adam. “Charles tells me you’re losing your voice.”
Mary turns to the doctor. “He was in the school longer than any of us.”
“Mary!” The sound coming out a faint squeak.
“Adam, he has to know! He’s the doctor!”
“Don’t you worry Adam, I don’t have to do much else. All you need to do is rest your voice and drink lots of water and tea. But I do need you to let me know if you start coughing any blood.”
"That can happen?" Mary asks, frightened.
“Only in more severe cases. How long was he in there while it was on fire?”
“It felt like forever.” Mary answers honestly. “He grabbed most of our belongings before… before it burned down.”
Adam nods, agreeing with her statement while also obeying the doctor’s orders.
“How’s little Amy?” Doctor Baker asks.
“Could you look at her? I mean, she’s not hurt, I got her out as soon as I could but… just to be sure.”
Doctor Baker cracks a small smile. “Of course.”
Mary hands the doctor the baby, who hums in contentment as the doctor holds her. There aren’t any burns or marks on the child, and her breathing is normal. Doctor Baker carefully hands her back to Mary.
“You have nothing to worry about, Mary, she looks perfectly fine. But don’t hesitate to visit me for reassurance.”
Mary smiles, for the first time all day. “Thank you.”
As the doctor sees himself out the silence falls back into the house.
“Ma? Can I have Amy, please?” Mary asks after a moment.
“Of course, darling.” Caroline says, bringing the baby to Mary.
“I should have grabbed her music box.” Mary says as Amy fusses.
“Mary,” Caroline says calmly. “don’t think like that. You took what was most important and got out. That is what matters most.”
“I hardly grabbed anything of Amy’s.” Adam squeaks. “She has nothing left because of me!”
“Adam! Your voice!” Caroline says as she gets up to grab the coffee pot.
“She’s so little, all she cares about is that you two are okay.” Laura says, comfortingly. “Besides with a grandma who knits and sews as much as Ma does I don’t think she’ll be going without other clothes for very long.”
That gets a light laugh from the room. Light, but noticeable enough to make the air not seem so still. Caroline pours Adam more coffee, and he nods in thanks. He takes another long sip and soaks in the warmth from the drink that is slowly mending his throat.
“You were both a lot more courageous than I would’ve been.” Carrie says after a moment. "I’d’ve been so frightened."
"Oh I was." Mary says, rocking Amy gently as she starts to fuss again in her arms. “If something had happened to-” a cry cuts her off, and Amy continues to fuss.
“I’m sorry, I just need a moment.” Mary carefully gets up and hurriedly brings herself and Amy outside.
“I didn’t mean to upset Mary again.” Carrie says apologetically to her father.
“I know you didn’t, dear, but Mary has been through a lot, she’s exhausted and very scared.” Charles answers reassuringly, then turns to Adam. “You both have.”
"I'll go check on her." Caroline says, already heading out the door.
As she heads outside, she finds Mary curled in a ball trying to console Amy, who despite her mother's best efforts is crying her tiny head off. When Caroline rushes over to them she sees that Mary is also crying uncontrollably.
"Mary?" she asks concerned.
"She won't stop crying, Ma. Why won't she stop crying?" Mary asks through tears.
"What if something really is wrong with her?"
Caroline holds Mary close and runs her fingers through her hair as she tries to calm her down. "She scared and tired, Mary. It's nothing you've done or haven't done. She'll be alright, and so will you and Adam."
"I just feel like such a terrible mother, Ma."
"Mary, don't ever say that about yourself, you're doing the best you can." Caroline says. "I mean I know I sure was scared I wasn't doing enough when I first had you, I even thought that after I had Grace."
"Really?" Mary asks, turning her head in the direction of her mother.
"Yes!" Caroline smiles, wiping the tears off of Mary's cheeks. "Motherhood is a tough job, but you take it one day at a time. That's all you can do."
After a moment, Amy seems to settle and nestles her face in to Mary's chest. Mary takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Do you think... she could take a nap here? Just for a little while?"
"Of course." Caroline answers as she helps Mary back up to her feet.
As they head back in to the house, Mary settles Amy in Grace's crib and delicately rocks her. Once she falls asleep Mary walks back in to the dining room, rests her head on Adam's shoulder, and he takes her hand and kisses it softly, still following doctor's orders to stay quiet.
"We should get back to Hester-Sue and the children, we've got to send the letters out and make sure they get home safe." she says softly to him, and he nods.
"We can watch Amy for you." Albert says. "I mean you just got her to sleep, and it's something to take off of your mind."
Mary lifts her head off Adam's shoulder. "We won't be long. The more rested she is, the better I'll feel."
“Do you want someone to come with you?” Laura asks.
"No," Mary says after a moment. "it's best if it's just Adam and I. Besides, Hester-Sue will be there, we have so much to clean up and organize. I just want this whole nightmare to be over."
Adam takes her hand and kisses it as he gets out of his chair.
"Take all the time you need, and you can come back whenever you're ready. Amy will be okay in the meantime." Charles says.
"You're sure?" Mary asks.
"Very sure." Charles says, giving Mary a kiss on the head as he walks them over to the door.