Little Women (IV)Retold by M. Albers

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Chapter 6  Meg's Glove

In the summer， Laurie said to the March girls， “Let's put a letter box in the tree in front of your house. Then I can send you letters.”

The girls liked the box. Beth opened it every day.

One day she said， “There's a letter for Miss Amy.”

“Thank you，” Amy said.

“There are two letters for Miss Jo—and a very old hat！”

“I burn my face every day in this sun，” Jo said. “Laurie's a good boy.”

“And there's a present for Miss Meg March.”

“It's a letter—and my glove，” Meg said. “But there's only one glove. I had two gloves at the Laurences' house yesterday.”

“There was only one glove in the box，” Beth said. “Were you with Mr Brooke yesterday？”

“Yes，” Meg said. “He wanted to read a story to me.”

Mrs March looked quickly at her daughter. Meg was very beautiful， but she was a child. Her mother smiled.

That summer was a happy time， but winter came. In October the days were cold and short.

Jo was in the house one day. She looked at the little book in front of her.

“There！” she said. “I can take it now.”

She went quietly out of the window. Her mother and sisters didn't see her.

Jo went to an office in town. Laurie was in town too， and he waited for her. She came out into the street， and her face was red.

“What's wrong？” Laurie asked.

“I went to the newspaper office with two stories，” Jo said. “The man said， ‘Come again in a week. He's going to read them.”

“That's very good！” Laurie said. “Josephine March， the famous American writer！ But Jo， I want to talk to you about Meg's glove—I know about it.”

“Where is the glove？” Jo asked.

“It's in Mr Brooke's coat，” Laurie said.

“Oh no！” Jo thought. “Mr Brooke loves Meg！ He's going to take her away from us！”

Two weeks later， Jo came into the house with a newspaper.

“Are there any good stories in the newspaper？” Meg asked.

“Yes，” Jo answered. “There's one good story.”

“Please read it to us，” Amy said.

The three sisters listened.

“It's good！ Who's the writer？” Beth asked.

“Your sister.” Jo smiled.

“You！” Meg said.

“Yes， me！”

“It's very good！” Amy said.

“Oh， Jo！” Hannah said.

Mother smiled and kissed her daughter. “Father's going to be very happy.”

Chapter 7  Jo's Hair

The letter arrived in early November. Laurie was at the March house with the girls and their mother.

The letter said：

Mrs March，

Mr March is in Washington and he is very sick. Please come quickly.

From， S. Hale.

The girls were very unhappy. Mrs March's face was white.

“Children， listen to me！” she said. “Help me， please. Laurie， please write to Mr. Hale. I'm going to take the morning train.”

“Yes， Mrs. March，” Laurie said.

“Jo， take a letter to Aunt March. I'm going to ask her for money. Beth， ask Mr. Laurence for food and drink for Mr March. Amy， get my black bag. Meg， come and help me.”

Later， Mr Brooke came to the house.

He said to Meg， “Miss March， I want to go with your mother tomorrow. I can do some work for Mr Laurence in Washington too.”

“Thank you，” Meg said. “Mother would like that.”

Mrs March came in.

“Yes， thank you， Mr. Brooke，” she said. Then she asked， “Where's Jo？”

The front door opened. It was Jo.

“Jo—your hair！” Mrs March said. Jo's hair was very short. “What did you do？”

“Aunt March is reading your letter，” she said. “But here's some money for Father from me. I went to a man in town. He buys hair.”

“Oh， Jo， thank you，” Mrs. March said. “I love you for this.”

Jo smiled at her mother， but that night she didn't sleep.

“What's wrong， Jo？” Meg asked.

“My hair！” Jo said. Her eyes were red. “My hair！”

（To be continued）