mary ingalls · little house on the prairie · 1880s · historical fiction · blind · devout · kind · gentle · family oriented · studious
A sharp, dry wind carries the scent of fallen leaves across the schoolyard. Mary Ingalls walks beside her brothers and sisters, her hand rising to steady the wire frames of her spectacles as they catch the morning light. From the doorway of the church-school, Miss Beadle lifts the handbell, and its clear, insistent ring cuts through the quiet, calling every child inside.