That was Tom’s great secret—the plan to return home with his brother pirates and attend their own funeral. They had paddled over to the town on Saturday and slept in the woods at the edge of the village. At daybreak on Sunday, they crept into the church and finished their sleep in the gallery.
At breakfast on Monday morning, Aunt Polly was very loving to Tom, but he was busy chattering away with Sid about the events of the day before. After a while, Aunt Polly broke in.
“Tom, I don’t say it wasn’t a fine joke—to keep everybody suffering almost a week so you boys could have a good time. But it was a pity you were so hard-hearted as to let me suffer so. If you could come over to go to your own funeral, you could have come over and given me a hint some way that you weren’t dead. I suppose if you really loved me, you would have wanted to do that.”
This made Tom feel guilty. He had actually come to tell Aunt Polly that he was all right. He had even written her a note telling her just that. But instead of owning up to the truth, Tom made up a story of a dream he had on Jackson’s Island.
“I dreamed I was right here in this very room, Aunt Polly. Mrs. Harper was here too. The two of you were crying and saying how much you missed us. I think you were saying how even though we got into trouble, we were always kind-hearted boys.”
Tom gave such a perfectly detailed description of that unhappy night that Aunt Polly was truly amazed. This dream seemed to convince her that Tom had a special gift. She was so pleased that she took a big red apple from the cupboard and gave it to him to eat on the way to school.
What a hero Tom had become! He did not go skipping and prancing, but moved with a dignified swagger as became a pirate who felt that the public eye was on him. And indeed it was. Tom tried to ignore the looks and remarks as he passed people, but they were food and drink to him—he was enjoying every moment.
Smaller boys flocked at his heels, and older boys were consumed with envy. They would have given anything to have his swarthy, suntanned skin and his sudden fame.
At school, the children made such a fuss over Tom and Joe and gazed at them with such admiration, that the two heroes quickly became
Tom decided that he could be independent of Becky Thatcher now. His fame and glory were enough. He would live for that alone. Now that he was so distinguished, maybe she would want to make up. Well, let her, he decided. She could try all she wanted.
When Becky arrived at school, Tom pretended not to see her. He moved away and joined a group of boys and girls and began to talk. Soon he noticed that Becky was tripping gaily back and forth, her face flushed and her eyes dancing. She pretended to be busy chasing schoolmates and screaming with laughter.
When Tom pretended not to see her at all, Becky came closer and once or twice glanced wistfully toward him. Soon she noticed that Tom was talking more to Amy Lawrence than to
Becky’s lips trembled and tears came to her eyes. She hid these signs and went on talking gaily. As soon as she could, she sneaked away by herself and burst into tears. She’d think of some way to get even with Tom.
At recess, Tom continued his flirtation with Amy, but only after he’d checked to see if Becky was still watching. When he looked across the schoolyard, he saw something that made his blood boil. Becky was sitting cozily on a little bench looking at a picture book with Alfred Temple. They were so absorbed that their heads were almost touching. Jealousy ran red-hot
Once Becky saw that Tom was no longer around, she lost all interest in Alfred and the picture book. She burst into tears, got up, and walked away.
Alfred ran after her, trying to comfort her, but she snapped, “Go away and leave me alone, can’t you! I hate you!”
The boy stopped in amazement and wondered what he could have done. He was humiliated and angry once he figured out the truth. Becky had simply used him to make Tom jealous, but he would get back at Tom. The question was how.
Then he thought of the perfect way to do it. He went inside the classroom and found Tom’s
At that moment, Becky was glancing in through a window behind him. She saw the whole thing, but she moved on and said nothing. So Becky started on her way home, intending to find Tom and tell him what Alfred had done. She hoped that Tom would be so thankful, that all their troubles would be over.
But before she was halfway home, she changed her mind. She thought back to the way Tom had treated her, and she was filled with anger. Let Tom get punished because of the damaged spelling book, she decided. And she also decided to hate him forever.