Keesha's House (10 page)

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Authors: Helen Frost

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on your hands.
(Oh,
right
, Mom, like I've never stopped a

dog fight by myself.) When Mom finally stops talking

and starts thinking, I know enough to quit arguing.

She looks me up and down like we've just met,

then takes a deep breath.
You really want to

do this, don't you, Willow?
It takes me by

surprise, and I almost say,
Never mind,

Mom, it doesn't matter.
But it does

matter. I swallow hard and nod.

Mom says,
I'll think about it

and decide tomorrow.

What if she says

yes?

You

would

trust her

to take Roxy

by herself?
Mom

questions Dad. They

don't know I'm listening.

I know my dogs,
Dad answers,

how
they
are with Willow. It's more

that I'd
trust
Roxy to take her. Honey, if

it's up to
me
, I say let's let her do this.

I slip away before they see me.

I'm pretty sure they're

going to say yes.

(Yes!)

I go out

and talk to Roxy

and Cora and Magoo.

I think they're going to let us go

to Grandma and Grandpa's by ourselves!

I get out at noon on Fridayâit's the end of the

quarter. We'll leave by one, and be there before dark.

We'll have almost two days out there, and come home

Sunday afternoon!
Even as
I
let myself say it,

I'm trying not to
hope
too hard.

I know all
I can do
now is

wait.
It
will jinx

it for sure if

I keep on

begging.

Yes,

I have a

wool sweater

under my jacket.

Extra socks, gloves,

and, yes, I have enough

booties for the dogs. I have

my sleeping bag and a blanket,

in case I get stranded somewhere

(which of course won't happen).
Yes,

I have matches, a headlamp, a hatchet.

Dad keeps adding things to his checklist.

Zanna comes up as close as she dares, keeping

her distance from the dogs, to give me a card she

made for Grandma. It's cute, a picture of an otter

sliding down a riverbank.
Okay
,
Dad says,
it looks

like you're all set. I know you
can
do this. Take it

slow.
He keeps on talking as
I
take my foot off

the brake and let the dogs
go
. He might still

be talking even
now
, yelling out last-

minute warnings:
Don't forget to

call us when you get there!

Watch where the trailÂ â¦

And I can picture Mom,

standing beside Dad,

her arms folded tight,

like she's holding

me, wrapped

up inside

them.

Fox

tracks,

new snow,

red-streaked sky

and full moon rising.

I know
this
trail, know

where it
gets scary
. I know

where it
sometimes
floods and

freezes over.
And I
know Grandma

and Grandpa will
love it
when they hear

the dogs, knowing that it's me mushing

out to see them. I'm almost there.

Can't be more than half an hour

to go. Down this small

hill, past the burned

stumps. ThereâI

see the light

by their

door.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen Frost
is the author of several books for young people, including
Hidden
,
Diamond Willow
,
Crossing Stones
,
The Braid
, and
Keesha's House
, selected an Honor Book for the Michael L. Printz Award. Helen Frost was born in 1949 in South Dakota, the fifth of ten children. She recalls the summer her family moved from South Dakota to Oregon, traveling in a big trailer and camping in places like the Badlands and Yellowstone. Her father told the family stories before they went to sleep, and Helen would dream about their travels, her family, and their old house. “That's how I became a writer,” she says. “I didn't know it at the time, but all those things were accumulating somewhere inside me.” As a child, she loved to travel, think, swim, sing, learn, canoe, write, argue, sew, play the piano, play softball, play with dolls, daydream, read, go fishing, and climb trees. Now, when she sits down to write, her own experiences become the details of her stories. Helen has lived in South Dakota, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Scotland, Colorado, Alaska, California, and Indiana. She currently lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with her family. You can sign up for email updates
here
.