Twister on Tuesday (3 page)
Read Twister on Tuesday Online
Authors: Mary Pope Osborne
He studied their research book until he found a black-and-white photograph. The photograph showed the same hill with the door.
Jack read aloud:
Since the prairie did not have many trees, wood was hard to find. So pioneers often made their houses out of sod bricks, which were blocks of earth cut out of the prairie. Sometimes a sod house was dug out of the side of a hill. It was called a “dugout.”
Jack pulled out his notebook. He wrote:
Then Jack read more to Annie:
Tornados, or twisters, are common on the prairie, so many dugouts had storm cellars. A storm cellar was like a rough basement below the ground. During a twister, a storm cellar is the safest place to be.
“Wow, maybe we'll see a twister,” said Annie.
“I hope not,” said Jack. Then he read on:
A pioneer family built
this
dugout for a home. When they moved, the dugout became a schoolhouse. The schoolhouse had only one room. It also had a storm cellar beneath it.
Jack quickly wrote:
“Hey! This is the place!” said Annie.
Jack looked up from his writing.
“What place?” he asked.
“Where's the best place to find our special writingâ
something to learn
?” asked Annie.
Jack smiled.
“A school,” he said.
Annie ran to the wooden door and knocked loudly.
A moment later, the door creaked open. A girl peeked out. Her hair was in a tight bun, as if she were a grownup. But she didn't look more than sixteen or seventeen years old.
“Hi, I'm Annie,” said Annie. “This is my brother, Jack.”
The girl opened the door wider.
“Hello, Jack and Annie,” she said. “I'm your teacher, Miss Neely.”
“
You're
the teacher?” said Jack. Miss Neely seemed way too young to be a teacher.
“Yes!” she said, smiling. “Come in. You're late.”
It was warm and dry inside the schoolhouse. Several oil lamps lit the darkness.
“Class, meet Annie and Jack,” the young teacher said.
What class?
thought Jack.
There were only three kids.
On one bench sat a small boy and a girl. The boy looked about Annie's age. The girl looked a little younger. On another bench sat a tall boy. He was tough-looking.
“Welcome to our first day of school,” said the young teacher.
“Today's your very first day?” said Annie.
“Yes, and our first day in this dugout. The family who lived here left for California a week ago,” said Miss Neely.
Jack and Annie peered around the room. The walls were made of dirt. The floor was made of wood. It was covered by a worn rug.
Miss Neely's desk was made from a barrel. A small coal stove was near her desk. A crate held a water jug, chalk, and two small blackboards.
“It's a nice school,” Annie said politely.
“Thank you. We're very grateful for it,” said Miss Neely. “And where do you live?”
“Well, we actually â¦Â ,” Jack started. Then he stoppedâhe wasn't sure what to say.
“Actually, we don't live around here,” Annie said. “We're passing through.”
“You must be from the wagon train I saw this morning,” Miss Neely said.
Annie nodded.
Jack smiled.
Good work, Annie,
he thought.
“We can only stay a little while,” he said.
“How exciting for you,” said Miss Neely. “Heading west on a wagon train. Where are you going?”
“California,” Annie said.
“California! That's wonderful! Isn't it, class?” Miss Neely said to the others.
“Yes, ma'am!” said the two younger children.
The older boy barely nodded.
“Have you ever been to school before?” Miss Neely asked Annie.
“Yes, ma'am,” Annie said. “We both know how to read and write. Jack's one of the best readers you'll ever meet.”
“My! Isn't that wonderful, class?” said Miss Neely.
“Yes, ma'am!” said the younger children.
The older boy gave Jack a scowl.
“Not exactly the
best,
” Jack said modestly.
“I love to read,” said Miss Neely. “I'll read any book I can get my hands on.”
“Me too,” said Jack.
“Then perhaps you'd like to start off our first reading lesson of the school year,” said Miss Neely.
“Sure,” said Jack.
“Sit with Jeb, then,” said Miss Neely, “and Annie, you sit with Kate and her brother, Will.”
Will and Kate quickly made room for Annie on their bench.
But Jeb didn't move over for Jack, not even an inch.
Jack barely had room to sit. He took a deep breath and sat on the end of the bench.
Miss Neely handed Jack a book.
“This is our only reader,” she said. “It's called the McGuffey Reader. Please read the first two lines of the poem on page fifty.”
“Oh, um â¦Â sure, ma'am,” said Jack.
He turned to page fifty. He pushed his glasses into place. Then he read aloud:
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.”
“Very good!” said Miss Neely. “Now pass the reader to Jeb.”
Jack handed the book to Jeb.
“Jeb, please read the next two lines,” said Miss Neely.
The older boy cleared his throat and stared at the page.
“Maybe Jeb can't read,” Will said in a kind voice to Miss Neely.
Jeb's face got red.
“Shut up, Will,” he muttered.
“Oh!” said Miss Neely. She looked confused.
Jack felt sorry for Jeb. He wanted to give him some help.
Barely moving his lips, Jack whispered,
“Up above the world so high, like a diamondâ”
Jeb turned on Jack with an angry look.
“I don't need your help,” he said.
“Now, Jeb, don't get mad,” said Miss Neely. “And, Jack, you shouldn't give people the answers.”
“I'm sorry,” said Jack.
Miss Neely sighed and pulled out her pocket watch. She was starting to look tired.
“Why don't you all go outside and have your noon meal?” she said. “I'll stay in and prepare for our next lesson.”
Miss Neely opened the door of the sod hut.
Annie, Kate, and Will bounced up from their seats and started cheerfully out of the schoolroom.
Jack turned to Jeb.
“Hey, sorry for what happened,” Jack said.
Jeb just glared at him and didn't say anything.
“Come on, Jack!” Annie called outside the hut. “Kate wants us to eat with them!”
Jack hurried out the door. He didn't look back at Jeb.
The air outside was strangely still. The dark clouds still hovered in the distance.
“Storm's coming,” said Will.
“We have to eat quickly, before it starts to rain,” said Kate. She and Will sat down on the grass.
Annie and Jack sat beside them.
Will opened a small burlap sack. He took out four lumpy objects. They looked like dark rocks.
“Hey, there's one here for each of us!” said Kate.
“One
what
?” asked Annie, frowning.
“Sweet potatoes!” said Will. He gave a potato each to Kate, Annie, and Jack.
“Umâno thanks,” said Jack, trying to give his back. “We don't want to take your lunch.”
“We have enough! Keep it!” said Kate.
“What do you do with it?” asked Annie, holding up her potato.
Kate laughed.
“Just bite!” she said. “Like thisâ”
Kate and Will bit into their cold sweet potatoes as if they were apples.
“Cool,” said Annie. She took a big bite out of her potato, too.
But Jack just held on to his. He didn't quite feel like eating the cold, brown potato.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jeb sitting by himself. The big kid didn't seem to have any lunch at all.
Jack thought he'd try to be friends one more time.