Twister on Tuesday Read online

  “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 … 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 diamond—”

  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.

  “Um—no 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 this—”

  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.

  “Hey, Jeb,” he called out. “I’m not hungry. You want my sweet potato?”

  Jeb gave Jack a mean look.

  “I could have brought my own lunch if I wanted to eat,” he said.

  “Oh, sure,” said Jack.

  Jeb narrowed his eyes.

  “You making fun again?” he said. “I’m warning you. Do that one more time, and I’ll fight you.”

  Jack couldn’t believe it. This kid took everything he said the wrong way!

  “Hey!” Annie said. “Leave my brother alone. You’re nothing but a bully, Jeb.”

  “Annie, stay out of this,” said Jack.

  But Jeb just laughed. Then he stood up and walked back into the schoolhouse.

  Jack felt angry. He hoped they would find the special writing soon so they could leave.

  Will seemed to have read Jack’s mind.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Will said to Jack. “He’s never been to school before.”

  “Oh, so he’s embarrassed,” said Annie.

  “Why hasn’t he been to school?” said Jack.

  “Because he has to work in the fields all the time,” said Will.

  “I heard him tell Miss Neely he walked five miles to get here today,” Kate said. “So he must have really wanted to come.”

  “Wow,” said Annie. “How far did you and Will walk?”

  “Only two,” said Kate.

  “Two what?” asked Annie.

  “Miles,” said Kate.

  “Two miles,” Jack repeated.

  The prairie kids nodded.

  “It must be lonely living out here,” Annie said.

  Will and Kate nodded again.

  “Do you live in a sod house?” Jack asked.

  “We used to,” said Will. “But it was always dirty. So our pa built us a log cabin.”

  “He cut trees near the creek,” said Kate. “Then he made the cabin by hand.”

  Before Annie or Jack could ask another question, thunder cracked in the sky. Then rain started to fall. It fell fast and hard.

  Everyone jumped up.

  “Come in! Come in!” Miss Neely called from the doorway.

  They ran back inside. The wind slammed the door behind them with a BANG.

  Inside the lamplit hut, it was dry and cozy.

  Jack sat back on his bench. He didn’t dare look at Jeb.

  “It’s time for our writing lesson now,” Miss Neely said. “I’m going to give you each a slate and a pen.”

  She handed out the slates. They looked like small blackboards set in wooden frames.

  Next she gave everyone a slate pen. Each pen was a thin piece of chalk.

  Miss Neely opened the McGuffey Reader.

  “While you were eating your noon meal, I copied a poem from the book,” she said. “Now I want you to copy it.”

  Miss Neely held her own slate board up for them all to see:

  Jack quickly started copying the words. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jeb writing very slowly. It took the older boy a long time just to write the letter T.

  Jack slowed down, too. He didn’t want Jeb to think he was showing off.

  Suddenly, loud thumping sounds came from overhead. It sounded as if someone were throwing stones against the roof.

  “Oh no! Grasshopper attack!” scream
ed Kate. She covered her head.

  “Grasshopper attack!” cried Will. He covered his head, too.

  “Be calm, everyone!” said Miss Neely.

  What’s a grasshopper attack? What are they talking about? Jack wondered.

  Even Jeb seemed worried. As Miss Neely started toward the door, he said, “Don’t open it! They’ll come in!”

  Has everyone gone crazy? Jack thought. How can grasshoppers hurt anyone?

  Miss Neely opened the door and looked out. A moment later, she stuck her head back in and closed the door.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “It’s only hailstones.”

  “What’s that?” said Annie.

  “Hailstones are small pieces of frozen rain. Sometimes they fall to earth during a thunderstorm,” said Miss Neely.

  “Why did Will and Kate yell, ‘Grasshopper attack!’?” Jack asked.

  “Because last spring, grasshoppers did attack us,” said Miss Neely.

  “Yes! Millions and millions of them came out of the sky,” said Will. “It looked like a huge, shiny cloud.”

  “They covered every inch of ground!” said Kate. “They ate everything!”

  “They ate all our crops,” said Will, “our turnips and fruit trees and watermelons.”

  “They even ate our clothes and bedsheets!” said Kate.

  “Yuck,” said Annie.

  “Oh, man,” said Jack. He’d never heard of a grasshopper attack before.

  “It was very scary,” said Kate.

  “But remember how we replanted and everyone helped everyone else?” said Miss Neely.

  Kate and Will nodded.

  “We must try to hold on to the good memories,” Miss Neely said gently, “and let go of the bad ones.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Kate.

  Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then the sound of the hailstones died away.

  “Let’s go back to our lesson now,” said Miss Neely.

  They all returned to their writing.

  Even working as slowly as he could, Jack finished first. He showed his copy of the poem to Miss Neely.

  “Good work, Jack,” she said. “We can all learn from these words, can’t we?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Jack.

  “Hey, this is it, Jack!” Annie blurted out. “Something to learn!”

  Miss Neely looked puzzled.

  But Jack smiled. He knew what Annie was talking about: They had their special writing. They could go home!

  Jack stood up.

  “Excuse me, ma’am, but I’m afraid we have to leave,” he said.

  “So soon?” said Miss Neely.

  “Yes, we have to go back to our parents,” said Annie.

  “May I take my slate with us?” Jack asked.

  “Please do,” said Miss Neely. “Use it on your trip to California to practice your writing.”

  “Thanks!” said Jack with a big smile. He put the slate in his leather bag. “We learned a lot, ma’am.”

  “I’m glad you had a chance to come to school,” said Miss Neely. “Good-bye and good luck.”

  “Good luck to you, too,” said Annie.

  “Bye!” Will and Kate called out.

  “Bye!” said Jack and Annie.

  As they went out the door, Jack glanced at Jeb. He felt sorry for the older boy. He tried one last time to be friends.

  “Bye, Jeb,” he said.

  But the boy wouldn’t even look at him.

  Jack gently closed the door to the schoolhouse.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad to get away from Jeb’s anger.

  “That’s weird,” said Annie. “Look at the sky.”

  As Jack turned away from the schoolhouse door, he caught his breath.

  The sky did look weird—really weird.

  The black clouds had taken on an odd greenish color. They all seemed to be going in different directions.

  “Do you think it’s a grasshopper attack?” Annie asked nervously.

  “No, I think it’s some more weird weather, like that hailstorm,” said Jack. “Let’s go before it gets worse.”

  As they started back to the tree house, the wind picked up.

  Jack and Annie looked over their shoulders. The greenish clouds had dipped down close to the prairie.

  “I feel like something awful is about to happen,” said Annie.

  “Hurry!” said Jack. “Run!”

  He and Annie started running through the grass. When they got to the ladder of the tree house, they looked back.

  In the distance, twisting black clouds had dropped out of the storm clouds. They were swirling into a funnel shape.

  The dark funnel started twisting across the prairie.

  Jack’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

  “It’s a twister!” he said.

  “Oh no!” cried Annie.

  The twister was whirling and tearing across the grass.

  “Let’s get out of here!” said Jack. He grabbed the rope ladder and started up.

  “Wait!” said Annie. “We have to help Miss Neely and the other kids!”

  “They have a storm cellar!” Jack said. “That’s what our book said!”

  “Yeah, but it’s only their first day in the dugout! They might not know about it!” said Annie. “There was a rug on the floor!”

  Annie is right, Jack thought.

  He looked up at the tree house. All they had to do was climb up and leave, and they’d be safe.

  But what about Miss Neely? What about Will and Kate and Jeb?

  “Okay!” said Jack. He jumped down from the ladder. “Let’s go back!”

  He and Annie started running back toward the schoolhouse.

  They ran as fast as they could across the prairie.

  The roaring sound of the twister followed them.

  Suddenly, the wind threw them to the ground!

  Jack clutched the tall grass, trying to stand. When he got up, he grabbed Annie’s hand. He pulled her up, too.

  With all his might, Jack held on to Annie and pulled her along.

  The roaring twister came closer and closer.

  The wind ripped up grass and earth around them. The roar grew deafening.

  Jack and Annie could barely stay on their feet. Finally, they reached the dugout.

  They tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

  They banged on the door with their fists.

  “Let us in!” Annie shouted.

  No one opened the door.

  “They can’t hear us!” yelled Jack.

  But the sound of the twister drowned out his voice.

  Suddenly, the schoolhouse door blew off its hinges! It went flying through the air!

  Jack grabbed Annie and pulled her into the dugout.

  Inside, the benches were overturned. The room was a mess.

  Miss Neely and the three kids were pressed against the dirt wall. Kate and Will screamed as the winds whipped around the room.

  Miss Neely hugged Kate. Jeb held on to Will.

  “Get in the cellar!” Jack yelled.

  “What cellar?” shouted Miss Neely.

  Together, Jack and Annie pulled the rug off the floor and uncovered the cellar door.

  They grabbed the door and tried to open it, but the wind was blowing too hard.

  Suddenly, Jeb was beside them. He pulled the door open. A ladder led down into the cellar.

  One by one, Will, Kate, Miss Neely, and Annie went down the ladder.

  Jack waited for Jeb to go down.

  “Go! Go!” Jeb shouted.

  Jack climbed down into the cellar.

  Jeb came last. He closed the door behind him, leaving everyone in total darkness.

  The twister roared fiercely above them. It sounded like a train barreling right through the schoolhouse!

  As the twister roared and howled, Jack couldn’t think. He couldn’t feel. He was totally swept up in the howl of the wind.

  Then, just as Jack felt he would disappear in the
roar of the twister, the noise died down.

  And then it was silent.

  No one spoke for a moment in the blackness. Then Annie broke the silence.

  “Are we still alive?” she whispered.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Yes, I think we are,” said Miss Neely.

  Jeb pushed open the cellar door. Daylight streamed in. He looked out.

  “All clear,” he said.

  Jeb crawled out of the cellar. Jack followed him, then Annie, Will, Kate, and Miss Neely.

  The sky was gray above them. The twister had torn the roof off the dugout and sucked everything out, even the rug.

  They all stared in shock at the empty space.

  Then Miss Neely smiled.

  “Well, at least we are all safe,” she said.

  They stepped out of the hut. The air was thick with dust and bits of grass.

  The twister had cut a wide path of dirt and destruction across the prairie. It was still whirling away on the horizon.

  Everyone watched silently as the twister became long and thin, like a piece of rope. Then it vanished completely.

  Miss Neely turned to Jack and Annie.

  “You saved our lives,” she said.

  “Thank you!” said Will.

  “Thank you!” said Kate, hugging Annie.

  “Jeb actually opened the cellar door,” said Jack.

  “Yes! Thank you, too, Jeb!” said Miss Neely.

  The older boy only scowled.

  “I hope you can get a new school,” said Annie.

  “We will,” said Miss Neely. “Just as we planted our fields again after the grasshopper attack, we’ll build our school again after the twister. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

  Jack thought Miss Neely was one of the bravest people he’d ever met.

  “You’re a good teacher,” he said shyly.

  “I love teaching,” she said. “It’s a job that lasts forever. Whatever you teach children today travels with them far into the future.”

  “That’s true!” said Annie.

  Jack smiled.

  “Well, we better leave—again,” he said.

  “Bye!” Everyone waved, except Jeb.

  Jack and Annie started across the prairie, back toward the tree house.

  They hadn’t gone far when Jack heard someone shout his name. He turned around.