American Triumph: 1939-1945: 4 STORIES IN 1

by Susan Martins Miller, Norma Jean Lutz, Bonnie Hinman

  She hated the dust storms!

  CHAPTER 11

  Black Sunday

  Please, Papá?” Rosa asked. “Please come to church with me tonight.” Rosa had begun walking into town to attend the Maddens’ church on Sundays. The church had a service at ten o’clock in the morning and another one at six o’clock in the evening. Rosa liked to go to both of them because she loved to hear the singing.

  “Rosita, you know I am not comfortable with the ways of this church.”

  “But Papá, Reverend and Mrs. Madden are so nice, and they always ask me how you are.”

  “I hope that you tell them that I am fine.”

  “Yes, I do, but it would be so nice for them to see you.”

  Papá sighed. “I will think about it. Ask me again when you are ready to leave.”

  Rosa was hopeful all afternoon that Papá would go with her to church. And if Papá went, maybe Mamá would come, too. She would like the singing, Rosa thought.

  Mamá had spent Saturday digging up the remains of last year’s failed garden. She thought she might get some potatoes and onions to grow this year. Mamá’s garden shovel was still in front of the house. Rosa was supposed to put it away yesterday, but she did not want to walk all the way to the barn. Instead, she had kicked it next to the porch and hoped Mamá would not see it there.

  The sky had been blue all day with no breeze. It was April 14, and after the storm at the end of March that destroyed so much land, everyone was glad to be able to go outside and enjoy a nice day. A beautiful afternoon made people want to go on a picnic or take a nap in the sun. Rosa took Isabella for a walk down the road, and then they came back to the house and lay down on a blanket in the sun. Both of them slept soundly. Rosa awoke only when Isabella began to climb on her and poke her nose.

  “Isabella, you silly girl,” Rosa said, tickling the baby’s bare belly.

  Isabella grinned at her cousin.

  Rosa kissed Isabella’s cheek. “Let’s go see how your mamá is feeling.”

  At five o’clock that afternoon, Rosa was ready to go to church. But where was Papá? She looked in every room in the house but could not find him. He thinks I will give up on looking for him, Rosa thought, but I won’t. He’s going to come to church with me.

  Rosa went outside and looked in the barn, calling for her father. He did not answer. She finally had to admit that he must have gone out to one of the fields. He could be anywhere. If she went to look for him, she would be late for church. Rosa sighed. She would have to go without him and ask him again next week.

  Rosa scanned the sky and noticed that the afternoon had turned cool. It seemed to get colder by the moment. Rosa decided she should take her jacket to church with her in case it was even colder after the service.

  When she came back out of the house with her jacket, Rosa looked up at the trees. Lots of birds made their home on the ranch and around the house. Usually Rosa saw only a few at a time, and they were so quiet she did not know what sound they made. Now the birds were making a clatter, as if they were chattering to each other and telling important news. More and more birds flew in and joined in the discussion. Rosa told herself to remember to ask Mrs. Madden if she knew why the birds would suddenly start making so much noise.

  Rosa started down the road toward town, humming some of the songs she had learned at church. She waved at people who drove by in their cars. Some of them were men who worked on other parts of the large ranch where the Sanchez family lived. They recognized Rosa and waved back.

  Suddenly the birds stopped chattering and began to flap their wings instead. Hordes of birds took off and flew away, all in one direction. Rosa had never seen so many birds flying at one time. This was another question for Mrs. Madden.

  A huge black cloud stirred on the horizon. Rosa hugged her jacket around her. The cloud raced toward town. The temperature was dropping rapidly. Maybe it would rain! Maybe that’s what Papá was doing out in the fields—waiting for rain.

  She looked again at the cloud, and her heart sank. It was not a rain cloud. It was a dust cloud, and it was coming fast. Hadn’t they just had a major dust storm two weeks ago? The dirt from that storm had ruined the school and many of the houses in town. That was enough damage. Was such a beautiful day going to turn into a terrible storm?

  Rosa stood on the side of the street, unsure what to do. She wanted to go to church, but if the black cloud was bringing a dust storm, she knew she should go home as quickly as possible. She had to find shelter.

  A moment later, Rosa knew she had no choice but to turn around and race home as fast as she could. This was the worst storm she had ever seen! Even though the sun was still shining, the air had become black as midnight. Rosa hated all dust storms, but this one was frightening. Before Rosa could turn around, the wind rushed down, nearly knocking her off balance. Around her, cars picked up speed. Everyone was racing home before the worst of the storm hit.

  Rosa could no longer see the sun. As black dust filled the air, it was hard to see the fences and trees or to see where she was going. She could hardly keep her eyes open for one second at a time without getting dirt in them. One step at a time, Rosa felt for the side of the road with her foot. If she could just stay on the road, she would make it home. She had not gone very far down the road when the cloud descended and swirled around her. If she only had a light! She might at least be able to see right in front of her face.

  Cars whizzed by. Rosa could hardly stand up any longer because the wind was so strong. In the dark, she was afraid that drivers would not be able to see her on the side of the road. She stepped to the shoulder. Even though cars had headlights on, Rosa could not see them coming toward her until they were right in front of her. And the wind was howling so hard that she did not hear the cars until they were right next to her. Because of the roar of the wind, when one of the cars stopped, Rosa did not realize it. Every few steps, she would feel for the side of the road to be sure she had not wandered off to get lost in the dark.

  Suddenly the strong arms of a man wrapped around Rosa and scooped her up, just the way she scooped up Henry or Isabella. Rosa screamed, and her mouth filled with dirt. The person who carried her opened a car door and dumped Rosa onto the backseat. Who was taking her? Where were they taking her? She just wanted to go home and find Papá.

  Inside the car, Rosa opened her eyes and sputtered to get the dirt out of her mouth. Dirt was coming in even through the cracks in the door, and a mound of dirt had blown in while the car door was open. She looked to see who was in the front seat.

  “Oh, Señor Garcia, thank you! I didn’t hear your car coming.” Señor Garcia worked with Papá on the ranch.

  Señor Garcia pulled out on the road again. “What are you doing out in the middle of this storm, Rosa?”

  “I wanted to go to church. The storm had not started yet when I left.”

  Señor Garcia nodded. “Yes, it came up suddenly. But you would never have made it home. I’m not sure I’ll make it home even in a car.”

  The roadway was filling with drifts of dirt. Swirling wind made it almost impossible to see well enough to drive. Cars slowed down to a crawl, but drivers kept going. They knew if they stayed in one place, their cars would soon be buried.

  “Help me find your road, Rosa,” Mr. Garcia said.

  Rosa hunched forward and looked out the front of the car. She hardly recognized anything that she saw. It was all shadows and blackness.

  “There!” she said suddenly, as she pointed. “It’s right there!”

  Señor Garcia made the turn and drove as close to the house as he could get.

  “Maybe you should come inside, Señor Garcia,” Rosa suggested.

  He shook his head. “No, I must get home to my family. They will be worried.”

  “Thank you for stopping to pick me up.”

  “You just get inside the house and stay there.” Señor Garcia reached behind him and pushed open the car door. “Go!”

  Rosa squeezed her eyes ag
ainst the dust and covered her mouth with the edge of her jacket. She ran as fast as she could, although she was not sure where the door was. When she tripped on the front steps, she knew she was close. Rosa put her hands out in front of her and felt for the door. With relief she found the doorknob and turned it. Inside, she pushed the door closed again and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath.

  “Rosita!” Mamá called. “I was frightened for you.”

  “I’m okay, Mamá,” Rosa said as she fell into her mother’s arms. “Señor Garcia found me and brought me home.” Rosa looked around. “Where is Papá? I couldn’t find him when I left for church.”

  Mamá shook her head. “He went out on the range hours ago. He has not come home.”

  “Papá is out in this storm?”

  Mamá nodded silently.

  “We have to find him, Mamá!”

  “No, Rosita. I want your papá to come home as much as you do, but it is too dangerous to go out and look for him.”

  “We can’t just stay here.”

  “We have no choice, Rosa. Your father would not want any of us to be in danger. We must stay in the house.”

  Rosa looked into the faces of Rafaél and Juan. Their eyes told her that they agreed with Mamá.

  “What about Tío? He could go.”

  “No, Rosita. You must listen to me. I would not ask Tío to do something so dangerous.”

  “But Mamá—”

  “No, Rosita. No more. We all know what these storms can do. We will wait. If you want to do something for your papá, you can pray.” Mamá turned around and walked into the kitchen. Rosa heard the sound of pots banging against the stove. She could not believe Mamá was thinking about cooking in the middle of this storm.

  Rosa moved to a window and looked out. She could see nothing. Everything was black.

  “Do you really think Papá needs you to take care of him?” Juan asked in a mocking way.

  “Listen to Mamá,” Rafaél said. “You did not go to church, but if you really believe in God, you can pray for Papá here.”

  Rosa stuck her tongue out at her brothers as they left the room.

  Rosa stood at the window trying to pray. But she was too frightened for Papá. She had to do something. Rosa looked around the room once again to be sure no one had returned.

  Then she opened the front door and threw herself into the wind.

  CHAPTER 12

  Follow the Fence

  Just as she closed the front door, Rosa heard her mother’s footsteps coming across the living room. Rosa did not look back. Instead, she leapt off the porch and headed for the barn. The storm still raged.

  If she could just get to the barn, she could find a lantern. She knew right where it was hanging, just inside the door. But where was the barn? Outside in the blackness, it was hard to know which direction to go. When she heard the frightened hens clacking inside the henhouse, Rosa knew she was close to the barn. Now she knew her way, and in a few minutes she was inside the barn and taking the lantern off its hook.

  She groped in the darkness for the matches that Papá kept on a little ledge next to the hook. In the dark, she lit the lantern. Rosa had to try four times before the match burst with flame. She slipped the matches in her pocket and steeled herself to go back outside. It seemed like such a small light compared to the huge blackness.

  She was going to find Papá.

  Sunday morning seemed so long ago, not just twelve hours ago. Rosa had been sleepy and was late to breakfast. Papá had scowled at her and then kissed her cheek.

  As she bent into the black wind, Rosa remembered what Papá and Tío had talked about at breakfast.

  “The last storm did some damage on the north end of the pasture,” Tío told Papá. “We will have to raise some fence posts, or the next storm will bury the fence.”

  “I’ll go out and look,” Papá answered. “We should fix the fences before we have another storm.”

  Tío nodded as he sipped his coffee. “I will do it soon.”

  Papá shook his head. “No, you stay with your wife. She is still ill from the last storm. I will look at the fences.”

  Rosa knew where to find her papá. But could she get there safely? She glanced back at the house and saw a light in a window. The house seemed so far away. But Rosa had a plan. She could find the beginning of the fence that went to the north end of the pasture. As long as she kept one hand on the fence, she would not get lost. When the wind blew hard, she would hold on to the fence with two hands. Maybe Papá would see the light and know that someone was coming to help him.

  But what if Papá was already hurt? Rosa did not want to think about that.

  The fence began as a wooden fence. Rosa had no trouble feeling it. After awhile, however, the fence changed to wires connected to wooden fence posts. And the wires had barbs on them. Barbed wire was supposed to keep cattle thieves out and to keep the best cows from wandering too far. Usually Rosa paid no attention to it. Today, though, she paid attention to every inch. She knew the barbs would cut her hands. In her mind, she tried to imagine how far apart the barbs were. When she got close to one, she raised her hand, but the barbs were too close together. In only a few minutes, Rosa’s hands were cut and bleeding. But she didn’t care. She kept going.

  “Papá! Papá!”

  The only answer Rosa heard was a howling wind.

  I should have listened to Mamá, Rosa thought. What if Papá is not in the pasture? The house was getting farther and farther away. Rosa was not sure she could get back to the house safely, but she was not sure she could find Papá either.

  Rosa kept going, calling for Papá. Her jacket was not enough to keep her warm, and she shivered in the wind. The fence cut her hands over and over, but she kept going. The dirt was piled up as high as her knees, and it was getting hard to walk. After only a few minutes, Rosa was so tired, she could hardly stand. “Papá!” she screamed. “Papá!”

  Rosa sank to the ground, coughing, trying to get a clear breath.

  What would Mrs. Madden do? Rosa thought. She knew the answer. Mrs. Madden would believe that God would take care of her, and she would pray. Rosa tried to remember some of the words she had heard Reverend Madden use when he prayed in church. Even on a clear day, she could not pray with the fancy words that he used. Mrs. Madden always said God would hear any words she said. Sitting in the dirt, Rosa used her own words to pray.

  “Dear God, please help my papá. Please help me. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to Mamá. But I don’t want Papá to be hurt. Please help me to find him. I trust You to take care of me. Thank You, God. Amen.”

  Rosa stood up and continued her way along the fence. She no longer noticed the barbs, even though they were still tearing up her hands. One step at a time, she kept going. When she stumbled over a broken fence post, Rosa knew she was getting close to the north end of the pasture.

  “Rosa! Is that you?”

  Rosa held up the lantern in the direction of the voice. “Papá?”

  “Rosa! Over here! Just listen to my voice and keep coming toward me. I see your light.”

  When she reached Papá, Rosa fell into his arms, sobbing. “I was worried, Papá. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

  Papá hugged her tightly, and then held her shoulders as he looked at her face. “Does Mamá know where you are?”

  Rosa shook her head.

  “Did you leave the house without telling her?”

  Rosa nodded. “I had to, Papá. I had to find you.”

  Papá held Rosa’s bleeding hands. With a handkerchief he tried to wipe the blood away, but the cuts were already full of dirt.

  Papá shook his head. “Rosa, you did a dangerous thing. You could have died. You still might die, or your hands could become infected.”

  “But Papá—”

  Once again Papá held Rosa close. “We will talk about this later,” he said. “Right now we must find a safe place to wait out the storm.”

  “I know a place!” Rosa exclaimed. “
There’s a hut. Rafaél and Juan used to play there. No one lives in it.”

  “Oh, yes,” Papá said. “I remember. It’s not too far from here.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Rosa, I want you to get on my back. I will carry you.”

  “I can walk!”

  “Rosa, you will obey. I will carry you. You will hold the lantern.” Papá stooped down for Rosa to climb on his back.

  Papá stumbled once and almost fell. Rosa held on tight and lifted the lantern high. Once the wind blew out the flame in the lantern, and they had to stop and light it again. This time it took six matches. By the time they reached the abandoned adobe hut, both of them were coughing heavily. Rosa slid off of her father’s back, and they both sank to the ground. Some dirt had blown into the hut, but at least they were out of the wind.

  “Get as comfortable as you can, Rosa,” Papá said. “We will be here for a few hours.”

  “I’m comfortable as long as I am with you, Papá.”

  For a long time they sat silently side by side, listening to the storm rage while the lantern glowed at their feet. Finally Papá spoke.

  “I’m sorry that the last big storm damaged your school.”

  “Thank you.”

  “The workers on the ranch say that the whole building will be torn down.”

  Rosa looked up in alarm. “Can’t they just fix the roof?”

  Papá shook his head sadly. “The damage is too great. It would be too hard to make the building safe.”

  “Where will we go to school? What do the workers say about that?”

  Papá shrugged. “Nothing. I hear nothing about that.”

  “The school board must have a plan,” Rosa said.

  “I suppose so. I hope so. I know how much you love to go to school.”

  “Papá, I love learning! The building doesn’t matter. I would go to school in this adobe hut if I could learn new things every day.”

  Papá smiled. “I admire your attitude. You are determined to get an education, aren’t you?”