Anna's Blizzard

by Alison Hart

  When the girls on the first bench were dismissed, Anna strode to the coat corner. Eloise was still there, slowly sliding on her kid gloves. “I know it was you, Anna.”

  Anna tried to look shocked. “It wasn’t.”

  “It was,” Eloise insisted. “You’re the only one mean enough.” With a toss of her long hair and scarf, she flounced out the door.

  “It was you, Anna,” Sally Lil repeated matter of factly. “I saw you drop the spider.”

  Anna gave her a wink, then washed her hands in the bucket on the floor and dried them on the rag. She pulled her jacket off the hook. “Here, Sally Lil. You wear this jacket outside.” She plucked her cap, glove, and wristlets from the pockets. “I’ve got on woolen underdrawers.”

  The little girl’s face lit up. “Thank you,” she said as she took the jacket.

  Anna put on her cap and retrieved her lunch pail. When she stepped outside, mushy flakes plopped on her nose. Already an inch of snow coated the ground.

  “Woo hoo!” She leaped off the stoop.

  William and George were staring down at the snow-covered snake, which now looked like a loopy white rope. William was munching a bacon sandwich.

  “Can we kick it?” George asked Anna as if the carcass belonged to her.

  “Sure. But I claim the rattles.”

  George nodded and took a big bite of his boiled egg.

  Anna and Sally Lil joined Karl and John Jacob, who were leaning against the side wall of the school eating. Both boys were telling snake stories. They talked at the same time, their mouths full.

  “Last spring Ida shot one off the roof,” John Jacob said. “Put a big hole in the sod.”

  “That ain’t nothin’. Ma found one curled in the pigs’ slop bucket.” Karl chuckled. “I ain’t never seen a lady run so fast!”

  “Where’s Ida and the others?” Anna asked.

  “Ida stayed in to help Miss Simmons.” John Jacob nodded toward the lean-to. “The others are huddled in there having a tea party.”

  “So they can wear all those party dresses,” Karl said, and the two boys sniggered.

  Anna sat in a windswept bare spot and lifted the lid of her lunch pail. Sally Lil sat beside her, so close their shoulders touched. Sally Lil had brought a shriveled baked potato in an old tobacco tin. John Jacob pulled a lard sandwich wrapped in brown paper from his pocket.

  There were several cold biscuits in Anna’s pail. She passed one to Sally Lil and one to John Jacob. They accepted them silently. Mama always packed extras, knowing well that other families had less food and more mouths.

  Anna bit into her baked sweet potato. It was crumbly and earthy-tasting. Mama had also packed her favorite, a gooseberry tart, as well as a handful of dried apple slices. Anna shared the apples, too, keeping back two slices for the horses.

  “We should make some snowballs and sneak up on the girls,” John Jacob said.

  Karl scooped up a handful. “It ain’t packing yet. Too wet.”

  “That’d be mean to hit the girls,” Sally Lil declared. “Anna was already mean to Eloise.”

  John Jacob’s jaw dropped. “You put that spider on her shoulder?”

  Anna shrugged. “Weren’t nothing.”

  Karl and John Jacob burst into hearty guffaws. “Were too! She was twirling around so fast, we could see her lace-trimmed petticoats!”

  Sally Lil sighed. “I wish I had lace-trimmed petticoats.”

  “Not me,” Anna said. “You can’t ride a horse with frills bunched up around your knees.”

  “You can ride sidesaddle, like Eloise,” Sally Lil said.

  Karl leaned closer. “When Miss Simmons toppled over, I saw her—”

  John Jacob punched him hard on the arm.

  “Ow!” Karl rubbed his sleeve. “What was that for?”

  “I won’t have you saying anything disrespectful about Miss Simmons,” John Jacobs said gruffly.

  Anna stopped in mid-chew and stared at John Jacob. Her friend’s face was tight and red.

  “By golly,” Karl said in amazement. “You are sweet on Miss Simmons.”

  “I am not.” John Jacob shoved the last of his brown bread in his mouth and scrambled to his feet.

  “Where are you going?” Anna asked.

  “To take some wood in. If it keeps snowing, we’re going to need it.”

  He strode off around the corner. Karl shrugged and said, “Sure acts like he’s sweet on her.”

  “Oh hush,” Anna said grumpily. She gave Sally Lil the rest of her gooseberry tart and stepped away from the wall. “I’m going to check on Top.”

  Anna trotted to the back of the schoolhouse. The wind stung her ears and flapped her skirt around her calves. She tugged her knit hat lower. The flakes were falling faster.

  Top whinnied when he saw her. He’d stomped the snow and grass into a muddy circle. “Are you fretting about the weather?” she asked as she patted him on the neck.

  Champ was still tied directly in the path of the wind. Snow covered his rump and icicles hung from his long mane. Anna doubted that Eloise had checked on him once.

  Anna hurried over to him. “Eloise doesn’t care a whit for you,” she said, tugging an icicle from his forelock. “If I owned a horse as fine as you, I’d treat you like a prince.”

  Untying his reins, she led him closer to the back wall of the school and tied him loosely to a post. Then she used her sleeve to brush the snow off his back.

  “That’s better.” She fed Top one apple slice and Champ the other. “Now you two be nice to each other.” Anna gave Top a stern look, but for once her pony wasn’t pinning his ears at the bigger horse.

  She marched around to the front of the schoolhouse, looking back at the prints her boots made in the snow. It wasn’t deep enough to make a fort, but it was getting just right for snowballs.

  Karl was sucking on a piece of taffy. Sally Lil was licking the last of the gooseberry tart from her purple-stained fingers.

  “Karl,” Anna called. She bent over and scraped up a handful of snow. “Let’s get John Jacob and attack that lean-to.”

  They found John Jacob heading into the school with an armful of wood. “I can’t yet. Gotta get this wood inside.”

  “Teacher’s pet,” Karl taunted.

  As soon as they began making snowballs, William and George joined them. The flakes were growing smaller as the air got colder. Anna gazed across the prairie, now a woolly white blanket.

  “We’ll surround the lean-to and start throwing on the count of four,” Karl said when they had a pile of snowballs. “I’ll signal with my fingers.”

  “Who made you the general?” William asked.

  Karl propped his fists on his hips. “My grandpa fought in the Civil War!” he declared. “So I know a thing or two about soldiering.”

  “You can both be generals,” Anna said. “Now let’s commence this battle before Miss Simmons rings the bell.”

  Minutes later, a snowball in each hand, they sneaked toward the lean-to. The boys tiptoed around the right side. Anna and Sally Lil went to the left. When they got close, Anna held a finger to her lips and listened.

  Eloise was talking about her oldest sister, Imogene, who had a beau named Henry.

  “Did you really see her kiss Henry in the parlor?” Ruth asked.

  “Ooh-la-la, yes.” Eloise started to giggle.

  On the other side of the lean-to, Karl waved to catch Anna’s attention. He held up one finger, then two as he mouthed, “One … two …”

  Anna drew back her throwing arm.

  Karl held up a third finger. “Three!”

  Suddenly an eerie moan filled the air. At the same instant a gust of icy snow whirled like a tornado from the sky. The blast hit Anna full force and she staggered backward.

  Then she heard the screech of metal tearing from wood as the wind ripped a board off the slanted side of the lean-to and sent it flying right into Sally Lil!

  CHAPTER SIX

  The board hit Sally Lil square in t
he chest, knocking her to the ground. Hattie, Ruth, Eloise, and Carolina shot from under the lean-to. Screeching as loudly as the ripped metal, they scattered across the schoolyard like fox-chased chickens.

  Anna squatted next to Sally Lil. The little girl was sprawled flat on her back in the snow. Tears coursed down her pale cheeks and she clutched her skinny chest.

  “Oh, Sally Lil! Are you hurt?” Anna exclaimed.

  The boys huddled around her. William began crying, too. “She’s going to die,” he sobbed.

  Sally Lil shook her head. “I ain’t going to die,” she whispered, her lips barely moving.

  “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” Anna squeezed the little girl’s arm, hunting for wounds.

  “Should we get Doc Knowles?” Karl asked.

  Sally Lil shook her head again. “No. Nothing’s busted.”

  Anna frowned. “Then what’s wrong?”

  Slowly, Sally Lil sat up. Hands trembling, she unbuttoned Anna’s jacket. A biscuit was smashed against the bib of her pinafore.

  “I was saving it for my little sister, Jenny Sue,” Sally Lil snuffled. “We ain’t had biscuits made with milk and eggs since fall. Now it’s ruin’t!”

  The boys began to chortle with relief. Anna heaved a sigh. “Oh, Sally Lil. Tomorrow I’ll bring you and Jenny Sue a whole basket of biscuits.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You will?”

  William was inspecting the roof of the lean-to. “This’ll need fixing,” he said. He scanned the horizon. “Wind swept that board clean to the next county.”

  Sally Lil rose unsteadily to her feet. Anna helped her brush the snow off her skirt and stockings. Miss Simmons rang the bell. William, Karl, and George quickly tossed their snowballs at the ruined lean-to. “Bulls eye!” they hollered as they threw. “Gotcha!”

  The bell rang again. Anna and Sally Lil followed the boys into the school. As she walked, Sally Lil picked biscuit crumbs from her pinafore. “Ain’t wasting a lick,” she said as she popped them in her mouth.

  Miss Simmons was waiting at the door. “Sally Lil? Are you all right?” she asked anxiously. “Karl just told me that a board blew off the lean-to and hit you.”

  “Yes ma’am, it did. But I’ll be right as rain soon as I finish eatin’ what’s left of this biscuit.”

  “I’m glad to hear you’re not hurt.” Miss Simmons peered out the open door. “The girls said the wind’s picking up.”

  “Yes’m,” Anna replied. She pulled off her cap, which was frosted white. “It’s nearing a squall.”

  “Perhaps it will die down before dismissal. There are some rags in the cloak corner. You and Sally Lil dry off.”

  Anna stamped the snow off her boots. The warmth inside the schoolhouse made her fingers tingle. As she wiped her damp cheeks, she wondered if Miss Simmons would dismiss school early.

  The other children had placed their soggy mittens, hats, and gloves on the floor near the stove. Then they’d pushed the benches closer to the heat, trying to dry their wet boots, stockings, and pant legs. Anna sat down next to Sally Lil.

  Karl waved his hand.

  “Yes, Karl?” Miss Simmons said from beside her desk.

  “Will you dismiss us early?”

  “Let’s wait and see if the snow will blow over,” Miss Simmons replied. “It seems many of your Nebraska storms end as soon as they begin. If it gets worse, perhaps your fathers will fetch you.” She held up a book. “We’ll have some quiet time while I read from Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates.”

  The children cheered. Even Anna loved story reading. The Silver Skates wasn’t as thrilling as Buffalo Bill, but Hans and his sister Gretel and their friends were similar to Anna and her friends.

  Hans’s father was sick like Eugene’s father. Gretel dreaded books like Anna. Hans wore patched clothes like Sally Lil. Hilda van Gleck, the rich burgomaster’s daughter, wore rich furs and velvet like Eloise. And Voostenwalbert Schimmelpenninck, the small boy with the big name, reminded her of William, whose last name was also much too long for Anna to pronounce.

  Anna settled on the bench, Sally Lil leaning cozily against her side. She listened raptly as Miss Simmons began to read.

  “Beautiful Katrinka! Flushed with youth and health, all life and mirth and motion.”

  Who at school is like Katrinka? Anna wondered. Certainly not she.

  Katrinka was a “pretty little maiden” with golden hair that streamed in the sunlight. And more importantly, she could skate faster than anyone. And of course, Anna thought dreamily, Katrinka is bound to win those silver skates!

  Anna sighed, wishing she was like Katrinka. The last time she’d skated on the river, she’d spent most of the time on her bottom.

  Anna grew drowsy, only half hearing as Miss Simmons finished reading the end of the chapter.

  “What wonder that it seemed his darkest hour when, years afterward, thy presence floated away from him forever.” Miss Simmons clapped the book shut, making Anna jump. “Tomorrow,” said the teacher, “we’ll read chapter four.”

  “Awww, Miss Simmons. Can’t you read more?” George asked. The others joined in the chorus.

  “How about The Legend of Sleepy Holler?” Karl suggested. “You read that before Christmas. It was right spooky!”

  Miss Simmons laughed. “It’s The Legend of Sleepy Holl-ow,” she corrected.

  “Oh, Miss Simmons, I didn’t like that story,” Eloise said. “It’s too scary.”

  “Yes, Washington Irving did write a hair-raising tale.”

  “I bet that Brom Bones would fall in love with you, Miss Simmons,” Sally Lil said wistfully.

  “No, he wouldn’t!” John Jacob jumped up, his fingers curled into fists. Anna and the others stared at him. Flushing pink, he sat down.

  “Well.” Miss Simmons cleared her throat and opened Hans Brinker again. “I suppose we have time to begin chapter four.”

  Bump. A noise outside the schoolhouse door startled Anna. Miss Simmons looked up from her open book. Sally Lil blinked sleepily. “What was that?” she whispered to Anna.

  Thump, bang.

  Anna twisted on the bench. All heads turned and stared at the closed door. Had Eloise’s father arrived with his buggy? He’d often show up unannounced during school hours. Sometimes he’d walk around the room, peering over shoulders. Or he’d sit on the back bench, a pad in his hand, watching Miss Simmons teach. Other times he’d pick up Eloise early because it was raining, or a relation was visiting, or the seamstress needed her for a fitting.

  Thump, thump, thump, thumpety-thump. Anna swallowed. This caller didn’t sound like Mister Baxter.

  Miss Simmons slowly closed the book. One hand went to her throat. “Why, who could be making that racket?” she asked.

  Bam! The door shook and the latch rattled as if someone had hit it hard.

  “Someone’s trying to break in,” Carolina gasped.

  Sally Lil clutched Anna’s arm. Eloise, Hattie, and Ruth scooted tightly together on the bench. John Jacob and Karl faced the door.

  Bang! Anna jumped from her seat, too scared to stay still.

  “Too bad Eugene ain’t here,” Karl whispered.

  Miss Simmons smiled bravely. “I better go see who our impatient caller could be,” she said. Setting the book on her desk, she picked up the pointer. As she walked down the aisle, she held it in front of her like a club.

  Ida rose to her feet. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Me too.” Anna hurried around the bench and joined them. John Jacob grabbed a chunk of wood and Karl picked up his lunch pail. Together they approached the door.

  Bang, crack!

  The door rattled so violently the small group froze before it.

  Outside, Anna could hear the whine of the wind and the snow pelting against the door. “It’s the storm,” she whispered. “It’s trying to batter its way inside.”

  Thumpety, thumpety, BANG!

  Suddenly the latch rattled free and the door flew open. Anna gasped. There on the stoop stood
a snow-covered beast!

  A powerful gust of wind whipped into the school. Ida and Miss Simmons were swept backwards. John Jacob dropped the chunk of wood.

  The beast reared its shaggy white head.

  “Run!” Karl hollered.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Top!” Anna yelled, and rushed toward the icy monster. “It’s Top Hat!” Anna hollered above the wind. The pony clattered into the schoolroom, toppling a pile of wood and kicking over an empty lunch pail. He shook his mane, spraying ice everywhere.

  “Oh, Top, you’re a snow horse!” Anna grabbed a rag from the corner and began to wipe him off. Behind her, the door hung open and sheets of snow blew inside. John Jacob tried to push it shut. It was then that Anna noticed that Top was dragging his rope, the stake hanging from the end.

  Miss Simmons bustled over. “Karl, help John Jacob with that the door,” she instructed. “We can’t have it flying off the hinges. Anna, your pony cannot stay in here.”

  “He must have pulled out his stake.” Anna held up the rope. “He’s never done that before.”

  “No matter. He can’t stay in here. Boys, get ready to open the door so Anna can lead her pony outside.”

  “But it’s too cold,” Anna protested. “He might freeze!”

  Miss Simmons gave Anna a firm look. “I’m sorry. I cannot have a pony disrupting my class. Snakes, spiders, why we’ve had enough scares already! Surely there’s a spot you can tie him close by where he’ll be sheltered. Perhaps by the lean-to.”

  Anna’s shoulders slumped. “I guess.”

  Miss Simmons’s gaze softened. “I don’t know much about horses, Anna. But I do know they grow a thick winter coat.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Anna said. “But may I please finish wiping him off first?”

  “Yes, but use newspaper. We may need the rags for ourselves. And after you secure him, please wipe up the doorway.”

  “Yes’m.”

  “Now, the rest of you, let’s get settled again for story reading.”

  Anna took her time brushing the snow off Top. The pony stood quietly behind the boy’s bench. His ears were pricked as if listening to Miss Simmons read about Hans, Gretel, and the lovely Katrinka.