Anna's Blizzard

by Alison Hart

  It went limp as Anna reached the count of fifty. She hoped John Jacob had found the lean-to. Next trip would be easier because there would be tracks.

  She kept counting.

  A gust buffeted her and almost knocked her off her feet. The snow stung as if someone was pelting her with river sand. It blew up her nose and down her neck. She fought off the urge to brush it away. She didn’t dare let go of the rope.

  Finally, at the count of one hundred and forty, she felt two tugs. He was ready to come back!

  “Reel him in!” she hollered over her shoulder to Ida. Hand over hand, Anna took up the slack. Her heart was pounding. She spotted a dim shape emerging from the fog of snow. The shape became John Jacob. His arms were stacked with wood. He’d made it!

  Karl came onto the stoop and took the wood from John Jacob, who headed back out. Anna began counting again, starting from zero. Her fingers were stiff. Her face had no feeling. The snow whirled and danced until her head grew dizzy. No wonder folks got lost in weather like this!

  At the count of one hundred and sixty, the rope jerked twice. Anna and Ida pulled John Jacob in. When he reappeared, his cheeks were bright red. His cap and shoulders were covered with snow. “You all right?” Anna hollered.

  “One more trip,” he mumbled from behind his scarf. Then with a nod, he turned and vanished.

  Anna felt the line loosen. Her nose ran and a sneeze racked her. For a second she lost count. Where had she stopped? One hundred, she guessed, and began counting again from there. Oh, she wished Miss Simmons had put Ida in charge of counting!

  “One hundred and sixty-seven, one hundred and sixty-eight,” Anna murmured between chapped lips. The line was still slack. Why hadn’t John Jacob tugged? Had she counted all wrong?

  Goose bumps of cold, of worry, prickled her arms. Slowly, she began to reel in the rope. Chills raced up her spine as she realized she couldn’t feel any weight on the other end. Anna held her breath, fearing the worst. When the tip of the rope slithered across the snow into sight, she let out a cry. There was nothing attached to it.

  John Jacob was gone!

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ida’s fingers gripped Anna’s shoulder. “Where is he?” she screamed in Anna’s ear.

  Anna shook her head, too numb to reply. She pulled off her frozen mittens. Awkwardly she tied the rope around her own waist. Then she faced Ida.

  “Hold on to the rope,” she yelled over the wind as she slid her hands back into the mittens. “I’m going after him.”

  Ida nodded. Her eyes, gleaming from below her cap, had a wild, frightened look.

  Anna plunged off the stoop. The snow was deeper than she thought, and she plummeted into a drift. Catching herself, she scrambled to her feet. She floundered onward, following John Jacob’s dwindling trail.

  “John Jacob!” she hollered.

  She stopped and called again. Turning in a circle, she yelled his name until her throat felt raw. The wind buffeted her from all sides, and soon she lost any sense of direction. Which way was the school? Which way was the lean-to? Panic started to creep into her chest and down her arms. She held tightly to the rope, knowing it was her way back. For a moment Anna thought about giving Ida the signal, but she put the thought out of her mind. She couldn’t leave her best friend out here.

  “John Jacob!” Anna shouted, but the only reply was the howling wind.

  Tears sprang into her eyes. Her best friend was lost and it was all her fault.

  Blindly she struck out again along the disappearing path. Suddenly the toe of her boot hit something solid. The lean-to! It was so covered with snow, she could barely see it. She patted along the boards until she found her way to the front. A drift half-filled the opening. She scooped out the top and bent over. John Jacob was huddled beside the sack of cow chips. When he saw Anna, his eyes widened over his ice-crusted scarf.

  She waved at him. He crawled toward her. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him from the lean-to. Then she reached back in and hauled out the sack of cow chips.

  “Hold on!” she screamed into the wind. He looped the fingers of his wool gloves over the rope. She tugged twice on the line, hoping the others hadn’t given up.

  The rope grew taut. One step at a time, the two forged through the snow, following their lifeline. Anna trudged behind John Jacob, dragging the heavy sack. They finally reached the stoop, and both of them collapsed, exhausted.

  Ida and Miss Simmons helped them to their feet. Karl took the sack. When they entered the school, everybody cheered. Top clomped over and puffed at Anna’s frosted head.

  She cracked a smile, her lips tight.

  “Thank heavens!” Miss Simmons cried over and over as she and the other kids unwrapped John Jacob’s layers and then helped Anna, Ida, and Karl from their snowy clothes.

  Miss Simmons laid the wet coats and hats on the benches to dry. The four shivering adventurers huddled around the stove. Hattie and Ruth brought them a mug of hot tea to share, hoping to ease their chills.

  John Jacob took a sip and handed the mug to Anna. He held up his fingers. The tips were red.

  “F-f-f-frostnip,” Anna said between chattering teeth. She was trembling so hard that she could barely hold the mug. She quickly passed it to Ida.

  John Jacob scowled. “Not even frostbite?”

  “Naw,” Karl said. “We’d have needed to leave you out longer for that.”

  “Shucks no!” John Jacob slanted a shy grin Anna’s way. “Thanks for coming after me. When I realized that the knot had come untied and the rope had disappeared, I thought I was done for.”

  Anna’s cheeks reddened and she hunkered low on the bench. “Well, we needed those cow chips.”

  “One thing’s for sure,” Karl said. “I ain’t going out in that blizzard ever again!”

  “Amen,” Ida said.

  “We shouldn’t have to.” John Jacob hooked his thumb toward the stove. “There’s fuel enough to get us through the night. Don’t you think, Anna?”

  He was asking her! Anna hid her pleased grin in her sleeve. She nodded.

  Ruth and Hattie came over. “We’ve fixed a picnic,” they said quietly.

  Anna glanced over her shoulder. Miss Simmons’s cloak was spread on the floor in front of the blackboard. The food they’d collected was arranged on the lids of the lunch pails.

  Anna’s mouth began to water. Karl jumped up. “Yee haw! Let’s dig in. I’m famished.”

  All the children sat around the cloak. Miss Simmons placed her desk chair between William and George. The girls had cut everything in tiny pieces so no one would miss out. That meant each lid held a scant amount.

  Anna stared at the meager morsels in front of her. This will be our last until we’re rescued, she thought, whenever that might be.

  “The girls set a fine table, wouldn’t you say?” Miss Simmons asked cheerfully.

  George’s mouth drew down into a pout. William’s brows bunched in a frown.

  “This is all?” Carolina whined. Her lower lip was quivering.

  “Why it’s a fine meal!” Anna said quickly. “And they used their best china, too. Just for us!”

  Hattie, Eloise, and Ruth beamed.

  “Let’s bow our heads and give thanks that we have a roof over our head and wood for the stove,” Miss Simmons said.

  “And pray that our families are home safe,” Ida added quietly.

  “And to say thank you Lord for this bountiful feast!” Sally Lil exclaimed. “Why this looks better’n my family’s Sunday supper!”

  Anna giggled even though she knew Sally Lil wasn’t joshing.

  Miss Simmons finished the prayer and Karl said, “Amen and dig in!”

  Instantly hands darted toward the lids, and for a few minutes all was silent. Anna slowly ate each morsel of egg, sandwich, potato, and biscuit. Then she sucked on the slivers of jerked meat and pickle, making them last. She saved the dab of taffy for dessert. She put the plum in her pocket for Top.

  “My, that was tasty.” John
Jacob smacked his lips noisily.

  “Um, um.” George rubbed his stomach. “I can’t wait until supper.”

  “That was supper,” William said.

  “Was not.”

  “Was too. So don’t be such an ungrateful hog,” said William.

  George pounced on him and they rolled across the cloak, rattling the tin lids.

  Ida grabbed William and Miss Simmons grabbed George. “Time for a Learning Bee,” Miss Simmons announced as she set George on his feet.

  Anna groaned. Adventures and picnics were over. And here she’d almost grown to like school!

  “Yuck, what smells?” Carolina complained.

  “It’s Top.” Hattie pointed at the pony. A pile of manure steamed on the floor behind him. “Anna, clean up after your pony.”

  “Right now, Anna, before I grow ill!” Eloise held her nose. “Miss Simmons, does he have to be in here? He’s an animal.”

  Anna jumped up. “And you, Eloise Baxter, are a whiney pants! That don’t mean we’ll put you out! Besides, unless you’re aiming to make your way to the privy in this blizzard, you’re going to have to drop your fancy drawers on the stoop!”

  “On the stoop!” John Jacob chortled. The boys doubled over with laughter, slapping their legs and hooting.

  Eloise’s jaw dropped. “I will never.”

  “Anna, Eloise, mind your manners,” Miss Simmons scolded. “That is not polite conversation for ladies!”

  Anna stomped across the floor. Top stood along the side wall, plucking old grass and weeds from the sod blocks.

  Propping her fists on her hips, Anna stared at the manure. At home, she had shovel and pitchfork. Here she’d have to make do. She glanced around the room, her gaze landing on her slate. She hopped over a bench and picked it up. A smudged 14-7 =____ was still written on it.

  “Finally, I can put that problem to good use,” Anna muttered as she scooped up the manure with the slate. When she threw it out the door, the cold air nearly took her breath away. She was sure that the temperature had dropped even more. And although it was still early afternoon, the sky was as gray as granite.

  Evening’s coming on early, Anna thought. She wiped the slate in the snow. When she went back in to the schoolhouse, she had to push hard with both hands to close the door. Finally she got it latched and stepped back. The wind rattled and shook the door like an intruder demanding to be let in.

  Anna hurried back to the warmth of the stove.

  The children were standing in two lines in front of the blackboard. Miss Simmons had arranged them from tall to short. “Anna, you’ll be on Eloise’s team. Stand in between Eloise and Sally Lil.”

  “Why does she have to be on my team?” Eloise complained. “She gets all the answers wrong.”

  Anna ducked her head as she found her place in line.

  “She does not get them all wrong.” Sally Lil stomped on Eloise’s boot toe.

  “Ouch!” Eloise whined. “Miss Simmons, she—”

  The teacher rapped the pointer on the desk. “Let’s begin, shall we?”

  “Thanks for sticking up for me, Sally Lil,” Anna whispered. “But Eloise is right. I do get them all wrong.”

  “Not all,” Sally Lil insisted.

  “Is the first team ready?” Miss Simmons asked Ida. Beside her stood Karl, then John Jacob, Hattie, Carolina, and William.

  Anna raised her hand. “Miss Simmons, the teams ain’t even. I’ll stand out.”

  “Oh do!” Eloise agreed.

  “You’re right, Anna. The teams aren’t even.” Miss Simmons handed Ida the sheet of questions. “Ida, you take my place and call out the questions while I stoke the stove. Karl, you will take Ida’s place as captain of team one.”

  “M-m-me?” Karl sputtered, but John Jacob shoved him to the front of the line.

  “Ready?” Ida held the sheet primly. She cleared her throat. “First question: on what date did Nebraska become the thirty-seventh state?”

  Anna’s stomach rolled.

  “March 1, 1867,” Karl declared proudly.

  “That’s correct, Karl. Eloise, if a wagon train travels ten miles in one day, how far will it travel in four days?” Ida continued.

  Arithmetic! Anna’s head began to pound. She heard the creak of the stove door.

  “Miss Simmons, do you need help?” Anna called.

  “No thank you. I’m all done.” Slipping a shawl over her shoulders, the teacher sat down. She slumped over her desk and held her head between her hands.

  It was almost Anna’s turn and her head pounded, too. She knew just how Miss Simmons felt.

  As the others answered questions, Anna fidgeted. She chewed her nails. By the time it was her turn, she’d bitten them to the quick. Please, Ida. Give me an easy one.

  “Anna, who is Grover Cleveland?”

  “That is so easy,” Eloise scoffed.

  Beside her, Sally Lil whispered, “Everybody knows that one, Anna.”

  Everyone but me! thought Anna. Her head swam dizzily, and she blurted out the first answer that came into her mind. “The president of Nebraska!”

  Eloise groaned.

  “That question will go to John Jacob.”

  “Grover Cleveland is the president of the United States,” John Jacob answered without hesitation.

  “Anna, sit down, please.”

  As Anna walked around the end of the bench, Eloise kicked her in the shins. “Thanks for making us lose,” she hissed.

  Anna curled her fingers into a fist. She was taking aim at Eloise’s nose when the light in the room dimmed. She turned toward Miss Simmons’s desk. The teacher was sitting upright, staring at the kerosene lamp. The yellow flame was flickering.

  “I’ve run out of kerosene,” Miss Simmons said, sounding frightened.

  Anna’s gaze swung to the window. The panes were completely frosted. Rushing over, she rubbed hard with her sleeve. But when she peered outside, all was black. It looked as if night had already fallen.

  She stepped away from the window. Shadows played along the walls as the flame in the lamp flickered. Then it went out, plunging the room into darkness.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Carolina began to whimper. “I’m scared, Miss Simmons.”

  “Everyone hold on to each other,” Miss Simmons called out.

  Anna’s eyes quickly adjusted to the dark. She was used to collecting eggs before the sun came up.

  “I’ll open the stove door, Miss Simmons,” she said. Now that the lamp was out, she realized a faint light was coming through the window. Using it to find her way, she inched past the benches to the stove. It was a sight easier than picking her way through roosting chickens.

  She squatted and pulled open the door. A golden glow spilled across her lap and onto the floor.

  Sighs swept through the room.

  Anna threw in some cow chips, which quickly caught fire in the hot coals. Sally Lil crouched next to her. Her lips were blue.

  “You warm enough?” Anna asked.

  The little girl shook her head.

  “Then why didn’t you say something?”

  “Pa always says, ‘Complaining won’t warm you, my Sally Gal!’”

  “I’m cold, too, Anna,” William said. He and George were standing behind her, hands stretched toward the flame. George nodded in agreement.

  “Then let’s bundle up!” Anna rose and went to the cloak corner. “We’ll pretend we live in a cave,” she said as she grabbed jackets and caps from the pegs and from the benches. “But a hungry bear ran in after us and stomped out our fire. So we have to wear everything we own.”

  “Is there anything to eat in the cave?” William asked hopefully.

  “There’s plenty of pretend food,” Anna replied. “We hunted down a buffalo just yesterday. So we have fresh meat.” She handed Sally Lil, William, and George their outer clothes.

  “But there ain’t no buffalo around here anymore,” John Jacob said.

  “Then we’ll pretend our cave is farther We
st. Like Buffalo Bill.”

  Carolina, Eloise, Hattie, and Ruth carried a bench closer to the stove and sat down.

  “We’re not going to live in a cave,” Eloise said, and her friends nodded in agreement. “We’re pretending we live in a great stone castle. Like those kings and queens in Great Britain.”

  William snorted. “I’d druther live in a cave.”

  Ida, Karl, and John Jacob joined them around the mouth of the stove. Everyone argued about which pretend place was the best. Soon the group was toasty warm.

  Anna peered over her shoulder. Miss Simmons was still hunched over her desk in the dark. Anna thought about checking to see if the teacher was all right. But it was too cozy by the stove.

  “How many people want to live in a damp old cave?” Eloise asked. “Raise your hands.”

  Anna’s hand shot up first. Then Karl, John Jacob, William, and George raised their hands. Sally Lil slowly lifted hers, too. Anna grinned at Eloise. For once, she’d gotten more of the kids on her side!

  Eloise jumped up. “Oh, who cares about a pretend place anyway? I have something better. A surprise.”

  “What, Eloise?” Ruth and Hattie chorused. “Tell us!”

  Eloise smiled coyly. “I brought it from home. I was saving it for later.”

  “It is later!” George declared.

  “Now. We want it now!” William demanded.

  “Let me make sure it’s all right with Miss Simmons.” Eloise went over to the teacher and whispered something in her ear. Miss Simmons nodded and opened the top drawer of her desk. She drew out a flat box and handed it to Eloise.

  When Eloise came back to the stove, everyone flocked around her. “Let us see,” they all said. “What is it?”

  Could it be a picture? Anna wondered. A book? She craned her neck to get a better look.

  “Stop crowding round and I’ll show you.” Eloise sat on the bench. Everyone stared at the box balancing on her knees. Eloise smoothed her skirt. She patted her lacy collar. She retied her hair ribbon.

  “Eloise, get on with it!” Ida finally snapped.