Hurricane Heroes in Texas
Page 4
Sister Agnes gasped.
The light of the tiny lone star was glowing brighter—and brighter—and brighter—until the hallway was filled with golden light.
The light from the star shone through all the broken windows and out over the storm waters—as far as the eye could see.
“What a wonderful mystery,” Mother Mary Joseph said softly. “Your light shines for all those who need us.”
“Who are you?” Sister Agnes said in a hushed voice. “Angels?”
Annie laughed. “No, we’re tourists,” she said.
Faint voices came from across the dark waters. “Hello! Anyone there?”
“Yes!” Annie called back from the window. “This way!”
Jack and Annie worked with Sister Agnes and Mother Mary Joseph for the rest of the night. They all helped storm refugees find their way to the Ursuline Academy. They called out again and again, urging them to come toward the light.
Jack and Annie helped people climb through the window. They led them to the auditorium. They gave them shoes and blankets. They were never too tired to lend a hand.
Just before dawn, the water started going down. By the first light of morning, Jack saw that the floodwaters had flowed back out to sea, like water draining from a bathtub.
The Great Galveston Hurricane was over.
Sunlight streamed in. Morgan’s tiny star sparkled in the window. The glass star was just a glass star again. Annie took the necklace down and put it around her neck.
“Oh, no,” said Jack, looking out the window.
Not one building was left standing between the academy and the waterfront. The ground was covered with pools of muddy brown water and mounds of trash.
Bells began to ring from the chapel.
“A new day is beginning,” Mother Mary Joseph said.
“Yes,” said Annie.
“Deadly storms are terrible,” said Mother Mary Joseph. “But they always end. Then you start over. And you look at the world a little differently.”
“Yes,” said Jack. He was suddenly so tired he couldn’t think straight.
“You both must lie down and rest now,” said the nun. “You can sleep in my room.”
“Thanks,” said Annie. “But we have to find our parents right away, so they’ll know we’re safe. Please tell Rose, Lily, and Lucas good-bye for us.”
“Of course,” said the nun. “I will.”
“And thank Rose for taking good care of us,” said Jack. “Tell her not to worry—we know how to find our mom and dad.”
“Are you certain you know where they are?” the nun asked.
“Yes. We just have to get back to Avenue L near 25th Street,” said Annie.
“Is that far from here?” Jack asked Mother Mary Joseph.
“Oh, no, it’s very close,” she answered. “Only two blocks north.”
“Thanks,” said Annie.
Mother Mary Joseph looked worried. “Are you positive you can find your parents?” she asked.
“No question about it,” Annie said.
“You’ll come right back here if you don’t find them,” the nun said. “Promise?”
“Promise,” said Jack and Annie together.
Mother Mary Joseph led Jack and Annie down the stairs to the first level of the building. All the windows were broken, and all the doors had been blown away. The storm water had drained out, leaving muddy puddles on the stone floor.
Mother Mary Joseph stopped in the open entranceway. “Thank you for all your help—and for your guiding light,” she said.
“Thank you for helping us,” said Annie. “You remind me of a good friend of ours named Morgan.”
“Me too,” said Jack.
Mother Mary Joseph smiled. “Be careful, my friends.” She bowed her head, and then left them.
“Mother Mary Joseph was the hero Morgan wanted us to learn from,” said Annie.
“Right,” said Jack. He quoted from Morgan’s rhyme:
Learn from a hero
Who’s humble and brave,
Who welcomes the hundreds
Arriving on waves.
“Look her up in our Texas book,” said Annie.
“I’m afraid it’s ruined,” Jack said. He pulled off his knapsack and took out the Texas book. It was soaking wet. All the pages were stuck together.
“Oh, too bad,” said Annie.
Jack put the book back into his knapsack. “Let’s go,” he said. Then he and Annie headed out of the Ursuline Academy. They took each other’s hands and began slogging through the mud.
As they walked up 25th Street, Jack looked straight ahead. He tried not to think about the destroyed city and the mounds of wreckage.
Instead, Jack kept his mind on home…on the Frog Creek woods and their house and their mom and dad. He thought of Morgan le Fay and Merlin and the magic tree house.
Soon Jack and Annie turned onto Avenue L. All the houses had been torn apart on that street, too. Only a few walls and chimneys remained.
“There’s the iron fence!” said Annie.
They walked through the open gateway of the fence into the muddy yard.
Annie gasped. “It’s gone!” she said.
“I know,” said Jack. “We were there with Rose when her house was destroyed.”
“No, not Rose’s house,” said Annie. “Our house is gone.” She pointed to the remains of an oak tree. “That was our tree.”
The trunk was split in two. All the upper branches were gone.
And so was the magic tree house.
Jack stared at the bare, broken tree. He couldn’t believe it.
“It’s gone?” he said in a whisper.
“Wait,” said Annie. “Is that it?” She pointed to a pile of muddy boards jammed against the iron fence.
“Maybe…,” said Jack. “What’s left of it.”
He and Annie stepped over to the ruins of the tree house. The floor was covered with brown mud. The roof was missing. Three of the four walls had caved in.
Jack started to lift one of the fallen walls.
“Hold on!” said Annie. She reached under the wall and pulled out their wet Pennsylvania book.
“Oh, no, it’s ruined, too,” said Jack.
“Wait,” said Annie. She carefully peeled apart some pages. “Here’s the photo of the Frog Creek woods!” She showed Jack the smeared page. “That’s all we need! Get in the tree house.”
“Are you crazy?” said Jack.
“Just get in,” said Annie.
“There’s no ‘in’ to get into, Annie,” said Jack.
“Fine, then we’ll just sit on the floor,” said Annie.
Holding the book, Annie sat down on the muddy floor. Jack sat beside her. He’d gotten so used to being wet and grimy that he didn’t even think about the mud.
Annie pointed at the smeared photo of Frog Creek.
“I wish we could go there,” she said.
Nothing happened.
Jack put his head in his hands.
“I wish we could go there!” Annie shouted.
Jack felt the floor of the tree house start to move.
“Whoa!” he said. He couldn’t believe it!
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
* * *
Tap, tap, tap.
A breeze blew through the window of the tree house. Rain splashed softly against the oak leaves.
“We’re home,” Annie said.
Jack looked around.
As always, no time at all had passed in Frog Creek. Jack and Annie were wearing their own dry, comfortable clothes and shoes again. The canvas knapsack had
changed into Jack’s backpack. The Pennsylvania book lay on the clean wooden floor. It was in perfect shape.
Best of all, the tree house had a window again! And four walls and a roof!
“I didn’t know if the magic in the tree house could fix the tree house itself,” whispered Jack.
“I was pretty sure it could,” said Annie.
“Of course you were,” said Jack, smiling. “Come on, let’s hurry home.”
“Wait, I want to look in the Texas book one more time,” said Annie.
“It was ruined by water damage, remember?” said Jack.
“Yup,” said Annie. “But I’ll bet it’s fine now.”
Jack pulled their Texas book out of his backpack. The book was as good as new.
“Yay,” Annie said.
“You were right,” said Jack. He handed her the book.
Annie looked in the index. “Here!” she said. She turned to the right page. “Oh, wow. Listen to this.” She read aloud:
Mother Mary Joseph was an outstanding hero of the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900. When the storm hit the island, she and her community of nuns saved the lives of more than a thousand storm refugees. Many people of Galveston called her—
Annie gasped and looked at Jack. “You won’t believe this,” she said.
“What?” he said.
“Listen.” Annie read:
Many people of Galveston called her “a shining light.”
“Oh, man,” said Jack, smiling.
Annie turned the page and read more:
After the storm, 6,000 to 12,000 people were dead or missing, and 4,000 buildings were destroyed. But the survivors of the Great Galveston Hurricane did not give up. In spite of their suffering, they immediately began rebuilding their homes and their lives.
“Rose would say that’s what Texans do,” said Jack.
“She was so proud to live in Texas,” said Annie. She kept reading:
Workers also built a high sea wall to help keep the sea from ever destroying Galveston again. Most amazing of all, they pumped sand from the floor of the Gulf to raise the level of the whole city. Today Galveston is one of the best-protected cities on the Gulf coast.
“That’s really great,” said Annie. She put the book on the floor. “I’d like to go there again—in our time.”
“Me too,” said Jack.
“I’d like to meet the great-great-grandchildren of Rose and Lucas,” said Annie.
“And Lily,” said Jack.
Annie smiled. “But first, I’d like to go home and see Mom and Dad.”
“Yup,” said Jack. “I’d like that more than anything in the world.”
Annie took off the star necklace and set it on top of the Texas book. Jack pulled on his backpack and climbed down the rope ladder. Annie followed.
As they started through the woods, the rain gradually stopped falling. Streams of misty sunlight slanted through the trees.
Birds sang loudly.
“Remember what Mother Mary Joseph told us,” said Annie. “ ‘Deadly storms are terrible, but they always end.’ ”
“ ‘Then you start over,’ ” said Jack. “ ‘And you look at the world a little differently.’ ”
“Yeah. Like ordinary things seem more special than before,” said Annie.
“Like comfortable shoes,” said Jack.
“Like birds,” said Annie.
“Like sunlight,” said Jack.
“Like family and friends,” said Annie.
“Like family and friends,” repeated Jack. “Let’s hurry.”
He and Annie took off running through the Frog Creek woods, heading for home.
Millions of years ago, amazing animals, including T. rex, lived in Texas. They existed before humans were on earth. Here are some you might not know about:
Deinonychus
(dy-NON-ih-kus) lived 110 million years ago. They hunted in packs and had a five-inch claw on their back feet that they probably used to kill prey or defend themselves. Deinonychus were about eleven feet long and had about seventy super-sharp teeth!
Torosaurus
(TOR-uh-SAW-rus) had a skull over nine feet long, one of the largest skulls of any animal that has ever lived! Torosaurus were around twenty-four feet long and munched on leaves and other plants. They lived 66 million years ago.
Quetzalcoatlus
(KET-zul-koh-AHT-lus) were not dinosaurs. They were flying reptiles the size of a small airplane! Quetzalcoatlus had a huge wingspan that could reach thirty-six feet. Their beaks were up to eight feet long! Yikes!
Mammal: Texas Longhorn
Bird: Northern Mockingbird
Flower: Bluebonnet
Dog: Blue Lacy
Horse: American Quarter Horse
Flag: Lone Star
Tree: Pecan
Hat: Cowboy
Insect: Monarch Butterfly
Reptile: Horned Lizard
Barbara Jordan was a teacher, lawyer, and civil rights leader. Barbara was also the first African American woman in the Texas Senate. In fact, she was the first African American man or woman in the state senate since 1883! She then became the first woman from Texas and the first African American woman from the South to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Democratic Party asked Barbara to give the most important speech at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, when Democrats choose their candidate for president. Barbara was the first African American ever to have this honor. In 1994, Barbara was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Red Adair was a legend in Texas. He was an expert at putting out oil well fires. It’s one of the most dangerous jobs anywhere! Red invented a way to put explosives in the wells to stop them from burning. After that, firefighters must cover the well. While they’re doing all of this, the well might explode at any time.
Over the years, Red and his crew put out over 2,000 oil fires both on land and on oil rigs in the sea. In the Sahara Desert, they once stopped a fire that had flames shooting 450 feet into the air! In 1991, when Red was seventy-five years old, he went to Kuwait to put out fires that Iraqi soldiers had set in a large oilfield.
He once said, “I’ve traveled all over the world, but I don’t think there is any place better than Texas.”
WILL OSBORNE
is the author of many novels, picture books, story collections, and nonfiction books. Her New York Times number one bestselling Magic Tree House series has been translated into numerous languages around the world. Highly recommended by parents and educators everywhere, the series introduces young readers to different cultures and times in history, as well as to the world’s legacy of ancient myth and storytelling. She and her husband, writer Will Osborne (author of Magic Tree House: The Musical), live in northwestern Connecticut with their three dogs. Ms. Osborne is coauthor of the companion Magic Tree House® Fact Trackers with Will and with her sister, Natalie Pope Boyce.
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