Maddy and the Monstrous Storm by Julie Gilbert

Author:Julie Gilbert [Gilbert, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical fiction; female hero; adventure story; survival story; chapter books for girls; schoolchildren’s blizzard; great blizzard of 1888; great white hurricane; Dakota Territory; prairie; famous blizzard; famous storm; children’s blizzard; Minnesota; Norwegian immigrants
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Dakota Territory

Schoolhouse cloakroom

January 12, 1888

3:30 p.m.

“We can’t leave,” Anna protested. “What about Ole and Johann? They’ll get here.”

Jane shook her head. “It’s been too long.”

From behind Jane, Elias peered at me anxiously. No doubt he was worried about his brother.

“I’ll bet they’re safe,” I said, trying to make my voice light. “They probably just decided to wait out the storm at Johann’s farm.”

“What if they make it back here?” Anna pressed.

“We’ll leave a note on the chalkboard explaining that we’ve gone to my house,” I said. “I’ll also say that Ole and Johann went to the Gundersen farm, in case someone else comes looking for us.”

“Your house?” Jane said.

“It’s more than two miles to the Gundersens’, even if we find the road.” I swallowed, suddenly nervous about presenting my plan. “We go north. Cross-country. Two hundred yards gets us to my house. We’ll be safe there.”

Jane hesitated, then looked at the children and sighed. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was—they wouldn’t make it two miles.

Jane glanced at me. “Can you find your way?”

“Yes,” I said. “We head straight up the hill to the cedar. That will point us in the right direction. Then there’s an open section.”

I glossed over that part, which would be the most dangerous, since there were no landmarks. “After that, we look for the fruit trees.”

“Fruit trees?” Anna asked.

“Uncle Hans planted a row of them that leads straight to the house,” I explained.

“What do you think?” Jane asked Anna.

“We don’t have a choice,” she said. “I trust Maddy.”

“Really?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I even trusted myself.

Jane put a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve made the right decisions so far. I trust you too.”

I felt suddenly terrified. I was responsible for everyone’s safety. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I needed to be brave.

Everyone scrambled to put on their warmest clothes. It wasn’t much. Everyone had a pair of mittens, at least. Miss Tyler had found two old cloaks, which she draped around Signe and Elias.

An idea occurred to me. “Do we have any rope?” I asked.

“No, why?” Miss Tyler asked.

“We should tie ourselves together,” I said. “Like how your father tied a rope to the barn.”

“It’s not the worst idea,” Jane said.

“We could use scarves,” Anna suggested.

“Our necks will get cold,” Miss Tyler said.

“We’ll be cold no matter what,” I said. “But I have an idea.”

I raced back into the schoolroom and picked up my cloak. Then I went to the chalkboard and scrawled a message on it. That way it was clear we had gone to the Rolvig farm, while Ole and Johann went to the Gundersen farm.

When I got back to the cloakroom, I held out my cloak.

“We can use this to make a rope. Who can tie a good knot?” I asked.

“Let me,” Anna said.

Working together, we tore the cloak into long strips. Then Anna took the pieces and tied complicated knots to make one piece. We tied the cloak rope around our waists.

“Hold on and don’t let go,” I told Signe and Elias.

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