Tragedy from the Sea by Bonnie Highsmith Taylor

Author:Bonnie Highsmith Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Perfection Learning Corporation
Published: 2017-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

By the time Mama reached home, Mr. Fisher and Vernon had all the storm shutters closed.

Mr. Fisher had brought all the groceries and clothes he could carry. Now he was frying a big skillet of potatoes. Then he cooked eggs to go with the potatoes. Vernon had made a fresh pot of coffee.

Poor Mama. She was breathing so hard she could barely talk. She was shaking all over. Vernon took a quilt from her bed and wrapped it around her.

He held the coffee to her mouth. “Take a swallow, Mama,” he coaxed. “It’ll warm you up.”

Mama’s dress had been ripped by the wind. Most of the buttons were gone from her sweater.

“It—it was so—so awful,” she stammered. “I fell down over and over. Part of the roof blew off the grocery store. Bessie Rowe’s son was injured bad. A very large tree fell on Mr. Archer’s wagon. He—he couldn’t bring me home.”

Mama took a swallow of coffee. “The tide is so high that it’s over the railroad tracks. Mr. Archer said the wind is blowing over 50 miles an hour. I saw two houses blow off their foundations.”

Mr. Fisher put dinner on the table. He sat down.

“You don’t have to worry about this little house, missus,” he said. “Martin did a good job when he built it. He was one fine carpenter, that man.”

Vernon felt proud. It was good to hear Mr. Fisher talk about Papa that way.

But Vernon wished Papa were here now. He’d feel a lot safer. He hoped Mama and Mr. Fisher couldn’t tell how scared he was. Vernon had seen a lot of storms. But he had never seen one quite like this one.

The fried potatoes and eggs were really good. But Vernon’s stomach was so tied in knots he had a hard time swallowing.

Mama had finally stopped shaking.

“You sit right there by the stove,” Mr. Fisher said. “I’ll wash up these dishes.”

By two o’clock in the afternoon, the rain had let up some. But the wind was still blowing hard. The roaring went on and on. Vernon, Mama, and Mr. Fisher had to shout to one another to be heard.

Outside, trees crashed to the ground. Other objects banged against the house.

Vernon wanted to see what was happening. But the windows were all shuttered.

Then Vernon remembered the window in the loft. It was very small. And it wasn’t shuttered. He could see through it.

Vernon climbed the ladder. He lay on his pallet and looked out. Boards, shingles, boxes, and other things flew about. Almost every fence was lying flat on the ground.

The big fir tree in Luther’s yard was in the middle of the street. Their front window was broken. Many of their shingles had blown away. Vernon could see Luther and his sister. They were holding up boards for their father to nail over the window. At last, they covered it.

As Vernon watched, he saw at least a foot of water rushing down the street.

Vernon climbed back down the ladder. Mama and Mr. Fisher sat quietly at the table.

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