Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Alan Gratz

Author:Alan Gratz [Gratz, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781338736076
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2024-02-05T13:00:00+00:00

I took a horrified step back. So did Johnny and Arthur and Stanley, our fight suddenly forgotten.

And then Mrs. Summers did the most extraordinary thing.

She ran toward the monster, rather than away from it.

“It’s a sailor!” she cried. “Help me get him inside!”

I blinked, and suddenly I could see it. The hunched, shambling form was actually a young man, completely naked but for the gun belt and pistol he still wore. Whether he’d been nude to start with, or his shoes, shorts, and shirt had been blown off him or burned away, I didn’t know. Slimy black oil covered him from head to foot.

“Stanley! Frank! Hurry!” Mrs. Summers said. She ignored how ugly the man looked and wrapped her arms around his swaying body. “He must have oil in his throat!”

Stanley dashed toward his mother, and I followed. Together we helped the wounded sailor through the entrance of the Dungeon. This time, Arthur and Johnny stood back and let us go by without challenging us.

Most of our Ford Island neighbors were packed inside the shelter, and I immediately picked Mom and Ginny out of the crowd. I felt a swell of relief. They were alive, and safe!

Ginny was sitting with the Dawson twins, who she used to babysit. She smiled and started to wave to me, but her look turned to horror when she saw the creature Stanley and I were helping support. Mrs. Harding from three doors down paled and wobbled like she might faint, and Arthur’s sister, Maxine, who I suspected had a crush on me, started screaming. So did Charlie Moore, and the Dawson twins, and soon all the kids were freaking out, young and old. And some of the adults too.

“That’s enough,” my mom said, her voice cutting through the hullabaloo. She marched toward us, and I felt the urge to stand up straight like a soldier at attention. “This man could be your husband. Your father. Your brother,” she told the other people in the Dungeon. “He needs our help, not our bawling.”

Some of the little kids kept crying, and Ginny went to comfort them. But Mom’s words shut everybody else up. Commodore McCoy had taken charge.

Mom gave me a quick hug as she swept by. “I’m so glad you’re safe. We’ll talk more in a minute,” she told me, and I nodded. The sailor needed help first.

“Let’s get that area by the door clear and lay out some blankets,” Mom ordered. “If one sailor’s found us here, more are sure to follow. Charlotte, Elizabeth, come with me to get some water.”

The Navy wives and moms immediately got to work. Like the men who’d swarmed the deck of the Utah after the attack started, the women were in various states of dress and appearance. Some wore jeans and sweatshirts. Others had on dresses or skirts and short-sleeved shirts. A few had taken a moment to wrap up their hair in scarves or throw on a baseball cap. Mrs. Harding still had metal curlers in her hair, while Charlie’s mom was entirely made up and wearing her Sunday best.

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