Run, Billy, Run by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316095822
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

AFTER SUPPER Billy, Dan, and their father went into the woods again to saw down another tree and cut it to kindling size. The trunk of the pine tree Mr. Chekko selected this time was only slightly larger than those they had sawed down before, but the way Billy’s arms began to feel as he pushed and pulled on the saw made him wonder if his father had found one six inches thicker.

At last Mr. Chekko’s yell that they stop brought relief to Billy. He helped his father withdraw the saw from the tree, then watched him wield the axe till the tall pine fell exactly where he wanted it to.

A squirrel Billy hadn’t seen on the tree before chittered with fright as it leaped through the air to another tree, landing on a slender branch that bounced up and down under its slight weight. Two crows screeched from the top of another tree and flew off; a rabbit skittered out from under a bush and ran madly until it vanished under another bush.

Again Billy and Dan sawed while their father chopped, and it was twilight by the time the chunks were short enough to be carried to their back yard.

By now Billy was really tired. His arms felt ready to break off from his aching shoulders. His knees felt ready to collapse. His stomach was beginning to feel nauseous.

Suddenly his head became woozy, and he was afraid he was going to faint. “Watch it, Dan,” he warned his brother, who was walking behind him.

He stopped and let the short log roll off his shoulder onto the ground, then he stepped off the path and lay down on the cool grass. He closed his eyes, while a myriad of tiny stars flashed before him.

He heard a second loud thud, and knew that Dan had dropped his log, too. “Billy! What’s the matter? What happened?”

“I got dizzy,” Billy murmured. His face was pale, his lips purple and dry.

“Shall I call Dad?”

“No. Let’s wait a minute.”

He waited there for a few minutes, until the wooziness was gone. Then he rose, lifted the log back up on his shoulder, and walked on.

“You sure you’re okay now?” asked Dan worriedly.

“I’m sure,” said Billy.

But he wasn’t entirely okay. After he dropped the log off at home he told Dan that maybe he should tell their dad that he was sick, and that he was going into the house to lie down. Sheri, watching her brothers ever since they had come into sight from the woods, rushed into the house immediately to tell their mother that Billy was sick and “was coming in to lie down.”

His mother was waiting for him when he reached the living room door. Not asking him a single question, she helped him to the sofa, then got a blanket with which she covered him.

“Did you throw up?” she asked him worriedly.

“No,” he said.

She tucked the blanket under him. “I’m not surprised this happened,” she said. “You’ve been working hard, and running hard.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.