SHELTER
When Jess opened her eyes it must have been about ten o'clock in themorning. She sat up and looked all around her. She could see dimly theopening where they had come into the woods. She looked around to seethat her family was still safely by her. Then she looked up at the sky.At first she thought it must still be night, and then she realized thatthe darkness was caused by an approaching storm.
"Whatever, _whatever_ shall we do now?" demanded Jess of the air.
She got up and looked in every direction for shelter. She even walkedquite a little way into the woods, and down a hill. And there she stood,not knowing what to do next.
"I shall have to wake Henry up," she said at last. "Only how I hate to!"
As she spoke she glanced into the forest, and her feet felt as if theywere nailed to the ground. She could not stir. Faintly outlined amongthe trees, Jess saw an old freight or box car. Her first thought was oneof fear; her second, hope for shelter. As she thought of shelter, herfeet moved, and she stumbled toward it.
It really was a freight car. She felt of it. It stood on rusty brokenrails which were nearly covered with dead leaves. Then the thundercracked overhead. Jess came to her usual senses and started back forHenry, flying like the wind. He was awake, looking anxiously overhead.He had not noticed that Jess was missing.
"Come!" panted Jess. "I've found a place! Hurry! hurry!"
Henry did not stop to ask questions. He picked up Benny, telling Violetto gather up the hay. And then they ran headlong through the thickunderbrush in Jess' wake, seeing their way only too well by the sharpflashes of lightning.
"It's beginning to sprinkle!" gasped Henry.
"We'll get there, all right," Jess shouted back. "It's not far. Be allready to help me open the door when we get there!"
By sheer good fortune a big tree stump stood under the door of thefreight car, or the children never could have opened it. As it was, Jesssprang on the stump and Henry, pausing to lay Benny down, did likewise.Together they rolled back the heavy door about a foot.
"That's enough," panted Jess. "I'll get in, and you hand Benny up tome."
"No," said Henry quietly. "I must see first if any one is in there."
"It will rain!" protested Jess. "Nothing will hurt me."
But she knew it was useless to argue with Henry, so she hastily gropedin the bag for the matches and handed them to her brother. It must beconfessed that Jess held her breath while Henry struck one and peeredabout inside the car.
"All's well!" he reported. "Come in, everybody!"
Violet passed the hay up to her brother, and crawled in herself. ThenJess handed Benny up like a package of groceries and, taking one lastlook at the angry sky and waving trees, she climbed in after him.
The two children managed to roll the door back so that the crack wascompletely closed before the storm broke. But at that very instant itbroke with a vengeance. It seemed to the children that the sky wouldsplit, so sharp were the cracks of thunder. But not a drop of rainreached them in their roomy retreat. They could see nothing at all, forthe freight car was tightly made, and all outside was nearly as black asnight. Through it all, Benny slept on.
Presently the thunder grew fainter, and rumbled away down the valley,and the rain spent itself. Only the drip from the trees on the top ofthe car could be heard. Then Henry ventured to open the door.
He knelt on his hands and knees and thrust his head out.
The warm sunlight was filtering through the trees, making golden poolsof light here and there. The beautiful trees, pines and white birchesand oaks, grew thickly around and the ground was carpeted with flowersand wonderful ferns more than a yard high. But most miraculous of allwas a miniature waterfall, small but perfect, where the same littlebrown brook fell gracefully over some ledges, and danced away down theglen.
In an instant Jess and Violet were looking over Henry's shoulder at thepretty sight.
"How different everything looks with the sun shining!" exclaimed Jess."Things will soon be dry at this rate."
"It must be about noon," observed Henry, looking at the sun. And as hespoke the faint echo of mill bells in the distance was heard.
"Henry!" said Jess sharply. "Let's _live_ here!"
"Live here?" repeated Henry dully.
"Yes! Why not?" replied Jess. "Nobody uses this car, and it's dry andwarm. We're quite far away. And yet we are near enough to a town so wecan buy things."
"And we're near water," added Violet.
Jess hugged her sister. "So we are, little mouse," she said--"the mostimportant thing of all."
"But--" began Henry.
"_Please_, Henry," said Jess excitedly. "I could make this old freightcar into the dearest little house, with beds, and chairs, and atable--and dishes--"
"I'd like to live here, too," said a determined little voice from thecorner, "but I don't want to, unless--"
"Unless what?" asked Henry, panic-stricken.
"Unless I can have my dinner," Benny finished anxiously.
"We'll have something to eat right away, old fellow," said Henry,thankful it was no worse. For he himself was beginning to see what acozy home the car really would make.
Jess cut the last loaf of bread into four pieces, but alas! it was verydry. The children were so hungry that they tore it with their teeth likelittle dogs, but Benny was nearly crying. He did not actually cry,however, for just at the crucial moment Violet started a funny storyabout Cinnamon Bear eating bread crusts out of the ash can.
"He ought to have milk," said Jess quietly to Henry.
"He _shall_ have milk," replied Henry. "I'll go down the railroad trackto the town and get some."
Jess counted out a dollar in ten dimes and handed it to Henry. "By thetime our four dollars are gone, you will have some work to do," shesaid.
All the same Henry did not like to begin his trip. "How I hate to leaveyou alone, Jess!" he said miserably.
"Oh, don't you worry," began Jess lightly. "We'll have a surprise foryou when you come back. You just wait and see!" And she nodded her headwisely as Henry walked slowly off through the woods.
The moment he was out of sight she turned to Benny and Violet. "Now,children," she said, "what do you think we're going to do? Do you knowwhat I saw over in the sunny part of the woods? I saw some blueberries!"
"Oh, oh!" cried Benny, who knew what blueberries were. "Can't we havesome blueberries and milk?"
"We certainly--" began Jess. But the sentence never was finished, for asharp crackle of dry leaves was heard. Something was moving in thewoods.
The Box-Car Children Page 3