Lost in the Blizzard

  CHAPTER 1: A WALK IN THE FOREST

  CHAPTER 2: SHORTER DAYS

  CHAPTER 3: WHAT ABOUT THE SQUIRRELS?

  CHAPTER 4: THE COMPASS

  CHAPTER 5: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST

  CHAPTER 6: PREPARING FOR WINTER

  CHAPTER 7: WHITEOUT!

  CHAPTER 8: LOGAN TO THE RESCUE

  CHAPTER 9: FUN IN THE SNOW

  'The New Kid' Excerpt

  About Grace Gilmore and Petra Brown

  A WALK IN THE FOREST

  Logan Pryce paused on the wooded path and picked up a spindly branch.

  “Nah, too skinny,” he said to his dog, Skeeter.

  Skeeter grabbed the branch with his teeth and gave a low, ferocious growl. He thought Logan was playing tug-of-war with him.

  Logan’s brother, Drew, turned around. “What do you need a stick for, anyway?”

  “It’s for my new fix-it project,” replied Logan.

  “Wow, what are you fixing up?”

  “It’s a highly guarded secret. All shall be revealed soon!”

  Drew rolled his eyes. Being a big brother, he rolled his eyes a lot.

  Logan’s new fix-it project was a sled! But he didn’t want Drew to know because it was going to be a surprise for the whole family. Logan had found the broken old sled in the barn, and he had been tinkering with it in his Fix-It Shop. He needed some parts, like a few sturdy branches and a length of strong rope. Winter was still a ways away, though, so he had plenty of time.

  The two brothers continued down the path. Just a few weeks ago, the trees in the forest had been flush with gold and orange leaves. Now they were bare and brown. A chill had settled in the air. Logan could feel it even through his wool cap, peacoat, and knickers.

  Drew paused in front of a huge fallen tree. Something had knocked it down—maybe one of the big thunderstorms that had swept through Maple Ridge recently?

  “This is a rock elm. These make for mighty good firewood. I wish I’d brought a saw,” said Drew. Keeping the wood box full was one of his regular chores. Without wood for the stove, the Pryce family wouldn’t be able to cook, take baths, do the laundry, or heat the house.

  Logan glanced over his shoulder. Behind them on the path, he could see the sun setting in the sky. “We should go,” he told Drew.

  Drew crouched down to inspect the fallen tree. “What are you afraid of, Logan? Getting lost in the dark, scary forest?” he joked.

  “No!”

  “We can stay a bit longer. I know these woods like the back of my hand. I could get us home in the pitch-black night with no lamp. Blindfolded, even.”

  That was another thing eleven-year-old brothers did a lot: exaggerate. It was a fit word for Drew, who liked to brag and boast about things he couldn’t actually do.

  “You can stay if you’d like. Skeeter and I are leaving now,” Logan said with a shrug.

  Drew sighed and stood up. “Oh, fine. I’d better come with you. I wouldn’t want you to lose your way.”

  This time, it was Logan who rolled his eyes.

  SHORTER DAYS

  At dinner, Pa had news for the family.

  “I’ve taken on some extra shifts at work. So I’ll be in the city all weekend,” he announced.

  Pa used to be a farmer, but now he worked at a glass factory in Sherman. Sherman was two hours away by horse and buggy.

  Tess raised her hand. “May I come with you, Pa? I so want to see the new Carnegie Library!” Tess, who was nine, loved to read. She always had her nose in a book.

  “Oh, may I please come too, Pa? Mrs. Wigglesworth has never taken a trip to the big city!” said four-year-old Annie. Mrs. Wigglesworth was a doll that Ma had sewn for her out of scraps.

  Ma set a plate of biscuits on the table and sat down next to Pa. “Maybe another time, girls. Your pa will be busy working. Besides, I need you here to help with winterizing.”

  Logan grabbed two biscuits, then counted what was left: One, two, three. He pouted and put one back. “What’s ‘winterizing’?” he asked.

  “It means getting ready for winter,” said Tess.

  “The first day of winter isn’t until December twenty-first. That’s a long ways away,” Drew pointed out.

  “Mother Nature doesn’t keep her eye on the calendar, son. We have to be prepared for harsh weather, no matter the date,” Pa explained.

  Drew considered this. Then he nodded and gave a little salute. “Leave it to me, Pa. I’ll take care of things while you’re away in Sherman. And I’ll make sure the children stay out of trouble.”

  The children? Logan and Tess stared at Drew with gaping mouths.

  Ma spooned roasted potatoes onto everyone’s plates. “Where did you boys go after school, anyway? I thought you were coming straight home.”

  “We took the long way through the woods,” Logan replied. “I wanted to find some sticks. Oh! And then Drew came across a big—”

  “—deer! It sure did startle us!” Drew cut in.

  Logan was confused. Why didn’t Drew want to talk about the fallen rock elm? Ma and Pa would be glad to know about the extra firewood, especially with winter coming.

  “Well, you know I don’t like you kids roaming about when it’s dark out,” Ma said with a worried expression.

  “The days are getting shorter,” added Pa.

  Logan gazed out the window. Pa was right. A month ago, they would have had plenty of daylight to play outside before supper. Now the sky was the color of ink. Wind rattled the glass panes. Even with the oil lamp casting its warm golden glow, the kitchen seemed cold and dim.

  “We promise we won’t go roaming about after sunset,” Drew assured Ma.

  Now it was Annie’s turn to give a little salute. “Leave it to me, Ma and Pa. I’ll make sure the children stay out of trouble!” she said in a low, rumbly voice that sounded like Drew’s.

  Drew’s cheeks flamed red. Everyone laughed.

  WHAT ABOUT THE SQUIRRELS?

  On Friday, Pa left for work well before dawn. He took a small suitcase with him as well as a dozen jars of jam that Ma had packed for her sister, Violet. Pa would be staying with Violet and her family in their house in downtown Sherman.

  After saying good-bye to Pa, Logan started in on his morning chores. As always, he had only a couple of hours to get everything done before school.

  First, he went out to the henhouse to collect eggs. The chickens stopped laying eggs in winter, so it was important to enjoy them while they lasted. Pa had explained to him once that birds were aware of the seasons and laid eggs only in warmer weather.

  Logan tackled the barn next. He had a lot of jobs to do there: mucking the stalls, milking the cows, and brushing the horses. Pa had taken Lightning with him to Sherman, so there was only Buttercup to brush.

  When Logan was finished, he dropped by his Fix-It Shop. The shop took up a stall in the corner of the barn. It consisted of a worktable, stool, and crates full of spare parts and tools.

  On top of the worktable, under an old saddle blanket, was his secret sled project. Logan had already fixed a crack in one of the runners and sanded away the splinters. He rummaged through one of the crates and found a piece of rope for the front of the sled.

  “Hello? Logan? Are you in here?”

  Logan quickly threw the blanket over the sled. Tess stood in the doorway. She glanced at Logan and the Fix-It Shop with a puzzled look.

  “Ahoy there!” Logan said, trying to distract Tess with pirate talk.

  “Can you help me haul water? Drew’s busy chopping wood.”

  “Aye, matey!”

  The two of them walked over to the well together and pumped cold water into buckets. The sun was just beginning to rise. Invisible birds twittered noisily in the bushes. In the g
arden, vines sagged with green tomatoes. The leafy stems and white tops of turnips peeked out of the ground.

  When Logan and Tess brought the water back to the house along with fresh eggs and milk, their morning chores were done. Inside the kitchen, the delicious smells of breakfast greeted them. Ma stood at the stove, frying bacon with one hand and stirring porridge with the other. Annie sat cross-legged on the floor, cranking the handle of a butter churn.

  “Good morning, Logan! Good morning, Tess! I was telling Annie about the list Pa left us for tomorrow,” said Ma.

  “What jobs are on the list?” Tess asked curiously.

  “Our winterizing tasks. One, we need to harvest the garden and till the soil. Two, we need to pack jars of food and bring them to the root cellar to store. Three, we need to make sure the animals have enough hay and feed. And four, we need to gather stones for Pa’s new well house,” Ma said, ticking off each item on her fingers.

  “Winter sure is a lot of work,” Logan mumbled.

  “Oh, I love winter! Mrs. Wigglesworth and I are going to build a snowman family and have a tea party with them!” Annie said happily.

  Drew strolled into the kitchen with an armful of logs. He set them down in a bin next to the stove. “You’d best be patient, Annie. I predict we won’t see snow for another month!”

  “But what about the squirrels?” Tess piped up.

  “What about them?” asked Drew.

  “The squirrels have been running around like crazy, collecting acorns. They’re burying them deeper too. I read in a book that it means a snowstorm is coming soon,” Tess replied.

  “Ha-ha,” Drew scoffed.

  As Logan dug into his porridge, he wondered who was right: Drew or the squirrels?

  Just in case, I should finish up my sled project soon, he thought.

  THE COMPASS

  At school, Miss Ashley had a surprise for all the students.

  “Can anyone tell me what this is?” she asked. She held up a small object.

  Logan leaned across his desk and squinted at the object. It was round and brass-colored, with a white face. He remembered seeing something like it at Mayberry’s General Store, behind the glass case. It had been expensive—a whole dollar!

  “Looks like a toy for babies!” Kyle Chambers hollered from the back of the room, where the older kids sat. Kyle’s pal Lenny Watts guffawed.

  Miss Ashley pursed her lips. “No, Kyle, it’s not a toy. And we can all hear you just fine.”

  “Perhaps a watch?” Tess spoke up. She sat in the middle of the room, like Logan, but on the girls’ side.

  “That’s close, Tess. Anyone else?” Miss Ashley peered around.

  Anthony Bruno raised his hand. “It’s a compass.”

  Miss Ashley beamed. “Yes, that’s very good, Anthony!”

  Logan patted Anthony on the shoulder.

  “A compass is a device that can help us find our way,” Miss Ashley explained. “It is aligned to a magnetic field that surrounds our planet.”

  Logan mulled this over. Back in the Fix-It Shop, he had a horseshoe-shaped magnet in his crate full of spare parts. He tried to imagine a bunch of them circling Earth. How would that work?

  “When you hold the compass, this needle here tells you which way is north. Then you can find south, east, west—or somewhere in between, like northeast or southwest,” Miss Ashley went on. “For example, if I hold the compass toward the door, it tells me that I’m facing south.”

  The class oohed and aahed.

  “Each of you will take turns bringing the compass home. Your assignment will be to use the compass to figure out the direction points of your house—like front door, south; back door, north. After everyone has done this, you will all make models of your houses with paper and glue. We will then combine our models to build a big map of Maple Ridge.”

  Models? A big map? Suddenly, this project sounded like a lot of fun to Logan!

  “Who gets to take the compass home first?” Greta Kranz asked, patting the bow in her hair.

  “We’ll go in alphabetical order by last name. That means—” Miss Ashley glanced at her roll call list. “Anthony Bruna will be the first.”

  “Gosh, thanks, Miss Ashley!” Anthony said with a big grin.

  After school, Logan caught up to Anthony in the schoolyard. The two of them had been best friends since they were little. A blustery wind had kicked up, and pine needles littered the ground. Logan didn’t remember seeing them this morning.

  Anthony dug into his pocket and pulled out the compass. He showed it to Logan.

  “Isn’t it swell?” he gushed. “See how the needle moves?”

  The slender needle wobbled to N, for north. Anthony turned the compass to the right. The needle wobbled to E, for east.

  “How does it know which way is which? Is it magic?” Logan said in wonder.

  “Remember? Miss Ashley told us it was the magnetic feel . . . field . . . something like that. I’m going to ask Papa about it when he gets home from work. He’s whip-smart about science.”

  “You’re lucky. It’s a Friday, so you get to keep the compass for the whole weekend!”

  Anthony’s eyes lit up. “Say! Why don’t you come over? We can do an experiment with the compass together!”

  “That’s a fine idea!”

  They hurried down the road, eager to try out the magical new device. As they passed the Pritchetts’ apple orchard, Logan noticed some squirrels digging furiously under a tree.

  What were the squirrels up to?

  NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST

  At the Brunas’, Logan and Anthony got busy mapping the house. Anthony pointed the compass this way and that while Logan took notes on a slate board. Mrs. Bruna was in the kitchen, chopping vegetables for a soup.

  “The front door faces east . . . no, more like northeast!” Anthony called out. “The back door faces south! The stove faces west! Papa’s favorite rocking chair faces north!”

  “I’m not sure if Miss Ashley cares about stoves and rocking chairs,” Logan said with a laugh.

  After they were done with the inside, they decided to map the barn, the smokehouse, and other outbuildings, just for fun.

  Outside, the temperature had dropped, and Logan could see his breath in the air.

  He inhaled and exhaled with as much force as he could muster. Anthony did the same. Together, they made a big, puffy cloud.

  After making a few more breath clouds, Logan said, “Can I tell you a secret?”

  “Sure!” replied Anthony.

  “I’m making a sled in my Fix-It Shop!”

  “Gosh, really? That is swell! We’ll be able to go sledding on Goat Hill this winter!”

  Logan’s eyes grew wide. Goat Hill was the biggest hill in Maple Ridge. Only the older kids sledded on it.

  “Yup. Goat Hill,” Logan said, trying to sound brave.

  They walked around the yard, taking more measurements. The sun was starting to sink in the sky. When Anthony pointed the compass at the horizon, he saw that he was facing west. “Hmm. I guess the sun really does set in the west.”

  “That must mean the sun rises in the east and—” Logan stopped. “Wait . . . sunset! I’d best be getting home. Ma says she doesn’t want us roaming about after dark.”

  “You’d better go, then,” Anthony agreed.

  As they wound their way to the front yard, Mr. Bruna’s buggy pulled up. The horse, Windsprite, nickered and pawed at the ground.

  Mr. Bruna stepped out of the buggy and unhitched Windsprite.

  “Good evening, boys! What are you up to? Awful chilly to be playing outside.”

  “Logan was just leaving. Look, Papa!” Anthony said, showing him the compass. “Miss Ashley gave this to me for the weekend! It’s the best homework assignment ever!”

  “A compass, eh? You know, when I was a youngster, we used to make our own compasses with a bowl of water, a piece of wool, a needle, and a leaf,” Mr. Bruna recalled. “See, you rub the needle with the wool. This creates
a static charge. When you put the needle on the leaf in the water, it will point to the north.”

  “Really?” said Logan. This compass business really was magical.

  “Speaking of compasses . . . do you boys know which way Windsprite is facing?”

  Anthony held out the compass. “North, Papa!”

  “That’s right, Anthony. Animals don’t like the wind in their faces, so they turn away from it. Windsprite is facing north, which means that the wind’s blowing from the south. A wind from the south means a storm’s coming.”

  “You mean . . . a rainstorm?” asked Logan.

  “Actually, there’s been talk about a snowstorm. Could even start tomorrow.”

  “A snowstorm?” Anthony gasped.

  Logan thought about the squirrels. Perhaps they had been right after all!

  PREPARING FOR WINTER

  The next morning, Logan woke up to the sound of silence—no birds twittering outside.

  He sat up in bed, pressed his face against the window, and flinched. The glass pane was ice cold, with a thin glaze of frost. Had that been there yesterday?

  A snowstorm! he remembered.

  But when he peered through the frost, he didn’t see any snow. The trees and the ground were still brown. The air was crystal clear.

  It’s just as well, he thought. This way, he would have time to finish his sled project. Also, he and his family could do their winterizing.

  Still, why were the birds so quiet?