Hannah Read Free Page A

hurt?” I shook my head. “You go out with the other children, and I’ll come out in a minute. I want a word with Carl.”

    Verna led me outside. She tried to comfort me by telling me how Carl was always getting into trouble. “I don’t think he likes being the oldest one in school,” she said.
    After a while one of Verna’s girlfriends called to her to come and jump rope. “I’ll just take one turn,” Verna said, and ran off. I was just standing there by myself. I thought about how I hadn’t been able to do any lessons and how no one talked to me. I wished I were with Mama. Suddenly, the only thing that seemed important was to get back home.
    By going from tree to tree I felt my way down the path that led from the schoolyard to the road. Because I was moving through the trees, no one noticed me. When I reached the road, I was unsure about which way I should turn. I decided any way was better than staying at school. I had been there all morning and hadn’t learned anything. Miss Robbin had hardly spoken to me.
    Under my feet I felt the sandy road with its wagon ruts. At first I began to run along the road. Then I thought someone might see me, so I turned into the woods. There was no sun in the woods, and I hadn’t taken my sweater. I began to shiver. Everything felt strange and unfriendly. Blackberry briars scratched my arms and snagged my hair. Branches slapped at me and tore my skirt. Every direction I turned seemed to lead me into more trouble. The ground gave way and slipped out from under me. I gave up, sinking down to my knees. At first I was too stubborn to call for help. Then, knowing Iwas lost, I cried out. There was no answer. I was sorry I had ever left my house, where my mother watched over me.
    Once, Johnny had caught a field mouse and put it into a little box to keep it safe from owls and foxes. I thought at the time, even with the danger of owls and foxes, I would rather be free than live shut up in a box. Now I wanted to be shut up in the safe box of my house.
    I sat there on the ground, hugging myself to keep warm. I could smell the pine trees and hear the scuffle and scratch of squirrels running along the ground. I thought of getting up and trying to find my way, but I was afraid I would lose myself deeper in the woods and no one would ever find me. It seemed like I had been sitting there shivering for hours when I heard Papa calling to me. I called back. At first he didn’t hear me. “Papa,” I called. “Here I am. Take me home. I want to go home.”

    Papa scooped me up and carried me to the wagon. “No need to cry, Hannah,” he said. “You’re all right now. We’ll have you home in no time.”
    Mama was at the door to meet us. “She might have fallen into the lake,” Mama said. “That’s what comes of letting her do a foolish thing like going to school. Her place is right here with me.”

5
    Mama made me hot chocolate to drink and took me upstairs to my bed. I guess I fell asleep, because when I awoke I heard Miss Robbin’s voice. “Hannah, I’m so sorry for what happened,” she said. “I blame myself. I should have kept an eye on you, but I wanted you to be independent. I didn’t want the children to think of you as the teacher’s pet, but as a student just like themselves. I promise you, if you come back I’ll see that you are never teased again.”
    “But you made me sit with the little children.”
    “That was just so I could be right there to help you when the time came for you to do your lessons. I had planned a special lesson for you after recess.”
    “Carl said mean things about the way I look.”
    “I’ll help you change the way you look. I’ve got three yards of the prettiest muslin you can imagine in my trunk. It has little yellow daisies all over it. I’ll cut out a dress for you and sew it this weekend. As for Carl, I don’t think he means the things he says. He’s unhappy because he wants to be outdoors working on his dad’s farm instead of in