Lost in the Tunnel of Time Read Free Page A

catcher saw them, they could be forced to return to slavery.”
    â€œThat’s not fair!” several kids shouted at once.
    â€œYou’re right,” said Mr. Greene.
    â€œSo where did they hide?” Rico wanted to know.
    â€œWell, there were many possibilities,” answered Mr. Greene. “There were basements and attics and barns that were used as hiding places. Also, many of the houses built back then had secret rooms.”
    â€œSecret rooms?” asked Nicole.
    â€œHere in Cincinnati?” Tiana wondered.
    â€œHow could a room be secret?” Jerome asked.
    â€œSome rooms were hidden behind walls or under trapdoors,” replied Mr. Greene. “They were very small. And some were just dirt tunnels that served as a means of escape from the house to the outside.”
    â€œSo where did Mac and his mama hide?” asked Rico.
    â€œThey hid,” Mr. Greene said dramatically, “in secret rooms that are located right underneath your school !” For a moment the children were silent with disbelief.
    â€œWhat do you mean secret rooms under our school?” Jerome finally asked.
    â€œHave you seen any of the secret rooms, Mr. Greene?” asked Rashawn.
    â€œNo, Rashawn, I haven’t. But my daddy and my granddaddy Mac used to tell me stories about them. You see, an old farm that was a hiding place for the Underground Railroad used to stand where your school is now located. When your school was built almost a hundred years ago, the old tunnels and secret rooms were lost, but not forgotten.”
    â€œIs that true, Mrs. Powell?” asked Rico.
    â€œMr. Greene is the expert on this,” replied Mrs. Powell. “I’ve always heard stories about the secret passageways hidden under our school, but I never really believed them … just like the story of the River City Ghost.”
    â€œ Ghost? What ghost? Who is the River City Ghost?” The children fired questions at Mrs. Powell. Rico glanced at Ziggy and shivered.
    â€œMy grandmother used to tell me the story of the River City Ghost when I was just a little girl,” replied Mrs. Powell. “I’m sure it’s just something she made up to make us behave. But the tunnels and the Underground Railroad—those aren’t make-believe. Those are real.”
    â€œSo there really are tunnels under our school,” Jerome remarked. “Amazing!”
    â€œYes, but they’ve been closed up and lost for more than a hundred years,” reminded Mr. Greene.
    â€œWhat about the ghost?” asked Rico. “Will you tell us the story that your grandmother told you, Mrs. Powell?”
    â€œMaybe the River City Ghost lives in one of those lost tunnels, mon!” Ziggy suggested eagerly.
    â€œIt’s strange that you should say that, Ziggy,” replied Mrs. Powell. “There is a tunnel in the story. Maybe there’s a connection!”
    â€œTell us the story, Mrs. Powell,” Tiana pleaded. She shivered and moved closer to Rashawn.
    â€œAll right,” agreed Mrs. Powell. “Listen, children!”
    â€œAwesome, mon,” said Ziggy eagerly. “Marvelous mysteries all around us!”

“LATE AT NIGHT, AFTER EVERYONE HAD GONE TO bed,” Mrs. Powell began, “a strange whistling wind could be heard, blowing from the river and over the streets of Cincinnati. Sometimes it sounded like a voice; sometimes it sounded like a song.”
    â€œDid you ever hear it?” asked Nicole.
    â€œOne night while I was sleeping in my grandma’s big, soft feather bed, I heard it, or at least I thought I did.”
    â€œWere you scared?”
    â€œNo, because I was warm and safe in mygrandma’s bed. Then she heard that whispering wind too, so she told me the story.”
    With the wind from the river blowing gently about them, the children sat spellbound, listening to Mrs. Powell’s tale. Mr. Greene, with a twinkle in his eye, smiled at the