Shades of Gray Read Free Page B

on the beds. When she tucked the quilts in, you couldn’t tell they were there!”
    â€œSix sacks wasn’t much, but it’s given us enough meal for gruel most mornings and pancakes now and then,” said Aunt Ella. “Meg grinds the grain in the coffee mill.”
    Will spooned up the rest of the gruel. It was better than nothing, but he was still hungry. He wondered what they would have had for breakfast if his aunt hadn’t been so clever.
    Uncle Jed pushed himself away from the table. “I’ve set up a new trap line, Will, and I’m going out to check it now. I want you to come along so you can learn the way and take it over.”
    Will got up and followed his uncle out the door, hoping that he’d be a quick learner.
    Uncle Jed set a fast pace as they crossed the empty pasture to where the woods began. Ropes of honeysuckle wound their way up the straight trunks of the locust trees at the edge of the clearing, and wild grapevines as thick as Will’s wrist hung from the chestnut trees beyond them.
    The faint path they were following began to rise steeply, but Uncle Jed kept the same fast pace. Will was breathing hard, but he was determined to keep up. He’d show his uncle! He’d show him a town boy could get along in the country! Will felt a sense of relief when they reached the top of a narrow ridge, but his spirits fell when Uncle Jed immediately plunged downhill into a grassy hollow.
    Finally they neared a small stream that tumbled over the rocks. “This here’s the first trap,” said his uncle, barely pausing as he pointed to the small, rectangular box with the door at one end still held open.
    â€œWait,” Will gasped. “I—I need a drink.” Dropping to the ground, he lay on his stomach beside the stream and drank the icy water from his cupped hands. He was thirsty, but even more than the water, he needed an excuse to stop for a moment to slow his racing heart. But before he had satisfied his thirst, a rough hand on his shoulder hauled him to his feet.
    â€œWhat are you trying to do, make yourself sick? Don’t you know better than to drink so much at once when you’re hot?”
    Will jerked away from his uncle and glared up at him. The man’s answering gaze was scornful, and Will was the first to look away.
    â€œDon’t pull a fool trick like that again,” his uncle said, turning to walk upstream.
    Will followed a short distance behind, nursing his anger. He knew not to drink too much! He watched his uncle stop at intervals to check the other traps. By the time they reached the last empty trap, Will’s legs ached, and he was so drenched with sweat that his shirt stuck to his back.
    Uncle Jed shook his head. “It’s a bad time of year for trapping,”he said. “Rabbits don’t show much interest in the bait now that there’s so much else to eat. Fall and winter’s the time to trap, and the pelts are worth more then, too. But when your family’s hungry. . . . ” His voice trailed off. Then he turned to Will and said brusquely, “Well, now, let’s see if you can find your way back.”
    Will set off, intent on proving that he could meet any challenge his uncle set for him. It would be easy enough to follow the creek downstream, but how would he know where to start back up to the ridge? And then it dawned on him—he had counted a dozen traps on the way upstream, so he’d know to climb to the ridge when he found the twelfth trap.
    He had counted ten of them when Uncle Jed called after him, “Hey! You’ve missed your turn!”
    Will’s face reddened. How could he have overlooked not one, but two of the traps? Wearily, he trudged back to where Uncle Jed stood under a dead cherry tree. He made a mental note to look for its smooth gray trunk and the chunks of bark that lay on the ground below it so he wouldn’t make the same mistake the next