The Girl Who Owned a City Read Free

happened. He said to Barney, “We’re not going to quit. We’ve got to catch a fish. I don’t want any more soup.”
    They waited for a long time, and then Todd decided to move to another spot. Maybe the fish live over by that big rock, he thought, so he dropped his line in the water near the rock. He waited some more. It seemed like forever. He waited and waited until it was almost ten. I’ve got to catch a fish, he thought.
    Suddenly, something pulled on his line. Todd pulled back. Barney stood up and barked at the strange splashing in the pond. Out came a fish. It landed on the grass and flopped all around. Barney went crazy barking at it.
    Todd ran all the way home. He was proud.
    Lisa cooked the fish for supper, and it was delicious. Much better than soup.
    â€œDid you like that story, Todd?”
    â€œPlease tell another one, Lisa,” he asked, in a way that answered her question.
    She said, “Tomorrow night. I’ve got a special story about Todd and Barney and about how they solved a real mystery. But now we have to go to sleep.”
    The little boy did fall asleep, almost instantly. Lisa tried to sleep, but her mind was too busy thinking about tomorrow. Maybe Todd would catch a fish, but there were other important things to be done.
    As Todd fell more deeply asleep, Lisa was alone once again. During the daytime, she was too busy to think or to feel lonely. But every night, in the dark and cold basement, a bad sensation came over her. She realized at these times that she was on her own.
    Lisa was fearful and confused. What will become of us? was the question that seemed to pound at her in the stillness. Somehow she would have to find a way to keep them alive.
    They needed food, first of all, but the supply would soon be gone. The average house contained only enough for about two weeks. By “dieting,” as Lisa liked to call it, that supply might be stretched to four weeks. Those four weeks would go by all too quickly.
    The stealing helped, but most of the houses and stores had already been looted. The supply of food was going fast.
    Could she hunt for food? Lisa laughed at the thought of tramping through the forest with a shot-gun. It would never work. Besides, she doubted that she’d have the courage to skin a rabbit even if she was lucky enough to find and kill one.
    Fishing was a good possibility. It would be easier than hunting, but there would still be the problem of cutting and cleaning the fish. She could do it, though, she decided. After all, she’d seen her father do it often enough. She would teach Todd how to fish, and he could spend some time each day at Perry’s Pond. But they couldn’t depend on any one plan. She had to figure out another answer.
    Could she raise food? Not until spring, and then only if she spent some time during the winter learning about gardening. There was a book about it in the study that she could read.
    The thought of gardening gave Lisa a brilliant idea. Tomorrow, she would ride her bike north on Swift Road to some farms she remembered. There, she might find large quantities of food. Wow! she thought. Maybe I can find a live chicken. We can have some fresh eggs.
    Now she was really getting somewhere.
    Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of scratching in the wall. It must be a mouse, Lisa decided, after hearing it a second and third time. I wonder how he survives.
    Animals, she thought, were lucky in a way. They had their instincts to help them survive. It was sort of automatic, the way they knew how to find food in their surroundings. But for people, it wasn’t that simple. We have to invent traps and guns and learn how to raise food. People have to think to stay alive.
    Lisa had never worried about it before. Food and clothing and television and lights were always there for her use. Now everything had changed. Everything had come to a stop.
    She saw the answer clearly. It was
thinking
that kept people alive and