Book 2 2. CROSSING THE CREEK Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

crossing the creek

pat and patty began to trot briskly as

if they were glad too

laura held tight to the wagon bow and

stood up in the jolting wagon

beyond pau’s shoulder and far across the

waves of green grass

she could see the trees and they were

not like any trees she had seen before

they were no taller than bushes

whoa said paw suddenly

now which way he muttered to himself

the road divided here and you could not

tell which was the more traveled way

both of them were faint wheel tracks in

the grass

one went toward the west the other

sloped downward a little

toward the south both soon vanished in

the tall

blowing grass better go downhill i guess

paw decided the creeks down in the

bottoms

must be this is the way to the ford he

turned pet and patty toward the south

the road went down and up and down

and up again over gently curving land

the trees were nearer now but they were

no taller

then laura gasped and clutched the wagon

bow

for almost under pets and paddy’s noses

there was no more blowing grass

there was no land at all

she looked beyond the edge of the land

and across the tops of the trees

the road turned there for a little way

it went along the cliff’s top

then it went sharply downward paw put on

the brakes

pat and patty braced themselves backward

and

almost sat down the wagon wheel

slid onward little by little lowering

the wagon

farther down the steep slope into the

ground

jagged cliffs of bare red earth rose up

on both sides of the wagon grass

waved along their tops but nothing grew

on there seemed

straight up and down sides they were hot

and heat came from them against laura’s

face

the wind was still blowing overhead

but it did not blow down into this deep

crack in the ground

the stillness seemed strange and empty

then once more the wagon was level

the narrow crack down which it had come

opened into the bottomlands here grew

the tall trees

whose tops lara had seen from the

prairie above

shady groves were scattered on the

rolling meadows

and in the groves deer were lying down

hardly to be seen among the shadows the

deer turned their heads toward the wagon

and curious fawns stood up to see it

more clearly

laura was surprised because she did not

see the creek

but the bottomlands were wide down here

below the prairie

there were gentle hills and open sunny

places

the air was still and hot under the

wagon wheels

the ground was soft in the sunny open

spaces the grass grew thin

and deer had cropped it short for a

while the high bare cliffs of red earth

stood up behind the wagon

but they were almost hidden behind hills

and trees

when pet and patty stopped to drink from

the creek

the rushing sound of the water filled

the still air

all along the creek banks the trees hung

over it

and made it dark with shadows in the

middle

it ran swiftly sparkling silver and blue

this creaks pretty high paul said

but i guess we can make it all right you

can see this is afford by the old wheel

ruts

what do you say caroline

whatever you say charles ma answered

pat and patty lifted their wet noses

they pricks their ears forward looking

at the creek then they pricked them

backward to hear what paul would say

they sighed and laid their soft noses

together to whisper to each other

a little way upstream jack was lapping

the water with his red tongue

i’ll tie down the wagon cover paw said

he climbed down from the seat unrolled

the canvas sides and tied them firmly to

the wagon box

then he pulled the rope at the back so

that the canvas puckered together in the

middle

leaving only a tiny round hole too small

to see through

mary huddled down on the bed she did not

like fords

she was afraid of the rushing water but

laura was excited

she liked the splashing paw climbed to

the seat

saying they may have to swim out there

in the middle

but we’ll make it all right caroline

laura thought of jack and said i wish

jack could ride in the wagon paw

paw did not answer he gathered the reins

tightly in his hands

ma said jack can swim laura

he will be all right the wagon went

forward softly in the mud

water began to splash against the wheels

the splashing grew louder the wagon

shook as the noisy water struck at it

then all at once the wagon lifted

and balanced and swayed it was a lovely

feeling

the noise stopped and ma said sharply

lie down girls quick as a flash mary and

laura drop flat on the bed

when ma spoke like that they did as they

were told

ma’s arm pulled a smothering blanket

over them heads and all

be still just as you are don’t move she

said

mary did not move she was trembling and

still

but laura could not help wriggling a

little bit she did so want to see what

was happening

she could feel the wagon swaying and

turning

the splashing was noisy again and again

it died away

then pau’s voice frightened laura it

said take them caroline

the wagon lurched there was a sudden

heavy splash beside it

laura set straight up and clawed the

blanket from her head

paul was gone ma sat alone holding tight

to the reins with both hands

mary hid her face in the blanket again

but laura rose up farther

she couldn’t see the creek bank she

couldn’t see anything in front of the

wagon but water rushing at it

and in the water three heads pet’s head

and paddy’s head and paws small wet head

paws fist in the water was holding tight

to pet’s bridle

laura can faintly hear paw’s voice

through the rushing of the water

it sounded calm and cheerful but she

couldn’t hear what he said

he was talking to the horses ma’s face

was white and scared

lie down laura ma said laura lay down

she felt cold and sick her eyes were

shut tight

but she could still see the terrible

water and pause brown beard drowning in

it

for a long long time the wagon swayed

and swung

and mary cried without making a sound

and laura’s stomach felt sicker and

sicker

then the front wheel struck and grated

and pau shouted the whole wagon

jerked and jolted and tipped backward

but the wheels were turning on the

ground

laura was up again holding to the seat

she saw pets and patties scrambling wet

backs

climbing a steep bank and paul running

beside them

shouting hi patty hi pet get up get up

whoopsy daisy good girls at the top of

the bank they stood still

panting and dripping and the wagon stood

still

safely out of that creek paul

stood panting and dripping too and moss

said

oh charles there there caroline

said paul we’re all safe thanks to a

good tight wagon box

well fastened to the running gear i

never saw a creek rise so fast in my

life

pat and patty are good swimmers but i

guess they wouldn’t have made it if i

hadn’t helped them

if paw had not known what to do or if ma

had been too frightened to drive or if

laura and mary had been

naughty and bothered her then they would

all have been lost

the river would have rolled them over

and over and carried them away

and drowned them and nobody would ever

have known what became of them

for weeks perhaps no other person would

come along that road

well said par all’s well that ends well

and ma said charles you’re wet to the

skin

before pau could answer laura cried

oh where’s jack they had forgotten jack

they had left him on the other side of

that dreadful water and now they could

not see him anywhere

he must have tried to swim after them

but they could not see him struggling in

the water now

laura swallowed hard to keep from crying

she knew it was shameful to cry but

there was crying inside her

all the long way from wisconsin poor

jacket followed them

so patiently and faithfully

and now they had left him to drown

he was so tired and they might have

taken him into the wagon he had stood on

the bank

and seen the wagon going away from him

as if they didn’t care for him

at all and he would never know how much

they wanted him

paul said he wouldn’t have done such a

thing to jack not for a million dollars

if he had known how that creek would

rise when they were in midstream

he would never have let jack try to swim

it

but that can’t be helped now he said

he went far up and down the creek bank

looking for jack

calling him and whistling for him it was

no use

jack was gone

at last there was nothing to do but to

go on

pat and patty were rested paw’s clothes

had dried on him while he searched for

jack

he took the reins again and drove up

hill

out of the river bottoms laura looked

back

all the way she knew she wouldn’t see

jack again

but she wanted to she didn’t see

anything but low curves of land coming

between the wagon and the creek

and beyond the creek those strange

cliffs of red earth

rose up again then other bluffs just

like them

stood up in front of the wagon faint

wheel tracks went into a crack

between those earthen walls pat and

patty climbed

till the crack became a small grassy

valley

and the valley widened out to the high

prairie once more

no road not even the faintest trace of

wheels or of a rider’s passing

could be seen anywhere that prairie

looked as if no human eye had ever seen

it before

only the tall wild grass covered the

endless

empty land and a great empty sky

arched over it far away

the sun’s edge touched the rim of the

earth

the sun was enormous and it was

throbbing

and pulsing with light all around the

sky’s edge

ran a pale pink glow and above the pink

was yellow and above that blue

above the blue the sky was no color at

all

purple shadows were gathering over the

land

and the wind was mourning

paw stopped the mustangs he and ma got

out of the wagon to make

camp and mary and laura climb down to

the ground too

oh ma laura begged jack has gone to

heaven hasn’t he

he was such a good dog can’t he go to

heaven

ma did not know what to answer but paul

said

yes laura he can god doesn’t forget the

sparrows won’t leave a good dog like

jack out in the cold

lara felt only a little better she was

not happy

paul did not whistle about his work as

usual

and after a while he said and what we’ll

do in a wild country without a good

watchdog i don’t know