Book 4 1. THE DOOR IN THE GROUND Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

[Music]

harper audio presents

on the banks of plum creek written by

laura

ingalls wilder and performed by cherry

jones

the door in the ground the dim wagon

track went no farther on the prairie

and paw stop the horses when the wagon

wheel stopped turning

jack dropped down in the shade between

them his belly sank on the grass and his

front leg stretched out

his nose fitted into furry hollow all of

him rested except his ears

all day long for many many days jack had

been trotting under the wagon

he had trotted all the way from the

little log house in indian territory

across kansas across missouri

across iowa and a long way into

minnesota

he had learned to take his rest whenever

the wagon stopped

in the wagon laura jumped up and so did

mary

their legs were tired of not moving

this must be the place paw said it’s

half a mile up the creek from nelson’s

we’ve come a good half mile and there’s

the creek

laura could not see a creek she saw a

grassy bank

and beyond it a line of willow treetops

waving in the gentle wind

everywhere else the prairie grasses were

rippling far away to the sky’s straight

edge

seems to be some kind of stable over

there said paul looking around the edge

of the canvas wagon cover

but where’s the house laura jumped

inside her skin

a man was standing beside the horses

no one had been in sight anywhere but

suddenly

that man was there his hair was pale

yellow

his round face was as red as an indians

and his eyes were so pale that they

looked like a mistake

jack growled be still jack

said paw he asked the man are you mr

hanson

yeah the man said paul spoke slowly and

loudly

i heard you want to go west you trade

your place

the man looked slowly at the wagon he

looked at the mustangs pat and patty

after a while he said again y’all

paul got out of the wagon and ma said

you can climb out and run around girls

i know you’re tired sitting still jack

got up when laura climbed down the wagon

wheel but he had to stay under the wagon

until paw said he might go

he looked out at laura while she ran

along a little path that was there

the path went across short sunny grass

to the edge of the bank

down below it was the creek rippling and

glistening in the sunshine the willow

trees grew up beyond the creek

over the edge of the bank the path

turned and went slanting down

close against the grassy bank that rose

up like a wall

laura went down it cautiously the bank

rose up beside her until she could not

see the wagon

there was only the high sky above her

and down below her the water was talking

to itself

laura went a step farther than one more

step

the path stopped at a wider flat place

where it turned

and dropped down to the creek in stair

steps

then laura saw the door

the door stood straight up in the grassy

bank

where the path turned it was like a

house door

but whatever was behind it was under the

ground

the door was shut in front of it lay

two big dogs with ugly faces

they saw laura and slowly rose up

laura ran very fast up the path to the

safe wagon

mary was standing there and laura

whispered to her

there’s a door in the ground and two big

dogs

she looked behind her the two dogs were

coming

jack’s deep growl rolled from under the

wagon

he showed those dogs his fierce teeth

those your dogs paw said to mr hansen

mr hansen turned and spoke words that

laura could not understand

but the dogs understood one behind the

other

they slunk over the edge of that bank

down out of sight

pau and mr hansen walked slowly away

toward the stable

the stable was small and it was not made

of logs

grass grew on its walls and its roof was

covered with growing grasses blowing in

the wind

laura and mary stayed near the wagon

where jack was

they looked at the prairie grasses

swaying and bending and yellow flowers

nodding birds rose and flew and sank

into the grasses

the sky curved very high and its rim

came neatly down to the far away edge of

the round earth

when pawn mr hansen came back they heard

paul say

all right hanson we’ll go to town

tomorrow and fix up the papers

tonight we’ll camp here yeah yeah

mr hansen agreed paul boosted

mary and laura into the wagon and drove

out on the prairie

he told ma that he had traded pet and

paddy for mr hanson’s land

he had traded bunny the mule colt and

the wagon cover for mr hanson’s crops

and his oxen he unhitched pat and patty

and he led them to the creek to drink he

put them on their picket lines and

helped mom make camp for the night

laura was quiet she did not want to play

and she was not hungry when they all sat

eating supper by the campfire

the last night out said paw tomorrow

will be

settled again the house is in the creek

bank caroline

oh charles said ma a dugout

we’ve never had to live in a dugout yet

i think you’ll find a very clean

partholder

norwegians norwegians are clean people

it will be snug for winter and that’s

not far away

yes it will be nice to be settled before

snow flies

ma agreed it’s only till i harvest the

first wheat crop

said paw then you’ll have a fine house

and i’ll have horses and maybe even a

buggy

this is great wheat country caroline

rich

level land with not a tree or a rock to

contend with

i can’t make out why hanson sewed such a

small field

it must have been a dry season or

hanson’s no farmer

his wheat is so thin and light

beyond the fire light patton patty and

bunny were eating grass

they bit it off with sharp pulling

crunches and then

stood chewing it and looking through the

dark at the low stars shining

they switched their tails peacefully

they did not know they had been traded

laura was a big girl seven years old

she was too big to cry but she could not

help asking

paw did you have to give him pet and

patty

did you paw paw’s arm drew her close to

him in a cuddly hug

why little half pint paw said

pat and patty like to travel they’re

little indian ponies laura

and plowing’s too hard work for them

they will be

much happier traveling out west you

wouldn’t want to keep them here breaking

their hearts on a plow

pat and patty will go on traveling and

with those big oxen i can break up a

great big field and have it ready for

wheat next spring

a good crop of wheat will bring us more

money than we’ve ever had laura

then we’ll have horses and new dresses

and

everything you can want laura did not

say anything

she felt better with pau’s arm around

her

but she did not want anything except to

keep

pet and paddy and bunny the long-eared

colt