Read My Children Are More Precious Than Gold for Free Online

have to
get back to the schoolhouse quick,” he shouted.
    “ Mr. Steincross, I can't
-- sob -- sob. I'm scared,” Dillard cried.
    “ Nonsense. This is just a
little rain storm.” The teacher knelt down by Dillard. “Come on,
boy. It's just like being on a pirate ship in the middle of a
choppy sea. Get up and take my hand. Let's sail this stormy sea
back to the schoolhouse, me mate.”
    “ All right,” Dillard said,
staggering to his feet. Holding the boy close, the teacher bent
forward to shield the child from the flying timber debris while
they struggled to walk in the down burst and gusts of
wind.
    “ Let's hep them, Don,”
said Lue. He watched the two wet forms, one big and one small,
blurred by the pelting rain, struggle to get back to the
schoolhouse. “They'll never make it alone.”
    “ Ole Crosspuss will be mad
as a hornet if we don't mind him,” warned Don.
    “ I don't care. That's our
little brother out there in that storm.” Lue ran out the door with
Don right behind him.
    Large drops of rain and pea size hail
stung their faces as the brothers joined hands and moved slowly
across the yard to meet the teacher and Dillard.
    “ Here take Dillard's
hand,” Mr. Steincross shouted. “I'll get back on my own. You boys
go on.”
    “ No sir! Give me yer hand,
teacher. We came to get both of y'all,” Lue ordered. “Don, take
Dillard's hand. We're goen back together.”
    With an effort the four of them, bent
almost double, fought against the storm to get back to the
schoolhouse. Once they were through the door, they all pushed it
shut. Exhausted, the four of them leaned against the entry hall
walls, dripping water on the floor which was already soaked from
the boys leaving the door open.
    “ Thanks for the help,
boys,” said Mr. Steincross. He reached around Lue for a towel on
the nail above the wash basin, wiped his face, then Dillard's and
handed the towel to Don.
    “ Ya ain’t mad cause we
didn't stay put under our desks?” Asked Don, sounding surprised and
relieved.
    “ No, I'm not mad.” Then
Mr. Steincross did something the boys thought they would never see
happen. He smiled at them.
    Dillard smiled back, hugging the
teacher’s legs. “Thanks, Mr. Steincross. I'm glad our pirate ship
made it back to the school. I don't mind sayen I was mighty
scared.”
    “ What pirate ship?
Dillard, are ya feelen all right?” Don reached over to feel the
little boy’s forehead.
    “ Never mind, boys. He's
just fine. Listen! Sounds like the storm has let up. Children, you
can come out from under your desks now. When the rain stops, how
would you all like to go home early?” announced Mr.
Steincross.
    “ Yes! Yes!” The children
cried in unison, gleefully thinking about what they could do with
the remainder of the day.
    That afternoon, the Bishop children
rushed home to tell their parents about their exciting day. The
last one in the house was Dillard. He let the screen door bang shut
behind him.
    “ Sh! Younguns, Lydia is
taken a nap,” Nannie scolded. “Hey, what are y'all doen home this
time of day anyways?”
    “ Mr. Steincross said we
could go home cause of the storm,” explained Lue.
    “ What storm?” Asked
Jacob.
    In a hushed voice, the children took
turns telling their story about how the teacher rescued Dillard
with Lue and Don’s help.
    “ Mercy sakes, sounds like
y'all had quite a day, and we never saw a drop of rain here,”
declared Nannie.
    Dillard turned to survey his napping
sister. “Mama, when is Lydia gonen to get better so we don't have
to be so quiet all the time?”
    “ Soon, youngun,” Nannie
said.
    “ Mama, it does seem like a
long time, she's been sickly,” reflected Bess.
    “ Why ain't she getten
better faster?” Veder asked, coming directly to the
point.
    “ Jacob, Doc said the
younguns should know the truth. This looks like the time to tell
em,” Nannie surmised. “Y'all gather around the table and sit down.
Pap and me have somethin to tell ya. Jacob, ya do