Read Abe Lincoln at Last!: A Merlin Mission for Free Online Page A

Thorns snagged their clothes. They ran as fast as they could, not knowingif all the breathing and thrashing sounds were coming from them—or from the beast chasing them.
    They burst into the clearing. Jack looked back. He didn’t see a wolf or wildcat, but he wasn’t ready to stop yet. “Keep going!” he cried.
    Jack and Annie tore across the scrubby clearing. Finally they came to the cabin.
    Sam was standing by the woodpile, swinging the ax! He gracefully split a log in two. He looked up at Jack and Annie and smiled. “How do?” he said.
    Jack and Annie laughed as they tried to catch their breath. For some reason, Jack felt safe now, with Sam. “Fine!” he said. “Fine, fine, fine!”
    “How do
you
do?” said Annie. “Why are you splitting wood?”
    “I said to myself, I ain’t going to lie in bed forever,” said Sam. “My headache stopped as soon as I started my chores. I figured the two of you had left.”
    “Oh, no, we tried to do your chores,” said Jack. “But—”
    “We were headed to the spring to get water and we heard a growl,” said Annie.
    “Like a wolf,” said Jack.
    “Or a wildcat,” Annie said.
    “So we ran,” said Jack.
    Annie held up a jug. “No water. Sorry.”
    “No milk, either,” said Jack.
    “No split wood,” said Annie.
    “No corn bread,” said Jack.
    Sam gave them a big grin. “Don’t worry. I took care of milking the cow, and I found water in the rain bucket. The corn bread’s baking now.”
    “Wow,” said Annie.
    “That’s amazing,” said Jack. Now that Sam was better, he wondered if he could lead them to the president. “Do you still have time to help us find Abraham Lincoln?” he asked.
    “Sure,” said Sam. “I gave you my word.”
    “Great. Do you think he’s still riding his horse in the country?” said Jack.
    “Nope. He’s not riding anymore,” said Sam.“But I guarantee you he’s around here.”
    “Like where?” said Jack.
    “Don’t worry. I’ll introduce you to him very soon,” said Sam. “Let’s go inside first.”
    Sam stuck his ax in a log. He picked up an armload of wood and headed into the cabin. As Jack and Annie followed, Jack glanced at the sky. The sun would be going down soon.
    Inside, Sam put more wood on the fire. Then he lit two oil lamps. “Would you like to have some corn bread with butter and molasses?” he asked.
    “Oh … wow …” Jack didn’t know what to say. He was desperate to look for Abraham Lincoln, but he was also
very
hungry.
    “I’d love it!” said Annie.
    “Me too,” said Jack, relieved. “We’ll eat fast. And then we can look for Abraham Lincoln, okay?”
    “Yes indeed. But first, you-all sit down,” said Sam.
    Jack and Annie sat on small tree stumps that served as stools. Sam lifted the lid on a pothanging over the fire. The delicious smell of corn bread filled the air.

    Sam moved the pot to the wood table. Then he sliced pieces of steaming bread and put them onwooden plates. He smeared butter and dark molasses over the bread and ladled milk from the pail into wooden cups.
    Jack sipped the sweet milk and ate the hot, buttery corn bread. “Yum,” he said. He thought it might be the best meal he’d ever had.
    “You really worked hard after we left,” Annie said to Sam.
    “I like to make things nice for Sarah for when she gets home from school,” the boy said.
    “Do
you
ever go to school?” asked Jack, his mouth full.
    Sam nodded. “Since Pa left, I stay here to watch over things and do chores. But Sarah comes home and shares what she’s learned. I do homework and everything.”
    “Have you lived here a long time?” Jack asked, looking around at the crude cabin.
    “A few years,” said Sam. “We came from Kentucky. Pa and I cut our cabin out of the wilderness. We chopped down trees to make aroad. We rolled fifty logs to this site and put up these walls. Did it all by hand and all without nails.”
    “Whoa,” said Jack. It sounded like work for the strongest men, he