Read Across the Border for Free Online

teacher for their children, I’ve no doubt.”
    â€œI hope they’re prepared to pay me,” Frances added. “I could possibly have a school in Winner if I were going to be here.”
    Mr. Rush looked at her as if surprised. “I guess you’re right. They should pay a little for regular lessons. We’ll talk it over.”
    Ethan had said nothing. He sat on the steps and stared off across the prairie. Why should his plans for school be abandoned? He would be fourteen years old in November, and he did as much work as any man on the place. Pa had said he could make his own decision. When it was time to leave, he would simply tell the family that he was going to Kansas.
    Somehow the thought didn’t make him as happy as it should have. Somewhere in his mind, he could hear Ma saying, “Take care of the little ones, Ethan. I’m trusting you to be responsible.” And another voice, that of Matron Daly at Briarlane, also echoed. “The Lord will lead you where you should go if you trust Him.”
    Ethan looked at Alice and Will and Simon. What dangers might they meet in a strange place and not have him to turn to? Would a year of school be worth it if anything happened to one of them, and he wasn’t there?
    With a sigh, Ethan decided that it would not. If they were going to be here, in a familiar place, he might not worry. But in another country? Ethan wouldn’t even be able to picture where they were. He didn’t know anything about Mexico. He turned his attention to what his father was saying.
    â€œMexico has a new president, and the United States is putting a lot of money into the country. Some big oil companies are going down there, and work will be plentiful. I figure that if I get some land now when things are beginning to prosper, I’ll be able to sell it later at a profit. Mexico has a system of land laws that allows United States citizens to do that. In fact, they’re encouraging it.”

    â€œChad ain’t never needed no encouragement to get him more land,” Polly grumbled as she took a cold drink to Luke at bedtime. “He didn’t say a thing about what we’ll live in when we get there.”
    â€œProbably a ’dobe house,” Luke said.
    â€œWhat in the world is that?”
    â€œMud.” Luke grinned at Polly’s shocked expression. “You can be glad it’s on top of the ground. It won’t be a soddy.”
    â€œMy, my.” She clucked her tongue. “Ain’t we fortunate? I was just gettin’ used to having a hardwood floor to scrub again. Now I can go back to one that won’t show the dirt. I s’pose everyone will be in the same room, too. We don’t know a soul who’s ever seen that country. How do we know what we’ll find there?”
    â€œI can think of a few things,” Luke told her. “It’s like a desert, so there’ll be cactus and rocks and plenty of heat. We’ll also hear another language.”
    Polly slumped into the nearest chair and stared at Luke. “Another language? You mean them folks don’t speak no English?”
    â€œNope.”
    â€œWhat, then?”
    â€œSpanish. I met some cowboys once who could say a few words. They said you learn to talk to folks when you been there awhile.”
    Polly shook her head. “I’m feelin’ better all the time. If it wasn’t for helpin’ Manda with them young ’uns, I’d stay right here.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t want to miss all the excitement.” Luke smirked at her. “How many ladies your age get to leave the United States? Chad says we’ll live in a town and not way out in the country. You can visit with the neighbors.”
    Polly glared at him. “Sure I can. We can talk about two different things at the same time and never know the difference. I’m goin’ to bed. Chances are I won’t sleep a wink for countin’ my