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thing a library was! John and Sarah spent hours there. The library was like their own fantasy world. It held stories about brave knights and dragons; beautiful princesses and noble young heroes; just about anything to feed the imagination or build their scholastic desires could be found here.
    John and Sarah's trips into town were now even more frequent and much longer. Nathan was all but forgotten by John. It wasn't like they were ever friendly toward one another anyway and for Nathan, it seemed to be an even bigger kick in the face. He acted out in anger toward everything and everyone. John and he were just too different. Nathan loved to hunt and fish, run, jump and climb trees. If he and John had not been brothers they would have never known the other existed.
    As a result, Nathan tried to make Cora as much like a boy as his parents would allow. At only seven years old she had become quite the tomboy and didn't even mind baiting her own hook when they went fishing. She liked making sling shots, shooting at targets, climbing trees and tagging along after Nathan. But Daniel and Marion would not let her go hunting no matter how much she and Nathan both begged. She was too young, beside the fact that hunting was too dangerous and was strictly forbidden for any daughter of the DuVals. Nathan hated that Cora wasn't a boy, she would have been a perfect brother. He thought it terribly unfair that even when they took in an outsider it was not only a girl, but an Indian girl! If they were going to take in foundlings, why couldn't it have been a boy? A real brother for him?
    John and Sarah were in the library as usual. “What book do you want to hear today?” he asked.
    She pointed to a book and said. “I want to hear that one, Mr. Elf Goes to Town .” She pointed eagerly.
    “Did you read that? Or did I already tell you about it?” John was surprised.
    “I read it.”
    “Can you read this one?” He pulled a book from the shelf.
    “Yes... To Town We Go.”
    John was laughing as he picked her up and swung her around. “That's my smart little Princess! I didn't even know you could read! It just snuck up on me! How long have you been able to read, Sweetie?”
    “I don't know when I knew... I just know.”
    “My goodness! There's no holding you back, is there?” John was bursting with pride; his little princess knew how to read!
    On their way home John took Sarah by Mr. Hamilton's. He wanted her to show what she could do. He swung her from his back to the store porch and walked in holding her hand. “Mr. Hamilton, you've got to hear this. She's only five but she can read.” He proudly boasted. He picked a book from the store shelf. “Read this for Mr. Hamilton.”
    Sarah nervously twisted then softly spoke. “I don't know big words.” She paused and her eyes lit up brightly, “but I can read that!” She pointed to a sign. “Apples four for two cents,” she proudly stated.
    “Well, if that don't beat all. She's a sharp one, just like you, John. Looks like you're rubbing off on her good. But then, I guess you'd expect that, the way she's always glued to you.”
    John was brimming over. He rushed home to show everyone Sarah's new skill.
    “Well, John, if that ain't just the nut in the praline of your life.” Nathan scowled in a sarcastic sneer. “We've been out working all day while you've been off playing with Sarah in the library.”
    “Hey now, I do my share around here.”
    “Your share? Oh, I forgot, you and Sarah did go out picking flowers to make the cabin all pretty. You'll never be a man, you little field pansy.”
    “Hey now, that's enough. You two are upsetting the whole house!” Agnes spoke to them sharply. “Stop your arguing!”
    But John ignored her as he looked at Nathan and smarted back. “I also chopped wood and set the traps. You're just mad because I do other things. If I get all my work done it's none of your business what else I do.”
    “Yeah, and the rest of us get our work done and