Read Online Anna on the Farm by Mary Downing Hahn, Diane de Groat - Free Book Online Page B

another swing!"
    But Anna's hands might as well be glued to the rope. While the boys yell, Anna swings back and forth in shorter and shorter arcs. Then she stops swinging and hangs at the end of the rope, looking straight down at the hard dirt floor. It's very far away. As Henry said, she's sure to break her head and all her bones, and her innards will splatter everywhere. She'll never see Father and Mother again, she'll never grow up, she'll never go to Paris. Tears fill Anna's eyes. Surely she's too young to die.
    Just then Anna hears Uncle George shouting, "Hold on, Anna, hold tight!"
    Anna turns her head and sees her uncle way down below. His two field hands are with him. They stare up at Anna as if they cannot imagine how a girl got in such a dilemma.
    "My arms hurt," Anna cries. "My hands hurt, too. I can't hold on much longer."
    Uncle George grabs a horse blanket and tells the men to hold one end. He holds the other. The boys run to help. The blanket unfurls beneath Anna like a net.
    "You can let go now," Uncle George tells Anna. "We'll catch you."
    But it's not easy for Anna to let go. Surely the blanket is too small to catch her. She stays where she is.
    "Please, Anna," Uncle George coaxes. "It won't hurt, I promise."
    Dr. Thompson told Anna the very same thing when he gave her a smallpox vaccination. But it was a lie. Her arm hurt for days afterward.
    Although she tries hard not to let go, Anna feels her hands slip a little bit.
    "Jump, Anna," Theodore calls, "and you can have my share of cherry pie tonight."
    Anna's hands again slip a little and then a little more. Before she knows what's happening, she's dropping through the air. In a second, she lands in the blanket and bounces once or twice. Uncle George is right. It doesn't hurt. No broken head. No broken bones. No splattered innards. Maybe Anna will see Paris, after all.
    Now that Anna is safe, Uncle George hugs her tight. She hears one field hand say, "It's a good thing she's such a skinny little child. If she'd been any fatter, she'd have busted right through that old blanket."
    By the time Uncle George lets Anna go, Theodore, Homer, and Henry are nowhere to be seen. They must have thought Uncle George would spank them all, Anna thinks.
    The field hands go back to work, but Uncle George walks Anna to the house. Her legs are still a little shaky, so she's glad for the company.
    "Did the boys make you swing on that rope?" Uncle George asks.
    Anna shakes her head. "They said girls couldn't do things like that," she tells her uncle. "They said I didn't dare."
    "So you just had to prove them wrong," Uncle George says.
    Anna nods. "Don't tell Father and Mother about the rope swing," she says. "They'll never let me out of their sight again."
    Uncle George laughs. "Your mother would have my scalp if she knew what you were up to."
    Aunt Aggie is waiting on the porch. She's already poured three glasses of lemonade, one for herself, one for Anna, and one for Uncle George. "What was all that commotion in the barn?" she asks Uncle George. "I saw you and Elmer and Joe running like a house on fire."
    Anna clasps her glass of lemonade and closes her eyes. She's afraid Uncle George will tell Aunt Aggie about the swing. Then Aunt Aggie will tell Father, and Anna will spend the rest of her life locked in her bedroom.
    "Oh, the children were just making a rumpus in the hay," Uncle George says.
    Anna opens her eyes just in time to see Uncle George wink at her. She grins and swallows a big gulp of lemonade.
    "If Theodore was teasing Anna, I want you to give him a good thrashing, George," Aunt Aggie says.
    "Theodore wasn't doing anything," Anna says quickly.
    "Where has that boy gone off to?" Aunt Aggie asks.
    "I reckon he went over to Homer and Henry's place," Uncle George tells her.
    "I was so tired of those boys." Anna sighs and picks up her book. "Now I can read in peace."

ELEVEN
Market Day
    I T'S T HURSDAY NIGHT. A NNA'S WEEK AT THE FARM IS more than half over. Everyone is