Read Online Cold War on Maplewood Street by Gayle Rosengren - Free Book Online
Authors: Gayle Rosengren
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must be up. Donât worry if you donât hear anything from me for a while. It just means weâre doing some special maneuvers . . . and remember that Iâm doing what I want to do.
Will you please get moving on a letter or two (or five or six) to me? I want to see if your spelling has improved.
Take care of Mom.
Love Always,
Sam
Joanna swallowed hard. This last letter had arrived less than a week ago, before all the trouble with Cuba started. When sheâd read it then, she hadnât given much thought to the part about âsomething must be upâ or the way Sam had signed the letter âLove Alwaysâ and told her to take care of Mom. Now suddenly everything in that letter took on another, darker meaning. Especially his reminder that he was doing what he wanted to do.
The hair on Joannaâs arms stood up. She knew, as surely as she knew her name was Joanna, that the
Pierce
was part of the quarantine.
Mom had finished typing and was watching
The Red Skelton Show.
On a normal Tuesday night, Joanna would have been watching with her, laughing at the silly skits. But tonight wasnât a normal night. And Joanna had something important she had to do.
She sat down at the kitchen table with a fresh sheet of notebook paper and her pen. Then she took a deep breath and began to write.
October 23
Dear Sam,
How are you? Iâm sorry I havenât written to you before. And Iâm sorry I was so horrible to you when you left. I didnât mean what I said about you leaving like Dad did. I still donât really understand why you had to go, but youâve always been the best brother in the world. You always do the right thing, so this must be right, too.
Ever since President Kennedyâs speech Iâve been awfully worried about you. Things here are so strange. We had an air-raid drill at school today and somebody cried. It was creepy. A lot of grown-ups are scared, too, like Grandma and Mrs. Waterman. Mom says everything will be fine. I wish you were here to tell me what you think. They said on the news that thereâs going to be what they call a quarantine so our ships can keep Russian ships from taking more weapons into Cuba. I hope you arenât part of it. There could be shooting!
Sherry Bellano is having a boy-girl party on Saturday night but Mom wonât let me go. She says Iâm too young for boy-girl parties! Sheâs so unfair sometimes. I wish you were here to help me change her mind.
Thanks for the transistor radio. I listen to it all the time. No one else has one half as nice.
Love,
Joanna
PS I miss you!
Joanna read over her letter. She sat for a moment deep in thought. Then she added:
PPS Iâm proud of you.
CHAPTER 8
Missed Opportunities
JOANNA WOKE UP EARLY THE NEXT MORNING AND TURNED on her radio. The news didnât start off much better than it had the night before.
âAccording to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, as many as twenty-five Russian ships are presently on their way to Cuba despite the quarantine, which goes into effect this morning,â the newscaster reported.
Twenty-five ships! Joanna wanted the newscaster to say how many ships were in the US quarantine, but he didnât. She hoped there were a lot more than twenty-five! Maybe it would say in the newspaper. Sheâd have to remember to check when she was at the Watermansâ later. In the meantime, she listened to how Americaâs delegate to the United Nations delivered a speech the night beforethat could have been a direct message to Khrushchev. He warned that Americans were patient but they were not afraid, and they would use their weapons if they had to.
Joanna groaned. Now she was more worried than ever. But it didnât sound as if Sam would be in any danger today, at least. And maybe Khrushchev would back down by tomorrow.
Before Mom left for work, Joanna asked her for an envelope and a stamp.
Momâs face lit up. âYou wrote to
Will you please get moving on a letter or two (or five or six) to me? I want to see if your spelling has improved.
Take care of Mom.
Love Always,
Sam
Joanna swallowed hard. This last letter had arrived less than a week ago, before all the trouble with Cuba started. When sheâd read it then, she hadnât given much thought to the part about âsomething must be upâ or the way Sam had signed the letter âLove Alwaysâ and told her to take care of Mom. Now suddenly everything in that letter took on another, darker meaning. Especially his reminder that he was doing what he wanted to do.
The hair on Joannaâs arms stood up. She knew, as surely as she knew her name was Joanna, that the
Pierce
was part of the quarantine.
Mom had finished typing and was watching
The Red Skelton Show.
On a normal Tuesday night, Joanna would have been watching with her, laughing at the silly skits. But tonight wasnât a normal night. And Joanna had something important she had to do.
She sat down at the kitchen table with a fresh sheet of notebook paper and her pen. Then she took a deep breath and began to write.
October 23
Dear Sam,
How are you? Iâm sorry I havenât written to you before. And Iâm sorry I was so horrible to you when you left. I didnât mean what I said about you leaving like Dad did. I still donât really understand why you had to go, but youâve always been the best brother in the world. You always do the right thing, so this must be right, too.
Ever since President Kennedyâs speech Iâve been awfully worried about you. Things here are so strange. We had an air-raid drill at school today and somebody cried. It was creepy. A lot of grown-ups are scared, too, like Grandma and Mrs. Waterman. Mom says everything will be fine. I wish you were here to tell me what you think. They said on the news that thereâs going to be what they call a quarantine so our ships can keep Russian ships from taking more weapons into Cuba. I hope you arenât part of it. There could be shooting!
Sherry Bellano is having a boy-girl party on Saturday night but Mom wonât let me go. She says Iâm too young for boy-girl parties! Sheâs so unfair sometimes. I wish you were here to help me change her mind.
Thanks for the transistor radio. I listen to it all the time. No one else has one half as nice.
Love,
Joanna
PS I miss you!
Joanna read over her letter. She sat for a moment deep in thought. Then she added:
PPS Iâm proud of you.
CHAPTER 8
Missed Opportunities
JOANNA WOKE UP EARLY THE NEXT MORNING AND TURNED on her radio. The news didnât start off much better than it had the night before.
âAccording to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, as many as twenty-five Russian ships are presently on their way to Cuba despite the quarantine, which goes into effect this morning,â the newscaster reported.
Twenty-five ships! Joanna wanted the newscaster to say how many ships were in the US quarantine, but he didnât. She hoped there were a lot more than twenty-five! Maybe it would say in the newspaper. Sheâd have to remember to check when she was at the Watermansâ later. In the meantime, she listened to how Americaâs delegate to the United Nations delivered a speech the night beforethat could have been a direct message to Khrushchev. He warned that Americans were patient but they were not afraid, and they would use their weapons if they had to.
Joanna groaned. Now she was more worried than ever. But it didnât sound as if Sam would be in any danger today, at least. And maybe Khrushchev would back down by tomorrow.
Before Mom left for work, Joanna asked her for an envelope and a stamp.
Momâs face lit up. âYou wrote to
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