Earthquake Terror Read Online Free PDF Page A

down around them. He might even have saved their lives. He had thought fast in an emergency, and had done the smart thing. Compared to that, it should be a breeze to keep a six-year-old from crying.
    “When we get to the camper,” Jonathan said, “I’ll play
Go, Fish
with you.”
    Abby closed her mouth, blinking at him through her tears.
    “Four games of
Go, Fish,
” Jonathan said.
    “I can’t go back to the camper without my walker.” She wiped her tears on the back of her hand.
    “I’ll help you walk. You can hold onto my arm and we’ll go slowly.”
    Abby thought a moment. “Ten games of
Go, Fish,
” she said.
    “Six.”
    “Okay. Six.”
    He took both her hands and pulled her to her feet.
    “The trail is gone,” Abby said. “Which way are we supposed to go?”
    Jonathan looked around. She was right. He wasn’t sure where the trail used to be. It would be difficult enough to get Abby back to the camper without her walker; it would be disastrous to go in the wrong direction.
    Sweat trickled down the back of his neck.
    The sun. That’s how he could tell. The sun was on his back earlier when he ran ahead of Abby and his parents, on his way to the lake. The sun was directly overhead while they played sink-the-ships. By now, it would have moved farther west so it would be on his back again, as he returned to the camper.
    He glanced down at Abby’s frightened face.
    “I know which way to go,” he said calmly. “East. Away from the sun.” He offered Abby his arm and she clung to it.He stepped forward, with the sun filtering through the trees on his back. Abby stepped with him, her eyes sweeping the trees ahead.
    They had gone only a few yards when a huge fallen tree blocked their way. The side of the trunk was up to Abby’s waist.
    “We’ll have to climb over it,” Jonathan said. “It will take too long to go around.” Seeing the look of disbelief on Abby’s face, he added, “I’ll help you. Put your back next to the tree. Rest your legs against it.”
    Abby did. Jonathan quickly climbed over the tree, turned and leaned across it. Putting his arms under Abby’s arms, he clasped his hands across Abby’s chest.
    “The Great Abby Elevator will now pull you up and over,” he said. “Just go limp, like your Raggedy Ann doll.”
    He felt her tense muscles relax. He pulled up and back, until she was sitting on top of the fallen tree. She turned sideways and Jonathan lifted her legs, one at a time, so that they lay on top of the trunk.
    Abby turned some more and slid on her bottom across the tree trunk until her legs dangled down the other side. It was easy, then, for Jonathan to steady her while she slid down again.
    When she was safely on the ground, Jonathan guided Abby to a standing tree.
    “Lean against the tree,” he said, “while I clear a path for us.”
    Abby put her stomach against the tree and leaned forward.“Hi, tree,” she said, wrapping her arms around it. “Would you like a hug?”
    While Abby talked to the tree, Jonathan cleared six feet of path. Then he helped Abby walk forward to another tree. Again, Abby leaned against the tree while Jonathan pulled fallen branches off the trail, making a path wide enough for them to walk side by side.
    Slowly, they made their way through the woods. Since Jonathan had to clear most of the trail of fallen branches, they stopped frequently. Clear another six feet; help Abby walk. Clear and help Abby; clear and help Abby.
    Moose jumped easily over most of the fallen trees, and went around the others.
    “When we get to the camper,” Jonathan said, “we’ll stay there. There’s plenty of food and water. Even if it takes Mom and Dad awhile to get back, we’ll be okay. We can listen to the radio while we play
Go, Fish.
”
    He could stand to play six games of
Go, Fish
if he listened to the ball game at the same time. He wondered if the Giants and
A
’s had felt the earthquake at Candlestick Park. Probably not. San Francisco was almost one