September Wind Read Online Free PDF

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                  If she found herself getting nervous about going off on her own for the first time in her life, she reminded herself that Miss O’Reilly would be there. She tried to imagine what it would be like to be around other children. The most delightful thought formed into an image of a girl who would be her best friend. She would have long blonde pigtails like her mother used to have, pretty ribbons, flowery dresses, and a pleasant laugh like her grandmother’s. They would be inseparable. She would invite her over and they would talk and giggle late into the night. These thoughts consumed her and made it impossible to concentrate on anything else.
    When the big day arrived, she arose hours before dawn. She opened a window and knelt as she looked at the stars and thanked God for the special day. Then she made her bed, laid out her clothes and supplies, and hurried downstairs.
                  It was Timothy’s turn to milk, and her responsibility to feed the animals, and gather eggs. She flew through her chores and headed back across the yard with a pail of milk in one hand, while balancing a heaping basket of eggs in the other.
                  Breakfast was on the table when the men came in, and after pouring them each a cup of fresh coffee, she headed upstairs to dress for school. Twenty minutes later, she came back down, toting her supplies in a gunnysack.
    “ Well, I’m ready for my first day of school.” She placed the bag on a stool then smoothed out her calf-length, blue-and-white checkered dress with pockets and trim around the hem. “Aunt Francine and I made it a little big so’s I could grow into it.” Placing her hands in each pocket, she felt the acorns she was going to scatter out past the playground. She’d noticed there weren’t any trees around. That meant no squirrels to mess with them before they took root.
                  Steven nodded an approval of her dress.
                  Grandfather grunted, shoving his cup across the table. She filled it with coffee then pulled up a chair.
    “Miss O’Reilly said I’d be able to bring plenty of books home. Of course I can’t keep them like the one she gave me.” Emily didn’t mind that they weren’t really listening. She didn’t expect them to be excited when they weren’t the ones going on this adventure. She wondered if they would notice if she snuck some wood to build herself another bookshelf for her bedroom.
                  After the men left, she cleaned the kitchen and made lunches. She stored theirs in the refrigerator, wrapped hers in a towel and placed it inside the gunnysack on top of her school supplies. Then she made the beds, and tossed the towels and dirty cloths into the second-hand washing machine.
                  Keeping up the laundry had been a grueling task not that long ago until Steven exchanged work with a neighbor for a Maytag with a power wringer. She used to dread going out to the veranda to wash clothes in those ugly green bins. The coldest months were the worst, when it was impossible to keep the room warm with all the windows that lined the front, and with no insulation. She would never forget the day the men rigged up the washer at the back entryway that was so small they had to close up the door. The setup was well worth the fuss even though she had to go all the way around out through the front door during the summer months to hang clothes in the back yard. Steven made a rack for the winter months, which was much better than stringing a line across the kitchen.
                  When everything was in order, she picked up the gunnysack and headed out the door.
    In less than an hour, she reached the white schoolhouse with its windows running up the side, and the long wooden porch in front. A row of swings stood to the left of the building. Further down, scattered across the back, was a slide and other equipment