Earthquake Terror Read Online Free

an earthquake.”
    Only an earthquake. He remembered magazine pictures of terrible devastation from earthquakes: homes toppled, highways buckled, cars tossed upside down, and people crushed in debris. Only an earthquake.
    “We have to get under shelter,” he said. “Try to crawl with me.” Keeping one arm around Abby’s waist, he got to his hands and knees and began crawling forward on the undulating ground.
    “I can’t!” Abby cried. “I’m scared. The ground is moving.”
    Jonathan tightened his grip, dragging her across the ground. A small tree crashed beside them. Dust rose, filling their noses.
    “I want Mommy!” Abby shrieked.
    He pulled her to the trunk of the huge redwood tree that had uprooted.
    “Get under the tree,” he said, as he pushed her into the angle of space that was created because the center of the redwood’s trunk rested on the other tree.
    When Abby was completely under the tree, Jonathan lay on his stomach beside her, with his right arm tucked beneath his stomach and his left arm thrown across Abby. He pulled himself in as close as he could so that both he and Abby were wedged in the space under the big tree.
    “What’s happening?” Abby sobbed. Her fingernails dug into Jonathan’s bare arm.
    “It’s an earthquake.”
    “I want to go home.” Abby tried to push Jonathan away.
    “Lie still,” Jonathan said. “The tree will protect us.”
    The dry forest floor scratched his cheek as he inhaled the pungent scent of dead leaves. He felt dwarfed by the enormous redwood and tried not to imagine what would have happened if it had landed on him.
    “Moose!” he called. “Come, Moose.”
    Beneath him, the ground trembled again. Jonathan tightened his grip on Abby and pushed his face close to hers. Asharp
crack
rang out beside them as another tree hit the ground. Jonathan turned his head enough to peer out; he saw the redwood branches quivering from the impact.
    What if the earthquake caused the redwood to move again? What if it slipped off the tree it rested on and crushed them beneath it? Anxiety tied a tight knot in Jonathan’s stomach.
    The earth shuddered once more. Abby buried her face in Jonathan’s shoulder. His shirt grew wet from her tears. The jolt did not seem as severe this time, but Jonathan thought that might be because he was lying down.
    Moose, panting with fear, huddled beside Jonathan, pawing at Jonathan’s shoulder. Relieved that the dog had not been injured, Jonathan put his right arm around Moose and held him close.
    As suddenly as it had begun, the upheaval stopped. Jonathan was unsure how long it had lasted. Five minutes? Ten? While it was happening, time seemed suspended and Jonathan had thought the shaking might go on for days.
    The woods were quiet.
    He lay motionless, one arm around Abby and the other around Moose, waiting to see if it was really over. The air was completely still. After the roar of the earthquake, the silence seemed both comforting and ominous.
    Earlier, even though there were no other people in the area, he’d heard the magpies cawing, and a squirrel had complained when Jonathan tossed a rock.
    Now he heard nothing. No birds. No squirrels. Not even wind in the leaves.
    He wondered if his parents had felt the quake. Sometimes, he knew, earthquakes were confined to fairly small areas.
    Once Grandma Whitney had called them from Iowa. She had seen news reports of a violent California earthquake less than one hundred miles from where the Palmers lived.
    “Are you all right?” Grandma cried, when Mrs. Palmer answered the phone. “Was anyone hurt?”
    Grandma had been astonished when none of the Palmers knew anything about an earthquake.
    After several minutes of quiet, Jonathan eased out from under the tree. He sat up and looked around. Moose, still trembling, licked his hand.
    Jonathan put his cheek on the dog’s neck and rubbed his ears. He had chosen Moose at the animal shelter, more than six years ago. The Palmers had planned to get a