Earthquake Terror Read Online Free Page B

by downed trees before they got to town? Mom couldn’t walk and Dad couldn’t carry her through this kind of mess. What would they do?
    “Do you see it?” Abby asked.
    The earth shuddered again.
    “It’s come back!” Abby yelled.
    Moose barked.
    Jonathan crouched, covering his head. It was a single jolt this time, an aftershock. It lasted only five seconds, but that was long enough to send Jonathan’s blood racing through his veins. He wondered how many more aftershocks there would be.
    When it ended, he waited a few seconds and then, when nothing else happened, he stood and continued his search. He pushed back another pile of branches, bent down, and looked through the tangle of leaves.
    “Here it is!” he cried, as he spotted a metal leg sticking out from under a small tree. He lifted the tree and kicked the walker free. It was badly bent, with one leg twisted at a right angle to the others.
    When she saw the walker, Abby gasped. “It’s broken. I can’t use it that way.”
    “Maybe I can straighten it.” Jonathan stood on the bent leg and pulled on the top of the walker with all his might. Instead of straightening, the metal leg snapped off.
    Abby looked more frightened now than she had during the earthquake. “What will I do?” she whimpered. “How will I walk?”
    Jonathan knew she was dependent on her walker. When she went to sleep at night, it always stood beside the bed, where she could see it as soon as she opened her eyes. When she ate, her walker waited beside the table, where she could reach it.
    He felt a rush of empathy, thinking what it would be like to be unable to swing your legs out of bed in the morning and walk unaided to the closet for your clothes. In the same instant, he realized how frustrating it must be to inch slowly along the trail to the lake while your big brother jogs impatiently ahead.
    “I want Mommy!” Abby wailed, tears spilling onto her cheeks.
    So do I, thought Jonathan.
    Another aftershock began, stronger this time. Jonathan felt as if he were standing on a giant accordion whose sides were moving in and out. He dropped to the ground and covered his head until the movement stopped.

I want Mommy!” Abby repeated, louder this time.
    Jonathan could tell she was on the verge of losing all control. He said, “Mom and Dad will come back as soon as they can.”
    But when will that be? he wondered. What condition is the road in, between the bridge and Beaverville? Even if the earthquake had been confined to Magpie Island, it meant that Dad could not drive back to the campground. He would have to leave the car and hike from the bridge to the camper.
    Mom, of course, was not likely to return at all. She would either be in the hospital or at home, a fact which Jonathan decided not to share with his sister.
    There was no way to know how much of the road wasblocked by fallen trees. It might be hours before his father returned. Or it might be days.
    Jonathan had never felt so alone. He wished he had not offered to stay behind. He didn’t want to be in charge of Abby, not in an earthquake.
    Abby wailed louder.
    “It won’t do any good to cry,” Jonathan said. “You’ll just give yourself a headache.”
    He knew he sounded cross but he needed to think, and Abby’s yowling did not help.
    Her wails subsided, becoming long, jerky open-mouthed breaths. She lifted the hem of her T-shirt and blew her nose on it.
    If I were alone, Jonathan thought, I would hike the road to the bridge and make sure Mom and Dad made it off the island.
    But he was not alone.
    Dad had said, “Jonathan is perfectly capable.”
    Jonathan took a deep breath, consciously trying to calm himself. Mom and Dad were counting on him; they believed he could take care of his sister. He wondered what they would do in this situation.
    I need to do two things, he decided. First, keep us safe. Second, don’t let Abby panic.
    He had already kept them safe once, by lying under the fallen tree while other trees crashed