pinkokitty

Andrew Henry's Meadow
by Doris Burn

Until that spring Andrew Henry Thatcher lived with his family in the town of Stubbsville.

He had a father and mother adn two older sisters named Marian and Martha. The girls were always with each other. He also had two younger brothers named Robert and Ronald. They were always with each other, too. Andrew Henry was in the middle. He was always with himself, yet he didn't mind. He had plenty of things to do.

Mrs. Thatcher was usually busy in the kitchen, but Mr. Thatcher was tired when he came home from work. He Liked ot read the paper and have things quiet. Marian and Martha liked to sew or try new ways to wear their hair. Robert and Ronald liked to play with toy cars and coloring books.

But Andrew Henry liked to build things.

Mrs Thatcher was unhappy when Andrew Henry built a helicpter in the kitchen. The helicopter had many fine features. Nevertheless, she said to him firmly, "Andrew Henry, I have work to do. You must take that thing out of the kitchen."

Then Andrew Henry built an eagle's cage in the living room, and Mr. Thatcher was annoyed. It was a fine eagle's cage. An eagle would have liked it, but Mr. Thatcher didn't. He told Andrew Henry to go outside and to take the eagle's cage with him.

When Marian and Martha saw the merry-go-round Andrew Henry had hitched up to the sewing machine, they were upset. It went around nicely too. But they told him to unhitch it and to do it "right now."

Robert and Ronald didn't even like the system of pulleys Andrew Henry rigged up in their room althoughit could close the door, fetch the crayon box, and lift the table one and a half feet off the floor. They cried, "You're always spoiling our fun, Andrew Henry. Leave us alone."

Andrew Henry thought about it more and more. One fine spring morning he made up his mind. Quietly he gathered together his tools. He packed his hammer and his saw, his pocket knife and pliers, a big sack of nails, some bolts, nuts, and wire, and even a few lengths of stovepipe.

"I'll build a house for myself," he said to himself. He went out the back door and down the path. He knew where he was going.

No one saw Andrew Henry leave except the Thatcher's dog, Sam. As usual Sam started to follow Andrew Henry, but this time Andrew Henry told him firmly that he must stay home.

Sam was a good dog.

So he sat down by the gate in the shade of the lilac bush and watched until Andrew Henry was out of sight. Andrew Henry walked kitty-corner through Burdock's pasture adn climbed up over Blackbriar Hill. Then he went out across Worzibsky's Swamp and in through the deep woods.

Finally he came to a meadow. A stream wandered through the meadow, sparkling in the sunlight. On one side was a tall fir tree, straight and strong. Andrew Henry walked right over to the fir tree. He dropped his tools beside it and looked the ground over. "Here is where I'll build my house," he said to himself.

He set to work, and before long the house was finished. The walls were made of clay and rocks and poles. The roof was made of fir boughs, and outside one window there was a fine landingfield for dragonflies.

But Andrew Henry wasn't alone long. Soon Alice Burdock stepped out from the deep woods. She had her bird things with her. Mr. Burdock, who was a farmer, didn't care for birds. They ate his cherries, scratched up his corn and nested in his barn.

He put scarecrows in the cornfield and died tin cans in the cherry trees to scare away the birds. He even kept four cats in the barn to discourage the swallows from nesting there. But Alice liked birds. She had brought along what she could.

"Andrew Henry, will you build me a house too?" she asked.

"Sure thing," Andrew Henry said.

It was a nice house, especially for a person who liked birds. A ladder climbed straight up the trunk of the old tree to the house. There were plenty of birdbaths and feeding stations. There were birdhouses and a balcony for watching burds and even a handy rest for Alice's binoculars when she wasn't using them.

Next, out of the deep woods came George Turner. He had most of his boats, all of his fishing poles and his biggest paddle wheel. Mrs. Turner didn't like him to use these things in the bathtub. George wanted Andrew Henry to build him a house too.

"Sure thing," Andrew Henry said.

First they built a bridge over the creek. Then they built the house on the bridge so that George could be near the water. The house had docks for the boats and built-in fishing poles. The paddle wheel worked a fan to keep George cool. It was surprising how much power that paddle wheel had.

Then Joe Polasky arrived. They built him a dugout house. The door was on the roof and the chimney stuck out of the ground. GJoe wanted an underground house so that his pets would be comfortable. He had agray mice and white mice, a pet mole and a pair of brown rabbits. The house had rooms and passageways for his pets. The mole's passageways were wonderfully misleading.

Jane O'Malley and Margot LaPorte showed up next. Andrew Henry built Jane a house that looked like a castle with turrets. They dug a ditch around it which filled up with water from the creek. The ditch made a useful moat, especially when the drawbridge was up. Jane had her dress-up clothes with her. She hoped her mother wouldn't miss them too much. She explained that they made her feel like Lady Jane instead of just plain Jane.

Margot's house was tall in the middle like a teepee, but it had a long, low entrance like an igloo. She needed privacy for her music. Visitors had to crawl in on their stomachs. They also had to give three "toots" on the horn she had hung beside the door. Sometimes Margot didn't answer because she couldn't always hear the horn when she was practicing.

Down the hill, across the samp and into the woods came three more children. Sarah Lerner hd a cookie sheet full of mud cakes her mother had made her take out of the oven. Don Peterson had a dresser drawer full of dandelion seeds he had been saving to use for parachutes. Stanley Hayes had the two racing toads his father wouldn't let him keep in the basement.

Soon nine houses stood in the meadow. It looked like a small village.

But in Stubbsville the Thatchers were looking for Andrew Henry, and the Burdocks were looking for Alice. Soon the Turners, the Polaskys, the O'Malleys and LaPortes, the Lerners, the Petersons, and Hayes all began looking for the missing children.

For four days and four nights everyone searched frantically. They hunted in the fields and the barns, the buildings and the vacant lots. But the children could not be found. The only one who wasn't searching was the Thatcher's dog, Sam. He sat quietly under the lilac bush by the gate. Sam was a good dog but he was very lonesome. As he gazed sorrowfully out toward the far corner of Burdock's pasture, the lonesomeness in Sam grew and grew and grew.

Finally it grew too big for even a good dog.

On the morning of the fifth day Sam raised his head and out poured a long, aching howl.

He sprang to his feet and raced for the near corner of Burdock's pasture. The townspeople all heard the howl and saw Sam racing off with his nose to the ground. "The dog has found their trail!"
"Follow Sam!"
"Hooray for Sam!"
Sam ran kitty-corner throught Burdock's pasture. The fathers and mothers, the sisters and the brothers, even the dogs and the cats of the missing children, all ran kitty-corner after him.

They climbed up over Blackbriar Hill and went across Worzibsky's Swamp--and in through the deep woods--until they came to a meadow. It was Andrew Henry's meadow.

There were the children.

What excitement! The nine children, their parents and all their sisters and brothers met with shouts of joy. They laughed and hugged each other. The fathers and mothers were too happy to scold or to ask any questions. Their children were safe. Andrew Henry and his friends were happy too. They had been away from home for four long days and four very long nights. The village in the meadow had been wonderful. They would not forget it. But they missed their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers and their cats and dogs. They were ready to go home.

The Thatchers gave Andrew Henry the corner of the basement behind the furnace just to build things in. He built a roller coaster for Robert and Ronald's toy cars. By using a bucket and parts of an electric fan, he made a hair dryer for Marian and Martha. The pipe filler he made for his father worked the same way a bird feeder does. And he was especially proud of the automatic table setter he made for his mother, although it did take up a lot of room. Andrew Henry was pleased to have such a fine place to work.

And his family was always curious to see what Andrew Henry would build next.

THE END.