The story so far ... Mom is upset about Rosie missing and gets Ben and Conner to search the house once more. The Lehmans arrive and then the police. The tension is rising. They begin searching the outside buildings. When Ben comes back inside, he sees more police and neighbors have arrived. The search expands. Mom assigns Ben to watch Rosie's two sisters in the den with a Disney DVD. He begins to think about the clothesline T-shirts he saw earlier with the two confusing slogans.
The sisters fell asleep watching "Bambi." I was trying to remember the exact words from the shirts on the clothesline... something about Aussie... auto repair, not carpet cleaner. It suddenly seemed so important to remember. And just because I was trying so hard, I couldn't remember the exact words.
The other was about Earth Day... sun, water, air? I had to recall the exact words back if I was going to be able to get the message.
Just then I heard a lot of noise in the front room. Quietly, I slipped out and went to check. Maybe Rosie was found. The room was crowded. It looked like the search party had returned. "Did you find her?" I asked the nearest cop.
He shook his head. "No, but we will. We'll search all night if we need to." He walked to the dining room table where someone had set up bottles of water and soda. There was a pot of coffee too.
What were the words on those shirts... some Aussie car dealer. I remembered from social studies class that Aussie was short for Australian. We repair... What? I was missing part of it. I needed all the words to figure out the message.
I hear the men talking and reorganizing on the other side of the room. "Let's cross the road and start searching south. We have enough men now that we can make a pretty long line. Yep. Roy is setting up the spotlight now."
The head guy downed the last of his water then cleared his throat. "Okay, crew. We're heading out across the road. We'll line up with about four feet between each of you. There's a spotlight that should help us."
The place cleared out, leaving just the family and close neighbors to comfort each other. "Honey," I looked up and Mom was standing there with a cup of coffee. She looked so tired. "Where are the girls? Aren't you supposed to be watching them?"
"They're sleeping on the couch. I just wanted something to drink." I quickly picked up a bottle of water. "And to find out if there was anything new. I'm going back."
"Thank you." She tried to smile but couldn't quite make it happen.
I headed back to the den. I was more than ever convinced that there was a helpful message in those words... Earth Day... sun... no solar, water, and wind... no wind power. I sat on the chair absently watching Bambi now almost grown up, thinking about the words from the shirts.
Aussie Auto Repair... fix something? What was it? I just couldn't remember. Best care... that's it... down under. Whatever that means. So what's the message???
And then, as if in slow motion, a huge light bulb exploded in my head. "Wind power down under...." I said out loud.
Jumping up, I ran into the living room, muttering, "I think I know where she is." I raced outside, not stopping to answer Mom's voice, "where are you going?"
In the twilight, I ran across the front yard over to the barn. Standing in front of it was the old windmill rising above the farm. Last summer, Grandpa Lehman had pointed out all the parts to me and explained how the windmill pumped water years ago. I could almost hear his words...
"This here windmill was an important part of every farm, son. It used wind power to get water. Look up to the top." Together we raised our eyes to the sky. "See the wheel? It would spin in the wind which would turn the gears. The gears moved a long pole that ran all the way to the ground and down to the well. The pole would move up and down, forcing the piston to move water up the inner chamber to the surface. Here, right where we're standing under the legs was a concrete slab that held the pump."
He had lifted a couple of boards covering an empty concrete box. "Yep, this is where the guts to the pump were housed." I leaned over and saw the dark space. "But they took out the pump when they stopped using this windmill. We used to say this was the safest place on the farm in a tornado..."
I kneeled down, with Grandpa's words still in my head. I pushed aside the boards, and there sound asleep curled in a ball was Rosie. She opened her eyes and yawned. "Hi Benny."
After we were all gathered in our kitchen, coffee and juice was had by all. Patty Lehman held Rosie in her arms. The little girl smiled and giggled, enjoying the attention even though she had no idea what had happened. Jack came over and shook my hand. "Ben I want to thank you for finding Rosie. How could we have all missed the windmill?" He shook his head and grinned, "How stupid." He looked at me so seriously. "What made you think of looking there?"
How could I ever tell him, or anyone else, that it was the message on the clothesline? Instead I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don't know. I guess I just remembered last summer when your dad showed me the pump box."
The weather turned cold, and I didn't ride past the little farm where the road forked again. I stored my bike in back of the garage after the first snowfall. In the same way, the adventure with Rosie, along with the clothesline messages faded to the back of my mind.
The following summer when I got my bike out of the garage for the first time, I rode out to the little farm off the main road. It was a longer ride than I remembered, and I was huffing pretty good by the time I got there.
The place was all closed up. A For Sale sign stood out front.
The sisters fell asleep watching "Bambi." I was trying to remember the exact words from the shirts on the clothesline... something about Aussie... auto repair, not carpet cleaner. It suddenly seemed so important to remember. And just because I was trying so hard, I couldn't remember the exact words.
The other was about Earth Day... sun, water, air? I had to recall the exact words back if I was going to be able to get the message.
Just then I heard a lot of noise in the front room. Quietly, I slipped out and went to check. Maybe Rosie was found. The room was crowded. It looked like the search party had returned. "Did you find her?" I asked the nearest cop.
He shook his head. "No, but we will. We'll search all night if we need to." He walked to the dining room table where someone had set up bottles of water and soda. There was a pot of coffee too.
What were the words on those shirts... some Aussie car dealer. I remembered from social studies class that Aussie was short for Australian. We repair... What? I was missing part of it. I needed all the words to figure out the message.
I hear the men talking and reorganizing on the other side of the room. "Let's cross the road and start searching south. We have enough men now that we can make a pretty long line. Yep. Roy is setting up the spotlight now."
The head guy downed the last of his water then cleared his throat. "Okay, crew. We're heading out across the road. We'll line up with about four feet between each of you. There's a spotlight that should help us."
The place cleared out, leaving just the family and close neighbors to comfort each other. "Honey," I looked up and Mom was standing there with a cup of coffee. She looked so tired. "Where are the girls? Aren't you supposed to be watching them?"
"They're sleeping on the couch. I just wanted something to drink." I quickly picked up a bottle of water. "And to find out if there was anything new. I'm going back."
"Thank you." She tried to smile but couldn't quite make it happen.
I headed back to the den. I was more than ever convinced that there was a helpful message in those words... Earth Day... sun... no solar, water, and wind... no wind power. I sat on the chair absently watching Bambi now almost grown up, thinking about the words from the shirts.
Aussie Auto Repair... fix something? What was it? I just couldn't remember. Best care... that's it... down under. Whatever that means. So what's the message???
And then, as if in slow motion, a huge light bulb exploded in my head. "Wind power down under...." I said out loud.
Jumping up, I ran into the living room, muttering, "I think I know where she is." I raced outside, not stopping to answer Mom's voice, "where are you going?"
In the twilight, I ran across the front yard over to the barn. Standing in front of it was the old windmill rising above the farm. Last summer, Grandpa Lehman had pointed out all the parts to me and explained how the windmill pumped water years ago. I could almost hear his words...
"This here windmill was an important part of every farm, son. It used wind power to get water. Look up to the top." Together we raised our eyes to the sky. "See the wheel? It would spin in the wind which would turn the gears. The gears moved a long pole that ran all the way to the ground and down to the well. The pole would move up and down, forcing the piston to move water up the inner chamber to the surface. Here, right where we're standing under the legs was a concrete slab that held the pump."
He had lifted a couple of boards covering an empty concrete box. "Yep, this is where the guts to the pump were housed." I leaned over and saw the dark space. "But they took out the pump when they stopped using this windmill. We used to say this was the safest place on the farm in a tornado..."
I kneeled down, with Grandpa's words still in my head. I pushed aside the boards, and there sound asleep curled in a ball was Rosie. She opened her eyes and yawned. "Hi Benny."
After we were all gathered in our kitchen, coffee and juice was had by all. Patty Lehman held Rosie in her arms. The little girl smiled and giggled, enjoying the attention even though she had no idea what had happened. Jack came over and shook my hand. "Ben I want to thank you for finding Rosie. How could we have all missed the windmill?" He shook his head and grinned, "How stupid." He looked at me so seriously. "What made you think of looking there?"
How could I ever tell him, or anyone else, that it was the message on the clothesline? Instead I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don't know. I guess I just remembered last summer when your dad showed me the pump box."
The weather turned cold, and I didn't ride past the little farm where the road forked again. I stored my bike in back of the garage after the first snowfall. In the same way, the adventure with Rosie, along with the clothesline messages faded to the back of my mind.
The following summer when I got my bike out of the garage for the first time, I rode out to the little farm off the main road. It was a longer ride than I remembered, and I was huffing pretty good by the time I got there.
The place was all closed up. A For Sale sign stood out front.
