Flood Warning Read Online Free

road closes.”
    By the time all the work was done, the sun was beginning to set. Tom was exhausted. He slumped down on the ground beside their tent. Other tents had risen all around them. It was like a tent city full of bustling people.
    â€œHere you go,” said a woman whose hair was tied back with a yellow kerchief. She held out a cup of steaming coffee to Mom and one to Tom as well. Tom didn’t really like coffee, but he took it gratefully.
    â€œThank you,” Mom said with a tired smile. “It’s been quite a day.”
    â€œYes,” said the woman with a tired smile of her own. “But with everyone working together, we’ll get by.”
    Mom nodded and sipped her coffee.
    â€œThe Red Cross is feeding everyone tonight,” the woman said. “So there’s nothing to worry about.”
    That is good news, Tom thought. But as he looked down toward the dark, silent water, he wondered how his dad and the other men were doing on the dykes. This time, he did not wish he could be there with them.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    Graveyard Island
    When Tom woke in the morning, there were three people in the tent. Dad had joined them during the night. Mom was already up and opening the tent flap for Amos to go out. She saw Tom was awake and put a finger to her lips.
    â€œLet him sleep,” she whispered, nodding at Dad. “You and I can do the milking.”
    A few minutes later, Tom was standing outside the tent looking around. A patch of hill was covered with tents. A huge crowd of cows mooed and munched grass beside the gravestones. Tom looked down the hill and out toward the farms. Brown water seemed to cover everything. Branches, bushes and fence posts floated on the surface. The roof of a chicken coop with a chicken still perched on it floated by. About the spot where the road used to be, someone was rowing a boat. The graveyard was now an island.

    â€œHey, Tom!”
    Tom turned to see a boy waving at him from beside a tall headstone. It was Mike from his class at school.
    â€œDo you want to play hide and seek?” Mike asked. Tom saw several other kids getting ready to hide among the gravestones.
    â€œSure!” Tom said. Then he remembered the cows. “After I help with milking,” he added.
    Partway through the milking, Dad joined Tom and Mom. He had not shaved since the start of the flood. His clothes were rumpled and dirty.
    â€œI hear you were a big help yesterday,” Dad said, resting a hand on Tom’s shoulder. “I knew I could count on you.”
    Tom wanted to shrug off his dad’s praise. He wanted to tell him it was all in a day’s work for the Lone Ranger. But he couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at his mouth.

    When the milking was finished, Dad put his hand on Tom’s shoulder again.
    â€œWe might be here awhile,” Dad said. “Some of the adults are meeting to make plans for getting the milk to market and supplies delivered. Do you want to join us?”
    Tom felt a warm bloom of pride in his chest. Finally, he was getting included in the important stuff. He paused as he heard laughter and saw two kids running through the graveyard, dodging headstones.
    â€œHome free!” one of them called.
    Tom thought of the long walk with the cows yesterday and all the extra work he had done. Even the Lone Ranger needed a break sometimes. He looked up at Dad.
    â€œIs it all right if I go and play?” he asked.
    â€œSure,” Dad said with a grin. He ruffled Tom’s hair with one big hand. “You’ve earned it.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

    Home
    Tom and his parents stayed in the graveyard camp for almost three weeks. It took that long for the floodwater to finally sink and seep away.
    When it was time to return home, Tom searched the graveyard for some long, tender shoots of grass that the cows hadn’t already eaten. Dad laughed when Tom stuck the grass under Amos’s collar and the cows started following