by Mary Wingfield Bell
Chapter Nine -
After taking the children to their homes, Aunt Gracie went to
the post office for stamps. When she came back to the car it was
beginning to rain. Soon as she was in the automobile she turned on
the windshield wipers. Rain was falling in sheets.
"Wish we had left earlier," Wink's aunt said. "Anyway the boys
and girls are home safely. I am thankful for that."
Rain was still pouring down when the car pulled into the
driveway. Wink and his aunt sat for a few minutes waiting for the
rain to stop. It did not stop.
"Guess we had better make a run for the door," she said. "We
can't sit out here the rest of the evening."
They slammed the car doors and ran through the rain. Then they
were inside and drying with towels.
Wink's aunt walked through their house closing all the
windows. The carpet in Wink's room was wet and the water had to be
soaked up with rags and towels. While his aunt did this, Wink
stood at the living room window watching the downpour. Water was
rushing from the driveway into the street which was beginning to
look like a river flowing very fast.
"Aunt Gracie, the clouds must have had a collision to make so
much rain," Wink complained. "I think it will rain all evening. I
wish I could ride my bike or something. It's boring just waiting
for the rain to quit."
"I'm just glad that we are not in the rain," she responded.
Just then the telephone rang. It was Big Squirt calling. He
had come home from the hospital and was alone, wanting someone to
talk to. "Would you please come over?" he pleaded.
Although the rain was still falling hard, Wink's aunt got into
the car again and took him to Big Squirt's house.
The boys had a lot to say to each other. They talked for a
long, long while. The rain did not let up, but came down harder.
When the two friends looked out of the window, it appeared to be a
wall of rain. It was so thick they couldn't see anything but
water.
The telephone rang. It was Sherman's father. He could not get
home for a while because it was raining so hard.
"Think you could stay here 'til my dad gets home, Wink?"
Sherman asked. "Being so banged up, I don't like being by
myself."
"Yeah, sure. I'll call Aunt Gracie. She probably doesn't want
to get out in the rain, either."
Wink's aunt said it would be all right to stay with Big Squirt
but to call her if a problem came up.
"Don't this kind of rain scare you a little bit?" Wink's
friend asked.
"Naw, I'm not scared I'll just ask Jesus to make me unafraid."
He smiled and added, "Let's play a game."
Look in the closet over there and find one," Big Squirt said,
looking less anxious now that Wink seemed so calm.
Wink put four board games on the table so Big Squirt could
choose. He chose a game called Search. They had fun spinning the
arrow and counting blocks until one stopped on SEARCH and was
allowed to draw from the stack of cards in the center of the
board. First player to draw the card with the deed to the mansion
was the winner. The boys played the game three times. Wink won two
out of three games. Big Squirt was tired. He was getting hungry,
also.
Wink looked in the refrigerator and found ham and cheese for
sandwiches. He fixed the eats and poured colas for himself and Big
Squirt.
His friend did not eat as much as usual. He was hurting and
reached for a pain pill.
"You know I have to take these every three hours," Big Squirt
said. "If I take them every two hours, I might get zonked -
zeroed! I want to live even if I do hurt."
"Drugs you got to watch," advised Wink. "You could get
hooked."
"I'll quit these pills as soon as I can stand the pain. I hate
pills!" was Big Squirt's response.
"Good!" Wink said.
"Hey, I was thinking about that guy you call Jesus. You really
believe he does magic, don't you?" Big Squirt said.
"Oh, no, it isn't magic," Wink said. "Jesus is superpowerful.
It is the power of God - the greatest power of all. I'm not
scared because He can take care of me. Even if God did let me die,
but He won't. I would be in Heaven with my father. That's not bad
at all."
"How do you know?" said Big Squirt. "You ain't been to
Heaven."
"Mr. Winterfresh told us a lot about Heaven. It is a beautiful
place filled with happy people. They sing a lot.
The angels are there, too. And Jesus is there."
"Well, Mr. Winterfresh ain't been there either, so what does
he know?" Big Squirt asked.
"Mr. Winterfresh reads the Bible," said Wink, "There is a lot
in the Bible about Heaven. Besides, he even talks to Jesus and
finds out things other people don't know."
"Oh, I never knew that." Sherman seemed surprised.
"Hey, it's not raining so hard now," Wink noticed.
Soon Big Squirt's father came in the back door. His jacket and
pants were wet. His hair was dry because of an umbrella.
"I'll take you home, Wink," the man said. "Then your aunt
won't have to come out in the rain. Sherman can be alone for a
couple of minutes."
"Okay, that's good, because Aunt Gracie hates to drive in the
rain."
Wink's aunt was still up when he came in. It was time for the
11 o'clock news. She and Wink sat on the sofa to listen to the
newscast.
"There will probably be news about this terrible weather."
Aunt Gracie said. "I don't think I ever heard it rain so hard."
The news announcer began: "Torrential rains bring havoc to
many areas in the state. The Onocko Dam burst. Its waters joined
the ever-rising Alstone river. Residents are fleeing the area as
quickly as possible. It is feared as many as 270 families may not
be able to escape. Civil Defense workers along with firemen and
policemen are helping residents face this disaster.
Darkness hampers rescue operations, but already there are
hundreds spending the night at Harpertown Elementary School and
Hawk Lake High School.
As many as 1200 families may be without a place to live. Many
homes are going down the raging waters of Alstone river."
"There are power outages leaving thousands of homes in the
state without electric service."
"Oh, heavens!" Wink's aunt exclaimed. "Why, the river is not
more than forty miles from here. That's terrible, but we are
blessed. thank God!"
"Yeah, it's awful!" Wink remarked. "It's worse than awful!"
Aunt Gracie turned off the television set. It was time to go
to bed. She went to her room and Wink went into his room. He put
on pajamas and crawled into bed, but he couldn't get to sleep
right away. He kept thinking about the victims of the flood who
would have no place to live - no anything. I want to help these
people, he thought. There must be something I can do. Finally, he
slept.
When Wink awoke in the morning, it had almost quit raining. He
walked into the living room still in his pajamas. There was his
aunt in front of the television set again, waiting to get the
latest word on the flood waters.
Wink heard the man on television say that the Alstone river
was still rising and would not reach its crest before the late
afternoon. Fifty people may be missing. Civil defense crews were
working hard to secure temporary shelters. The governor would fly
over Finn County and declare it a disaster area. Local residents
were asked to collect food, blankets and clothing and take them to
the nearest convenience store.
"Aunt Gracie, I want to help, please!" Wink said.
"Good! Go through your clothes and take out anything that is
too small for you. I'll get the dresses I don't really need. We
will take them to the corner store."
"I'll do that, but I want to do more," said Wink. "Maybe if
you drove me around, we could collect something from everybody.
Wow! I have a better idea. Let's get the gang together at the
LITTLE CHURCH and plan a special drive. All the guys and gals can
help. It will be fun that way and we can get a lot of things for
those people who lost their possessions in the flood yesterday."
Wink was obviously excited.
"That's a great idea," his aunt agreed.
"I'm glad you think so," said Wink. "I'll call Mr. Winterfresh
and tell him we are coming over this morning. I'm sure he will be
glad to help."
The old gentleman was happy to have a meeting with the boys
and girls. He would help in any way possible.
Wink called the other kids to help. He rode his bicycle to
Little Cube's and Willie's houses to tell them because Little Cube
had no telephone and Willie's phone was out of order.
By 9:30 A.M., ten children had piled into Aunt Gracie's car.
They talked about their plans while she drove them to the old
man's house and his garage which by now was always called the
LITTLE CHURCH by members of the gang.
When the children tumbled out of the car, there were Lena and
Mr. Winterfresh waiting for them. Lena's mother and little brother
watched from their front porch.
Mr. Growly came out of his yard across the street from the
LITTLE CHURCH. He was in a bad mood. "Why can't you kids be
quieter? You sound like a bunch of steers at the stock yards! Mind
you, old man, I'm going to call the police one of these days," he
threatened Mr. Winterfresh.
But kind Mr. Winterfresh just smiled. "We will get quiet; we
are just excited because we have something very special to do."
Then he turned to the boys and girls. "Come inside the LITTLE
CHURCH."
The youngsters went in and sat down on the flower pots. The
old man stood in front of them. "Now, children," he began, "this
is a fine thing you plan to do for the unfortunate folks who live
along the Alstone River. When you help people in need, you are
really doing it for Jesus. Now what do you kids think we should
do? If you have a suggestion, stand up - but one at a time."
Wink was first on his feet. "We want to go door to door and
collect clothes, blankets and food," he said.
"Wonderful, you can do that," the children's old friend
agreed.
After Wink sat down, Jeff stood up. "We need a wagon, maybe
even two," he said.
"Who knows where we can borrow a couple of wagons?" asked Mr.
Winterfresh.
Lena raised her hand instead of standing. "You can use my
wagon," she said.
"Good! Now how about a second wagon," asked the old man.
"I'll borrow my cousin's green wagon," offered Willie.
"We are off to a good start and I have two large boxes," their
leader suggested.
Rainbow was standing when Mr. Winterfresh finished speaking.
"Daisy and I can make signs for the boxes," she said.
"What will the signs say?" asked Knuckles.
"HELP FOR FLOOD VICTIMS," Wink suggested.
"Yeah, for the flood victims," they all agreed.
Mr. Winterfresh went into his house and brought back
posterboards and two black markers for Daisy and Rainbow to work
with. "Here, girls, work at this table," he said.
"Why don't we divide into three groups?" suggested Jeff. "We
can cover more ground and get more goods."
"Excellent!" Aunt Gracie said. "I'll take one group in the
car. The other two groups can walk with the wagons."
It was decided that Aunt Gracie would take Wink, Lena and
Willie in the automobile. Little Cube, Marcia, Isabel and Jeff
would go with one wagon, Knuckles, Moon, Rainbow and Daisy with
the second wagon.
Mr. Winterfresh spread out a map on the garage flood, showing
the children which streets to take. Wink and his group would take
the streets west of the elementary school. Little Cube's group
would take four long streets south of the railroad. Knuckle's
group would collect in their own neighborhood sub-division.
The children got the wagons and all began the project.
Wink, Lena and Willie left Aunt Gracie waiting in the car at
the end of the street and started knocking on doors.
At the first house Lena rang the doorbell and a man in a
bathrobe answered. He was half-asleep and said with disgust, "Now
what do you kids want?"
Wink answered, "What we really want is to help the flood
victims. Have you anything to spare?"
"Oh, uh, I don't know. Here take this robe; I have another
one." And he slipped out of it and stood there in his pajamas.
"Thanks, Mister," Willie and Wink said. Into the white garbage
bag went the robe.
"Good start," said Lena. "We got something."
"We will get a lot. Wait and see." Willie was positive.
At the second house, a very old lady came to the door and
said, "Come on in, dears."
The children stepped inside and told her they were collecting
for the flood victims.
"Oh, lands! Do I have anything to give? Yes, here are three
pot-holders I have just finished. My old sweater is still good.
I'll give it since my daughter sent a new one for my birthday."
"Thank you," Wink said.
At the third house no one was home. At the fourth house a
young boy came to the door, but did not give anything. The trio
went to one house after the other with varying reponses. Some
gave, some weren't home and others were not interested.
Wink's aunt watched from her car at the end of the street.
When she saw their arms were loaded, she drove by and stopped.
Then she put the things into the trunk of her automobile. Wink,
Willie and Lena were then on the way to more houses on streets
west of the elementary school.
"This is more fun than stealing," Willie said.
"Of course," agreed Wink.
"I don't know," Lena said, "I never stole anything."
"You don't want to either," advised Wink.
Meanwhile, Little Cube and his group were working the four
long streets south of the railroad. Little Cube was pulling one of
the borrowed wagons. A tall cardboard box was in the wagon. On
each side of the box were the signs Daisy and Rainbow had made.
The letters were big. People could easily see the HELP FOR FLOOD
VICTIMS sign. Behind the wagon Jeff walked, followed by his dog,
Winner. On each side of the wagon Marcia and Isabel walked.
"Look at what we got," Little Cube said to Jeff.
"Hey, that's a good old blanket," Jeff remarked. "It would be
good for camping."
"But you can't have it; it is for the needy people," Little
Cube reminded him.
"I know," Jeff explained. "I was just thinking."
Marcia and Isabel came running to the wagon. "See here, look!"
A lady had given them three cooking pots with lids. The box in the
wagon was filling up. Finally, the children who werre following
them went back to their play.
Marcia and Isabel were carrying brown paper bags of clothing.
Jeff rang the doorbell of the last house on the street. A man
opened the door. Behind him stood a small girl peeping at Jeff.
"I don't have any clothes or food handy, but I'll give a check
if you tell me who to make it out to," he offered.
"We haven't been getting money," Jeff said. "But you could
make it out to Mr. Winterfresh."
"Oh yes, I'll make the check payable to Mr. Winterfresh. I
know him well. But how is it that you know about him?" asked the
man in the doorway.
"Mr. Winterfresh is our Bible teacher at the LITTLE CHURCH,"
answered Jeff.
"I never heard of the LITTLE CHURCH," returned the man.
"It's in Mr. Winterfresh's garage and it's swell!" Jeff told
him.
"How interesting," the man said as he gave Jeff a check for
fifty dollars.
"Wow! Thank you," Jeff gratefully told him as he put the check
in his pocket.
The four youngsters started in the direction of home. A big
car pulled up beside them. In it was Wink's aunt.
"You children have done well," complimented Aunt Gracie as she
put their collection in the car. Then Jeff, Little Cube, Marcie
and Isabel went to the last two streets south of the railroad.
Back in their neighborhood Rainbow, Daisy, Moon and Knuckles
were busy as bees getting help for the victims of the flood
waters. First they went to Sherman's house. From there they would
work their way back to the garage at Wink's house.
"Come on in," Big Squirt called when he heard the children on
the porch.
"How you doin'?" Moon asked as soon as they were inside the
house.
"I'm doin' better. but I gotta stay in the wheelchair a while
longer. What are you kids up to and how come Rainbow and Daisy are
here?"
Daisy answered, "We are part of the LITTLE CHURCH GANG, you
know. We're collecting for the people of Alstone - you heard about
the flood, didn't you?"
"Oh, Yeah, that's about all I can do - read books and watch
television," complained Big Squirt.
"Ain't you got somethin' for the flood victims?" asked
Moon.
"I don't know; I can't get around to look," explained Big
Squirt. "You know that."
"No problem. We'll look for you," Rainbow suggested.
"Cat guts!" Big Squirt growled. "I don't want girls digging my
underwear out from the chest of drawers."
"Hey, kid!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Don't worry; Daisy and I will
search your closet.
"Guess that won't hurt anything. There's a lot of shirts
hanging there that I can't get into," remembered Big Squirt.
Daisy and Rainbow began to rummage through Sherman's
closet.
"Boy! Does it need cleaning!" Daisy declared and she kept
handing shirts and jeans to Rainbow.
Rainbow took them to Big Squirt and he sorted the small sizes
from the large ones that he wore.
"My! That's a pile of shirts, but I can't wear 'em any more,"
Big Squirt said wistfully.
"Ye-e-es!" came from the closet.
"What is it?" Rainbow asked.
"A big spider!" Daisy exclaimed. "Get me a broom or
something!"
Rainbow got the broom. Daisy killed the spider, then swept out
the closet. There were artificial snakes and spiders and unmated
socks in dust rolls. These all came out together from the
closet.
After Daisy swept the closet, Rainbow hung the shirts and
jeans that still fit Sherman, back in the closet.
"Looks neat," the girls agreed.
While Rainbow and Daisy collected the clothes, Big Squirt
enjoyed talking with his friends, Moon and Knuckles.
"Beans! Wish I could get out and go up and down the streets
with you," signed Big Squirt.
"When you are well, you can do lots of things with us again,"
Moon promised.
"And I really want to go the the old man's house with you
guys," declared Big Squirt. "You act like you are having fun."
"We do have fun," Knuckles told him. "Mr. Winterfresh has
taught us how to have fun and stay out of trouble."
When the two boys and two girls were leaving, Sherman's father
came through the door.
"You could use a house cleaner," Rainbow said.
"You're right! Know where I can get one?"
"Yeah, me," replied Rainbow. "I'll sweep your house, mop the
bathroom and kitchen and clean that mountain of dirty dishes for
five dollars."
"You got the job," Sherman's father told her.
"I'll be back when we get through collecting for the flood
victims," Rainbow said as she went through the door.
The children went on their way. They had a big start - so many
of Big Squirt's outgrown shirts and jeans. At the next two houses
no one came to the door. Then there was Rainbow's house.
"You guys wait out here," she said. "I'll bring out
something." In a few minutes she came back with her arms full of
clothing.
"Wait! There's more." This time she brought out a throw rug
and some towels.
"Does your mother know what you are doing?" asked Daisy.
"Sure, she said it's okay. She's tired of that rug anyway."
All day long the LITTLE CHURCH gang worked hard. There were
loads of things at Wink's garage. Aunt Gracie took the check to
Mr. Winterfresh. He added fifty dollars more and with some money
the boys and girls collected, there was $139 for the flood
victims.
At five o'clock Wink's aunt started hauling the stuff to the
corner store. She made three trips with a car full each time. When
she went the last time, the children followed her on bicycles.
Mountains of clothing, utensils and food were piled up at the
corner store for the collectors to carry to Alstone.
A cameraman from the local television station was there
shooting film for the newscast. He learned about the work of the
LITTLE CHURCH gang and took pictures of the boys and girls.
"We're getting publicity," Wink remarked.
"My, yes!" Aunt Gracie said happily. "I never thought this
would happen. Now let's go to the house and I'll order pizza for
everyone."
"Hooray for Wink's aunt!" yelled the gang. They all went to
Wink's house. Soon they were filled with pizza and sitting in the
living room waiting for the evening news.
Lena's mother called. Aunt Gracie said she would take Lena
home after the news on television was over."
"It's time!" yelled Wink.
Knuckles pushed Rainbow. "Scoot over. I want to see."
Sh-h-h, listen, so we can hear," Wink's aunt said as she
dialed the news channel.
First there was news with pictures of the rampaging waters
from the Onocko Dam and the Alstone river. There were pictures of
homes with only the rooftops above water. Other houses were going
down the river and a car jutted out of the mud along the river
banks. People were fearful and children were crying.
"Glad we don't live along that river bank," said Jeff.
"You can say that again!" agreed Wink.
"It's terrible," sighed Daisy and she began to cry, but wiped
her eyes when the newscaster said: "There is much help on the way
for those unfortunate people. We want to especially thank and
commend the boys and girls of the LITTLE CHURCH gang who worked
all day, bringing in a mountain of clothing and cookware for the
helpless. Also, for the $139 they collected. Thank you, children,
for a job well done and I know the people of Alstone thank
you."
Big Squirt watched the news on television, and even though he
could not be with the gang, he was glad he had given his old
shirts and jeans to the people in need.