Johnny Long Legs by Matt Christopher Read Free Book Online

me!”
    Jim grabbed hold of the right side and lifted and Johnny did the same on the left side. The window suddenly broke loose and
     the boys lifted it as high as it could go.
    Cold, refreshing air gushed into the room. The boys inhaled it deeply, let it clean out their lungs. At the same time smoke
     swirled out in a thick, swirling fog.
    Johnny looked out. “The snow looks deep down there, Jim,” he said. “We could jump and may not get hurt at all.”
    “Hurt or not, I'm going to jump, anyway,” replied Jim.
    Johnny stepped out onto the windowsill, crouched to clear his head from the window above him, and jumped. He sank into the
     snow. It was deep and he didn't get hurt. Then Jim landed beside him.
    “Let's get to a phone,” said Johnny, wading through the soft feathery snow toward the sidewalk. He looked over his shoulders
     at the tongues of flame leaping out of the first-story windows and lapping at the wood frame wall.
    “My drawings! My rocks!” screamed Jim, his eyes blurred with tears.
    “C'mon!” yelled Johnny. “Let's run to that house and call the fire department!”
    “It'll be too late!”
    “We still should do it! C'mon!”
    They raced to the small house a short distanceup the road. The wind snarled around their ears, lashed at their unprotected bodies. Their boots, coats, and hats were in
     the burning house.
    “Jim! Wait!” a voice yelled in the darkness behind them.
    They looked back. Mr. Sain was running toward them, his hat gripped in his hand. “Thank the Lord you're okay!”
    “We're going over to the Burks' to phone the fire department,” said Jim.
    “Go ahead. And stay there. I'll stay here and wait for them. And you, Johnny. Better call your parents from there, too. They'll
     have to come and take you home. You're not going to walk through this cold night like that.”
    “You won't go into the house for anything, will you, Pop?” inquired Jim worriedly.
    “No, son. Don't you worry. It's burningtoo hard. There's nothing real important in there, anyway.”
    Except Jim's drawings,
thought Johnny.
And his rocks and fossils.
    They ran to the Burks'. Mr. Burk immediately put in a call to the fire department, then pulled on his boots and winter clothes
     and dashed out into the night. Johnny telephoned home. He explained to Mom what had happened.
    “Dad will come right over,” she said in a hurried, nervous voice.
    Two fire trucks arrived. They couldn't save the house. The Burks and Jim and Johnny watched through the windows of the Burks'
     house as the flames devoured it. It was a sad, heartbreaking sight.
    Dad had coats and caps for both boys. They met Mr. Sain outside. He was weeping.
    “I should've fixed those pipes,” he kept saying sadly. “It was my fault.”
    “Mr. Sain,” said Dad, “you and Jim come over and stay with us tonight. We have room.”
    “No. We can't do that. We'll be imposing.”
    “Imposing, nothing. Come on. Get into my car. There's no sense standing here any longer.”
    Mr. Sain got into the car and Jim got in beside him. Johnny sat in front with his father. Mr. Reese started the car and headed
     for home.

13
    M r. Sain wanted to look for an apartment right after breakfast the next morning. He said he and Jim didn't need a house anymore;
     a furnished apartment would do. The insurance money that he was going to receive for the burned-down house would be put into
     the bank for Jim's college education.
    Mr. Reese didn't want him and Jim to leave right away though. Not until after the new year. “Stay with us till then,” he insisted.
     “In the meantime, you can look for an apartment.”
    “Two extra mouths to feed for a few days means nothing,” added Mrs. Reese.
    Johnny saw the warm look on Jim's face. He knew that Jim wanted his father to accept the invitation.
    “Okay,” Mr. Sain agreed finally. “We'll stay. Thanks very much. You people have been most kind to Jim and me. Come on, Jim.
     We'll look for an apartment.” He smiled.