Thunder on the Plains by Gary Robinson Read Free Book Online

unwrapped her own.
    â€œThanks,” I said as I unwrapped mine.
    â€œYou ride pretty good for someone who’s lived in the city all his life,” she said.
    â€œMy cousins have been teaching me the past few weeks,” I said between bites. “You have horses at home?”
    â€œYeah, my family is involved in Indian rodeo. I’ve picked up a few pointers.”
    We chewed our candy in silence for a few moments. Then Robert yelled that it was time for “lights out.”
    â€œThanks for the candy bar,” I told her. “It was good.”
    â€œGood night, Danny,” Charlene said sweetly. “Sleep tight. See you in the morning.”
    I watched her as she walked to her tent. She was a nice girl. My uncle walked up to me a moment later and smiled. He nudged me in the arm and said, “Cute, huh?”
    I blushed and quickly ducked inside my tent. Everyone else crawled into their tents. They probably passed out as fast as I did.
    The group awoke the next morning to a blanket of grey clouds. It was the fourth day of our journey. Later in the day, a thunderstorm moved in as we hiked up a low hill. As the rain started, we stopped at the mouth of a shallow cave. We pulled out our ponchos and put them on.
    We were at the base of a mountain. Robert pointed to a small path on the side of the mountain that zigzagged toward the top. It looked dangerous.
    â€œThat’s where we’re headed today,” he said. “You’re going to need teamwork to get up that path. Focus on what you’re doing. Take each step carefully.”
    He showed us how to form a human chain using ropes. That way we were connected. If anyone slipped, the people on either side of them could help.
    Then he arranged us in a line, boy-girl, boy-girl. My uncle took the lead and placed Crow at the end of the line. I was in the middle of the line with Charlene in front of me and another girl, Natalie, behind me.
    Charlene gave me a nervous smile as we started walking. The rain wasn’t heavy, but it was steady. It made the rocks slippery. Each foot had to be placed right in front of the other. No one spoke. No one joked.
    We slowly worked our way up the trail. We went on for almost three hours without any problems. Finally, we came to another shallow cave in the side of the mountain. Robert signaled it was time for a break. We were glad to have a place to get out of the rain for a while.
    â€œYou’re doing very well,” Robert told us. “We’ll rest here for a few minutes. But we can’t stay too long or the sun will go down before we reach the top. We don’t want to be on this trail after dark.”
    I understood why. The trail sure seemed tricky in more than a few spots.
    After a brief rest, Robert said we had to go. The rain was still coming down. By around three o’clock we were all very tired and wet. The nonstop patter of the rain mademe sleepy. I think everyone was having a hard time staying alert.
    I tried to stay focused on my feet and the ground in front of me. I forgot that I was roped to one girl in front and another in back in a chain.
    Then I noticed that the path turned past a big rock ahead and got very narrow. I couldn’t see around the rock.
    Suddenly, there was a scream from Charlene’s direction and a hard pull on the rope. At once, I was jolted out of my daze. I leaned in toward the mountain as I pulled on the rope. I moved around the rock and saw Charlene dangling from the edge of the path. She was crying and screaming and trying to grab on to the side of the cliff. I was frozen for a moment. What was I supposed to do?
    I looked ahead and saw that the next boy in front of her, James, had found something to hold on to while pulling on Charlene’s rope. Suddenly I knew what to do.
    â€œHold on tight!” I yelled to James. “I’m going to try to pull her up.” He nodded andtightened his grip. I knelt down on the gravel path and began to