Andi's Trouble

 By Annabella F. , age 12

Andi woke up with a startling noise. She bolted up quickly in alarm like a rabbit who could tell that he was going to be dinner. She was wondering what was making that noise when she suddenly remembered it was Henry the Eighth again. She smashed her pillows between her face to block off some noise. It didn’t work very well, but it did help a little.

After about 5 minutes, he stopped. Andi looked up to her window. Guessing by the sunlight streaming through the curtains, she guessed it was probably 7:3o a.m. Mother wanted everyone at the table for breakfast at precisely  9:00 with no exceptions. She climbed out of her bed and went to her dresser. She brushed her hair thoroughly before braiding them into two braids and tying them with fresh ribbons. She got out  a pair of overalls, a plaid button shirt and her best cowboy boots that she won at the fair.

While she was changing, she thought about what she should do today. She could play with her friend, Riley and ride out to the field with her horse, Taffy. Or she could practice on her lassoing. She was very determined to get that lasso unto one of their calves. Frank was her favorite calf because he didn’t mine being lassoed. 

She also could go to the creek and play like she and Riley did when they got lost and the Indians helped find their way back. Then she remembered that she could go to the Indian village and play with her friend Choo-nook. Andi hadn’t remembered the last time they had played together before the Scarlet fever hit their town. It had been especially hard because Choo-nook’s younger brother had passed away.  Her family had only  seen them 2 times since then. It had been almost 6 months since the tragedy.

            By 8:15 she was ready for breakfast. Because she still had time, she did her chores early.  She fed the horses their hay and got the eggs from the chickens. She barely got past Henry the Eighth. He didn’t like her and she didn’t like him one bit. 

By 9:00, she was ready for breakfast. Andi didn’t talk because only children could talk if someone was talking to them. Her mom always said, “Children must not be seen or heard.” She was very touchy about that rule.

            When breakfast was over, she ran out the door to saddle Taffy up. She loved riding Taffy over in the meadows. As she was saddling up, her mom came over. “Honey, I need to go to town for a couple of errands. If it wouldn’t bother you too much, I was wondering if you’d like to come.”

Andi thought it’d be fun to ride Taffy, but then she remembered that this was one of the only times she and her Mother had together. She looked up and said, “ Yes, Mother.” Her Mother said if she wanted to come, she would have to change. Andi quickly obeyed and in 10 minutes, she met her Mother by the door.

            “Okay, we’ll stop first at the post office and then at the market,” her Mother said while crossing the busy town.

“Okay, Mother,” she said quietly while holding her Mother’s hand while crossing the street. In 10 minutes they were standing in line for the mail. Absent-mindedly, Andi kicked a rock until it hit her Mother’s ankle. Her Mother asked her to stop and after that Andi started looking at the posters on the wall.

She scanned them for anything interesting. Most of them were about politics, market raises, cutbacks, and other things. None of them amused Andi until she came upon a ‘Wanted’ poster. She couldn’t see very clearly, so she waited until she was far enough to see what the words said. It had her face on it. It also had the big words,

 

‘WANTED! DEAD OR ALIVE! ANDREA CARTER! REWARD $1,000.

           

Andi blinked a couple times to make sure she saw it right. Then she pinched herself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. It had her name on it. She knew that these posters had wanted criminals or runaways. But Andi couldn’t believe that her name was on it. She was only 9 1 ⁄ 2 years old. She couldn’t kill anyone or steal. Why was her name on there?

Then she suddenly thought that maybe it was a prank and not real after all. Maybe someone did this to catch attention. Maybe she really wasn’t in trouble. But the thought of that was overpowered by the thought that it could be real. That she could really be ‘wanted.’ People really actually could be looking for her right now.

            Just then Mother’s call interrupted her anxious thoughts. “Come, Andi. It’s time to go to the market now.”

She didn’t see the sign, Andi thought nervously. All through the walk to the market, Andi’s thoughts didn’t go away. She was really scared that she had seen that. Maybe if they didn’t go to the mail or maybe it was the best idea if she hadn’t gone with Mother after all. She couldn’t  help but admit she might be a criminal or a prisoner.

By the time they had reached the market, Andi was sweating with fear. She couldn’t help that people were looking for her. As they were walking back, her Mother realized that she was panting and white with fear.

“Are you sick, honey,” her Mother said as she felt her forehead.

“I-i-i  f-f-f-f-eal f-fine, " she stammered.

All afternoon, she thought about what could happen. She forced down as much as she could at lunch even though she wasn’t hungry. She tried to read, but she couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen. At night she picked at her food and pretended to eat. By bedtime, she was glad that she was going to bed. After her mom kissed goodnight and left, she laid there thinking what would happen now. After what felt like hours, she finally fell asleep.

The next morning, she awoke and ate breakfast. She decided that she would ride Taffy with Riley  After hitching Taffy , they  set out to the meadows. But midway there, they were stopped by shepherds. They looked mad. Really mad.         

“Hey, isn’t that the girl on the ‘Wanted Sign’, ain’t it?” Let’s chase her.”

Andi was scared. She hit the reins as they rode back as fast as the wind. By then, she was crying. She didn’t want to be chased or arrested. She wanted to go home.

By the time they reached the house, she was crying really hard. Immediately, she flew Taffy, while scraping her knees in the process. She ran into the house slamming it.

“Whatever is the matter, sweetheart?”

Before Andi could reply, the 4 angry men stormed into the house.

“What are you men doing here, " Mother said, alarmed.

“It appears that your little girl here is wanted by the sheriff, ma’am, the tall man said.

“By what, sir? What did my little girl do to cause this,” she said while bandaging Andi’s knees.

“Your little girl here stole a baby calf ‘bout a month ago,” he said.

Her Mother stared at the man in disbelief. Finally she was able to speak, “Excuse me, sir. But my little girl would never do that. She just couldn’t have.”

“But her sign has been up for 3 weeks, ma’am. The only thing we can do is take you to the sheriff ,” said the tall man.

Andi's face turned pale.

            At the sheriff, they told what happened. The men explained how they had seen her picture on the wall and Andi’s face was the exact one from the poster. They had asked why it was put up. One of the people suspected that she had stolen a calf several weeks before.

Andi sat up and she couldn’t believe what she had heard.

“So, young ma’am, what would you like to tell us, “ the sheriff said.

Andi could only stare in disbelief. She was being charged for something she never did. “I-i-i didn’t steal anything, sir,” she stuttered.

“Then why is this here,” he said as he held the poster.

Andi bit her lip to try not to cry, but her tears refused to hold. “I-i-i  t-t-thought they were ours. I would never steal, sir,” she cried out.

The officer just looked at her for a minute. Then he quietly stood up and opened the door. “You're free to go young lass. I see no charge against you,” he said kindly.

She stood up so happy. She ran out the door. Then she stopped halfway. She ran back and hugged the sheriff. “Thank you, Thank you,” she said as she hugged him tighter than she ever had.