Millie's Adventures: A Children's Book of Short Stories

By Gail Popp

Millies Adventures is a collection of fictional short stories that provide a glimpse of life through the eyes of an eager ten-year-old girl in rural West Virginia in 1944. The events, which begin in January with an unusually big snowstorm, continue through the spring and summer and end with Millies first day of school in a one-room-school house in September. Millies experiences and adventures are drawn from the authors childhood and are true to the spirit of life on the farm for that period of time.
Millie slay rides with her sisters in winter, helps to solve a mystery, is responsible for farm animals, visits her elderly neighbor and grandmother, works on the farm in summer, plays with her sisters and cousins, learns a valuable lesson concerning wild animals and attends a one-room school. This historical fiction reflects the close family ties that were present in their lives and that may be more difficult to find in rural West Virginia today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 16, 2009
• ISBN: 9781462843374

Gail Popp

Gail Popp was born near Spencer, West Virginia in 1935 and grew up with her three sisters and one brother on her parent’s farm. She is a retired elementary school teacher and principal and has lived and taught English as a Second Language in Ecuador and Japan. Gail is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She currently resides in her home in Marietta, Ohio and teaches part time at Marietta College.

Book preview

MILLIE’S ADVENTURES

A Children’s Book of Short Stories

Gail Popp

Copyright © 2009 by Gail Popp.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is the work of fiction. The incidents are the product of the author’s imagination.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

66878

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Dedication

Millie’s Adventures is dedicated to

my grandchildren and great-grandchildren,

Aaron, Sara, Dylan, Quinn, and Maya.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my family and friends

who encouraged me and took time to read and

critique the chapters during the original writing.

Introduction

Millie’s Adventures is a collection of fictional short stories that provide a glimpse of life through the eyes of an eager ten-year-old girl in rural West Virginia in 1944. The events, which begin in January with an unusually big snowstorm, continue through the spring and summer and end with Millie’s first day of school in a one-room schoolhouse in September. Millie’s experiences and adventures are drawn from the author’s childhood and are true to the spirit of life on the farm for that period of time.

Millie sleigh rides with her sisters in winter, helps to solve a mystery, is responsible for farm animals, visits her elderly neighbor and grandmother, works on the farm in summer, plays with her sisters and cousins, learns a valuable lesson concerning wild animals and attends a one-room school. This historical fiction reflects the close family ties that were present in their lives and that may be more difficult to find in rural West Virginia today.

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Chapter 1

The Big Snow

If the Farmer’s Almanac and the radio are right, we’re in for a big snow, Mom remarked at the breakfast table. The small warm kitchen was full of the delicious smells coming from the gas cookstove that stood along the wall beside the counter. Music from the small radio on the counter played softly in the background.

I’d better give the cattle an extra big helping of hay today, Dad replied. When is it supposed to get here? He was enjoying his breakfast of hot oatmeal, sausage, eggs, applesauce, biscuits and gravy—a perfect meal for a cold January morning on his farm in central Appalachian West Virginia.

Today or tomorrow, according to the news, Mom reported, as she cleared her dishes from the table and began setting the table for her children.

Dad stacked his bowl, plate, and spoons and handed them to Mom. He took a last sip of his coffee before going to the barn. I’m going to ride ole John today to feed, he said. I should be back in a couple of hours. In his forty-three years of life on the farm, Russ Riley had learned to prepare in case a big snow fell suddenly. If he rode the mule up the mile long hillside to the barn on the hill where his twenty-five head of cattle were wintering, he would save time and energy to fix the brake on the big horse-drawn sled.

Mom went to the bottom of the stairs and called, Harold! Belle! Mae! Millie! Time to get up! It was six o’clock and that would give the children forty-five minutes to eat a good breakfast and get ready for the school bus. Bonnie Riley missed her oldest daughter, Mary, who just last summer left home to live in Spindler after graduating from high school. Eighteen in August, she was lucky to have gotten a good secretarial job with the wholesale firm and share a garage apartment with Bonnie’s sister Jenny. Mary had been a big help to Bonnie, taking over much of the responsibility of the housework while Bonnie worked at her general store and post office. She missed Mary. The small cozy kitchen had a wide sink under the window that looked out on the side yard, where a large transparent apple tree grew. The kitchen cupboard had a drawer that pulled out for a workspace and a flour bin inside a door on the left, which had a hole where flour could flow down. Mom was dressed for work in a warm heavy cotton dress and sweater and a flowered bibbed apron overall.

One by one the children came to the table. Harold, the only boy, was sixteen years old—a slim young man dressed in jeans and a checked shirt. He was nearly six feet tall and had just begun to shave his fussy light brown beard. He was said to have a girlfriend in high school. Morning, Mom, he said sleepily. Did I hear Dad leave to feed the cattle?

Yes, we’re supposed to get a big snowstorm, two or three feet the radio said, Mom reported. Do you want oatmeal this morning?

No, thanks. I’ll just eat these eggs and sausages, he replied as he filled his plate from the dishes of food on the table. He hated oats.

Belle and Mae appeared at the table dressed ready for school in skirts, sweaters, bobby socks, and saddle shoes. Belle was fourteen years old, and she took note of all Harold said and did. She was a serious child and excelled in her studies at school. Mae was twelve years old, and this Friday morning, her fifth grade class in Spindler had planned a special visitor’s day. She had been looking forward to hearing the lady from the 4-H Extension Office who would talk about 4-H projects.

I hope they don’t call off school, Mae said glumly as she filled her plate.

I hope it waits until tonight if it’s going to snow so our bus doesn’t get stranded, said Belle. It was about twenty miles into Spindler, but it took nearly an hour and a half to get there. They were among the first students to get on the bus and then it went up several hollows on rock-based country roads and back out picking up students.

The bus has chains, Harold said with authority. "It wouldn’t get stranded.

Just the same, I hope the snow waits until we get home, Belle insisted. The children’s conversation switched to friends and school as they continued to eat

Millie! Where are you? Mom called from the bottom of the stairs that went