Chapter One

     A gentle breeze danced through the tall, summer wheat and created golden waves that stretched as far as the eye could see.  Marie and her older sister Bessie giggled as they played on the swing that hung from the huge, old oak tree that stood behind the barn on the farm where Marie lived.

     The youngest of six children, Marie was looking forward to celebrating her sixth birthday in November.  Six was a magical number.  It meant she'd be old enough to join her brothers and sisters on many new and exciting adventures.

     Bessie looked at the position of the morning sun in the sky.  "Time to feed the chickens!" she said as she stood and brushed the dirt from her coveralls.  Bessie turned to Marie.  "I'll race you!"  The two sisters scurried over to the chicken coop, filled two pails with dried corn kernels and began to scatter it around the yard.  Then a loud commotion coming from the house distracted them.

     Marie peeked around the corner and saw her older brothers and sisters excitedly gathered on the front porch.  "What's going on?" she yelled to Harry, the eldest.

     "We're going across the creek to pick raspberries for Mama's pies,"  Harry hollered back.  Her older brothers and sisters quickly gathered baskets.

     "Can we come?"  Marie pleaded while Bessie looked on.

     Harry walked over to Marie and patted her on the head.  "Sorry squirt, it's a dangerous journey and you're just too young."

     "C'mon Harry!"  the sisters and brothers yelled as they headed down the driveway.

     "Gotta go!"  Harry spun around and hurried to catch up with the others.

     Marie's happy little face turned sad.  "...not invited again."  She sighed and kicked the dirt.  The two little girls hung on the chicken wire fence and watched everyone walk down the dirt driveway until they were out of sight.

     Marie kicked the dirt once more.  "It's just not fair," she told Bessie.  "We never get to go on the really fun trips...and I'm not too young!  I'm almost six!"

     "Well I'm seven and a half and I don't get to go either," Bessie complained.

     "Why shouldn't we be able to pick some dumb old berries?"  Marie got a look of determination on her face.  "How hard could it be?"

     "It couldn't be too hard if they let the boys go," Bessie concluded.

     Marie thought to herself and then her sad face grew a mischievous smile.  "Let's do it!"

     "Do what?"  Bessie asked.

     "Let's prove to them all we're not too young...let's go pick berries!"  Marie said with a sparkle in her eyes.

     "But we're not allowed to go across the creek," Bessie reminded.  "Mama said it's dangerous.  Even Thelma and Amelia make sure they have the boys with them...they'd never go that far alone."

     Marie paused and thought.  "But after we catch up with the rest of them, we won't be alone...right."

     Bessie hesitantly answered.  "...right."

     Marie grabbed the pails of chicken feed and dumped the corn on the ground.  "Here."  She handed one pail to Bessie and kept one for herself.  "We can use these for the berries.  Now let's go and catch up with everybody."

Chapter Two

     Marie and Bessie walked down the long winding driveway.  They laughed and giggled as they chased brilliant yellow and black butterflies that fluttered over the tops of the blossoming cornfields while they picked bouquets of daisies for Mama.  This was their first real adventure.

     Then Marie paused and pointed to the road up ahead.  "Look Bessie, that looks like the path over there.  See.  Right where the driveway ends."

     Bessie nodded.

     "We've never been this far away from home," Marie nervously added.

     "Are you scared?"  Bessie asked.

     Marie grinned.  "Nah.  But if you are, we can go back." 

     Bessie shook her head from side to side.  "Let's do it together!"  she suggested and held out her hand.

     Marie grasped Bessie's hand and the two sisters stepped onto the woodsy path together.

     The thick forest cast a gloomy shadow allowing only patches of sunlight to slice through the thriving shade.  No grass grew on the trail.  Instead, it was covered by fallen pine needles, rocks and moss.  The breeze that was so wonderful in the sunlight, created eerie sounds that imitated the haunting of a ghost.

     "I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a great idea," Bessie said as she struggled to unwrap a thorny branch from around her leg.

  "I'm beginning to think you're right!"  Marie agreed while shaking a giant black spider from her hair.

     "Should we go back?"  Bessie wondered.

     Marie just shook her head.

     The two sisters were seeing things they had never seen before.  However, not all dangers are apparent.

     Branches snapped in the thicket just beyond them.  They both stopped and looked at each other.  Was that the wind or something breathing...waiting...watching them?  Marie remembered the stories Harry told her about seeing packs of coyote and even a bear or two on his journeys.

     The two little girls walked nervously with their eyes searching the woods.  "Look Bessie, there's a clearing up ahead."

     The sisters ran as fast as they could.  "Over there," Bessie pointed.  "The train tracks.  They must lead to the bridge that crosses the creek.  Let's go!"

     When Bessie and Marie reached the tracks, they stopped to catch their breath.  As they stared into the woods they had just left behind, they began to laugh.  It probably was just the wind and their imaginations.  They felt so silly.

     With renewed confidence, they followed the train tracks.  They were certain they'd  soon run into their brothers and sisters.

     It had taken them longer to get to the tracks than they thought it would.  "If we don't soon get to the creek, we're going to have to go home or we'll be out here in the dark.  I don't know about you, but I really wouldn't like that," Bessie said.

     Marie's eyes widened and she shook her head.  "But we can't go home without berries...not after all of this."  Marie stopped.  "Do you hear that?"

     Bessie listened.  "Water!" she answered with excitement.

     As they came to the top of the next knoll, they saw the Cherry Hill Bridge.  The old wooden train trestle stretched from rock pillar to rock pillar across Rocks Creek and lead to the best berry patches in the county.  But Marie and Bessie were getting worried.  They hadn't seen any of their brothers or sisters during their journey.  Surely, they would find everybody at the berry patches.

Chapter Three

     "I didn't expect it to be this scary."  Marie stared down at the rocky creek through the gaps between the wooden timbers of the train trestle.

     Bessie stretched to place one foot on the first timber and then the other.  She turned to face Marie and reached out her hand.  "You've got to be really careful.  If you miss the timber, you could go right through the bridge."

     Timber by timber, they moved cautiously across the bridge.  They could see the other side coming closer and closer.  They could even smell the sweet aroma of wild raspberries in the air.  Finally, Marie and Bessie reached the other side of the creek.

     "Look, Marie!"  Bessie started running.

     Marie followed her.  "Berries, berries, berries!"

     The two sisters quickly began to pick and eat the delicious, plump, red raspberries.  After filling their hungry stomachs, they filled the pails they carried all the way from home.  As they sat on the grass admiring their full pails, they wondered where Harry and the others were.

     "Where do you think they are?" Marie quietly asked.

     "Maybe the old Greer farm," Bessie guessed.

     "How come?" Marie quizzed.

     "I overheard Mama telling Harry a story about when she use to go berry picking with Daddy.  She said the sweetest berries she ever tasted grew just down the tracks from here where the old Greer house once stood.  She said they were as black as the night, grew as big as robin's eggs and were sweeter than sugar from the bowl."  Bessie grew excited as she told the story.

     Marie's eyes widened and she licked her lips as she imagined tasting the berries.  "Really?"

     "Yeah.  But I don't know where the Greer farm is and besides, there's no way we could get there and back home before dark."

     Marie's face saddened.

     "Mama will be tickled with the delicious berries we picked today."  Bessie grabbed another handful and stuffed them in her mouth.

     "I guess."  Marie seemed disappointed.

     "But you're missing the point, sister..." Bessie continued.

     "WE...ARE...ADVENTURERS!"  Marie finished her sentence.

     "That's right!"  Bessie agreed.

     "And we have picked berries just like the older kids!"  Marie puffed out her chest with pride.

     "Now we just have to get home before sunset," Bessie said worriedly.

Chapter Four

     On the return trip, Marie and Bessie found it harder to cross the trestle while carrying full pails of berries.  They had to move even slower than the first time they walked the treacherous timbers.

     Just before reaching the halfway point, they felt a vibration in their feet.  "What's that?" Marie asked her older sister.

     "I don't know, but it's making it really hard to balance."  Bessie lost a few berries from her pail as she struggled to keep her footing on the timber and help Marie.

     "It's getting closer, Bessie."  Marie noticed something moving in the distance behind them, so she squinted her eyes to try to make out the shape.  "Bessie!" she screamed while pointing down the tracks.

     Bessie jerked around.  "Oh no, a train!"  We have to get off these tracks...NOW!"

     But that was easier said than done.  The train charged toward them.  "Drop your pail!"  Bessie shouted to Marie.

     "Mama's berries?"  Marie clung to her pail.

     Bessie threw hers down and then ordered Marie to do the same.  "Drop it now...and start moving!"

     All of those beautiful, red berries scattered across the timbers and plummeted one by one into the creek below.  The pails clanked against the rocks several times, rolled into the water and sank.

     The train was quickly approaching.  Bessie pleaded with Marie.  "You've got to move faster!"

     "I can't move faster!"  Marie looked up to respond.  "I'll fall."  Just then, her foot missed the next timber.  Bessie screamed as her sister fell between the timbers and dangled like a rag doll; her tiny hands clutched the timber with every ounce of strength she had.

     Tears rolled down Bessie's flushed cheeks as she tried to lift her sister to safety, but she just wasn't strong enough.  All the while, the screeching train whistle grew closer and closer behind them.

     "I can't get you out!"  Bessie cried.

     "You've got to get off the tracks!"  Marie shouted as she clung to the timber.

     "I can't leave you!"  Bessie insisted.

     "I'll be okay!  Get out of here!"

     Against her better judgment, Bessie ran for the other side of the bridge.  Tears streamed down her face.  Their Mama had always told them to stick together no matter what, but what else could she do?

     Marie was beginning to lose her grip on the timber.  Her sweaty little hands were slipping; she struggled to hold on. 

     The warning screech of the train's whistle was nearly on top of them now.

     One of Marie's hands slid off the timber.  Bessie screamed, but the huge black engine continued to rumble toward them.

     Suddenly, a pair of strong hands reached between the timbers and plucked Marie from the tracks.  It was her brother, Harry.  "Hold on tight, squirt," he warned.  "This is gonna be close."

     The train growled and puffed behind them as Harry's strong legs carried them both from timber to timber.  The end of the bridge was getting closer, but so was the train.  It's black-iron face was nipping at Harry's heels.  He knew he couldn't outrun it.  So with a giant leap, he dove for the grassy embankment on the other side of the tracks.  The powerful locomotive screamed by as they landed with a thud.

     Bessie raced over to them and threw her arms around Marie.  "I thought you were a goner!"

     Soon, all of their brothers and sisters surrounded them.  After congratulating the "hero" and making sure Bessie and Marie were not hurt, the questions began.

     Tucked safely in their beds that night, Bessie and Marie agreed they'd have to wait to be "Adventurers".  Maybe Mama did know best...maybe they were too young for dangerous journeys.

The End