The Robinsons by Destiny Rose (classic books for 11 year olds txt) 📕

Dedicated to my brilliant mother who has taken so good care of me and made me into the creative young woman I am today. I love you, mom.

It was 1865 when I was born. I had an older brother named James and a younger one name Charles. I was the only girl in the family, so I got more attention than the boys. Papa used to always say I was his little angel. That was before he left us for dead.


Right now it's January 15th, 1887. One more week till my birthday and I'll be 13-years old. Finally old enough to walk to school by myself and NOT with James. He's been so bossy now that he turned 17 last year. He has been doin' most of the outside chores now that papa went on that "trip." Maybe he'll come back for us. But, mama doesn't have much faith. She hasn't talked about him since he left.


I asked Mama if he was ever comin' back. She got really mad. James thinks Mama is lyin' to us about Papa. He says that Papa left us and he ain't comin' back. After I told Mama what he'd said she needed to have a serious talk with him. I heard her say somethin' I regret hearin'. She said he wasn't s'posed to tell me Papa wasn't comin' back!


I spoke with Mama the next morning n' she said that she was sorry but Papa was not comin' back. Later she had to tell Charles. He's only eight and Lord knows how hard it is on him. He hasn't come out of his room for three days. Mama feels really guilty about tellin' him. At least I have my birthday comin' up.

January 17th, 1887
Today Mama didn't wake up at her usual time. James got up at 12:00pm and woke us up. He told us somethin' was wrong with Mama and that we were gonna stay with Mrs. Lamb for a couple of days. While James was walkin' us to Mrs. Lamb's house I asked him why we were goin' to her house. He didn't answer me so I didn't ask anymore questions.

It only took us ten minutes tops to get to Mrs. Lamb's house. She has two children who are both fixin' to turn 13 too. Lily and Micheal who are futernal twins. Micheal has had a crush on me ever since 5th grade. I admit he's very cute but he doesn't go to school, and Mama always says to marry a guy with an education so I wont be livin' like we are now.

Micheal was the first to greet me at the door(of course), Lily was the second and for an odd reason Mrs. Lamb didn't come to the door but I didn't ask why. Mama would've said it'd been rude. When Lily greeted us in James said he had to go but he would see us in a couple of days. I asked him why we didn't pack any clothes but Lily interupted and said they would explain inside.


Mrs. Lamb greeted us in thier living room. She told us to please take a seat. I didn't like the expression on her face. But, she told us that we might not be goin' home. Charles started cryin' and I don't know why, because there's no way mama would ever let us live with Mrs. Lamb. She said that Mama has Malaria and that she might not get better. It WAS misquito season.


She said we might need to sleep on it so she sent us to the guest room. I couldn't sleep with Charles sobbing all night so I just sang a song that Mama used to sing to us and he fell right asleep. After that I just cryed myself to sleep, it helped, not much though. It hurt so bad to hear about Mama that I don't know if I can take it.

January 20th, 1887
I don't know how long really we've been at Mrs. Lamb's, but I do know it's two days until my birthday. This morning Mrs. Lamb annouced at the breakfast table that we will be going to Lily and Micheal's new school. Lily and Micheal were excited, but I wasn't and Charles was heart broken. He was asking all these questions about if he was ever goin' to see his friends or even Mama again! I can't act like everything is okay when it's not..


Mrs. Lamb acted as if she wanted to cry, as if she knew something we didn't. I couldn't take this anymore I wanted answers and I wanted them now! I slammed my fists on the table and stood up before her. Knowing how un-ladylike I was being, I straigtened my dress, gathered all my courage and shouted, "WHERE IS MY FAMILY?!"


Mrs. Lamb looked shocked and everyone else just stared at me. I bolted out the front door and ran down the path till I came to an old meadow about two miles from town. In the distance there was a little cottage. It was brown with what looked like a little brown porch with a rocking chair and in that rocking chair, a little old lady, sleeping.


As I walked up to the porch and up the stairs they creaked and the little old lady woke up. I jumped into the bush and I heard her start laughing. She said she knows who I am and to come out of the bush. When I come out I notice her eyes are white as snow. And then, I realize, from mama telling me about patients she see's at the town doctor, that she is blind.


She tells me how she knows my mother and my brother and she knows both are sick. She also told me that she knows where they are but that she can't tell me. We talked a long time after that and she told me I should run home. When I got back to Mrs. Lamb's I didn't even get punished, which I was surprized about. Mrs. Lamb told me I didn't have to go to school until I felt like it. That, I was happy for.

January 21st, 1887
I came back to the cottage the next day, and the old lady, whose name I now know as Prudence, told me a story about swords and knights and princesses. In the middle of the story I heard horses and a look of fear formed over the old ladys face. She told me to hide behind the lumber behind her house. I obeyed. I hear voices of soldiers and her voice rufusing to speak to them any longer.


I heard talk of jail, witchcraft, and murder. Hours passed and I was still behind the lumber when I heard my name and then silence. I came out from behind the lumber and walked to the front of the house slowly. The door was kicked open and the inside of the house trashed. I slowly creaked in and called out to Prudence.


When she did not answer my calls I ran to the front door. I stopped at the porch steps and crouched down. I could hear people calling to me, for it was almost midnight. I could tell. I searched everywhere for anything to hide myself in, then I noticed a boat floating near the dock. As I approached the boat an awful feeling came over me. I looked closer and realized what I was seeing wasn't in my head. It was a hand hanging off the side of the boat.

January 21st, 1887
As I approached the boat my heart knew who was going to be in the boat.