By Jeremiah Stokes

Thunder Cave

By Jeremiah Stokes

Once upon a time, in a far off country, there were two little boys who lived alone in a humble cabin in the outskirts of a small village. Their names were Jack and Zeb Wilson.

Not very far from their home was a vast forest that extended many miles into the mountains. The boys were alone because, one day their mother and father went into the woods to gather blackberries and did not return. What happened to them? Nobody knew. Their absence was a mystery.

Some people thought they had met with an accident and were dead, while others believed they had been stolen by Indians and taken far into the mountains.

Neighbors formed a searching party and the men went in every direction seeking the lost parents. All through the forest, into the canyons, up the gorges, onto the ridges, and down the ravines they went. For days they hunted all through the forest but nothing could they find except a basket, partly filled with berries, lying badly crushed, beneath a freshly fallen tree.

Jack and Zeb had told the people that their mom and dad had gone for blackberries and, when the searchers discovered the basket, they immediately thought it belonged to the Wilsons. And so, they rushed back to the village to ask Jack and Zeb about it.

The moment the boys’ eyes fell upon the basket, they exclaimed, “Dat’s Mammy’s basket!”

The neighbors went back into the forest and searched again, but not a trace of the lost parents could be found.

“Boys,” the neighbors said when they returned, “it is no use to look further. We’ve gone through the forest for miles around and your parents are not there. You had better come and live with us for fear they shall never return to you again.”

“Dat’s pow’ful kind of you,” Jack answered, “but Zebbie and me’ll be all right. We’s not afraid, is we Zebbie?”

“Not when we am in bed wid our heads all covered up,” replied Zeb.

Jack and Zeb refusedto live with their neighbors and so they stayed in their own home alone, hoping their parents would return.

Days turned to weeks and months, and the days grew longer and more lonely for the boys. One day, they crammed their pockets full of pancakes and set out to find their mom and dad.

Narrator

Cabin Roof, chairs, table (6)

Jack

Zeb

Forest (5)

Mom

Dad

Indians (5)

Neighbors (5)