The wind blows anything not tied down across the prairie. Colleen’s hair whipped around her head as she marched across the gusts toward home. If only Grandma had let her skip school today, she’d have been able to help with the chickens and livestock. Worry hastened her steps. Did Grandma go up and latch the loft door herself? Did she have trouble with the dairy cow?

Colleen spied the barn through the waving wheat nearly laid flat in the wind. If the crop was destroyed, what would they live on? They already had quite a credit built up with Mr. Harrold, the grocer. If only Grandma hadn’t insisted on ‘the best food for a growing girl’.

The barn was locked up tight, and the chicken coop,too. Colleen prayed Grandma was safely in the house. The wind pulled the door from her grasp, slamming it into the house. She wrestled it back and locked it tight. “Grandma?”

No answer. She looked in every room , winding her way to the bedroom.

The blankets were up tight to her chin. She wheezed. “Grandma!”