Chapter 1
It was a silent night in Texas,the wind blew through the long grass in the field. Matilda could not sleep,she kept thinking about her father. He was serving at the Alamo fort in San Antonio as a soldier. Everyday she would write a letter to him,and he would do the same. Another reason she could not sleep was because her brother,John,was snoring. When the sun finally rose up against the Texan hills,everybody woke up. Matilda got dressed,and walked down the stairs to say hello to her family. Everyone noticed the black rings around her green eyes.
"Dear Matilda,did you not get any sleep last night?" her mother asked.
"John was snoring,who would not sleep." Matilda said.
Charlotte,her older sister,looked at her scruffy brown hair and frowned. Matilda knew she was up to something.
"Mattie,come here so I can brush and braid your hair." Charlotte said
"I don't need my hair braided,Charlotte." Matilda snapped
"Well ain't you a grump,Miss Matilda." Charlotte said with a small smirk on her face.
As soon as Charlotte said those terrible words,Matilda ran out of the cabin and into the stables. The stable was where the family horse,Strider,stayed.
Mattie saddled the horse,and hopped on. No one said that girls could not ride horses without dresses on. She had the horse trot out of the stable,but something stopped them from doing just that. It was Mother,holding her hips with a red face.
"Matilda Georgia Smith,what do you think you are doing?" Mother yelled
Matilda hated when her mother used her entire name,that always meant trouble.
"I was simply taking Strider out for a mornin' ride." Matilda anwsered
"I can't let you do that young girl,not with these Indians and Mexicans runnin' around." Mother told me
Matilda got of the horse,and led him back to his stall and went back in the house.
"Do ya think that Papa is ok?" Matilda asked at the dinner table that night.
"I am sure angels are watching over him right now,Mattie." Mother told her with a grin.
Matilda was staring at the bowl of corn on the table thinking about Papa more.
"I wish I could be fighting side by side with Sam Houston and win this war." John proclaimed
"They can win this war without you,son." Mother replied
"I would prefer if we don't talk about this war and EAT!" Charlotte boomed
Matilda knew that Charlotte missed her fiance',William. Charlotte had to postpone the wedding because he got called to serve at the Alamo mission too. Dinner was over, and that meant time for bed. Matilda carried her young sister,Susie up to their bedroom which was the attic. Matilda slipped on her nightgown and sliped Susie's nightgown on Susie. They crawled in their bed,and fell sound asleep.
When morning came,the girls woke up,got dressed and went outside. They knew they had to do chores before lunch.
Matilda was always a hard worker,she worked harder then most children do in their childhood. Their mother came outside to greet them and told them their chores for the morning.
"Mattie,I need you to feed the chickens,and have Susie help." Mother instructed
Matilda and Susie ran to the chicken coop and picked up the large bag of dried corn that thet made last fall.
"Susie,would you get my small pocket knife beside our bed?" Matilda asked
Susie nodded,and skipped into the house. Susie came back with a small knife with a Matilda's name engraved on it. Susie handed Matilda her knife.
"Thank you." Matilda said
Mattie cut a small hole on the top of the bag. She held the bag together.
"Ok Susie,help me drag this bag around,and it will leave a trail of corn for the chickens." Matilda told
Susie nodded again,and started to help Mattie drag the bag around. After that job was done,Susie grabbed a basket and started collecting eggs while Mattie fed the pigs and the other farm animals they owned. Mother was cleaning clothes in the small stream that ran through the forest.
John grabbed a axe,and started cutting firewood and Charlotte was milking their cow named Daisy. After the chores for the day were done,they had their lunch.