"I've got to get back before the girls get up!" I heard a voice say off to the distance and opened my eyes slightly to see a woman run out the door. I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep.
I heard a scream and I jolted awake to see the most beautiful face I had ever seen. Then the broom hit me. I jumped up and the girl beat me into the corner where I cowered, protecting my head.
"Jo! Get down here! Hurry!" she yelled, still keeping her eyes on me.
"Yes, Meg? What is it?" another girl called and gasped when she walked into the room. "Who is that?"
"The name's Ty," I said.
"Shush!" the one called Meg, said. "I came down here looking for Marmee and I found this boy asleep on the sofa."
"What shall we do?" asked the other, named Jo.
"Go, run and fetch Laurie," Meg replied. Then to me she said, "I don't know where you came from, or what you are doing in our house, but I do wish to know where Marmee went off to."
"I do not know who Marmee is," I answered meekly. "Would she happen to be Mrs. March?"
"Yes, how would you know that?"
"Well, I have this photograph-" I began but was not able to finish for Jo burst into the room with a boy following her.
The boy came to look at me and said hatefully, "Probably some low life homeless that came in here to get warm last night. Go on, kid, get out of here, go find some other place to sleep!"
I stood, and headed toward the door. I was not a low life or homeless! I was just a scared boy with a drunken mother and father and a missing brother!
"Wait, Laurie," Jo said, "he may have some valuable of ours! Don't let him get away!"
I was off from there, running again, in between the houses and into the woods. I climbed into a tree and hid until I heard him coming.
"Boy! Where are you?" he called.
"I'm not a low life!" I cried. He looked up and saw me. I waited until he was halfway up into the tree and then I jumped. He was not quite as daring as I was, and he had to climb down from the tree. I dashed farther off into the woods.
I heard a snap and I fell straight down on my face with a horrible pain shooting up my left leg. I looked down to see that it was caught in some sort of animal trap.
"Help!" I cried desperately, "Please help me!"
Laurie finally caught up with me and seeing the trap caught on my leg, immediately fell to freeing my foot.
By the time he got my foot clear of the trap, I was in tears, wishing for my mother and father.
"It's all right, boy, I'm sorry I called you a low life. Let me help you back to the house and then you can explain."
"My name is Ty Gordon Steppe," I began, back at the house, with Jo wrapping my foot, "I came here because my mother and father are both drunk. My brother left a while ago to marry a girl, and I cannot stand it when my parents are both drunks so I ran off. The first thing I thought of was to come here because I have this picture." I showed them my picture.
"Oh, my boy! Is that Martha and Thomas? I haven't seen them since that day! How are they?" she exclaimed.
"Well, when I left them yesterday, they were both drunk and raving," I replied gravely.
"Oh, dear, they were such nice people. I wonder what happened?" she sighed.
"Ma'am, I was wondering, could I stay with you until I find my brother?"
"Of course, deary, anything for Martha's boy."
