by Carol Moore

It was a day like the day before and the day after. The wind
wrapped itself around the sod cabin in gusting moans as the
pioneer family within carried out their tasks pretending not to hear.
They heard the wind, however. It had been their constant
companion on the open plains since their journey from
Philadelphia two years before in the spring of 18!. "ollowing the
covered wagon train of ten, the wind had lifted the drab landscape
into billows of dust falling on everyone and everything until there
seemed but one color and one sound.
#ow $achel sat on the bed hand%stitching a &uilt while her mother hunched
over a sewing machine across the room rocking her feet backwards and
forwards on a foot treadle that turned the shaft that moved the needle. The
thumping counter pointed the wind outside. 'aughter and giggling erupted
from $achel(s younger brother and sister playing jacks on the floor and it
brought a smile to their sister(s face, but when she glanced back at their
mother she stopped smiling.
$achel felt that her parents worked too hard. They rarely had fun or rela)ation
like they had enjoyed in Philadelphia. #ow her father was always in the fields.
*er mother prepared meals on a
wood%stoked stove, did the
laundry on a washboard, baked
flatbread and sewed clothes to
trade for goods in town. $achel
remembered her mother singing
and telling stories at one time
but that was before she had
begun complaining about the
wind and the dirt and the mud.
+ventually she had stopped
complaining, but she had
stopped singing, too.
The door swung open and it was $achel(s father. +ntering in a puff of dust, he
coughed and wiped his forehead. ,-ighty hot day out there.,
,.ell, I(ve got ale for you and flatbread too,, replied his wife. /he rose from
the sewing machine and began setting the table as her husband eased himself
into a chair.
,I know. I could smell it from outside. /melled so good I came in early. .hat
else have you all been up to while I was clearing rows with -olly and 0ell1,
,$achel(s done with her &uilt.,
,2h1, $achel(s father turned to look as his older daughter proudly showed off
her masterpiece. It was a cheerful blooming of color with stitches outlining
the s&uares.
,That(s a mighty fine piece of work., *e nodded. ,*ow (bout us going into
town this /aturday. 3ou can show off your &uilt, your mother can take her
flatbread, and I(ve got a bushel of onions ready.,
The young children whooped e)citedly and -ichael, the boy, began dancing
around the room, lifting his knees and clapping. There was reason for
jubilation. The 45%mile trip to town in the buckboard was a once%a%month
affair to which everyone in the family looked forward.
The town of .ausa, #ebraska was not unlike other little towns that had
sprung up to welcome the pioneers. It was a mi) of old and new buildings
with wood plank sidewalks and a wide main street of dirt to accommodate
trains of o)en. In one of the newer buildings was the general store. 6uarding
the door was a wooden Indian and ne)t to it hung a bird cage. The family
stopped for a moment to look at the yellow bird inside.
.hen they stepped into the store it was a universe all its own. There was the
scent of wood and soap and spice. The walls were lined with racks of crates
and mason jars, and along the aisles were bushel barrels of potatoes and
apples. In the back neatly propped against the wall were bolts of fabric. .hile
her brother and sister e)plored the store and her parents spoke with the grocer
about their bread and onions, $achel wandered back outside to look at the
bird.
/o bright a yellow it was a
miniature piece of the sun in
that dusty place. It hopped from
perch to perch rarely standing
still and as it hopped it kept its
eyes on $achel. /uddenly a
shadow passed over the girl and
startled, she looked up to see a
/iou) Indian brave. *er heart beat faster. Indians sometimes came to town to
barter although it was discouraged by the shopkeepers. /uch a history of
warfare e)isted between Indians and white settlers that no one felt safe. 0ut
this Indian was as fascinated by the bird as $achel. *e stared intently and then
said something she couldn(t understand. /eeing her pu77led face he repeated
in +nglish, ,It listens to the wind.,
0efore $achel could think about what he had said, the Indian turned and
walked away. *er parents appeared a moment later, having seen him through
the window.
,8re you all right1, asked her father.
$achel nodded. ,*e was just looking at the canary.,
8t that moment the little bird lifted its head, swelled its chest, and sang out a
joyous trill. $achel saw her mother(s face light up with delight.
$achel traded her &uilt for the canary and never regretted it because the little
bird entertained them endlessly. /ir 6allant, they called him because he did
battle with the wind. The louder the wind the more loudly he sang,
competition so fierce that sometimes everyone burst out laughing. /ir 6allant
lifted their spirits turning dust days back into sunshine days.
$achel thought about what the Indian had said. /he(d heard the wind but
unlike the canary she(d never listened to it. #ow when she tried she could hear
music in the moaning. 2f course the music was faint and hidden in the
background and she needed her imagination, but it was there if she truly
listened. /he began humming the sounds she heard. ,That(s a pretty tune, her
mother commented one day, ,what song is that1, $achel didn(t reply, unsure
how to e)plain, and her mother didn(t press the &uestion. /oon she, too, began
humming.
2ccasionally bachelor cowpokes stopped by the cabin to buy flatbread or to
have their clothes mended. They were always welcomed, not for the money in
their pocket but for their company. .ith no neighbors for twenty miles, it was
lonely on the plains. The family and guests traded news, shared a meal, and
were serenaded by /ir 6allant who was often the center of conversation.
2ne afternoon the younger daughter -ary noticed the canary sitting
motionless on his perch. ,Is /ir 6allant sick1, she asked in alarm.
,#o. It(s just a dark day outside,, her mother reassured her. ,It(ll be raining
soon and he probably doesn(t feel like singing.,
The younger children accepted this e)planation but not $achel. /he knew that
while /ir 6allant stopped singing from time to time, he had always hopped
about his cage. /he went to the door and looked outside. It was deathly &uiet,
no wind or sounds of birds or prairie dogs. /he saw the outline of her father
with the two o)en in the north field and at the same time she saw black
thunderclouds stacked high into the sky. There was a heaviness to the air and a
prickly feeling.
The Indian(s words echoed in her mind. ,It listens to the wind.,
$achel thought about /ir 6allant(s odd behavior and the angry thunderclouds
and how strange it felt. /training to hear, she caught a faint rumbling and it
was the sound of thunder.
/uddenly $achel knew. /he absolutely knew they were in danger. ,-om,, she
shouted. ,It(s a tornado9,
Immediately -ary and -ichael began screaming as their mother gathered
them up and, along with /ir 6allant, rushed outside. The safest place was the
root cellar at the side of the house. Throwing open the cellar doors, the mother
yelled to $achel to warn her father.
$achel took off running across the field shouting and waving her arms, but not
until she was halfway across did she get his attention.
,.hat(s wrong1, he yelled.
It was another moment before she reached him. ,Tornado.,
*is eyes searched the hori7on. ,I don(t see anything, but I can bring in -olly
and 0ell anyway. I(ll come back to the house.,
,#o9 There(s no time. 'isten9,
$achel was close to hysterical
and because she never lied or
played tricks, he did as she
asked. "inally able to hear the
rumbling he jumped to action.
$eleasing the yoke from the
harnesses on the o)en he turned
them free and then grabbed
$achel(s arm and they began to
run. 0y the time they reached
the sod cabin, the tornado was
visible, rain drenched their bodies and a thunderous roaring pounded the air.
The tornado lasted only minutes although it felt like hours. .hen the family
emerged from their shelter they were relieved to find their sod cabin intact.
"ortunately the o)en, too, had escaped although the scarred earth proved the
north field had been in the center of the tornado(s path. The loss of crops
would make things more difficult, but they felt blessed to be alive. They also
felt divine intervention had come in the form of a little yellow bird.
The woman stood in the door of
the attic and sighed. 6ray and
dusty in the half light, the room
was filled with old furniture,
bo)es and a thousand forgotten
memories. /he had inherited its
contents from her grandmother
and now faced the chore of
deciding the fate of each piece.
8ttracted to an old sewing
machine, so old that it had a
foot treadle, she opened the top
drawer. 8midst the buttons and needles and scissors was a tiny bundle of lace
neatly tied with ribbon. :urious she picked it up and unwrapped it. To her
surprise she found she was unfolding the burial cloth of a canary, its body
long ago dried up but carefully preserved. *olding it in her right hand she
stared, perple)ed, and &uite unconsciously put her left hand over her heart.
Epilog
This story was inspired by an article I read in a maga7ine years ago.
Inheriting her grandmother(s sewing machine ;who had been a pioneer in one
of the plains states<, the author of that article found the wrapped body of a
canary in one of its drawers. Intrigued she had done research, discovering just
how much the pioneers had loved these little birds. The article included the
photograph of a prairie cabin with three cages of canaries hanging from its
eaves.