Abe Lincoln at Last!: A Merlin Mission

by saying things like ‘Oh, man!’ or ‘Oh, wow!’ or ‘Whoa!’ ”
    “Yes, that’s right,” said Jack, glaring at Annie. “Like ‘Oh, man, time is running out!’ Or ‘Oh, wow, the sun is going down!’ Or ‘Whoa, we have a mission to complete!’ ”
    Annie laughed again. “Right, that’s how we use our interjections,” she said to Sam. “What else is in your book?”
    “Spelling and grammar rules,” said Sam. “And quotes from the Bible and fables.”
    “Cool,” said Annie.
    Sam closed his speller. “I only wish I had more books,” he said. “Anyone who’ll give me a book is my best friend. I’ll walk miles to borrow it.”
    “Jack would, too,” said Annie. “And Jack and I both love to write, too. Don’t we?” She looked at Jack.
    “Yes, we do,” said Jack, sighing.
    “Oh, I do, too!” said Sam. “Neither my pa nor my ma ever learned to write. But I love it. I write words in the dust or the sand, even in the snow. I write them in the dirt floor with a stick.” Sam laughed. Jack couldn’t help smiling. “Why, I write on wooden shovels with charcoal!” Sam leaned forward and said in a hushed voice, “But the
best
thing in the world to write with is my quill pen and my blackberry ink!” Sam’s face glowed in the firelight.
    “Oh, wow, you do love to write,” said Jack. “So do I.” Jack forgot about Abraham Lincoln for the moment. “I love to make up my own stories.”
    Sam smiled. “Me too,” he said. “And now Iwant to tell you-all a good one. I meant to tell you this before, but I got kicked in the head before I could. I’m kind of famous for playing pranks on folks. But the two of you don’t deserve—”
    Suddenly noises came from outside: rumbling and neighing.
    “What’s that?” said Annie.
    Sam froze. Then he turned to Jack and Annie, his eyes wide. “A wagon!” he said. He jumped up and rushed to the entrance of the cabin and pushed aside the bearskin.
    “Pa!” Sam shouted, and he disappeared outside.
    “His dad’s back?” said Annie.
    She and Jack hurried to the doorway and peeked out. Four horses were pulling a wagon through the cold dusk. The rickety wagon was filled with kids and furniture.
    They watched as Sam ran toward the wagon and the driver pulled the horses to a halt. Sam’s pa jumped down from his bench and threw hisarms around Sam. They hugged for a long time.
    Then a woman stepped down from the driver’s bench. Three children scrambled down from the back. They stood smiling and giggling beside her.
    “Son, I want you to meet my wife and your new ma from Kentucky,” Sam’s pa said. “And these are her children and your new sisters and brother, Elizabeth, Matilda, and John.”
    Each kid said “howdy” in turn.
    “Howdy, son,” Sam’s new ma said. “I’ve so looked forward to meeting you. Thomas is awful proud of you and your sister. He says you’re a good reader and a good writer.”
    “We hear you’re a good woodchopper, too!” said the boy named John.
    “And you like to tell stories!” said the girl named Elizabeth.
    “And play pranks!” said the girl named Matilda.
    “We brought you some books!” John piped up.
    “And a feather mattress!” said Elizabeth.

    “And a washstand and some soap!” said Matilda. “Come look!”
    The children grabbed Sam. He laughed as they pulled him toward the wagon and started showing him all the things they’d hauled from Kentucky.
    Jack smiled. Sam wouldn’t be sad or lonely anymore, he thought. It made him feel happy to see such a good thing happen to Sam.
    “Let’s slip outside and hide in the shed,” Jack said to Annie. “So we don’t have to explain where we came from.”
    Jack and Annie pushed past the bearskin into the shadows of twilight. They crept into the cowshed and peeked out.
    “Pa?” someone shouted. “Paaaa!!!”
    Across the clearing, a girl came running. She wore a black cape with a hood.
    “Sarah! My girl!” Sam and Sarah’s father rushed forward and threw his arms around his daughter.
    Sarah started sobbing.
    Her father hugged her. “Don’t cry, girl,” he said. “I brought you a whole new family. We’ll all take good care of each other now. Come on, let’s go in, and you can meet everyone. You’ll love them all, Sarah, I promise. I give you my word.”
    As everyone headed into the cabin, Matilda exclaimed, “My goodness, you built this by hand?”
    “What a wonderful job you did,” said Sam’s new ma.
    “It’s going to get