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Authors: Marian Hale

Tags: #Fiction:Historical

Dark Water Rising

DARK
WATER
RISING

MARIAN HALE

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
NEW YORK

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Dedication

 

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

 

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

 

 

 

 

 

An Imprint of Macmillan

DARK WATER RISING. Copyright © 2006 by Itzy. All rights reserved. Distributed in Canada by H.B. Fenn and Company Ltd. Printed in September 2010 in the United States of America by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, Harrisonburg, Virginia. For information, address Square Fish, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Square Fish and the Square Fish logo are trademarks of Macmillan and are used by Henry Holt and Company under license from Macmillan.

Photo credits: p. 222, courtesy of TXGenWEB’s Texas Postcards (
www.rootsweb.com/~txpstcrd
); pp. 224, 225, 227, courtesy of NOAA; pp. 226, 228, 230, 232, courtesy of the Library of Congress; p. 229, photo by W. A. Green, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hale, Marian.

Dark water rising / Marian Hale.

p.     cm.

Summary: While salvaging and rebuilding in the aftermath of the Galveston flood of 1900, sixteen-year-old Seth proves himself in a way that his previous efforts never could, but he still must face his father man to man.

ISBN: 978-0-312-62908-3

1. Hurricanes—Texas—Galveston—Juvenile fiction. [1. Hurricanes—Texas—Galveston—Fiction. 2. Fathers and sons—Fiction. 3. Family life—Texas—Fiction.4. Race relations—Fiction. 5. Carpentry—Fiction. 6. Galveston (Tex.)—History—20th century—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.H1373Dar 2006   [Fic]—dc22     2005036678

Originally published in the United States by Henry Holt and Company

Square Fish logo designed by Filomena Tuosto

Book designed by Debora Smith

First Square Fish Edition: October 2010

www.squarefishbooks.com

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

LEXILE 970L

 

 

For my husband,
Wendel,
my safe harbor

And for all those
who suffered the Great Storm
with no safe harbor

Chapter
1

The train clicked on its rails, rumbling past cow pastures and summer-parched fields of grain and hay. Open windows funneled dust and straw into my face, and all around me, sweaty children whined their discomfort. Mamas dug into bundles for crackers and cheese, bread and jam—anything to distract their little varmints from the sticky heat. I glanced around the crowded train car. You’d think every dang person from Lampasas to Houston wanted to go to Galveston this hot August day.

Everyone but me.

I shifted under the sleeping weight of four-year-old Kate, limp and sweaty in my lap, and dark curls fell across her face. Seems I couldn’t breathe twice anymore without Mama saying, “Seth, would you button Kate’s shoes for me?” or “Quick, Seth! Wipe that runny nose.” And every blasted time Mama’s hands were white with flour, she’d holler, “Seth, you’ll have to take
Kate to the outhouse for me while I finish the bread.” Just thinking of it got my dander up. Why God couldn’t have sent that child just one big sister instead of three brothers was beyond my understanding.

Across from me, Matt’s heat-red face puckered in a deep frown. He elbowed Lucas for more room, and when he didn’t get it, he delivered a swift boot to the leg. I returned the kick before Lucas could even open his mouth to complain.

“You’re twelve years old,” I hissed at Matt. “Act like it.”

He glanced across the aisle at Mama and Papa, making sure they hadn’t seen, then turned back to me with a sneer. “Where’s your apron, Seth?” he whispered. “If you’re gonna sound like Mama, you oughta look like her, too.” He nudged Lucas again. “Besides, you can take it, can’t ya, Big Luke?”

Lucas shrugged. He rarely let Matt pull him into disagreements, but recently things had changed. He’d shot up so much this summer, it was impossible to tell who was taller. At just ten, his new height had become a sore spot with Matt, sparking some ornery mischief. Most of the time I ignored it, but today was different.

The train sped toward a spindly trestle strung across Galveston Bay and rumbled onto a fragile network of pilings and rails. Mama stiffened and reached for Papa’s hand. I glanced out the windows at the green water all
around and felt a bit like a kite flying too close to the waves, dragged toward the long, narrow island that was sure to be my undoing. And it was all my uncle’s fault.

“Galveston is fast becoming the New York City of Texas,” Uncle Nate had told Papa just two short weeks ago. “It’s the third richest city in the country by population. We have electric lights, electric streetcars, local and long-distance telephone service, and three big concert halls.”

I peered at the miles of wharves ahead, crowded with steamships, schooners, and fishing boats, and beyond the forest of masts, I saw three tremendous grain elevators.

“Twelve hundred ships load and unload cargo there every year,” Uncle Nate had been quick to add. More proof, I supposed, that Galveston was
the
booming city of the new twentieth century.

It was true my uncle’s lumber business had done well, but Uncle Nate thought Galveston could improve his younger brother’s lot in life, too. I’d watched him that day through the porch windows, spouting his case for moving like some highfalutin Philadelphia lawyer.

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