The Matchlock Gun, by Walter D. Edmonds
Started 01.04.21 • Finished 01.08.21
A boy named Edward lived with his mother and sister Trudy, who says "Bergom op zoom" a lot. His father, Teunis, had gone to fight the Indians. One day, Edward's mother had a feeling that the Indians would attack that day, so she told Edward to fire their long Spanish gun out the window. Edward protested. "I cannot carry that gun, let alone fire it!" So his mother put a table in front of a window, told Edward to put a stool in front of the table, and then she put the gun on the table and showed Edward how to fire it. She would yell "Ateoord!" which was how she pronounced Edward. When he heard her yell, he knew that the Indians were attacking. Then he would fire the gun. Almost everything went as planned. There were only four things that didn't. Trudy screamed at the sound of the gun, their mother though that Teunis, their father, was dead, the Indians set their front steps on fire, and an Indian threw an axe and it lodged in her shoulder, almost killing her, but she stays alive, and Teunis comes back.
Neph, age 10