Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 ABOUT SIX MOTHS LATER MARCH 16, 1901 AROUND 7:00 P.M. CHARLIE'S SCHOOL GALVESTON, TEXAS Loud noises rose up all around Charlie.

Balls bouncing. A piano playing. Kids laughing. Sarah's voice. "Charlie!" Charlie turned from the window. Sarah grinned at him as she tightened the laces of her tap shoes. "Don't you think you should get ready? You're going onstage first!" It was the night of the school talent show, and they were backstage, in the school auditorium. Their teacher, Mrs. Butler, was helping one of the girls fasten a ribbon into her hair. "It's crowded out there," said Charlie's new friend Lee, bouncing one of the balls he'd be juggling in his act. Rosemary Cline walked over to Charlie. She was singing a song in the show. "Charlie," she said, smiling. "Your mustache is crooked." She was talking about the fake mustache Mama had made for him, out of some scraps of fabric—he had wanted a mustache like Meraki's. Charlie

thanked Rosemary and went to the mirror next to the window. He realized now that his mustache actually looked like a very sick caterpillar. And it itched. Charlie peeled it off and tossed it in the trash. He peered into the mirror again, relieved to see his familiar freckled face. He was still getting used to the big scar on his chin—from a flying roof tile. The scar turned bright red when he got cold, but it didn't hurt anymore. He had bigger scars. His body was covered with jagged lines, puckers, and dents, all from his time in the churning water. Charlie closed his eyes and tried to stop the swirl of memories. But he suddenly felt like he was floating, like he was in the air, spinning, twisting, unable to get himself back onto solid ground. It happened all the time lately. At school. At the dinner table. On the street. He'd suddenly feel far away, back in those terrible hours and days after the storm.

And now his mind swirled with the nightmare memories—the sobs of neighbors, the sight of their shattered house. Standing in line in the roasting heat, waiting for bread and drinkable water. Sleeping on the floor of the church. The terrible smells that rose from the wreckage. Charlie tried to remember how lucky he was. Unlike thousands of other people, he'd made it out of the water that night. Nobody knew exactly how many thousands had died. Six thousand? Eight thousand? And that was just on Galveston Island. It was impossible to know because so many had been swept out to sea. Entire families were gone. And Galveston—more than half the city had been completely destroyed. Houses and buildings. Churches. Schools. Stores. Blocks and blocks along the beach had been scraped clean by the raging sea, everything smashed up and pushed into a giant mountain. That's what he and Gordon

had seen when they had climbed down from the tree. After ten days, Mama and Charlie and Lulu left the city along with most of Galveston's women and children. They took a crowded barge across the bay. Mama took them to Houston to stay with her cousins. Papa stayed behind—they needed men to clear away wreckage. When Mama brought Charlie and Lulu back to the city, three months later, almost all the rubble was gone. Charlie was shocked to see trains chugging across the bay again. Wagons and buggies and carriages crowded the streets. The sounds of hammers and saws drifted through the air. The streetcar dinged. School opened right before Christmas. A firm hand took hold of his shoulder. He felt a jolt, like he was waking up from a dream. And there was Sarah, right in front of him, watching

him with her gleaming eyes. "You all right?" she asked. Charlie had never told her about the floating. But somehow she always knew how to bring him back. She kept her hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly, as though she was holding him down to the ground. It took a moment for Charlie's mind to stop swirling. He looked out the window again. The sky was bright, with just a few puffy clouds. In the distance was the Gulf, silvery blue, calm as a pond. Charlie nodded to Sarah. Mrs. Butler rushed over. "Ready for you, Charlie!" Charlie patted his pockets, making sure he had his cards and coins. Lee and Rosemary wished him luck. Other kids smiled and waved.