The Adventures of Rank
Sarah's Adventure
Summer was here! And, it looked like it was actually going to be fun. Since Rank and Terry became friends, his social calendar had begun to fill up. But, before the birthday parties and baseball games started, Rank wanted to have his sister over.
Terry didn’t have any brothers or sisters so he wasn’t thrilled at the idea of entertaining a little girl. Rank really wanted them to meet though so he pushed the issue and practically begged Terry to come over. It took a little bit but Terry finally agreed.
Saturday morning they were going over to Mr. Jenkins and Terry was coming, too. Bright and early Sarah and Rank walked to Mr. Jenkins. He, of course, was ready for them. Terry was already there enjoying chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate milk and sausage. Now, that was a breakfast.
As usual, Sarah held tightly to the cat that they all shared but lived at Mr. Jenkins. After breakfast, they all decided to dig for worms so they could go fishing. Sarah joined in at first but decided she wasn’t overly excited about the sliminess of the worms. Instead, she found shade under a tree and her and the cat played dress-up. Sarah had brought some of her doll clothes and thought the cat would enjoy a new wardrobe.
The cat didn’t agree and quickly ran up the tree. Sarah didn’t want to bother the boys. She called and called the cat but it didn’t listen. In fact, the more she called, the higher the cat climbed. Sarah didn’t want the boys to think she couldn’t handle the situation so she took the next logical step; she found a log, pulled it over to the base of the tree and began climbing.
She was doing just fine until... the limb her foot was planted on broke off! Quickly, Sarah grabbed the branch over her head and held on for dear life. At first she looked around trying to figure out a way to get out of this mess on her own. She was a big girl now and shouldn’t always need her brother to rescue her. But, after coming to the conclusion that she was going to need help and need it quickly, she decided to put aside her ‘big girl’ attitude and screamed her lungs out!
Mr. Jenkins, Rank and Terry heard her screams and came running. Surprisingly, Rank didn’t laugh. He used to laugh when she got herself in these situations and that worried her even more. If she wasn’t in danger, he surely would have been laughing. The tears began.
“Sarah, just hang on. Don’t let go, we will get you.” Rank calmly said. That made Sarah cry even harder. “Sarah, please don’t cry. I will get you, I promise.”
Mr. Jenkins bent down. Terry climbed on his back. Rank then climbed on Terry’s shoulders. Together, they made a human ladder. Rank got high enough to grab a branch and pull himself up. He got close to Sarah and grabbed her arm.
At first, Sarah wouldn’t let go. She was too afraid. Rank looked in her eyes, and said, “Sarah, I will not let you get hurt. Please trust me and let go.”
Sarah loved her brother and did trust him. But before she could decide, the decision was made for her. The branch broke and Sarah felt herself fall.
As Rank promised though, he held tight onto her arm. With Sarah screaming, Rank carefully lowered her to Terry. Terry then handed Sarah off to Mr. Jenkins. Sarah was safely to the ground. Rank climbed down and hugged his sister.
After nerves were calmed, Mr. Jenkins whistled for the cat, and it, too, joined the grateful group.
Everyone headed into the house and packed their picnic. The worms would be purchased instead of dug up. Off to the park they all happily went to enjoy the rest of their day.
When it was time for Sarah to head to her foster home, Terry was actually sad to see her leave. He admitted it was kind of fun having a little sister around.