Sean Donaghey

Art by Ingvard Ashby

Vocabulary

collapse seeking
constructed structures
emerged

Theme: Liberty
Word count: 3,906

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ISBN 978-1-4869-0873-8
1 18
 Sean Donaghey
Art by Ingvard Ashby

Literacy Consultants
David Booth • Kathleen Corrigan
 Contents
Preface ................................... 3

Chapter 1
The Stories We Tell .............. 4

Chapter 2
Lucky Lucy ......................... 11

Chapter 3
A Short Rest ........................ 19

Chapter 4
Planting Roots .................... 24

2
 Preface
The Great Depression of the 1930s brought
much change and hardship to the United States.
Many people found themselves out of work after
the collapse of the stock market in 1929. Families
struggled to get by, and parents worked hard to feed
their children. It was a different world back then. The
modern computer had yet to be invented, and the
television was not yet widely available. Stories were
told over the radio, in theaters, and around kitchen
tables and campfires.
Stories cannot feed the hungry, but they can
sustain the minds of those in need of hope and free
the minds of those who listen. The characters in this
book go on a physical journey to start a new life,
and along the way, stories keep them connected
to one another, to their pasts, and to a better, more
hopeful future.

3
 Chapter 1
The Stories We Tell

It was the first day of May in 1933. Only weeks ago

there were still patches of snow on the ground. Mary
Hall stood outside the general store clutching her little
sister Katie’s hand tightly within her own. She looked
up to the sky and saw a flock of geese flying north in a
V pattern.
A bell jangled as the store’s front door swung open.
Mary’s father, Logan, exited the store with a small
burlap sack swung over his shoulder. Katie wrenched
her hand free and ran to Logan’s side.
“What did you get, Daddy? Did you get candy?”
Katie asked.
Mary saw her father cover up his wince with a
quick smile. “No, but I bought us bread, cheese, and
apples — everything a little girl needs to grow big
and strong.”

4
 Katie scrunched up her face but made no complaint.
Mary was relieved that Katie didn’t cry. Money had
been tight for a while, but their father had been doing
his best to keep them happy and fed, and Mary didn’t
want him to feel bad about not being able to buy them
any candy.
“Let’s go, girls,” said Logan. “We have a long
journey ahead.” Father and daughters walked slowly
through their small Pennsylvania town toward a forest
on its outskirts. They hiked for hours until dusk fell.
Their trek was taxing, especially since they hadn’t
had a decent meal in days. To keep their spirits up,
Logan told them one of the tall tales his own father
had loved to tell.

5
 “Ol’ Pecos Bill could ride any horse there was.
No bucking bronco could throw him off. One day
in Kansas, the biggest tornado you’d ever seen
demolished Bill’s farm. Pecos Bill grabbed the back
of that tornado and rode it right across the land —
Colorado, Texas, and even New Mexico. The tornado
bucked and fought, but ol’ Bill’s grip was tight.
But when he got to California, he was done, and
all he could do was weep. He cried for a month
and wouldn’t you know it, his tears became the
Pacific Ocean.”

Logan kept his daughters amused with his father’s

old stories until they finally stopped at a tall oak tree.
He quickly clambered up the tree and collected his
hidden treasure: three suitcases he’d stashed away
that contained all of their possessions.
Bags in hand, the family made its way through the
forest and down a hill. Below them was a train station,
where a powerful locomotive awaited at the head of
a line of passenger cars. At the back of the train was a
flatcar, upon which sat an old log cabin.

6
7
 “Why is there a house on that train, Daddy?”
Katie inquired.
“I’ll explain later,” replied Logan.
Twenty minutes later, as the conductors were
busy preparing the train for departure, Logan and his
daughters quietly hopped onto the flatcar. As the train
began to rumble forward, Logan opened the door of
the cabin.
“Inside,” he instructed. Mary reluctantly followed;
she was suddenly gripped by a sense of terror. The
cabin was dark inside, and she had so many questions.
After the train pulled away from their town,
Mary finally found the courage to ask, “Where are
we going?”
Inside the dimly lit cabin, Mary could see her father
attempting to smile reassuringly at her. “To Cincinnati
to live with your Aunt Jennie.”
“In a log cabin on a train?”
“Not just any cabin, girls. This log cabin belonged
to your great-grandmother.”
Mary’s eyes widened. “Really?” Her father talked
about their storyteller grandfather often, but Mary had
never heard of anything about a great-grandmother.

8
 “Her name was Lucy Lynch, but some called her
Lucky Lucy,” said Logan. “She had come to America
from Ireland as a girl, and her life was like a fairy
tale. She used to tell me, ‘Life is a story and you’re the
writer.’ ” Logan took two old wool blankets out of their
suitcases and draped them over his daughters.
“Use your coats as pillows, and wrap yourselves
up,” Logan said. “It’s time for sleep.”
“Can you tell us a story, Dad?” asked Katie.
“Of course. How about the story of Lucy’s
experiences in America?”
Mary and Katie snuggled together under the
blankets. The cabin floor was bitterly cold, but the
girls slowly warmed up. Logan sat down beside
the girls. He leaned against the wall and began to tell
his story.

9
 “The year was 1852, and Lucy was eighteen years
old. She was born in Ireland, where the countryside
was emerald green. But year after year, the food that
fed the Irish — potatoes — rotted in the fields. After
many difficult and punishing years, Lucy set off across
the ocean for America.
From the port of Londonderry, Lucy sailed off
alone on a difficult journey. The sea voyage took more
than two months, but when Lucy arrived in New York
City, she was filled with a sense of hope. She felt as
though she was finally free to pursue her dreams
and desires.
Lucy spent her first night in America with a large
family in a small and crowded room. In the morning
the family told Lucy they had no space for her. For
weeks, Lucy moved from family to family. What little
money she’d brought with her began to run out. Every
day she went out looking for work, and every day she
went to the church to pray.”

“Was she safe, Dad?” asked Mary sleepily.

“Her journey had only just begun,” said Logan
with a smile. “But yes, she was safe.” Mary closed her
eyes and let the rocking cabin lull her to sleep.

10
 Chapter 2
Lucky Lucy

The next morning brought rain and a lingering

winter chill. The cabin’s roof had sprung a slow leak.
“Daddy, I don’t feel good,” said Katie upon
waking, her voice croaky.
Mary put her hand on her sister’s forehead and
was dismayed at the warmth she felt. “Dad, I think
Katie has a fever.”
Logan looked at Katie worriedly and frantically
rummaged through his burlap sack for anything that
might help. Mary took it upon herself to rewrap the
blankets around Katie and herself and snuggled closer.
To her relief, Katie’s shivers gradually went away.
Mary didn’t want to leave Katie’s side for even
a second. She chewed on the bread and cheese that
Logan handed her; Katie, however, refused to eat.
Logan took small bites from a bruised apple and
stroked Katie’s hair with his free hand.

11
 The dim morning light allowed Mary to clearly
see the inside of the cabin for the first time. The cabin
was old and small, but it was indisputably unique and
well maintained.
There were paintings hanging on two of the walls.
The colors had faded, but Mary could see majestic
images of rivers and valleys in one painting. The other
depicted a group of actors and musicians performing
for a huge audience. In the center of the performers
stood a woman of twenty. She wore a dress with big
puffy sleeves and a full skirt shaped like an evergreen
tree — narrow at the waist and wide around the
ankles. Mary briefly wondered who she might have
been and why her painting was in this cabin.
“I want to go home!” Katie suddenly whimpered,
breaking the silence. “Daddy, why can’t we go — ”
She began to cough.
Mary rubbed Katie’s back and locked eyes with
her father to offer a supportive smile. Her father was
doing his best, but she could tell he was exhausted
and distraught. Guilt about his difficulty in feeding
his family had been bothering him for a while now.
Mary wished Logan knew how much they appreciated

12
his presence and all that he did for them. She wished
that there were some way she could help him feel
more useful.
Mary held Katie a little closer and asked in a rush,
“Dad, why don’t you tell us more about Lucy?”
“All right,” he agreed readily as Katie broke into
another coughing fit. “That sounds good.”
Staring at the paintings on the cabin walls, Logan
continued his story.

13
 “One morning, Lucy woke up feeling sad and
alone, and when she felt that way, she liked to sing.
Lucy had a beautiful voice. Everyone back in Ireland
used to say so. She went to church that day as usual
and sang hymns with the choir. Her voice brought
happiness to those who heard it.
After the service ended, a parishioner approached
Lucy and told her about a troupe of actors and
singers preparing for a tour of several booming,
industrialized cities. The troupe was seeking talented
new performers, the parishioner said. Lucy saw her
opportunity and went to audition.

14
 Once the troupe leader, Isaiah Jones, heard Lucy
sing, he wanted to hire her right away. He couldn’t
afford to pay her just yet, but Lucy agreed to sing in
exchange for food and shelter. Isaiah promised Lucy
that with her talent, she was destined to be a star.
Out on the open road, Lucy found her place
on the stage. Her troupe stopped in Pittsburgh on
the fifteenth day to deliver a sensational show at a
glamorous and new hotel. The city was not yet famous
for its steel, but black smoke from its many mills and
factories already darkened its sky. Its factories were
packed with all kinds of people seeking the freedom of
a new beginning, incredible opportunities, and money.

15
 After a terrific show that saw the mayor himself
in attendance, the troupe was paid a satisfying sum.
They returned cheering and laughing to their wagons,
only to find them ransacked.
They’d been robbed of their personal possessions,
costumes, props, and what little cash the performers
had been able to stash away.
Some members of the troupe cried, and others
raged, but Lucy stayed calm.
When the sun rose the next day, Lucy went to the
mayor and told him what had happened, hoping to
enlist his help. The mayor, now a big admirer of the
troupe, was sympathetic. His brother was a successful
business owner in Cleveland. The mayor sent word
to his brother about the troupe and the young woman
with the captivating voice. Lucy and her friends went
to Cleveland and played to sellout crowds for two
weeks. They made enough money to replace their lost
possessions and then some.
Isaiah Jones was delighted. He paid Lucy her fair
share, and he gave her a lucky silver dollar for the
good fortune she’d brought them.
She became Lucky Lucy that day.”

16
 Katie had stopped coughing. Mary watched as
Logan thoughtfully ran his fingertips across the
cabin’s floorboards.
“What is it, Dad?”
“Oh, I remembered something my mother told
me about the silver dollar. Lucy never spent it and
never went anywhere without it. After she died, no
one knew what had happened to it, but some family
members used to say she had hidden it in her cabin.”
Mary thought about the silver dollar wistfully. If
only they had it, they could buy medicine for Katie or
a warm, hearty meal for the three of them.
“Do you think it’s really in here, Daddy?” Katie
looked around. “Where could Lucy have hidden her
silver dollar?”

17
 Logan laughed the first true laugh Mary had heard
from him in weeks. “I don’t know,” he confessed, “but
I don’t think we should tear this cabin apart trying to
find it. I do think there is a good chance that Lucy hid
her lucky dollar in this cabin, so after staying here all
night, we’ll be lucky as well. I’m sure of it.”
Just as Mary began to daydream about the lucky
days that were ahead of them, the train lurched to a
stop. The train had stopped several times throughout
the night to pick up and let off passengers, but this stop
came too suddenly. “Rockslide!” a voice called out.
“The hillside has collapsed!”
“Girls,” said Logan, standing up, “we have to go.”

18
 Chapter 3
A Short Rest

After hastily stuffing the blankets back into their

suitcases, Logan picked up Katie, his burlap sack, and
two suitcases, leaving the third, smallest suitcase for
Mary to carry. He and his daughters quickly snuck out
of the cabin and scrambled down the back of the train.
The conductors and passengers were distracted by
the chaos on the tracks ahead, and nobody paid the
Hall family any attention.
Mary clutched her suitcase and shivered in the
cool air. The rain had stopped, but lingering clouds
prevented the warm spring sun from reaching them.
She quietly stumbled after Logan and Katie into the
sparse woods that lined one side of the tracks. The
ground was muddy from the earlier rain, making
running difficult.
Cradled in their father’s arm, a pale Katie whined,
“What about Lucy’s cabin, Daddy?”
Logan paused for a moment.
“We’ll see the cabin again one day, won’t we,
Dad?” Mary prompted. “It’s our great-grandmother’s
cabin. It belongs to our family, so we’ll definitely see
it again.”

19
 Logan looked into the distance. He was a very
experienced traveler — as he’d told Mary and
Katie — having been to almost forty states when he
was younger. Mary trusted he would find his way
soon enough.
“You’re absolutely correct, Mary,” Logan said. “Do
you hear that, girls? There’s water nearby. It must be
the Ohio River. Let’s go! We’re going to follow the
river all the way to Cincinnati.”
For more than two hours, they trekked along the
riverbank, heading north. Logan had to set Katie
down at one point. The girls walked beside their

20
father, but it had been hours since their meager
breakfast, and they soon grew tired and hungry.
Katie, who hadn’t eaten anything since the
previous day, gave up on walking shortly after noon
and sat down on a log by the river. Logan sat too,
scanning the surroundings.
“We’re almost there,” Logan said. “Let’s stop and
eat, and we should be in Cincinnati by late afternoon
at the latest.”
Mary and Katie shared the remainder of the
bread and cheese, and each girl was given a juicy red
apple for dessert. Their father nibbled on the last and
smallest apple.
“Will you tell us more about Lucy?” asked Katie.
“What happened to her after Cleveland, Daddy? How
did she earn enough money to buy the cabin?”

21
 “Lucy wrote her own story, my darlings. Here’s
what happened,” Logan said and then continued.

“Lucy continued to travel with Isaiah Jones and

his troupe of actors and singers. From Ohio they went
to Indiana and then to Illinois. Chicago was home to
many Irish immigrants who loved Lucy’s music. Like
her, they’d come to America for the chance to pursue a
better life. But at the end of a long day, they all longed
for a diversion — a hint of home. With their audience
in mind, Isaiah Jones worked with Lucy to create
shows that told the stories of the old country.
Lucy’s shows were lit using limelight. When Lucy
stood onstage, her emerald green dress and copper red
hair brought color to the dusty and gray lives of the
tired workers. And her voice was simply magical. She

22
could make the audience laugh, make them cry, and
make them forget the grueling hardships of their days.
For a while the growing popularity of the troupe
allowed them to settle temporarily in Chicago. For
two years Lucy sang to audiences large and small in
the evenings. During the day Lucy learned to read
and write with Mrs. Kent, a member of the troupe
who used to be a schoolteacher. Isaiah Jones supplied
her with paper, pencils, and lots of wonderful books.
One day Lucy was given the chance to travel again.
Another group of musical performers wanted Lucy
as their main act. It was decided that she’d go back
to touring the country, and she was to return to New
York — where she’d started — for her first show.
‘Do you have your silver dollar?’ asked Isaiah
Jones when it was time for Lucy to say goodbye.
‘Keep it with you, Lucky Lucy.’ ”

“Then what happened?” asked Katie as she wolfed

down the last bite of her apple. Color had returned to
her cheeks since their frenzied retreat from the train.
Logan shook his head and said, “Time to go, girls.
We’re almost there.”

23
 Chapter 4
Planting Roots

Two hours later, Mary and her family emerged

from the woods. Following the river had worked.
The bustling city of Cincinnati waited for them on
the opposite bank of the Ohio River.
Tired, famished, and weak, they walked the last
three miles to Aunt Jennie’s house. They dragged
themselves toward Aunt Jennie’s front porch just as
the door opened to receive them.
“Oh my!” Jennie exclaimed at the sight of the three
weary travelers. “You all look terrible! Come in, come
in this instant!”

24
25
 For the next twenty-four hours, all Mary could do
was sleep and eat. She was exhausted, but when the
second day dawned, she felt almost as good as new.
Soon it was decided that Logan would have to go
out on the road and look for work. Cincinnati had
weathered the Depression better than most cities, but
jobs were still difficult to find.
Mary and Katie wholeheartedly and immediately
protested the decision.
“Daddy, please don’t go,” pleaded Katie.
“What if you don’t come back?” asked Mary. She
couldn’t understand why her father was leaving after
she had tried so hard to be strong and grown-up.
Logan looked at them with a mix of love and regret
and said, “I promise I will come back. Aunt Jennie will
take care of you, and I know both of you — especially
you, Mary — will stay strong and watch out for each
other. And I will miss you both so, so much.”

26
 Mary didn’t quite believe him. When her mother
was still alive and the family lived contentedly under
their own roof, Logan used to tell stories of when he
was younger, of when he’d moved about the land,
never stopping. She didn’t believe he actually wanted
to stay with them in Cincinnati at all. After all, Lucy
hadn’t wanted to stay in Chicago when she’d been
given the chance to travel the country once again.

u u u

Leaving the girls behind — even with his sister —

was extremely hard for Logan.
“I will write you letters,” Logan said over and over
again before his departure. “I may journey far away,
but I will always think of you.”
For a year Logan traveled across Ohio and beyond.
He traveled as far west as Montana and Wyoming,
working on horse ranches. He saved every dollar he
earned, and he planned for the future.

27
 Mary’s doubt about whether their father missed
them was slowly chipped away with every letter
Logan sent. In his letters he told his daughters more
stories about Lucy.

“By 1860, just before the Civil War began, Lucy had
traveled up and down the East Coast three times. She
had become a musical star, performing for all kinds
of audiences. Once, while campaigning for office,
President Abraham Lincoln saw Lucy perform in
Washington, D.C.
In 1861 Lucy married another singer, who was also
an immigrant. Together they sang and traveled and
told stories about their homeland and ancestors.
The cabin that they eventually built was simple
because for all their money, they never wanted
anything extravagant. The cabin originally had a
potbelly stove, which was a personal gift from the
famous steelmaker Andrew Carnegie. Lucy even
wrote a song about the cabin, and it became almost as
famous as Lucy and her husband. And for all those
years, no matter where Lucy went, she brought her
lucky silver dollar with her.”

28
 Over time, Logan’s stories about Lucy grew more
and more impossibly grand, but Katie loved hearing
each and every one and could not get enough of
them. After a while Mary began adding her own Lucy
stories as she pretended to read from Logan’s letters.
One year after he left, Logan returned to
Cincinnati. His letters home had given comfort to his
daughters, and they had been well cared for by their
aunt, but nothing brought such joy to their hearts as
Logan’s return.
“It’s wonderful to have you home, Dad,” said
Mary happily.
“Are you going to stay, Daddy?” asked Katie.
“Of course, I am, sweetheart,” replied Logan with
a full heart as he hugged his daughters. “I won’t leave
you again.”

29
 A few days after her father’s return, Mary went
for a walk across town with Katie and Logan. As
they approached the train station, they came upon
an outdoor display celebrating the nation’s historical
buildings. Sitting among human-sized wooden models
of famous structures — such as the White House and
the recently constructed Empire State Building — was
Lucy’s cabin from the train! A standing placard beside
the cabin simply read “A Typical Country Residence
From the Mid- to Late-1800s.”
Passersby would pause and marvel over the
detailed renditions of buildings they’d seen only in

30
newspapers and books. Nobody paid any attention
to the cabin except Mary and her family. In broad
daylight, Mary had her first good look at the cabin
from the outside. The wood didn’t look as lustrous
and smooth as she thought she’d remembered.
There was also a chimney that she hadn’t noticed
before. And with her father’s big, warm hand tightly
clutching her own, Mary couldn’t recall why she had
been so afraid that night in the cabin.
They walked around the cabin, which had been
their home for a night on the back of a train.

31
 “That was a strange trip we went on, Daddy,” Katie
said out loud, “in Lucy’s cabin, on a train. We were
lucky the cabin was passing through our town that
day. Maybe we got lucky because Lucy’s lucky silver
dollar is still in there.”
When Logan didn’t respond, Katie continued,
“Do you think we can find that dollar and take it
home with us?”
Mary cut in hurriedly to say, “But we’d have to tear
up the cabin, Katie, and it’s too special to ruin. As long
as the silver dollar is in there, we’ll have all the luck
we need. Right, Dad?”
Mary heard her father breathe a sigh of relief.
Logan squeezed her hand and replied, “That’s
absolutely right, Mary. This cabin is filled with
memories. Imagine for a moment that the cabin could
talk. Imagine the stories it could tell.”
Mary also imagined the places the cabin would go.
They would probably never see it again, but maybe
other families would seek shelter beneath its roof, and
they, too, could create their own stories.

32
Think About It
The story of Lucky Lucy is told alongside the story of Logan,
Mary, and Katie Hall. Use a compare and contrast graphic
organizer to show how the experiences of Lucy and the Hall
family are alike and how they are different.

Topics

Alike Different
 The Cabin
Sean Donaghey • Art by Ingvard Ashby

ISBN-13: 978-1-4869-0873-8
ISBN-10: 1-4869-0873-X
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