Cover

Praise

“[A] superb novel … Paterson has brought a troubling time and place vividly to life, but she has also given readers great hope in the spirited person of Lyddie Worthen.”

—School Library Journal, starred review

“A memorable portrait of an untutored but intelligent young woman making her way against fierce odds.”

—Kirkus Reviews, pointer review

“Impeccably researched and expertly crafted, this book is sure to satisfy.”

—Publishers Weekly

Books by Katherine Paterson

Books by Katherine Paterson

Come Sing, Jimmy Jo

Flip-flop Girl

Jip, His Story

Lyddie

Park’s Quest

Parzival

Stories of My Life

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks

Dedication

for Stephen Pierce

our third son

and Friend in deed

1

The Bear

The bear had been their undoing, though at the time they had all laughed. No, Mama had never laughed, but Lyddie and Charles and the babies had laughed until their bellies ached. Lyddie still thought of them as the babies. She probably always would. Agnes had been four and Rachel six that November of 1843—the year of the bear.

It had been Charles’s fault, if fault there was. He had fetched in wood from the shed and left the door ajar. But the door had not shut tight for some time, so perhaps he’d shut it as best he could. Who knows?

At any rate, Lyddie looked up from the pot of oatmeal she was stirring over the fire, and there in the doorway was a massive black head, the nose up and smelling, the tiny eyes bright with hungry anticipation.

“Don’t nobody yell,” she said softly. “Just back up slow and quiet to the ladder and climb up to the loft. Charlie, you get Agnes, and Mama, you take Rachel.” She heard her mother whimper. “Shhh,” she continued, her voice absolutely even. “It’s all right long as nobody gets upset. Just take it nice and gentle, ey? I’m watching him all the way, and I’ll yank the ladder up after me.”

They obeyed her, even Mama, though Lyddie could hear her sucking in her breath. Behind Lyddie’s back, the ladder creaked, as two by two, first Charles and Agnes, then Mama and Rachel, climbed up into the loft. Lyddie glared straight into the bear’s eyes, daring him to step forward into the cabin. Then when the ladder was silent and she could hear the slight rustling above her as the family settled themselves on the straw mattresses, she backed up to the ladder and, never taking her eyes off the bear, inched her way up to the loft. At the top she almost fell backward onto the platform. Charles dragged her onto the mattress beside her mother.