Preview - stanfordhouse.com.hk

The Cloud
Washerwoman
The Cloud Washerwoman
In this fantasy, an energetic
old woman complains that it
always rains on wash day. At
first, she thinks the answer is to
fix the weather. However, her
granddaughter has a better idea.
Will it work?
8.8
9.2
Other Fantasy titles
in Springboard 4:
TheCloudWasherwoman_COV_MEA_SI.i2-3 2-3
Springboard 4
Sammy Stevens Sings
Finbar and the Long Trek
Written by Ben Smith
Illustrated by Sandra Cammell
15/3/06 4:36:20 PM
Y
s' L
er ON
ch n
ea tio
r t ec
Fo sp
in
The Cloud
Washerwoman
Contents
Chapter One. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Y
s' L
er ON
ch n
ea tio
r t ec
Fo sp
in
Chapter
One
Monday is
washday
4
Y
s' L
er ON
ch n
ea tio
r t ec
Fo sp
in
Once upon a time there was a wrinkly old woman. She
was so old and wrinkly most people thought she must be
at least 101. Even though she was old and wrinkly, she
was a healthy woman. She ran two marathons a year. She
swam in the ocean every day – summer and winter, rain,
hail, or shine. She went skiing on the highest mountains,
and she rode a fast motorbike with handlebars like
antlers. The old woman lived in the home she had
always lived in. She did her own gardening. She did her
own housework. She
baked her own bread.
And every Monday
morning, come rain,
hail, or shine,
she stoked
up the fire
under her big shiny
copper tub. When the
water was heated, she did
the week’s laundry.
5
Y
s' L
er ON
ch n
ea tio
r t ec
Fo sp
in
Now the old woman had always fancied herself as a
folk singer. When she was younger she had always gone
to gigs when a folk singer was in town. She didn’t sing
when she was out and about, but she always sang when
she did the laundry. So on Monday mornings, as soon as
the fire was set and the water was heating, she would let
loose with a song.
Heat up the tub, heat up the tub.
Rub, rub, and scrub.
I’m a real humdinger
Of a folksy, folk singer.
As she sang, the old woman sorted the laundry. She
put all the whites in one pile. She put all the coloureds
in another. Next, she carefully shredded a block of soap
with a sharp knife. Then she sprinkled the flakes into
the steamy hot water. If the old woman noticed a pesky
stain on any of her whites, she scrubbed the garment on
the washboard. When the stain was gone, she put the
garment into the copper tub. Then she took a copper
paddle and pounded and stirred and pounded and
stirred the washing. She did this for at least half
an hour, dancing a jig as she worked.
6
Y
s' L
er ON
ch n
ea tio
r t ec
Fo sp
in
7
Y
s' L
er ON
ch n
ea tio
r t ec
Fo sp
in
When the whites were washed to the old woman’s
satisfaction, she used her copper paddle to lift the
articles out. One by one, she fed them through the
mangle to squeeze the hot, steamy, soapy water out
of them. And as she lifted each garment, she sang.
A wringle and a wrangle
The whites go through the mangle.
I’m a real humdinger
Of a folksy, folk singer.
8