A Bicycle for Andi This story takes place during the second term of Andi’s stay at Miss Whitaker’s

Academy, several weeks after their adventure with Lin Mei in Chinatown, as

told in Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers.

April 1881, San Francisco, California

Chapter One

rash!

Jenny Grant burst into the bedroom at Miss Whitaker’s Academy, breathless.

“Andi! You gotta come see this!”

C

Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, license: CC-BY 3.0".

Andi jumped a foot. She barely missed jabbing her hand with an embroidery

needle. “You came this close to causing me serious injury.” She pinched her thumb

and forefinger into a tiny space.

“Oh, never mind.” Jenny yanked the dresser scarf project from Andi’s hands.

“This sight is truly something to behold!”

Stumbling, she pulled Andi out the door and down the hall. The girls fairly

flew down the wide staircase.

Panic welled up inside Andi. If Miss Whitaker catches us running, we’re in for it.

I’m already counting up disgrace marks.

But the strict school principal was nowhere in sight.

Jenny led Andi out the door and right onto the sidewalk. It was a beautiful San

Francisco Saturday afternoon. The morning fog had lifted, and spring was in full

bloom in the neighborhoods of the wealthy. Nob Hill was bursting with color.

“Look!” Jenny pointed a few yards away.

Andi’s mouth fell open. “What in the world?” Never in her life had she seen

such a strange contraption.

It was a metal machine with two wheels.

One enormous wheel stood in front. It was at

least four feet high. The wheel in back was tiny

compared to it.

Like a giant silver dollar up sitting next to a

teensy half dime, Andi thought.

The oddest thing was the small, empty seat

balancing on top of the big wheel. There was a

bar across the top of the front wheel to . . . well .

. . Andi cocked her head and decided it was for

holding.

There were also a couple of pedals smack in

the middle of the giant wheel. That must be the

way one makes the thing go.

A tall boy stood next to the contraption.

“What’s it for?” Andi asked, frowning.

The answer was a high, giggly laugh.

Andi scowled. Leave it to Florence to laugh at anything Andi asked. Florence

was sixteen and the oldest scholar at Miss Whitaker’s Academy.

“You truly don’t know, Andrea?” Florence giggled again. “That’s what comes

from living all your life in the country.”

She nodded toward the boy. “That’s my brother Joseph. Papa bought him this

bicycle for his birthday. He just turned fifteen, and he’s already an accomplished

rider.”

Rider? Like riding a horse? Andi didn’t ask this question out loud. She didn’t

want to be laughed at again.

But questions bubbled up. How would Joseph get up there? How would he

stay up there? How would he get off without finding a building to lean against?

By now, a bevy of girls had gathered on the academy’s front lawn. Some were

drifting onto the sidewalk for a closer look.

Joseph sure seemed to like the attention. He adjusted his cap, straightened his

vest, and beamed at Miss Whitaker’s pupils—all forty of them.

Bella asked the questions that were on the tip of Andi’s tongue. She was ten

years old, and even if Florence laughed, Bella wouldn’t care.

“So, what’s that contraption called? What do you do with it? How do you—”

“For goodness’ sake, Bella.” Florence huffed. “Stop your chattering.”

Bella stopped.

“It’s a bicycle,” Joseph announced proudly. “Bi, because that means ‘two,’ and

it has two wheels. Cycle, cuz that means ‘circle.’ Two circles.”

Clever, Andi thought. I wonder if he made that up all on his own.

“You ride it,” he said. Then he grinned. “I mean . . . I ride it.”

Jenny nudged Andi. “I told you this would be something to see. Oh, how my

brothers would love one of these bicycle things.”

Andi’ eyes grew wide. She looked up at the high seat. Her brothers would

definitely not want one of these. But her nephew, Levi? Oh, yes!

Andi felt a smile forming. “I can see Levi’s face turning pea-green with envy

after one look,” she told Jenny. “And our rich Aunt Rebecca would probably let

him have one.”

She turned her attention back to Joseph and his bicycle and caught her breath.

Now, there were two bicycles!

An older boy pedaled up beside Joseph and leaned himself against a lamppost.

“You ready, Joe?” he called from the high seat.

“You bet!”

Even if an earthquake had occurred just then, Andi would not have moved a

muscle. She watched, fascinated, as Joe leaned his bicycle against a hitching rail.

He balanced on top of the railing, swung his right leg over the seat, and pushed

off with his left leg.

And the two boys were off.

The big wheels made those contraptions sail along the sidewalk as fast as a

trotting horse. Maybe even faster. The boys bumped over the curb and pedaled

down the cobblestone street. They made a wide turn and effortlessly returned in

front of the school. Then off they went for another round.

Showoffs!

They knew it and didn’t seemed to care. They had an entire school full of pretty

girls gawking and clapping at them. Andi clapped too.

Just then, a horse and carriage clattered past. The driver whooped and yelled

at the boys, clearly impressed.

A sudden thought occurred to Andi. Those bicycles don’t look so hard to control.

It couldn’t be any harder than controlling a feisty, half-broke horse. Those

handlebars looked secure, and a bicycle didn’t buck or crow hop. And, while the

seat was a long way off the ground, the pedals that controlled the bicycle were just

the right length to reach.

Just right for me, maybe?

The next idea that pinched Andi’s thoughts was a little crazy. She looked at

Jenny, and Jenny looked at Andi. We’re thinking the same thing!

When Joseph and his friend stopped to rest, they slid off their bicycles and

leaned them against the lamppost, one on each side. Miss Whitaker’s pupils

gathered around the boys and their bicycles, chattering like magpies.

Jenny and Andi squeezed up close. “I want a good look at this machine,” she

whispered to her wild, red-haired friend.

Her gaze flew from the top of the high wheel to where it touched the

cobblestone street. Shivers raced up and down Andi’s arms. Was it even possible?

Joseph caught Andi’s look and winked at her. It was very bold of this strange

boy, but Andi smiled at him. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,

she thought.

And maybe, just maybe, she could catch a ride.

“It’s quite the contraption,” she ventured.

“It sure is,” Jenny piped up. Her brown eyes sparkled with interest. Andi was

pretty sure hers were sparkling too.

Joseph’s friend took a step closer. “Would you girls like to give the bicycles a

try?” He nudged Joseph and smirked.

“Ah, Geoff, no girl is gonna ride one of these.” Joseph waved a careless hand

at his sister. “Florence got a chance at home last week to try out my new bicycle,

but she said she’d sooner walk the plank of a pirate ship.”

“That would be a lot safer than your bicycle,” Florence said, huffing.

Boy, that girl sure has a sour disposition, Andi thought.

“You’re just a scaredy-cat,” Joseph taunted his sister.

She bristled. “So what if I am?”

Before their argument could erupt into a family squabble, Jenny spoke up.

“I’m not a scaredy-cat.”

“Neither am I,” Andi echoed. At least not much.

She looked up at the seat and handlebars and chewed on her lip. Should I?

Shouldn’t I?

The longer Andi studied the bicycle, the less ominous it appeared. In fact, now

that she was standing right up next to it, the bicycle didn’t look much taller than

the back of a horse.

A sixteen-hand horse, that is.

Andi let out a mental breath of relief. She had ridden plenty of big horses on

the ranch. Her concerns dribbled away like water drops on a hot summer day. The

only tricky part might come with mounting the bicycle.

The boys dashed that fear by offering to hold the bicycles while Andi and

Jenny got aboard.

Jenny said, “Sure, and thanks!”

Andi nodded. They were committed now, especially in front of the entire

school.

Chapter Two

here wasn’t a sound from any of the forty school girls—from the youngest

to the oldest—as Geoff helped Jenny onto his bicycle and Joseph boosted

Andi up.

Once aboard, Andi looked down. She smiled. No, this contraption wasn’t any

taller than one of the Circle C’s larger working horses.

Easy as pie, Andi told herself and smiled at Jenny. “Won’t this be fun?”

Now that Jenny was on the bicycle, she didn’t look quite as confident. But then,

she wasn’t used to being on the back of a tall horse. But she was used to climbing

tall trees.

That’s sort of the same, Andi reasoned.

Andi gripped the handlebar with both hands. She didn’t even have to lean

over very far.

Joseph gave the girls a few final instructions. “Geoff and I will push you off.

The important thing is to keep your balance. You do that by pedaling.” He paused.

“If you slow down too much, you’ll topple over. So, keep your hands on the bars

and keep your feet on the pedals.”

“Turn the bars and lean a little in the direction you want to turn,” Geoff added

with a grin. “And watch where you’re going.”

Andi and Jenny nodded their understanding.

With an impatient sweep of her hand, Andi pushed her bothersome skirt

down, not caring that part of her black stockings showed below the hem.

Carefully, she placed her feet on the pedals. They were a little like stirrups, and

Andi knew the importance of keeping her feet in the stirrups.

She grinned. She was already comparing this bicycle to a horse.

“Ready?” Joseph asked.

“Yep,” Jenny said.

Andi nodded.

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“Great. Then get ready . . . set . . . go.” He pushed the bicycle, and Andi was

on her way.

From the moment Joseph let go, Andi forgot about Jenny. She forgot about

Miss Whitaker maybe showing up. She forgot about Florence, who would love to

see Jenny or Andi take a spill.

Andi’s all-consuming thoughts were on how fast this contraption could move.

She for sure didn’t want to topple over, so she took Joseph’s words to heart. How

slow was too slow?

Better go faster, she decided.

Andi pedaled faster and faster, worried that she might stall and tip over.

Then she heard a screech, a scraping noise, and a loud metal crash. Had Jenny

fallen over? Andi didn’t know. She didn’t dare look behind her shoulder to find

out, either. She’d best pay attention to what she was doing.

Andi’s fingers gripped the handlebar so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

The wind whipped her long dark hair behind her shoulder. Her skirt blew to the

sides.

Andi’s feet kept pedaling and pedaling.

What about a small turn? Very carefully, she tried a little turn. The bicycle

obeyed as quickly and easily as Taffy responded to the reins.

Not bad, Andi thought. Boy, this is easy and fun!

Then somebody started yelling. “Come back, Andi! Come back!”

Just when I’m getting the hang of this? Andi’s thoughts spun. No fair!

Then her conscience pricked her. This wasn’t her bicycle. Florence’s brother

had been kind to lend Andi his bike. She’d better go back. She would have to turn

a complete circle, but that shouldn’t be too hard.

That was when Andi made a terrifying discovery. The shouts for her to return

had not been selfish. They had been a warning. Andi had traveled too far down

the street.

Nob Hill was a hill. A steep hill.

Miss Whitaker’s Academy sat on a level portion of the hill. But the street

quickly began its long, steep descent only a block or two past the school.

A sudden realization made Andi’s heart leap to her throat. Neither Joseph nor

Geoff had explained how to stop the bicycle. Pulling back on the reins stopped a

horse, and a wagon had a brake lever. Even a buggy could be stopped easily.

Andi glanced down at her feet. They were still turning the pedals. Her feet had

no choice. The wheel went around. The pedals went around. There was no such

thing as resting and coasting.

No brake lever either. Uh-oh.

Andi frantically examined the handlebars. She saw nothing that resembled a

brake. “How do you stop the bicycle?” she hollered.

The answer, even if the boys had one, was too far away to do Andi any good.

She was on her own.

Panic welled up. The bicycle began to go faster—faster than Andi’s feet could

pedal. She pulled them away from the pedals and looked ahead.

The steepest part of Nob Hill lay just in front of her. This street went down,

down, down . . . clear into Chinatown.

Maybe clear to San Francisco Bay.

Andi gulped. She did not want to end up in Chinatown or in the bay. Crashing

into a Chinese man’s vegetables or live chickens was a very bad idea. Drowning

in the bay was worse.

Dear God, she prayed. Show me what to do!

The answer came quick as lightening. Jump off.

Jumping from a runaway horse was never a good idea, but sometimes it was

the only choice. Right now, it seemed the only answer to this mechanical beast.

Andi swallowed, said another prayer, and jumped off. She planned to land on

her feet and then roll to a stop, but nothing went as planned.

Everything went dark.

Chapter Three

hen Andi woke up, she found herself in her own bed, in her room at Miss

Whitaker’s.

Across the room, Jenny sat still as a statue on her bed, staring at Andi. Her

brown eyes looked round and scared in her pale face. Her freckles looked redder

than ever.

But more surprising, someone was sitting next to Andi on the bed. The doctor?

For sure, I need one, Andi thought, moaning.

Pain stabbed her from the top of her pounding head all the way down to her

toes. Tears stung the inside of her eyelids. I hurt all over!

“Hey, honey, how do you feel?” Justin squeezed her hand.

Andi looked up into his worried face. Where had Justin come from? Wasn’t he

in Fresno? No, wait. He’d been spending time in his law office in San Francisco

this week, preparing for the court hearing for the little Chinese girls Andi and

Jenny had rescued last month.

No wonder he’d been able to come so fast.

“I’m sorry,” Andi managed between dry lips. “I really messed up this time.”

“Oh, not so bad,” Justin said, chuckling. “It’s just a mystery to me how you get

yourself into these things.”

He paused and shook his head. “A bicycle? On cobblestone streets? How you

came through this with only scrapes and bruises is a miracle. You might have

cracked your head open, instead of the goose egg that knocked you out.”

Justin’s smile turned to a frown. “That would have been very serious, and

quite possibly fatal.”

Andi bit her lip. Her head felt like she had cracked it open, but if Justin said she

was all right, then she must not be as bad off as she felt.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered again. “God told me to jump, so I jumped.”

Justin nodded. “That’s probably why your injuries are not life-threatening.

You were at least a little prepared for the fall. But good grief, Andi! Falling off a

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bicycle in San Francisco is not the same as being thrown from a horse onto a grassy

pasture.”

Andi nodded then winced. Even nodding hurt.

Jenny wandered over to Andi’s bed and gave her a lopsided grin. “I fell off

after pedaling about twelve yards. I couldn’t the hang of it.”

She sucked in a breath and let it out. It was Jenny’s way of showing she was

relieved. “I’m glad I couldn’t get the hang of it. I took a spill when I wasn’t going

very fast. You scared us all half to death. Everybody knows Nob Hill gets steep

fast.” Her eyes turned wide. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

Jenny looked like she had her own share of scrapes and bruises. One cheek

was black and blue. Clearly, her fall had not been gentle.

“I got a bloody scrape up and down one leg,” she related. “Tore my skirt too.

The bicycle came down on top of me. That hurt plenty.”

Andi tried not to laugh at the picture Jenny was painting in her head. Trapped

under a monster contraption. Jenny screaming her head off. Broken handlebars—

A terrible thought crossed Andi’s mind. “How is”—she swallowed—“how is

Joseph’s bicycle?”

Justin sighed. “In better shape then you are. Seriously, the wheel bent, and a

few spokes snapped, but it’s nothing that can’t be repaired. He was quite worried

about you.”

“Even Florence was worried,” Jenny added.

“You’ll be in bed for a few more days,” Justin said. He rose and waggled a

finger at her. “I mean it, Andi. You stay in bed. Then you may return to your

classes. If you can’t promise me this, then I’m taking you home to the ranch.”

The ranch? Mother? Uh-oh.

“If I promise to stay in bed like you say, will you promise not to tell Mother

what happened? I don’t want to worry her.”

Justin nodded. “Since the doctor says your injuries are painful but not serious,

I will agree to that.”

He smiled, as if that was the plan all along.

Then he reached over to the nightstand and picked up a book. “Here’s some

reading material while you’re recovering,” he said.

Painfully, Andi scooted herself to a sitting position and took the book from

Justin.

It was one of Warne’s Useful Books. The publisher put out a whole series of

books they felt would be useful to the public.

“The Modern Bicycle,” Andi read, frowning at the cover illustration.

A man was riding a bicycle. A fellow on horseback followed close behind. Near

the bicycle’s front wheel, a rabbit lay limp. Most likely dead.

Andi wrinkled her nose. “Whose idea was this?”

Justin chuckled. “Joseph’s. He says the book is full of useful instructions on

how to ride a bicycle. He says you need it.”

Andi couldn’t help it. No matter how much it hurt, she couldn’t stop laughing.

Justin and Jenny laughed too.