by Erica Cianchette
Finally, on Dec. 11, 1620, the Pilgrims came to the place where they would settle.
They rowed across from the Mayflower in little boat called a shallop, towards the land. The wind blew hard on the Pilgrims' faces. The tides crashed against the boat like crazy. The Pilgrims paddled with all their might. They were so excited about making it across the ocean! They had started with 102 Pilgrims. William Button had died, but little Oceanus had been born, so they had the same exact number as when they started!
"I can't believe it that we made it across the ocean," Mary More said happily.
Finally, they landed on Plymouth Rock and everybody jumped for joy.
"We made it across the sea and only one of us died!" William White burst out. "Now we'll start to find a good place to make houses and gardens!" William White was the first one to step on the rock.
It was a good place to land because there were brooks and fields waiting for someone to come. There were two rivers and no Indians. It smelled like flowers. The Pilgrims got off and were so relieved the had all made it, except for William Button and the sailor who had been so mean to them. The women cleaned their clothes like crazy. The people all felt like sitting down because they were used to sitting down on the ship. There was also a cat named Dixie, a spaniel named Calvin, and a mastiff named Salty that sailed across the sea too.
"We need to find land before winter!" John Carver yelled. John Carver was their leader. He was a tall man with a beard.
"It's getting dark and I feel the wind coming," Myles Standish yelled to the others. "It will be winter very soon."
The tides grew low, and no birds were whistling. The sunset turned into a rainbow and everything was quiet. The wind blew softly, and the people could hear wolves howling in the far distance. Salty the mastiff and Calvin the spaniel sniffed around looking for a place to settle, while Dixie the cat walked with them.
Finally, Salty found a wide open space near fresh water that would be perfect for building the village.
"Salty, you have found a great place for us to stay!" William Mullins said. So they started building houses for the winter.