A New Home for Lily (14 page)

L
ily woke up early, confused. Why was she on the floor instead of in her nice warm bed? Then she remembered. Yesterday, Mama had a baby. Carrie Kauffman had moved in to be Mama's helper for several weeks. She was sharing Lily's hallway bedroom. In fact, she was sleeping in Lily's bed. That's why Lily was on the floor in a nest bed.

Lily felt worried about having Effie Kauffman's older cousin stay with them. She didn't know Carrie very well and she hoped she would be much nicer than Effie. She hoped she would be less nosy and tattletale-ish than her aunt Ida. Otherwise, it was going to be a very long six weeks.

A horrible alarm went off on the dresser next to Lily's bed. Carrie jumped up to shut off the alarm clock. That, Lily decided, was a bad sign. The first bad sign of Carrie Kauffman. Lily did not like having an alarm clock in her bedroom. It was hard enough to have two noisy brothers right through
the door. She would prefer to have Papa or Mama wake her up in their gentle way instead of a shrieking alarm.

Lily pretended to be asleep while Carrie dressed and went downstairs. She thought about staying asleep as long as she could, but then she changed her mind. She quickly got up and slipped into her everyday dress. She was going to go see what Carrie was up to. After Dannie had been born, Frieda Troyer came, and she rearranged everything in Mama's kitchen. That was no help at all. After Frieda Troyer left, Mama and Lily put everything back in its place.

When Lily came into the kitchen, she saw Carrie try to poke at the last few red embers in the bottom of the stove to coax them to burn. Lily quickly ran to the basement and brought an armful of kindling for her. Maybe, Lily reasoned, if she helped with extra chores, then Carrie could go home sooner.

Carrie thanked Lily as she took the kindling from her and added it to the stove. She blew gently until a little flame started growing, then closed the stove lid. “Lily, what would you like for breakfast this morning?”

“Mama makes porridge every morning,” Lily said. “And everyone has one egg except for Papa. He gets three eggs.”

Lily got the eggs from the pantry and showed Carrie where to find the pot to make the porridge. She set the table as Carrie stirred the porridge. Lily kept one eye on her, just in case she was thinking about rearranging cupboards. So far, so good.

Soon, Lily heard the basement door creak open. Papa was coming in from doing chores in the barn. She ran down the basement stairs to meet him. “Good morning, early bird,” Papa said in his cheerful way. He sat down to pull off his boots. “What made you get up so early?”

“I got up to make sure Carrie doesn't try to rearrange Mama's kitchen.”

Papa pulled one boot off. He glanced at Lily. “While Carrie is here, I want you to be kind and polite to her. Even if she does things a little differently than the way we're used to.” He pulled the other boot off. “Okay?”

Lily nodded. She didn't think that was the best plan, but she would try to be quiet even if Carrie did things wrong. For Papa's sake. Then she brightened. If she were extra nice, then maybe Carrie would go home and tell Effie what a wonderful girl Lily was. Then, maybe Effie would be nicer to Lily in school. It was worth a try.

Papa went up the stairs with the pail of Pansy's fresh sweet milk. Lily followed behind him. He set the pail on the rug inside the door. “Go get a jar and show Carrie how to strain the milk.”

As Lily went back down the basement stairs, she pondered how confusing grown-ups could be. Papa had just told her not to worry about how Carrie did the chores. Next thing, he told Lily to teach Carrie how to strain the milk.

After the milk was strained and safely stored in the refrigerator, Carrie started to prepare eggs. Lily watched as she broke them directly into the frying pan. She had to blink a few times as she saw Carrie pour a glass of water into the pan and cover them up with a lid. This was another bad sign. Sign #2. Mama never made eggs like that.

When the eggs were ready, everybody sat at the table to eat. All but Mama. Meals were delivered to her in bed. Papa bowed his head to ask a silent blessing. Before Papa raised his head to signal the end of the prayer, Lily quietly added, “Dear God, please help me eat those eggs.”

Papa reached for the platter of eggs and slid three onto his plate. He passed the platter to Lily. She felt her stomach do a flip-flop. The eggs didn't look like anything she wanted
to eat. The slightest movement of the platter made them jiggle all over. They were slippery eggs. She chose the least jiggly egg and let it slip onto her plate. She dipped a piece of bread into the yolk and ate it. Then she cut bravely into the egg white. It was still runny. Lily tried to keep from gagging, right there at the table. She pushed the jiggly egg to the very side of her plate and hoped Papa wouldn't notice it. Even porridge sounded better than this slimy, yucky egg, and she hated porridge.

As soon as breakfast was over and Carrie's attention turned to filling the sink with soapy water, Lily quietly scraped her leftover egg into the slop pail. The cats could eat that awful thing.

Carrie was humming to herself as she washed dishes. Maybe Carrie would wash the dishes while she was here. As long as Carrie didn't ask Lily to help, it wouldn't be wrong not to offer. Besides, Carrie seemed to enjoy washing dishes. Aunt Susie loved to wash dishes. Maybe Lily was doing a nice thing for Carrie—letting her do all the dishes.

This was a good sign. The first good sign.

On Monday morning, Lily was in a hurry to rush through the breakfast of slimy eggs. She couldn't wait to get to school and tell everyone they had a new baby at their house. She decided she wouldn't tell her friends that baby Paul was so ugly. They didn't need to know. In time, Grandma Miller had said, his looks might improve. Lily hoped so. After two days, Paul was still the ugliest baby she had ever seen.

Lily changed into her school clothes and ran down the stairs to get her lunch box. Carrie had not packed their lunches. Bad sign #3. Quickly, Lily spread some butter and jam on several
pieces of bread and filled a bowl with canned pears. She put everything in their lunch boxes and shut the lids. There was no time to waste. Not today.

By the time Lily and Joseph arrived at school, most of the other children were already there. Effie was in a corner of the schoolroom, surrounded by the other third grade girls. Lily quickly hung her bonnet on a hook and went to join them. She could hardly wait! It wasn't every day that she had exciting news. In fact, today was the first time ever.

Beth smiled as Lily joined the circle. “I'm so happy to hear about your new baby.”

Lily stopped abruptly. Her excitement popped like a balloon. “But . . . how did you know?”

“Effie told us,” Beth said.

Effie.
Since her cousin Carrie was the Lapps' helper, Effie would have found out about the baby. And if Effie had news to tell, she would tell it. Another reason why having Carrie Kauffman as the helper was not a good idea. Bad sign #4.

“Can I stop in on the way home from school and see the baby?” Beth said.

“Oh yes!” Lily said. At least she could be the one to show the baby to Beth first. Effie couldn't do that.

After school that day, Beth and Lily walked home together. Lily quickly ran to Mama's bedroom. “Beth is here and would like to see the baby.”

Mama smiled. She still looked tired. “Tell her she can come in.”

Lily motioned to Beth. She quietly came into the bedroom. Mama handed baby Paul to her. Lily cringed. With all the excitement, she had forgotten to warn Beth that Paul was red and wrinkly and ugly. But Beth didn't seem to notice. Her eyes were circles of astonishment as she cradled him in
her arms. “Look at his tiny nose and mouth,” she said softly. “And his cute little hands and his soft hair.”

Lily took a closer look. If you didn't pay any attention to how red and blotchy his face was, his nose and mouth were kind of sweet looking. And his tiny hands were cute, even though they were wrinkled and had creases. She had never even noticed how soft his hair was, only thin and wispy.

Carefully, Beth handed Paul back to Mama as if she were holding spun sugar. “Thank you for letting me hold him. I've never held a newborn baby before.”

After Beth went home, Lily looked more closely at baby Paul. She thought his looks might have improved since this morning. She couldn't call him cute, but he wasn't quite as ugly.

Carrie Kauffman wasn't too bad a helper, even if Effie was her cousin. Carrie liked to sing. She taught Lily a new song and helped her sing it every evening. And she washed all the dishes. Every dish! After all the evening work was done, Carrie would often play a game with Joseph and Dannie and Lily.

All in all, there was only one thing Carrie did wrong, but it was a doozy. Every single morning she served those slimy eggs. Lily wondered how Papa could possibly eat three of them every morning. It made her gag just to think about it.

One morning, as Lily pushed the runny egg white to the side of her plate, Papa happened to see her do it. “Eat your egg, Lily.”

Lily stared at the egg miserably. How could she eat this awful egg? She cut into it tiny pieces, but as thin, watery egg ran along her plate, she could feel the pinprick of tears in her eyes. She couldn't make herself take a bite of those
awful things! From somewhere deep inside of her burst out, “They're slimy and gross!”

Oh no.
Did she really say that?

Joseph and Dannie stopped eating and looked at her. Carrie's face went beet red. Papa cleared his throat. “That will be enough, Lily. If you don't want your egg you can go and get ready for school.”

Lily went upstairs to change her clothes. She felt sorry that she hurt Carrie's feelings. What if Carrie went home and told Effie about Lily's outburst? She would be teased about it for weeks. She could hear Effie's squeaky voice, chanting: “Miss Slimy Eggs!” She could only imagine what Aaron Yoder would do with that particular bit of information.

The next morning, the eggs looked different. Carrie had fried them until they were hard. Practically burnt. Lily didn't mind. She ate all of her egg. Every bite.

That evening, after Carrie had fallen asleep, Lily was wide awake. She went downstairs to get a drink of water. As she passed Papa and Mama's bedroom door, she heard Papa mention Lily's name. She tried not to listen, she knew it was wrong, but she just couldn't help herself. “I wish Lily would have had her outburst on the very first morning,” Papa was saying to Mama. “It would have saved us from eating a lot of awful eggs.” She heard them gently chuckling with each other.

Lily tiptoed to the kitchen to get her drink of water. So, Papa and Mama hadn't liked those eggs either. Her feet felt light as she skipped up the stairs to go to bed.

F
riday afternoons were the best part of the week. Teacher Rhoda often saved a surprise for the children—a game or an art project. On this rainy Friday, she stood in front of the classroom and smiled. “We will be doing something a little different today,” she said. “I have a pile of paper here in front of me. Each one is filled with the same set of instructions. I will place one upside down on everyone's desk from third grade on up. I don't want you to peek at them until I say, ‘Go.' The pupil who follows the instructions the best will get a little prize.”

Lily glanced over at Joseph and the other first and second graders. They didn't read well enough to take part in an important quiz like this one. She was sorry for them. She remembered how it felt to be their age. Too little for anything fun.

Lily was glad she was in third grade. She liked to win prizes and wondered what today's prize might be. She hoped
it would be several stickers or maybe even a pretty eraser. In her mind, she reviewed the hint Teacher Rhoda had given them—to follow the instructions carefully. This would be easy. She was a careful instruction follower.

Teacher Rhoda walked from desk to desk, laying a sheet of paper facedown on each child's desk. Lily stared at the piece of paper on her desk. She wished she could start right away. When the last piece of paper had been handed out, Teacher Rhoda returned to her desk. The children held their pencils up in the air, ready and waiting. Teacher Rhoda looked around the room, making sure everyone was ready. “Go!”

How exciting! The race was off and running. Lily quickly flipped her sheet over and skimmed the line at the top of the page:
Read all the instructions before you begin.

#1 Write your name in cursive at the top of the paper.

Lily quickly wrote her name in cursive at the top of the paper. Then she looked at the next instruction.

#2 Draw a picture of a barn on the back of this paper.

She flipped her paper over and drew a barn. It didn't look very pretty, but the instructions didn't say anything about it looking pretty and she wanted to get it done fast. She was going to win that prize.

#3 Tear the bottom right-hand corner off your paper.

Lily quickly tore a little piece off. She could hear the sound of paper getting torn from all across the schoolroom. She wondered if Aaron Yoder would know enough to tear the right corner instead of the left one. She didn't think he was
very bright. She glanced at him and was surprised to see that he wasn't working on the paper. He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, studying the raindrops that pelted the window, as if he had all the time in the world. He would never get the quiz done in time if he didn't start soon. Wasn't that just like Aaron Yoder not to care what Teacher Rhoda told him to do?

Lily turned her attention back to her sheet of paper.

#4 Fold your paper into an airplane.

She quickly folded it. Grandpa Miller had taught her how to make paper airplanes. This was fun. Then she unfolded it again to see what was next.

#5 Write your name backwards.

The next few instructions were for some addition and subtraction problems. They tripped Lily up and slowed her down. She had to erase and do them over a few times.

#8 Go get your hat or bonnet and place it on your head. Then sit at your desk.

A flurry began with a hiss of whispers as the children ran to get their hats and bonnets. Lily sat back down at her desk, wanting to burst out laughing. Everyone looked so funny with a hat or bonnet on, inside! That never happened.

Then she noticed Aaron Yoder. He was bareheaded, still at his desk, at his ease. On his face was a goofy grin.

There were only a few instructions left to be done. Aaron would never get the paper done in time. It would serve him right not to get a prize.

Lily came to the last instruction and her heart sank to her toes.

#10 Now that you have read all the instructions, do only #1.

Suddenly, she felt ridiculous, sitting there in her bonnet. Teacher Rhoda could see that she had not followed instructions. It gave her some small comfort that no one else had followed them, either. No one except for . . . Aaron Yoder.

Teacher Rhoda asked Aaron to come forward. She opened her desk and pulled out a little wooden puzzle game. “Congratulations, Aaron,” she said as she handed it to him. “You are the only one who followed instructions.”

Not fair! This was the best prize Teacher Rhoda had ever given out. It wasn't fair that Aaron Yoder won it. He walked back to his desk with a smug look on his face. He strutted, as proud as a peacock.

The problem, Lily thought, was that winning this prize would only make Aaron all the more insufferable. So not fair.

One Saturday afternoon, Papa bought a baby calf from a neighbor. He led it into an empty stall in the barn. Lily and Dannie watched the small calf through the slats of the stall. Lily had seen plenty of calves, but never one like this one. It was a lovely golden brown, covered with white speckles. Papa said the farmer needed to get rid of it because it wasn't a girl calf. Lily understood the importance of girls—hadn't she been wanting a sister for years and years?—but she felt sorry that the calf wasn't wanted just because it was a boy. Papa and Mama would never get rid of baby Paul, even if
they secretly wanted a baby girl. She was pleased that Papa rescued the calf. Papa was kind like that.

“What will we name it?” Lily said.

“We'll have to discuss different ideas,” Papa said.

Dannie put his hand through the wooden slat to pat the calf's little head. “Let's call it Pretzel.”

“Pretzel?” Papa said. He was trying not to smile. “Why would you want to call him Pretzel?”

“Because he's the color of a pretzel and all the white specks look like salt,” Dannie said.

Papa's face broke into a broad smile. “That sounds like a very good reason. Pretzel it is.”

Lily could think of so many better suggestions: Speckles. Spots. Goldie. But now the calf would be stuck with Pretzel for a name. She sighed. This was the problem with letting little boys name things. They came up with ridiculous names.

Each evening, Papa milked Pansy and poured the milk into a pail. He added some of her milk to Pretzel's pail to feed him. He set Pansy's pail down and held the pail for Pretzel. Lily watched as Pretzel slurped his mixed milk noisily out of his pail. His tail was twitching happily the whole time. It looked like fun. “Can I hold the pail for Pretzel?”

Papa let Lily hold the pail. “Make sure you hold it tight. When the pail is almost empty, calves like to bump their heads against it hard. They think it will make more milk appear.”

Lily held the pail firmly with both hands. The milk disappeared as Pretzel slurped. He had almost buried his entire nose in the milk. Lily wondered how he could breathe like that. Papa, satisfied that Lily was holding the pail tightly, went to spread straw in Jim's stall.

Finally, there was only a little bit of milk left. Lily tipped the pail to help the calf get to it. Pretzel bumped the pail with his head as hard as he could. Lily went flying backwards and landed with a splash right in the pail of Pansy's milk that was waiting to be taken into the house.

Papa heard the
kersplash!
and stopped to see what had happened. He helped Lily stand up and looked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. Then, he started laughing. He laughed so hard that he had tears running down his cheeks. Lily didn't think it was very funny. Her dress was soaking wet. Warm, sticky milk was running down her legs, making a puddle by her feet.

Papa wiped his face with his hands. “I'll clean up here. Run into the house and get changed.”

Lily ran into the house, her long wet skirt slapping at her legs. Lily wondered how one little calf could be so strong. Tomorrow she would let Papa hold the pail to feed Pretzel. She was done with boy calves.