A Surprise for Lily (10 page)

L
ily looked out the kitchen window and saw three buggies drive up to the hitching rack by the barn. The three members of the school board climbed out of their buggies and tied their horses, looking serious and solemn. Papa walked out from his shop to meet them.

Lily tried to think of everything Joseph had done in school recently that might have gotten him into serious trouble, but she couldn't think of a thing. Harvey was the one who was constantly causing trouble. Then Lily's stomach did a flip-flop. She was the only one in the upper grades who was passing English. What if the school board thought she was cheating?

After a few minutes, Papa came to the house to find Mama.
She was feeding Paul in the kitchen. “Rachel, there are some folks here who want to talk to us.”

Oh, boy.
Something must be really wrong if they needed to talk to
both
Mama and Papa.

Mama looked at him curiously. “Lily, please finish feeding Paul for me.” She handed Lily a bowl of peas, grabbed her shawl, and followed Papa outside. Lily's stomach clenched even tighter. She had a terrible feeling that something awful was coming, like the way the wind settled right before a storm hit.

Lily sprinkled peas on Paul's high chair tray. It was high time that little boy learned to feed himself. She opened the window a big crack to try to overhear the school board members. They were down by the buggies but their voices were too low and she couldn't understand what they were saying. All she could hear was the murmur of deep male voices. Mama wasn't talking at all.

After a long time, she saw Mama turn and head back to the house. Lily hurried over to resume feeding Paul. Instead of eating the peas, he had mashed them up with his fat little hands and made a green, mushy mess. Mama came into the kitchen so preoccupied she didn't even comment on Paul's green glop. “Thank you for taking care of Paul for me while I was outside,” she told Lily. She didn't say anything about what the school board had wanted. She just picked up the spoon and started to feed Paul again.

Lily waited and waited, until she couldn't stand it any longer. “What did they want?” she asked. “Am I in trouble? Is Joseph?”

Mama looked up at her in surprise, as if she had forgotten Lily was standing beside her. “You and Joseph don't have to worry about anything.”

Lily stayed right there, hoping that Mama would tell her why the school board had come calling, but Mama didn't say another word about it. Lily knew enough to know there was no point in asking her.

A few days later, the three members of the school board drove up to Whispering Pines again and parked their buggies. Again, Papa came inside and asked Mama to go down to the shop to talk to them. And again, Mama didn't say a word about what the school board had wanted. Over the next two weeks, the school board came two more times to have a talk with Mama and Papa. Then, they came for a fifth time with Uncle Jacob, the new bishop.
Oh, boy.
When the bishop arrived unexpectedly, even if he was Mama's little brother, something serious was up.

That evening, Papa and Mama told Lily and Joseph and Dannie that they needed to have a family discussion. Papa scooped Paul up into his arms and led the way into the living room.

Lily, Joseph, and Dannie followed Papa and Mama into the living room and sat on the couch facing them. What was going on?

Papa cleared his throat. “How would you children like a new English teacher?”

So that's why the school board came to visit! They wanted to get rid of Teacher Judith. In a way, Lily wasn't entirely surprised. Teacher Judith had terrible trouble keeping order in the class. The boys were constantly cutting up and creating disruptions. She never stopped them or scolded them or kept them after school. It was probably best that she be fired. “Where will Teacher Judith go?”

“She's still going to be your teacher,” Papa said. “The school
board is concerned about how she teaches English, so they have decided to hire a teacher to come in a few afternoons each week and teach English class.”

“Who will it be?” Joseph asked.

“That's the best part,” Papa said. He was beaming, positively beaming. “Mama has agreed to teach English two afternoons a week.”

Mama?
Mama would teach at the school? Lily was horrified! Mama might be good at explaining English so that Lily knew how to do it in school, but she didn't want her to
come
to school. Lily didn't want to share her with a schoolhouse filled with other children. She wanted to be in school and know that Mama was at home cooking, baking, sewing, and doing all the things that other mothers were doing.

Lily wanted things to stay the same, with Mama tutoring her at home so she got better grades than everybody else. Better than Effie and Aaron's grades. She liked being smarter than everyone else in school. In fact, she loved it.

What would happen when Harvey caused mischief? Or Aaron or Sam? Teacher Judith never knew how to handle mischief because it always came in a different form. Mama was so kind and never lost her temper. Why, Harvey Hershberger could run circles around her.

And what if Effie said mean things about Mama, or mocked her behind her back, the way she made fun of Teacher Judith? That was a very real possibility. She couldn't bear it if Mama were mocked by Effie.

Lily jumped up from the couch, ran up the stairs, and flopped on her bed. She buried her face in her pillow. Before she had a chance to start crying, she heard Papa's footsteps on the stairs.

Lily's door creaked open and Papa sat next to her on the bed. “Would you like to tell me why you're upset about Mama teaching English?”

Lily didn't want to tell Papa all the crazy thoughts that were running through her head. She couldn't even look at Papa. She shook her head and kept her face buried in her pillow.

In a gentle voice, Papa said, “Lily, sit up and tell me about it.”

Lily sat up slowly. “I just don't want Mama to be the teacher.”

“But why not?”

Papa gave her a moment to gather her thoughts. When Lily didn't say anything more, he tried to help her figure out what was wrong. “Are you afraid Mama won't know how to teach?”

Lily shook her head. That wasn't it. She was sure Mama would know how to teach. She knew most everything.

Papa finally gave up. “Lily, Mama needs our love and support right now. We're all going to work together to make everything as easy for her as we can. We will all need to pitch in and help more around the house while she studies and prepares lessons for school.” He walked to the door, then turned back. “You might be surprised at how much you enjoy having Mama as a teacher. I have a feeling that the days she comes to teach might be your favorite school days of all.” He closed the door as he left the room.

Maybe Papa was right. Maybe the whole situation would be better than Lily thought.

But then her thoughts traveled to Effie and Harvey. She lay there for the rest of the night, without a sigh left in her.

Lily sat at her desk in school, anxiously looking up at the clock. Only fifteen more minutes before noon recess. During
lunch, Mama would arrive at the schoolhouse and become the new English teacher. Lily had all kinds of feelings: nervousness, worry, and the tiniest little bit of excitement. She wondered what Papa would do to keep Dannie and Paul out of trouble. They liked to watch him work in the shop, but often he would shoo them upstairs to Mama because they were tempted to get too close to the machinery. Lily hoped Papa wouldn't use any noisy, dangerous machinery with Dannie and Paul nearby.

“Put your books away for recess,” Teacher Judith said.

Desk lids clattered open and shut as books were shoved inside. When the students were ready, Teacher Judith told them all to stand.

The children rose and stood beside their desks to sing a little song to thank God for their food. Then they lined up to wash their hands at the sink and fetch their lunch boxes off the shelf. Lily was halfway through her sandwich when she heard a clopping of hooves and a jangle of harness. Her stomach did a funny little flip-flop as she looked out the window and saw Jim pulling the buggy. Papa stopped Jim in front of the schoolhouse and Mama climbed out of the buggy. Lily watched her wave goodbye to Papa, Dannie, and Paul before she came into the schoolhouse.

Teacher Judith welcomed Mama in. “I'll turn the schoolhouse over to you,” she said. “I have a dentist appointment this afternoon, so I'll be leaving right away.” Mama seemed a little surprised by that. The school board had wanted Teacher Judith to stay and learn from Mama along with the students so she could teach English on her own.

Mama walked to the front of the schoolhouse and placed her satchel on the teacher's desk. On a typical day, the children finished their lunches and rushed outside to play. Today, there
was an exciting game of Prisoner's Base that had been carried over from morning recess and needed to be finished. But no one left the room. Even the big boys stuck around. Everyone was curious about the new teacher. Lily felt awkward. As she watched Mama get settled at the desk, she didn't look like Lily's mama. She looked like a teacher. It was an odd feeling. Lily wanted to run up to her and talk to her or help her. But at the same time, she didn't.

Finally, the children wandered out to the playground and picked up the game of Prisoner's Base. Soon, Mama rang the bell and recess was over. She told the students to continue working on their assignments. She would call each class, one at a time, to the front of the schoolhouse for English class. She started with the eighth graders. A rustling sound of papers shuffling and books opening rippled through the schoolhouse as the other classes got to work. Lily could hardly concentrate on her work as she watched Mama explain English to the eighth graders. Then it was the seventh graders' turn. Finally, Mama said, “Sixth grade, please come to the front.”

The sixth graders hurried to the front of the room, all except Harvey Hershberger. He flipped over and started walking up the aisle on his hands. The schoolhouse was absolutely still, as if the children were holding their breath, watching Harvey and wondering how Mama was going to react.

This was
just
the sort of thing Lily had been dreading! Poor Mama. She was even sweeter and kinder than Teacher Judith. Harvey needed a teacher who would punish him and keep him after school and send scolding notes home to his parents. Lily was mortified for Mama.

Mama watched Harvey walk upside down to the front
row. She didn't look amused, but she didn't look flustered or upset. Lily couldn't tell what she was thinking.

After Harvey turned right side up and sat on the bench, Mama walked up to him.
Oh, boy. Here it comes.
Harvey would say something sassy to Mama, like he always did to Teacher Judith. Lily hoped Mama would punish him.
Scold him, Mama! Send him home!

“Why, Harvey,” Mama said, “that was quite impressive. You're very good at walking on your hands. Would you like to teach the other boys how to walk on their hands during next recess? I think most of them would like to know how. I can't think of a better teacher than you.”

Harvey sat up so straight and proud that it looked like he had a ruler down his shirt back. “Well, I believe I could do that.”

Mama nodded and turned her attention to teaching the English lesson to the sixth grade. Lily felt her face flame with embarrassment. It was clear that Mama wasn't going to be any stricter with Harvey than Teacher Judith. He would be running this classroom before long.

At recess, Mama reminded Harvey that he'd agreed to teach the boys how to walk on their hands. She told the girls that they could stay and watch if they wanted to or go outside to play.

Lily wanted to go outside and run away as far as she could. Poor Mama. She was giving Harvey all the attention he craved. He would be even more impossible to be around, and that would only encourage Aaron Yoder and Sam Stoltzfus to act up. Poor, poor Mama. She didn't know what she was in for.

None of the girls would go outside with Lily. They wanted to stay inside and watch Harvey. He worked up a sweat as
he circled the room by walking on his hands, yelling out instructions right and left to the boys as he passed by them.

It was a cold winter day that brought a chill into the schoolhouse, but by the end of recess the boys were exhausted, hot, and sweaty. Especially Harvey. He was silent for the rest of the afternoon, which was quite, quite unusual. Several times, Lily caught him rubbing his arms as if they ached.

Lily never saw Harvey walk on his hands again.