A Surprise for Lily (6 page)

Lily looked over at Sam's desk, and there was Dozer, calmly finishing off the last of Sam's sandwich. If it hadn't been
Dozer, she might have had a good laugh over the sight of Sam, looking so indignant, as Dozer polished off his sandwich. But since it was Dozer, she couldn't enjoy the moment.

It was a sunny Tuesday in September. Mama checked each pin in Lily's dress to make sure they fit neatly. “Okay, Lily, I think you're ready to go.” Lily wished Mama meant she could go to school, but there would be no school today. The whole community was taking a day off school and work to help Uncle Elmer and his family load a semi with their belongings. They had sold their farm and were moving to live with Hannah's grandparents on her father's side. Uncle Elmer would manage his parents' farm.

Lily ran out the door to join Papa and Joseph and Dannie. Mama decided to stay home with little Paul. “I don't want to see them leave,” Mama had admitted at breakfast. “We said our goodbyes last evening when they were all here for supper, and I don't think I can say goodbye again.” It looked as if Mama was trying not to cry. She was going to miss her sister Mary as much as Lily would miss her cousin Hannah.

But Lily felt differently about saying goodbye. She was sad, so sad, that Hannah was moving, but she wanted to spend every minute with her before she left. It would be a long time before she could see her again.

When Papa steered Jim into the driveway, Lily was dismayed to see horses and buggies parked everywhere, filling Uncle Elmer's driveway. As soon as Papa said she could go, Lily jumped off the buggy, ducked around people, and ran into the house to find Hannah. The house was strange, empty, and echoey. Boxes were piled along the wall beside the front
door, waiting to be carried out. Men carried furniture out to the waiting semitrailer.

Aunt Mary spotted Lily from across the kitchen. “Hannah is upstairs in her room.”

Lily flew up the stairs. Her heart caught when she saw Hannah's room. Her bed and dresser were gone. She was removing her clothes from the closet and folding them neatly before she placed them in a box. Lily quietly sat down beside her and helped fold clothes. It didn't take long until that job was done, but they didn't know what to do next. They went downstairs, but there were so many people milling around the house that they kept getting in the way, so finally they went back to Hannah's room and sat on the floor to talk. The only problem was that they had nothing to say to each other. Too sad.

By noon, the trailer was filled. Everyone gathered to eat sandwiches and cookies that the women had brought along. Too soon, lunch was over. Now it was really time to say goodbye.

The women murmured comforting words to Aunt Mary. “God bless you in your new home. I hope you'll be very happy as you adjust to a new community. Safe travels. Come back to visit often.” Aunt Mary shook each person's hand, thanking them for helping, saying goodbye.

Lily gave Hannah a hug. Tears started to sting her eyes and she tried to blink faster to hide them. A little part of her felt bothered that Hannah didn't seem nearly as sad about leaving as Lily was to see her go.

As Hannah and her family walked out the door to leave, Lily understood why Mama didn't want to have to watch them go. She couldn't stand it, either. While the rest of the
community waved goodbye as the van and trailer drove away, Lily ran up the stairs into Hannah's empty room. She opened the closet door and sat on the floor. The tears that had threatened to come all morning were here now, and she couldn't stop them.

After Lily had cried herself out, she wiped her face with her apron. She knew that the women had planned to wash all the walls, windows, and floors after Uncle Elmer's family left. They wanted to get the house ready for the new family that was moving in tomorrow. How awful it would be if the women opened up Hannah's closet and found Lily sobbing.

Slowly, she peeped her head out the closet door. To her horror, David Yoder, Aaron's father, stood in the middle of the room. He looked surprised to see Lily's head emerge out of the closet. “I just wanted to walk through the house to make sure they didn't forget anything before the new family moves in,” he said. He glanced around the room. “It looks like they forgot to take a thermometer.” He plucked a heart-shaped thermometer off the wall and handed it to Lily. “You can take this home with you and hang it on your wall. That way, every time you see it, you can feel good about taking care of something for Hannah until you see her again. You can give it to her the next time you see her. Maybe it will help you to not miss her quite as much.”

Lily took the thermometer from David Yoder and hugged it close to her. She was sure he must be one of the kindest men she had ever met. As kind as Papa. He could understand how sad she was feeling and tried to make her feel better without embarrassing her. Just the opposite of his son. How disappointed he must be to have a son like Aaron.

Lily knew she should probably help the women and girls
clean the house, but she couldn't stay any longer. She found her bonnet from the closet shelf and went to find Papa to tell him that she was going home. That was fine with him. Papa understood, just like David Yoder. Hannah was like a sister to Lily.

Mama was surprised to see Lily when she got home. She smiled when Lily showed Hannah's thermometer to her and told her what David Yoder had said. “That sounds like a good idea,” Mama said. “I'll help you hang it on your bedroom wall right away. I think Hannah would be pleased.”

Mama helped Lily select the best spot in her room and pounded a nail into the bedroom wall. Lily hung the thermometer carefully on it. Mama and Lily sat on the bed and looked at it. Somewhere out there, Hannah and the rest of her family were in a van traveling far away to their new home, but a part of her remained behind in that little heart-shaped thermometer. It made Lily feel better just looking at it. She wondered if it helped Mama, too.

The sweet moment was broken when Paul picked up the hammer and started to pound the floor, making dents.

Mama jumped off the bed and took the hammer from Paul. “I think it's time to get to work. I want to bake an extra batch of gingersnap cookies to take along tomorrow when we help the new family move in. Who knows, Lily? Maybe you'll end up with a special new friend.”

L
ily sat in her desk at school and tried to concentrate on studying her German spelling, but she couldn't stop glancing over at the empty desk next to her. Hannah's desk. She wondered if Hannah had started school today.

Then her thoughts drifted over to the new family that was moving into Hannah's house today. She wondered if the family had already unloaded their belongings. Papa and Mama were going to spend the day helping them.

Lily thought there shouldn't be school today. She thought it would be nice if everyone could be there to help them move in and welcome them to Cloverdale, but Papa said that the only time school was canceled was when someone got married, someone died, or someone moved away. Everyone needed to say goodbye. But when a person moved in, there would be
plenty of people there to help unload the truck without the school children underfoot. There would be plenty more time to say hello and get acquainted later on.

Lily wondered how many children might be in the new family and if one of them might sit in Hannah's empty desk. In a way, she hoped so. In another way, she hoped not.

The next morning, as Lily finished drying the last breakfast dish, she looked out the window to see if she could catch any sight of those new children as they walked to school. Were they feeling nervous about starting a new school?

Lily would never forget how she had felt when she first moved to Cloverdale and had to walk into a classroom filled with strangers staring curiously at her. Her head felt light and her hands were icy cold and she thought she might throw up, right in front of everyone. She hoped the new children weren't feeling as anxious as she had been. Mama had told her there were many children in the family, including girls, but she couldn't remember if one was Lily's age. It was disappointing to Lily that Mama wouldn't have made a point to find out that particular piece of information. Lily couldn't wait to meet these new girls. The new girls would never take Hannah's place, but it was always, always a good thing to have more girls in school.

Lily peered out the window to see if the new children had started up the road yet. Mama had told them to stop at Whispering Pines so Joseph and Lily could show them the way to school. So far, there was no sign of them. She hoped they wouldn't be late. “Mama, what are the girls' names?”

“I don't remember,” Mama said. “There were so many
children I couldn't keep track of everyone's names or ages. I do remember the names of the parents: Abe and Clara Hershberger.”

“I like that last name,” Dannie said. “It sounds like a chocolate burger. Hershey burger.” He hopped around the kitchen on one leg, chanting “Hershey burger, Hershey burger, chocolate, chocolate Hershey burgers.”

Lily frowned at Dannie. He listened in to every conversation she and Mama had. She wondered how Mama could be so patient with him, all day long.

Mama only laughed at Dannie. “Chocolate burgers sound rather unappetizing to me, especially after breakfast.”

When Dannie kept chanting “Hershey burger,” Lily finally put a stop to it. She had caught sight of the children walking up the road and didn't want them to hear Dannie bungling their name. Once he got something into his head, it was hard to change it. “Dannie, their last name is ‘Hershberger.' Not ‘Hershey burger.'”

Lily grabbed her bonnet and lunch box and tossed a hurried goodbye to Mama and Dannie. She ran down to the basement to tell Joseph it was time to meet the new children and show them the way to school.

As usual, Joseph was in no hurry to get to school. Slowly, he plucked his hat off the wall peg by the door. “Hurry, Joseph,” Lily said. She couldn't wait to meet these girls!

Lily and Joseph ran to the end of the driveway and stopped abruptly. There were six children standing at the edge of Whispering Pines' driveway: an older girl, a passel of boys, and two little girls.

For once, Lily was glad that Joseph wasn't shy. He walked
right up to them. “Hi,” he said. “I'm Joseph and this is Lily. Who are you?”

The tallest girl spoke first. “I'm Becky. I'm in eighth grade.” She pointed to a boy. “That's Harvey. He's in sixth grade. Junior is in fourth grade. Andy is in second. And Carrie and Mary are twins. They're in first grade.”

Becky's eyes left Lily and Joseph and darted down the road, where Aaron, Sam, and Sam's brother, Ephraim, had emerged from a shortcut in the woods to reach the road. Lily tried hard to cover her disappointment. Becky was not interested in her at all, and there were no other girls near Lily's age.

As Lily said hello to each child, she was shocked when Harvey winked at her. No one else seemed to notice, but she thought he was very bold. She quickly looked away but not before she felt her cheeks grow warm.

On the way to the schoolhouse, Becky asked Lily about the other eighth graders. “I'm sorry to say there are only two boys,” Lily said, and thought it was odd that Becky seemed pleased with that news. “Ephraim Stoltzfus and Wall-Eyed Walter.”

“Wall-Eyed Walter?” Becky repeated.

“We're not supposed to call him that, but everybody does,” Joseph piped up. “Walter's got a wandering eye. He's a little . . . different.”

Becky squinted. “How so?”

“His mind circles a little slow,” Joseph said, “but it eventually gets there.”

For the rest of the walk, Harvey did all the talking. Becky looked bored. Teacher Judith was on the school steps, waiting to show the new children to their desks. As each child settled into the desks, the schoolhouse was bursting at the
seams. All empty seats were now full. Lily glanced all around the room, liking the extra noise and activity. Then her eyes met Harvey's and he gave her a foxy grin with a wink. Lily snapped her head to face the front of the schoolhouse.

That
boy was trouble.

The very next day, Harvey stepped inside the schoolhouse door just as the final bell was rung. He removed his hat and hung it up on the wall peg. He put his lunch box on the shelf with all the other children's lunches. And suddenly, he was walking up the aisle on his hands. His legs waved in the air as he went. The whole class watched the spectacle, then burst
out laughing as he turned right side up and sat in his desk with a goofy grin on his face.

Effie Kauffman giggled. Sam Stoltzfus laughed the hardest of all. Aaron Yoder was watching Harvey with a curious look on his face. If Lily didn't dislike Aaron so much, she would wonder what he was thinking. But she did dislike him, so she wasn't going to wonder what, if anything, might be on Aaron Yoder's mind. Probably, he was jealous that he had never thought of such a stunt.

Teacher Judith called the sixth grade history class up to the front of the room. “Watch this, Lily,” Harvey whispered in his overly loud voice. He tucked his books under his suspenders and walked up to the front of the schoolhouse on his hands. Lily was astonished. That boy was brash.

“That's enough, Harvey,” Teacher Judith said. “The first time was funny. The second time wasn't. I don't want you to walk on your hands during school hours.”

Harvey flipped over to his feet and his books crashed on the floor. He picked them up and looked straight at Teacher Judith. “So you don't want me to use my hands during school hours.”

“That's what I said,” Teacher Judith said.

Harvey sat on the bench with the rest of his classmates. Lily returned to her own lessons and tried to ignore the lively history discussion of the sixth graders. An odd noise broke her concentration. She looked up to see the sixth graders returning to their desks. Harvey was kicking and pushing his books along on the floor in front of him.

“Harvey, pick up your books,” Teacher Judith said.

Harvey gave her a flippant look. “Sorry. Can't. You told me not to use my hands during school hours.”

Teacher Judith was losing patience, which was quite a feat. “I think you know what I meant.”

Harvey grinned. “So I can use my hands after all?”

“Use your hands to take your books back to your desk,” Teacher Judith said, slowly and clearly, as if Harvey might be very dim-witted.

Harvey picked up his books from the floor, slipped them under his suspenders, and walked back to his desk on his hands. Everyone burst out laughing again. Lily felt a little guilty about laughing, but it looked so funny! Then she caught Aaron frowning at her and her smile faded.

It didn't take Harvey Hershberger long to find his place in school. In fact, Lily thought he felt much too comfortable, too soon. From the first day on, Harvey made all the decisions about which games would be played at recess. He didn't want the first and second graders to play the same games as everyone else. “The little ones just slow everything down,” Harvey insisted. In a way, it was true. But in another way, it wasn't very kind to exclude them. But Harvey wouldn't back down.

To Lily's shock, Aaron Yoder stood up to him. “I think we should let the younger grades play with us the way they always did.” He scowled at Harvey. “The way they did before the Hershbergers moved in.”

Sam Stoltzfus, who normally did anything Aaron Yoder did, sided with Harvey. “No! Harvey's right. It's high time those little children should play their own silly little games so the older grades can have more fun.” The boys used up the entire recess arguing. Soon, Teacher Judith rang the bell and all the children had to run to the schoolhouse.

Lily had never heard so much fussing in the school yard before, even from Effie Kauffman.