Bumpy Ride Ahead! (13 page)

“That’s right.” Mark pointed to the laundry basket, which was empty. “Can I get out the wagon now?”

“Sure,” Mattie said, “but only if I get to ride in it first.”

C
HAPTER
13

“Don’t go so fast!” Mattie hollered as Mark pulled the wagon up the driveway. “You’re makin’ me bounce too much!”

“Just hang on and enjoy the ride,” Mark called over his shoulder.

Mattie gripped the sides of the wagon a little tighter. Every time it hit a bump, her stomach flew up, just like it did when she got the swing in their backyard going too high. It was fun being pulled in the wagon, though.

“Okay, it’s my turn to ride now.” Mark stopped the wagon near the barn and motioned for Mattie to get out.

Mattie frowned. “Already? I didn’t get a very long turn.”

“Jah, you did,” he said. “I pulled you up and down the driveway four times, and now you have to do the same for me.”

“Oh, all right.” Mattie climbed out of the wagon, and Mark took her place. Then she grabbed hold of the handle, turned the wagon around, and started down the driveway.

“Go faster, Mattie!” Mark shouted. “Run, schnell!”

“I’m going as quickly as I can,” Mattie panted, trying to keep ahead of the wagon before it bumped into her.

Every time the wagon hit a bump, Mark laughed and hollered, “More! More! Schnell, Mattie!”

By the time Mattie had pulled Mark up and down the driveway four times, she was worn out. “Whew! I need to rest awhile,” she said, flopping down on the grass.

“You can rest in the wagon while I’m pulling you,” Mark said.

She shook her head. “It’s kind of hard to rest when the wagon is jigglin’ my tummy and shakin’ my teeth.”

Mark chuckled. “But that’s what makes riding in the wagon so much fun, don’t you think?”

“Jah, but I need to rest a bit before I go for another ride.”

“Okay.” Mark took a seat on the lawn beside Mattie and leaned his head back to look at the sky. Mattie figured he was probably studying the clouds.

“The puffy clouds look like giant pillows, don’t they?” Mark asked. He pointed toward the nearby oak tree. “Hey, look! A bunch of blue jays just landed in that tree.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. “Jah. If I had my pillow with me right now, I’d take a nap, and those birds could sing me to sleep.”

Mark tickled her under the chin.

“Absatz!” she said, pushing his hand away. “If you don’t stop, I’ll tickle your feet.”

“You can’t; I’m wearin’ my boots today, and you’d have a hard time gettin’ them off.”

“I could call Russell or Calvin to help me,” she said in a teasing tone.

“Better not, or I’ll run and hide.”

Mattie giggled. “Then don’t tickle me anymore.”

“All right, I won’t,” Mark said, still staring up at the clouds. “I sure do miss Ike not bein’ around as much as he used to be, don’t you?”

“I guess so,” Mattie answered. “But then Ike used to do more things with you, like fishing and other boy stuff.”

“I know, but I never thought Ike would quit doin’ the things we used to do together just so he could take some girl for a ride in his buggy or go to singings and such.”

“You must be talking about Catherine,” Mattie said.

“Jah.”

“You shouldn’t talk about her like that. I think she’s real nice.”

“Humph!” Mark didn’t have much to say about that. It wasn’t right that Catherine had pushed her way in. At least, that’s how Mark saw it. “She’s monopolizing all of Ike’s time these days.”

“Mon-opo-lizing?”

“Jah. It means she’s takin’ up all of Ike’s free time that he used to spend with me,” Mark explained.

“Oh Mark, you’re just actin’ silly. Someday you’ll be doing that, too.” Mattie smiled. “Especially if you meet the right
maedel.
“

“Not me. Don’t care if I ever meet the right girl.” Mark quickly shook his head. “No way, not me!”

“You know, Ike’s not just with Catherine. They’re usually with a group of friends their own age, just like you are with your friends,” Mattie said in defense of her oldest brother.

“Well, I still don’t like it.”

Just then, Perry came running out of the house and jumped into the wagon. “I wanna
faahre!
” he hollered.

“You’re not going for a ride today,” Mark said with a shake of his head. “This is Mattie’s and my wagon.”

Perry’s lower lip protruded. “I wanna faahre!”

“Why don’t you go back in the house and find something else to do?” Mattie said. She was already tired from pulling Mark in the wagon and didn’t want to do it for Perry now, too.

Perry’s forehead wrinkled, and tears welled in his eyes. “I’m tellin’ Mom on you.”

Before either Mattie or Mark had a chance to respond, he hopped out of the wagon and raced to the house. A few minutes later, he returned, and Mom was with him.

“What’s this I hear about you not letting your little bruder take a ride in the wagon?” she asked, looking first at Mattie and then Mark.

“It’s our wagon, and Mattie and I are takin’ turns pulling each other up and down the driveway,” Mark said.

“That’s fine, but you should share. Now, is there any reason why you can’t give Perry a ride?”

Mattie shook her head. Mark did the same. Mattie knew if they didn’t let Perry take a ride, Mom would probably make them put the wagon away.

After Mom went back in the house, Perry climbed into the wagon again. “I’m ready for my ride,” he said, grinning up at Mark.

Mark leaned close to Mattie and whispered in her ear, “Maybe if we give Perry a wild enough ride, he won’t like it and will go back inside. Then we can have the wagon all to ourselves again.”

“That might work,” Mattie agreed. “I’ll pull, and you can push. That will make the wagon go even faster.”

“Good idea,” Mark said.

Mattie grabbed hold of the handle, and Mark put his hands on the back of the wagon. “Alright, Perry!” he shouted. “Here we go!”

Perry squealed with laughter as the wagon rolled along the driveway and then zigzagged back and forth through the grass. He seemed to be having a great time and wasn’t the least bit afraid. Mark figured they might be stuck pulling their little brother all over the yard for the rest of the day—or at least until Mom called them in for lunch.

“Pull the wagon over there,” Mark called to Mattie as he pointed to some big bumps along the edge of the driveway.

“Okay.” Mattie pulled the wagon in that direction.

“Now run as fast as you can!”

Mattie did as Mark said, and while she pulled, he pushed as hard as he could. They were going so fast and making so much racket, the blue jays that had flown into the nearby tree flew back out in every direction to get away from the loud noise. The wagon picked up speed, hit one of the bumps, and—
whoomp!—
Perry bounced right out.

“Yeow!” he hollered, and then he started to sob while holding his head.

“Oh no, I think he’s hurt!” Mattie dropped the handle of the wagon and raced to Perry’s side. Mark did the same.

Sure enough, there was a gash on Perry’s forehead, and it was bleeding.

“Go get Mom!” Mattie shouted. “Schnell!”

Mark paced the floors while Mattie kept Ada occupied. It had been more than two hours since Mom and Dad took Perry to the hospital to have his forehead looked at. What could be taking them so long? Mark hoped his little brother wasn’t seriously hurt.

“You’re gonna wear a hole in your boots if you don’t stop pacin’ back and forth like that,” Russell called from across the room where he sat reading a book.

“I can’t help it. I’m worried about Perry.”

Mattie left Ada and joined Mark as he walked back and forth. “It’s our fault Perry fell out of the wagon. We shouldn’t have gone so fast and taken him over those bumps.”

“I know,” Mark agreed. “But I didn’t think he’d get hurt. I just wanted to scare him a bit so he’d go back in the house.”

“Remember when Grandpa said we’d have a bumpy ride ahead if we didn’t stop being selfish?”

Mark nodded. “Guess our little bruder’s the one who got the bumpy ride, but it wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t been so selfish.”

“Jah. We should have given him a nice easy ride instead of trying to scare him,” Mattie said.

Mark heard the rumble of a vehicle coming up the driveway, so he stopped pacing and hurried over to the window. “It’s Mom, Dad, and Perry! Their driver just pulled in,” he announced.

Mattie raced to the front door and pulled it open. Then both she and Mark stepped onto the porch.

“How’s Perry doing?” Mark called as his parents and little brother approached the house.

“His knees are scraped up, and the doctor put four stitches in Perry’s forehead, but he’s going to be okay,” Mom replied.

Dad looked sternly at the twins. “I’d like to know one thing. How come you were pulling Perry so fast in the wagon that he fell out?”

Mark dropped his gaze. It was hard for him to look at Dad when he knew he’d done something wrong. “We didn’t mean for Perry to fall out. We just wanted to scare him a little so he wouldn’t want to ride in the wagon anymore and we could have it all to ourselves.”

“I see. So because of your selfishness, your little brother has a nasty gash on his forehead.”

“I’m sorry,” Mark and Mattie said at the same time. “We won’t ever do anything like that again.”

“I should hope not,” Mom said. “A selfish attitude isn’t pleasing to God.”

“I know, and we’ve learned a good lesson,” Mark said.

Mattie nodded in agreement.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Dad said. “But your actions deserve some kind of punishment, don’t you think?”

“Jah,” Mark and Mattie both gave a quick nod. It seemed like lately, more so than ever, they’d been getting punished a lot and trying to remember the lessons they’d learned from all their wrongdoings.

Dad turned and motioned to the wagon, still sitting in the yard. “The wagon will be put in the barn, and neither of you will be allowed to ride in it for two weeks.”

Two weeks seemed like an awfully long time, but Mark didn’t argue with Dad. Instead he smiled and said, “The next time Perry or Ada wants to play with something of mine, I’m gonna share.”

“Me, too,” Mattie put in. “I don’t want any more bumpy rides.”