Bumpy Ride Ahead! (5 page)

Once Mattie handed the snacks to Mark and had crawled into the tent herself, she relaxed against the pillows. Then she closed her eyes and tried to imagine that they were in a real tent, camping in the woods.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Mark said, tickling Mattie under the chin.

She opened her eyes and pushed his hand away. “I’m not sleeping. I was pretending we were camping in a real tent.”

Mark smiled. “Sure hope Dad takes us camping next summer, like he promised he’d do.”

“I’m sure he will, but next summer’s a long ways off, so we may as well enjoy our little tent right here in the house where it’s warm and cozy. There aren’t any
keffer
to worry about in here either.”

“That’s true. No bugs and no snakes.”

Mattie nodded. She didn’t like most bugs, but she knew Mark was really afraid of snakes. Even so, he still enjoyed camping, and in all the times they’d gone with Dad, they’d only seen a couple of snakes, and they weren’t the poisonous kind.

“Why don’t we eat our snack now?” Mattie suggested.

“That’s a good idea.” Mark grabbed an apple and took a big bite. “Yum! This is appeditlich!”

“The cheese and crackers are delicious, too,” Mattie said after she’d eaten one of each.

Mark gave a nod. “Jah, and since Perry and Ada are still asleep we don’t have to share our snacks with them.”

“Or the tent, either,” Mattie said. “I’ll bet when Ada and Perry see the tent they’ll want to come in.”

“Well, they’re not going to,” Mark announced with a determined expression. “This tent isn’t big enough for the four of us. It’s a tent for two!”

When Mark and Mattie finished their snacks, they closed their eyes and rested on the pillows. Mattie was almost asleep when she heard Ada and Perry chattering away as they tromped down the stairs.

“Oh no,” Mark groaned. “Let’s be real quiet. Maybe they won’t know we’re here.”

A few minutes later Perry stuck his head into the tent. “Whatcha doin’?” he asked.

“We made a tent, and you can’t come in ’cause there isn’t enough room,” Mark said, rolling over onto his side.

Perry scowled at him.
“Eegesinnisch.”

“I’m not selfish,” Mark said. “There just isn’t room for you to come in. Besides, I’m the one who made the tent.”

Just then Ada poked her head in. She held out her arms to Mattie and whimpered.

“We’ll either have to let her come in or leave the tent,” Mattie said, looking at Mark.

“Then you’d better go out, because if we let Ada in, Perry will think he can come in, too.”

“Then why don’t you go out with Ada and Perry and let me stay in the tent?”

Mark shook his head. “I made the tent, and I’m not leaving!”

“Perry’s right. You are eegesinnisch!” Mattie grabbed the empty tray and crawled out of the tent. She would fix Ada and Perry a snack and take them outside to play. Mark could have his silly old tent for two all to himself!

Mark lay there, staring at the blanket above him and thinking about the camping trip they’d taken after school let out last year and how much fun it had been. He especially enjoyed the meals Mom had cooked over the campfire. It had also been fun to listen to the stories Dad had shared about his childhood as they all sat around the campfire every night before going to bed.

Mark tried once more to untangle his yo-yo, and after undoing several knots that had formed, he finally got the string smoothed out.
Sure wish I could have bought a new yo-yo by now
, he thought.
I’d even settle for a used one if it was nicer than this one.

Mark’s eyes grew heavy, and he was almost asleep when he heard a loud—
cr-a-a-sh!
It sounded like it had come from the kitchen. He crawled out of the tent and raced into the kitchen, where he found Mattie, Ada, and Perry in the middle of the room, staring at the cookie jar, which was broken.

“What happened?” he asked, looking at Mattie.

“When I wasn’t watching, Perry climbed onto a stool to get the cookie jar, and he knocked it off the counter. As you can see, the jar’s broken, and there are smashed cookies all over the floor!”

“That’s too bad. I think you’d better clean up the mess while I take Ada and Perry outside to play,” Mark said.

Mattie frowned. “That’s not fair. Why should I have to clean up the mess?”

“I’ll bet if Mom were here she’d make Ada and Perry clean up their own mess.”

“I don’t think so,” Mattie said. “They’re not good at cleaning things up, and they’d probably make an even bigger mess. Besides, they might get cut picking up the broken pieces of the cookie jar.”

“Maybe we should wait till Mom and Dad get home, and then Mom can clean up the mess.”

Mattie shook her head. “We were supposed to be in the house keeping an eye on Ada and Perry. Mom’s not gonna be happy when she finds out that her jar got broken, and I need to clean up the mess and throw away the cookies that are on the floor before she gets here.”

“Fine then—you clean this up, and I’ll watch Ada and Perry.” Mark quickly herded his little brother and sister out the back door, leaving Mattie to clean up the kitchen.

C
HAPTER
5

“Guess what?” Mark asked Mattie as they rode their bicycle built for two home from school on the first Monday of October.

“What?” Mattie questioned, leaning forward so she was closer to Mark’s ear.

“During recess this afternoon I was talking to my friend Dan Yoder. He said his folks are taking him and his sister, Becky, to see the animals at the Farm at Walnut Creek this Saturday. It’ll be just like goin’ to a petting zoo, only I bet it’ll be even better.” He grinned. “It’s gonna be a zoo-rific day!”

“How nice. I’m sure they’ll have a lot of fun.” Mattie sighed. “I’ve always wanted to go there, but I guess that’s never gonna happen.”

Mark grinned. “Jah, it is, Mattie. Dan invited me to go with ’em, and he said you could come, too.”

“Really?”

“That’s right,” Mark said with a nod. “I can’t wait till we get home so we can tell Mom about this and ask if we can go.”

Mattie had never been to an actual petting zoo before, except she did get to pet some of the animals at the Geauga County Fair when they’d gone to Burton to visit Grandpa and Grandma Troyer two years ago.

“Let’s pedal as hard as we can so we can get home quickly and talk to Mom,” Mattie hollered in Mark’s ear. She was really excited about this and hoped they could go.

“That’s fine with me!” Mark shouted as he pumped his legs harder and steered the bike in the direction of home. “Dan even said we’ll get to ride in a horse-drawn wagon to see most of the animals, so we’ll get a good look at ’em, up close and personal.”

When the twins pedaled the bike into their yard a short time later, they parked it near the barn and hurried across the yard, where Mom was taking clothes off the line.

“You got home quickly today,” Mom said. “I was planning to fix you a snack and thought I had time to take the clothes down, but here you are.” Mom clucked her tongue. “Your older brothers aren’t even home from school yet.”

“We pedaled hard so we could get here quickly,” Mark said breathlessly. “Mattie and I have a question we want to ask you.”

Mom tipped her head. “Oh, what’s that?”

“Mark’s friend Dan invited us to go with him and his family to the Farm at Walnut Creek this Saturday.” Mattie jumped up and down. “Can we go, Mom? Can we, please?”

“You’ll have to check with your daed first,” Mom said. “But I’m pretty sure it’ll be alright.”

Mark grabbed Mattie’s hand and whirled her around. “Yippee! I can hardly wait to see all the animals—especially the giraffes we’ve heard so much about.”

“You two had better calm down,” Mom said. You’ll make yourself
daremlich
twirling around like that.”

“I’m not dizzy,” Mattie said.

“You will be if you keep spinning around like that. And since your daed hasn’t given his permission for you to go yet, you shouldn’t get so excited.”

“But you said you were pretty sure it would be alright,” Mark reminded their mother.

Mom gave a nod. “But I don’t want you to be disappointed if he says no.”

Mark frowned. Mattie’s bottom lip jutted out. “We really want to go,” they said at the same time.

Mom placed one hand on the top of the twins’ heads. “Your daed’s in the house, so why don’t you run inside and ask him right now?”

Mark grabbed Mattie’s hand, and they took off for the house. They found Dad in the living room, slouched in his favorite chair. His eyes were closed, and soft snores came out of his mouth.

Mattie looked at Mark and whispered, “Do you think we should wake him?”

Mark shook his head. “We’d better not. He might get upset.”

Mattie sighed. At this rate they’d
never
know if they could go with Mark’s friend or not.

“Since we can’t ask Dad anything right now, I’m goin’ upstairs to change my clothes,” Mark said. “After that, I think I’ll go outside to play with Lucky awhile.”

Mattie shrugged. “You can do whatever you want, but I’m staying right here till Dad wakes up.” She took a seat on the sofa and folded her arms.

Mark rolled his eyes, like he often did when he thought she was being silly. “Suit yourself, but you might be in for a long wait.” He hurried from the room and tromped up the stairs.

For the next several minutes Mattie continued to sit and stare at Dad, watching his chest rise and fall with steady, even breaths. She was about to give up and go to her room when Dad’s eyes popped open.

“
Ach
, Mattie! How long have you been sitting there?” he asked.

“Just a little while. I was waiting for you to wake up,” Mattie said. “I need to ask you an important question.”

Dad opened his mouth and yawned noisily, rubbing his eyes. “What’s that?”

“Mark and I have been invited to go to the Farm at Walnut Creek with his friend Dan and his family this Saturday. Mom said it was okay, but that we’d have to check with you first.”

Dad yawned again and pulled his fingers through the ends of his full beard.

Mattie’s heart pounded as she waited for his answer.

Dad leaned forward and smiled at Mattie. “Now don’t look so worried. You have my permission to go.”

Mattie was so excited, she leaped off the sofa and ran across the room. “Danki,” she said, giving Dad a big hug.

On Thursday morning, Mattie woke up with a sore throat. She felt achy and warm all over, too. “Oh no, this isn’t good,” she moaned, rolling slowly out of bed. “I can’t be sick. I
won’t be
sick.”

Mattie winced when she swallowed. Oh, it really did hurt! She forced herself to get dressed. Then she plodded down the stairs, went to the bathroom to wash her face, and made her way slowly to the kitchen.

Mom was there, cracking eggs into a bowl. She turned to look quickly at Mattie and went back to what she was doing. “I’m glad you’re up. Would you please set the table while I get breakfast started?”

Mattie said nothing—just moved at a snail’s pace across the room, opened the cupboard door, and removed nine plates.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Mom asked.

Mattie shrugged her shoulders. Truth was, she hadn’t slept well at all.

Mom turned to look at Mattie again, and her eyebrows pulled together. “Guess I didn’t look at you closely before, but I see now that your cheeks are flushed. Are you feeling alright?” she questioned.

Mattie’s gaze dropped to the floor as she slowly shook her head.

“Why, I believe you’re running a fever,” Mom said after she’d placed her hand on Mattie’s forehead.

Mattie cringed. She was afraid of that and knew if she did have a fever, it meant she was definitely sick.

“Have a seat at the table,” Mom instructed. “I’m going to get the thermometer so I can take your temperature.” She hurried out of the room before Mattie could offer a word of protest.

When Mom returned, she put the thermometer under Mattie’s tongue. After several minutes went by, Mom removed it.

“No school for you today,” Mom said, studying the thermometer. “You do have a fever.”

“My throat’s sore, too, and I feel kinda achy,” Mattie admitted.

Mom patted Mattie’s arm. “I believe you’ve come down with the flu, so you need to go right back to bed.”

Mattie groaned. She didn’t mind missing a day of school, but she didn’t like being sick. “What if I’m still
grank
on Saturday?” she wailed. “Sure don’t want to miss goin’ to the Farm.”

“If you don’t get to go this time, I’m sure there’ll be another time.”

Tears welled in Mattie’s eyes. “I’ve already waited a long time to go there.”

Mom gave Mattie’s arm another tender pat. “Let’s wait until Saturday and see how you’re feeling.”

Mattie closed her eyes and said a silent prayer:
Please help me to feel better by Saturday, Lord.

“Sure can’t wait till Dan’s folks come by to pick me and Mattie up,” Mark said to Mom when he bounded into the kitchen on Saturday morning.

Mom slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry, but it’ll only be you going to the Farm today. Mattie’s throat is still sore, so she’ll be staying home to rest.”

Mark’s eyebrows furrowed. “That’s too bad. I know she really wanted to go.”

“Jah, she did, but I talked to your daed last night, and he said he’d take our whole family there next summer, sometime after school lets out.”

Mark smiled. “Oh good! That means I’ll get to go there twice. Then when we go next year, I’ll know a little more about the Farm and be able to point out some of the things I learn today.”

“That’s right,” Mom agreed. “But don’t rub it in to Mattie. She’s upset enough about not being able to go with you and Dan’s family.”

Mark shook his head. “I won’t say a thing about it to her.”

Tears streamed down Mattie’s face as she stood at her bedroom window and watched Mark climb into Dan’s parents’ buggy. It wasn’t fair that he got to go to the Farm today and she had to stay home sick. She wished Mark would have stayed home and waited until they could go together.

I’ll probably never get to see all those animals
, she thought.

Mattie turned from the window and crawled back into bed. A few minutes later, Mom entered the room. “I brought you some breakfast,” she said, placing the tray she was carrying on the small table by Mattie’s bed.

“I’m not hungerich,” Mattie mumbled.