Growing Up in Lancaster County (11 page)

Grandpa patted the top of Rachel’s head. “I’m off to rest now. Let me know when you need more seeds.”

“Okay.”

When Grandpa walked away, Rachel took the tip of her shovel and made a long, shallow rut in the dirt. Then she opened the packet of sunflower seeds and was about to drop some into the dirt, when—
floop!—
Cuddles leaped into the air and hit her hand, scattering seeds everywhere.

“Ach Cuddles, now look what you’ve done! I’ll never get all these seeds picked up!” Rachel glanced at the house to see if Grandpa had seen what happened, but he didn’t move. She figured he’d fallen asleep.

Ribet! Ribet!
Rachel spotted a frog leaping through the garden. Since she couldn’t do much with the seeds Grandpa had given her, she thought it might be fun to try and catch the frog.

She crawled slowly along, and when the frog stopped beneath one of the rhubarb plants, Rachel reached out her hand.

Meow!
Cuddles leaped through the air and pounced in the dirt near the frog.

The frog jumped.
Ribet! Ribet!

Cuddles jumped.
Meow! Meow!

Back and forth across the garden they dashed, kicking up the dirt and scattering the sunflower seeds Rachel had spilled. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Ribet! Ribet!
The frog hopped out of the garden and leaped away.

Cuddles chased it.

Rachel grunted and brushed the dirt from her dress. Then she hurried across the lawn. When she stepped onto the porch, she saw that Grandpa’s eyes were closed. She didn’t know whether she should wake him or not.

Suddenly, Grandpa’s eyes snapped open. “What’s wrong, Rachel?” he asked. “You’re clenching your teeth so hard your cheeks are twitching.”

“I had some problems with the seeds,” she said.

He yawned and stretched his arms over his head. “What kind of problems?”

“Cuddles was fooling around in the garden and landed on my hand.” Rachel frowned. “Then she chased after a frog, and now the seeds are scattered everywhere.”

Grandpa reached into his pocket and took out another packet of seeds. “I guess we’ll have to start all over again.”

“What about the scattered seeds?”

Grandpa squeezed Rachel’s shoulder. “Some of the seeds will make a nice meal for the birds that come into our yard, and the rest will probably come up wherever they choose.”

Rachel smiled as she followed Grandpa to the garden. She was glad she had such a nice grandfather. He hadn’t even yelled or given her a lecture for spilling the seeds.

After Rachel finished helping Grandpa plant two rows of seeds, she went to do her most dreaded chore—feeding and watering Jacob’s smelly mutt.

She found the dog food in the barn and scooped some into an empty coffee can. When she got to the dog run, she set the can of food on the ground and struggled to open the squeaky, stubborn gate.

I wish Pap would oil this, Rachel thought. But if I ask him about it, he’ll probably want to know what I was doing in Buddy’s dog run. Then I’ll have to explain that I was giving food and water to Buddy, and Pap will ask why
. Rachel gritted her teeth. No,
it’s best not to say anything about the stubborn gate. After my week of caring for Buddy is over, feeding and watering that unruly hund will be Jacob’s worry
.

With another push on the gate, Rachel entered the dog run. She was about to pour food into Buddy’s dish when he bounded up to her wagging his tail.
Woof! Woof! Slurp! Slurp!
He licked her face with his long, pink tongue.

“Get down, you hairy beast!” Rachel pushed Buddy with her knee.

Woof! Woof!
Buddy swiped his tongue across her arm.

“Leave me alone! It’s time for your supper!” Rachel poured the food into his dish and quickly stepped aside.

Buddy stuck his nose in the dish.
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Rachel hurried out of the dog run and raced across the yard to get the hose. When she returned to fill Buddy’s water dish, he jumped up and knocked the hose out of her hands. A stream of water shot straight up and squirted Rachel’s face!

“Now look what you’ve done, you—you dumm hund!” Rachel sputtered. “Thanks to you, my face is wet!”

Woof! Woof!
Buddy darted out of the dog run and tore across the yard.

Rachel chased him. “Come back here, you beast!”

“What’s Buddy doing out of his dog run?” Jacob asked as he came around the side of the barn.

“He got out after he knocked the hose out of my hand.” Rachel sniffed. “Thanks to that mutt, my face is wet!”

“Don’t cry, Rachel,” Jacob said with a grin. “You’re already wet enough.”

She grunted. “You’d better teach that hund some manners, or I’m not going to feed and water him anymore!”

“If you back out of our agreement, I’ll tell Mom and Pap that you haven’t worn your glasses at school for two days,” Jacob threatened.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Jah, I would.”

Rachel squeezed her hands into a ball. “You do and I’ll tell that you teased me about my glasses, even after you said you wouldn’t.”

Jacob shrugged. “Go ahead. I’ll bet you’ll be in a lot more trouble for not wearing your glasses at school than I will for teasing you.”

Rachel sighed. “All right, you win.” She started for the house but turned back around. “What are you doing here anyway, Jacob? I thought you were supposed to be out in the field helping Pap and Henry.”

“I was, but Pap needed something from the barn. I’ll put Buddy back in his pen first, though.”

“Good luck with that.” Rachel handed Jacob the empty coffee can and hurried away.

As she stepped onto the porch, the steps creaked beneath her feet; then she heard a bird whistling joyously from a nearby tree. Rachel tilted her head to get a good look at the bird. “At least somebody’s happy today,” she muttered.

She opened the door and was greeted with a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen.

“What are you cooking?” Rachel asked Mom.

Mom turned from the stove and smiled. “Come take a look.”

Rachel peered into the kettle sitting on the stove. Chunks of vegetables, slivers of meat, and floating spices made her mouth water. She loved Mom’s tasty stews. “Mmm…I can’t wait for supper.”

Mom turned down the stove and shuffled across the room. “Your hair and face are wet, Rachel,” she said, lowering herself into a chair. “What did you do, take a drink from the hose?”

Rachel’s thoughts tumbled around in her head like a windmill going full speed as she searched for the right words. “I—uh—got shot in the face with the hose when I was giving Jacob’s dog some water.”

Mom raised her eyebrows. “Caring for Buddy is supposed to be Jacob’s job. Why were you doing it?”

Rachel shifted from one foot to the other. “I—uh—was doing Jacob a favor.” The lie stuck in her throat like a glob of gooey peanut butter, only it didn’t taste good.

Mom tapped her fingers on the edge of the table. “Did Jacob do a favor for you?”

Rachel shook her head.

“So you just gave Buddy some water to be nice?”

“Uh—jah.”

Mom smiled. “That was kind of you. It shows that you’re maturing.”

Rachel swallowed so hard she nearly choked. “I’m going to the bathroom to wash my hands. When I come back, I’ll set the table.”

“Danki, Rachel. Take your time.”

With the lie she’d told Mom still burning in her throat, Rachel dashed from the room.

W
hen Rachel fed and watered Buddy the next day, things went much better. He licked her hand when she poured food in his dish, but then he ate and left her alone.

“Good dog,” Rachel said. She hurried out of the dog run and closed the gate.

Rachel raced back to the barn and put the empty can in the bag of dog food. She’d just turned around when she heard a faint
meow
. Cuddles was curled up on a bale of hay, licking her paws.

Rachel sat on the hay and placed the cat in her lap. “Did you have a hard day today, Cuddles?”

Cuddles nuzzled Rachel’s hand with her little pink nose.

“My day wasn’t easy, either,” Rachel said. “I lied to my teacher and said I forgot to wear my glasses again.”

Purrr…Purrr
. Cuddles kneaded her paws against Rachel’s chest.

“Yesterday Elizabeth said if I forgot my glasses again she would give me a note to take home.” Rachel leaned against the wall behind her. “But I think Elizabeth forgot about the note because she never mentioned it again. She has been making me sit near the front of the room though.”

Cuddles lifted her head and opened one eye.
Meow!

Rachel stroked the cat’s ear and closed her eyes.
What can I do about the problem with my glasses? she wondered. If I lost my glasses, I wouldn’t have to wear them at all, and I wouldn’t have to keep telling Elizabeth I left them at home
.

Rachel placed Cuddles on the bale of hay. She glanced around the barn, wondering where she might safely put her glasses. She spotted a small box on a shelf near the door and went to look at it.

The box was empty, so she took off her glasses and placed them inside. Then she slipped the box under her arm and climbed the ladder to the hayloft.

Let’s see…where’s a good place to hide this box?

Rachel noticed several bales of hay stacked against the wall, so she wedged the box between them.

Screech
. It sounded like someone had come into the barn. “Who’s there?” Rachel called.

No response.

She listened. “Jacob, is that you?”

No answer—just a snorting sound coming from the stall where Pap kept his buggy horse.

Rachel scurried down the ladder and raced out of the barn.

When Rachel entered the kitchen, she found Mom in front of the sink, humming as she peeled potatoes. “Is it time to start supper?” Rachel asked.

“I’ve started the potatoes, so you can set the table.” Mom turned from the sink. “Ach, Rachel, why aren’t you wearing your glasses?”

“Well, I—uh—don’t know where they are.” Another lie slid off Rachel’s tongue as easily as she and Jacob slid down the hay chute in their barn. One lie seemed to lead to another…and another…and another.

Mom’s eyebrows shot up. “You lost your glasses?”

Rachel nodded and stared at the floor.

“You were wearing them when you got home from school, right?”

“Jah.”

“Where’d you put them?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“Think about it, Rachel. Did you take them off to wash your face after school?”

Rachel shook her head. “I haven’t washed my face since this morning.”

“Where have you been since you got home? Let’s retrace your steps.”

Rachel’s heart pounded. She hated lying to Mom, but if she told the truth now, she’d be in big trouble—and she’d be forced to wear her glasses at school.

“Where have you been?” Mom asked again.

“I—uh—took a walk to the garden, and then I went to—” Rachel halted her words. She’d almost told Mom that she’d fed and watered Buddy again. If she let that slip, Mom would ask why she was doing Jacob’s chore for the second day in a row, and she might get suspicious.

Mom started for the door. “Let’s go outside and look for them. Maybe they fell off your face when you were in the garden. Or they could be somewhere on the lawn.”

With shoulders slumped, Rachel followed Mom out the door.

When they reached the garden, Mom walked between the rows while Rachel stood to one side.

“What are you looking for, Miriam?” Grandpa asked when he joined them in the garden.

“Rachel’s glasses,” Mom said. “They seem to have vanished.”

“Is that so?” Grandpa looked over at Rachel. “You were wearing your glasses when you came home from school; isn’t that right?”

“Jah.”

“Where have you been since you got here?” he asked.

Rachel kicked at a clump of grass. “I’m—uh—not sure.”

“She said she came out here to the garden, but I don’t see her glasses anywhere,” Mom said.

Grandpa scratched his bearded cheek. “Did you go to your room to change your clothes after school?”

Rachel nodded.

“Maybe you left your glasses there.”

“I don’t think so.” Every lie Rachel told burned in her throat like a lump of hot coal. She figured the best thing to do was go out to the barn, get her glasses, and say that she’d found them. “I—uh—think I know where I left them,” she mumbled.

“Where would that be?” asked Mom.

“In the barn. I went there to pet Cuddles,” Rachel said. “I’ll go and see.”

“I was going to walk out to the fields to see if your daed’s done for the day,” Grandpa said. “Maybe I should go to the barn and help you look for your glasses instead.”

Rachel shook her head. “That’s okay. I’m sure I can find them.”

“All right then. I’m off to the fields.” Grandpa headed in that direction.

“I’m going back in the house to finish peeling potatoes,” Mom said. “If you don’t find your glasses in the barn, let me know, and we’ll get your daed and
brieder
[brothers] to help us look as soon as they come in from the fields.”

“Okay.” Rachel raced into the barn, scampered up the ladder to the hayloft, and dropped to her knees in front of the bales of hay. She slipped her hands into the place where she’d hidden the box and gasped. It was gone!