Growing Up in Lancaster County (31 page)

Rachel smiled. “I’ll head to the barn then.” She scampered down the porch steps. She was glad to know she wasn’t the only one who had trouble with her brother.

When Rachel entered the barn, the sweet smell of hay tickled her nose. She saw Brian riding a skateboard on one side of the barn where a wooden ramp had been built, while Audra sat on a bale of hay, frowning.

“Wie geht’s?” asked Rachel as she took a seat beside her friend.

Audra shrugged. “I’d be better if my bruder would give me a turn on my skateboard.”

“Doesn’t Brian have his own skateboard?” Rachel asked.

“He did, but he lost it.” Audra tapped her foot. “At least that’s what he says. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s just saying that so he can ride the one you gave me. It’s a lot faster than his.”

Rachel held up her kitten. “I brought Snowball along. Why don’t we play with our kittens until Brian gets tired of skateboarding?”

“That’s a good idea.” Audra glanced around. “Of course I have to find Fluffy first.”

“Since Snowball is Fluffy’s schweschder, I’ll bet Snowball can find her.” Rachel placed her kitten on the floor. “Go get her, Snowball! Find Fluffy!”

Audra snickered. “Do you really think that just because they’re sisters Snowball can find Fluffy?”

Rachel nodded. “Of course. You know everyone in your family, don’t you?”

“Jah, but that’s different. We’re people and—”

“Look!” Rachel pointed across the room. “Snowball’s already found Fluffy, and they’re rubbing noses.”

Audra smiled. “Say, I have an idea. Why don’t we go in the house and make bubble solution? Then we can make lots of bubbles and let our kittens chase them.”

“That sounds like fun,” Rachel agreed. “Do you have an extra bubble wand for me to use?”

“Of course.” Audra grabbed Rachel’s hand. “Let’s go!”

As Rachel and Audra sat on the back porch blowing bubbles, Snowball and Fluffy zipped across the lawn and leaped into the air, trying to pop the colorful bubbles with their paws.

“This is so much fun! I’m glad you came over,” Audra said.

“Me, too.” Rachel dipped her wand into the bubble solution and blew. A huge bubble formed, and she blew again, making a second bubble, then a third.

Audra’s eyes widened. “How’d you do that?”

“Grandpa taught me. We blow bubbles together whenever we can.” Rachel waved her wand in the air, and it blew the triple bubble into the yard. “It just takes a little practice, that’s all.”

Audra dipped her wand into the bubble solution. She blew and made one bubble, but when she blew again, the first bubble popped. “I think I’d better stick to making one bubble for now.”

Rachel set her wand aside and leaned back on her elbows. “Tomorrow will be a big day at our house.”

“Why?”

“My cousin Mary’s supposed to arrive.”

“Oh, that’s right; I forgot she was coming to see you soon.” Audra set her bubble wand down. “I hope you don’t forget about me while your cousin’s visiting.”

Rachel shook her head. “I told you before that you don’t have to worry about losing me as your friend. I still hope you can come over while Mary’s there. The three of us can do something fun together.”

“Can we jump on your trampoline?”

“Maybe. We can also play at the creek or in the barn.”

“I think I’d enjoy jumping on the trampoline most.”

“We’ll see what Mary wants to do.” Rachel noticed that Fluffy and Snowball were lying in the grass, so she stuck the bubble wand in the solution again. “Guess we’d better make some more bubbles for our busslin to chase, because I think they’re getting bored.”

Audra glanced at the barn. “We may as well, because it doesn’t look like Brian will quit skateboarding anytime soon.”

“Maybe you should go in and insist that he give it to you,” Rachel said. “After all, it’s
your
skateboard.”

Audra shook her head. “If I did that, he’d keep the skateboard even longer just to make me mad.”

Rachel clicked her tongue, the way Mom often did when she was trying to make a point. “Brothers can sure be
peschte
[pests].”

“I agree.” Audra blew another bubble and sent it sailing across the yard. “My bruder is the worst pescht of all!” She wrinkled her nose. “There’s something else I can tell you about Brian.”

“What’s that?”

Audra leaned closer to Rachel and whispered, “He sometimes wets the bed.”

Rachel gasped. “That’s
baremlich
[terrible]!” She was glad no one in her family wet the bed. That would be so embarrassing!

When Rachel arrived home that afternoon, she raced into the house. “Mom, I’m back!”

Mom stepped out of the kitchen, holding a squirming, fussy baby. “Did you have a good time at Audra’s?” she asked, raising her voice above Hannah’s cries.

Rachel nodded. “But we never got to use Audra’s skateboard because Brian hogged it the whole time I was there.”

Mom placed Hannah against her shoulder and patted her back. Rachel was glad when the baby stopped crying.

“Did Audra tell her mamm that Brian wouldn’t share?” Mom asked, sitting at the table.

Rachel shook her head. “Audra knew if she did that, then Brian would call her a
retschbeddi
[tattletale].”

“Sometimes it’s necessary to tell on someone for their misdeeds,” Mom said.

Rachel flopped into the chair beside Mom. “If I had a bruder like Brian, I’d probably tell on him all of the time.” She leaned closer to Mom. “Do you know what Audra told me?”

“Rachel, I don’t think—”

“She said Brian sometimes wets the bed.” Rachel wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that awful, Mom? Aren’t you glad none of your kinner wets the bed?” She pointed to Hannah. “Except for the boppli, of course.”

Mom slowly shook her head. “Rachel, you’re being a tittle-tattle.”

“What’s a tittle-tattle?” Rachel asked.

“It’s someone who likes to gossip. It seems to me that you like talking about other people and their problems. Bed-wetting is something Brian will outgrow, and you shouldn’t make fun of him.” Mom tapped Rachel’s arm. “Especially since you’ve wet the bed yourself.”

Rachel’s face felt hot. “I don’t wet the bed!”

“Not anymore, but you did until you turned five.”

“I—I don’t remember doing that.”

“Well, it’s true, and no one in our family made fun of you or told anyone else about it.” Mom tapped Rachel’s arm again. “You need to be careful not to gossip to anyone about Brian’s problem, because someone might make fun of him if you do.”

“I won’t say a word,” Rachel said.

W
hen Rachel awoke the following morning, she felt like singing at the top of her lungs: “Mary’s coming today, and I just can’t wait!”

Rachel leaped out of bed, rushed to the window, and lifted the shade. No sign of any car or van in the driveway. Mom had said last night that Mary and her neighbor would probably spend the night at a hotel between Indiana and Pennsylvania. Most likely they wouldn’t get here until later today. Even so, Rachel wanted to be ready for Mary’s arrival, so she hurried to get dressed and raced down the stairs.

She was almost to the bathroom when the door swung open and Pap stepped out.

“I’m surprised to see you up so early.” He tapped the top of Rachel’s head. “Did you get up at the crack of dawn to help me do my chores?”

Rachel shook her head and bounced up and down on her toes. “Mary’s coming today. I wanted to be sure everything’s ready.”

“Oh, that’s right. Today’s the big day.” Pap patted Rachel’s head again. “It’ll probably be several hours before Mary arrives, so calm down and try to relax.”

Rachel touched her stomach. It felt like hundreds of butterflies were zipping around again. “I’ll try to relax, but it won’t be easy.”

“If you need something to keep your mind busy, why don’t you get breakfast started?” Pap suggested.

Rachel glanced down the hall at her parents’ bedroom door. “Isn’t Mom getting up?”

“She was up with the boppli several times last night, so I told her to stay in bed awhile longer.” Pap motioned to the kitchen. “If you’re hungry, you can start breakfast now.”

Rachel shook her head. “You know I don’t cook well.”

“Then why don’t you come to the barn and help me?” he suggested.

“What about Jacob and Henry? Aren’t they helping?”

“They’re in the milking shed, milking the cows.”

“Okay,” Rachel said with a nod. “As soon as I’m done in the bathroom I’ll come to the barn.”

When Rachel entered the barn a short time later, she was greeted by the gentle nicker of the horses in their stalls. She spotted Pap across the room, lifting a bale of hay into a large wheelbarrow.

“I’m here, Pap,” she called. “What do you need me to do?”

“Why don’t you get the hose and give the horses some water while I feed them?”

“Sure, I can do that.” Rachel raced to the water faucet and turned on the hose. She was getting ready to haul it to one of the horse’s stalls when Pap hollered,
“Bass uff, as du net fallscht
[Take care you don’t fall]! That floor can get slippery when hay mixes with water.”

“I’ll be care—”
Whoosh!
Rachel’s foot hit a wet spot, and down she went!

“Always trouble somewhere,” Rachel grumbled as she scrambled to her feet.

Pap raced across the room. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

“I’m okay, but my dress got a little wet.”

“Next time put the hose in the trough first and then turn on the water. You should have known better than to do something like that,” Pap scolded.

Rachel’s face heated up. “I was going to fill the horse’s trough, but I slipped on the water coming from the hose. I figured I could save time if I turned on the hose first.”

“Saving time isn’t always the best way to do something,” Pap said.

Rachel nodded; then she hurried into the nearest horse’s stall and filled the trough with water. When it was full, she pulled the hose into the next stall. While she watered the horses, she and Pap chatted.

When Rachel was done, she left the hose in one of the troughs, ran back to the faucet, turned off the water, and put the hose away.

“I think I’ll go to the house and see if Mom’s up,” Rachel told Pap.

He nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll be in shortly.”

Before Rachel left the barn, she stopped to pet Cuddles and Snowball, who were sleeping in a pile of hay.

Cuddles purred. Snowball batted Rachel’s hand.

“Abastz!” Rachel scolded. “Stop scratching me!”

Meow!
Snowball looked at Rachel as if to say,
I’m sorry
.

Rachel stroked the cats until they went back to sleep; then she hurried out of the barn.

Rachel found Mom in the kitchen, stirring a pot of oatmeal. The sweet smell of cinnamon and butter made Rachel’s stomach rumble.

Grandpa sat in a chair near the stove, holding Hannah and humming as he stroked her blond hair.

Mom’s glasses had fallen to the middle of her nose, and she pushed them back in place as she looked at Rachel. “Where have you been? When I called you to help with breakfast, you weren’t in your room.”

“I helped Pap with the animals,” Rachel said. “I put water in the horses’ troughs.”

Grandpa pointed to Rachel’s dress. “Looks like you watered yourself some, too.”

“I fell, but I didn’t get hurt, and only a little of my dress got wet.” Rachel didn’t explain that she’d been dragging the hose across the floor with the water running. She figured she would get a lecture if she mentioned that. “Should I set the table?”

Mom nodded. “When you finish, you can step onto the porch and ring the dinner bell so the menfolk will know breakfast is ready.”

“Okay.” Rachel hummed as she placed the silverware on the table; then she raced out the door and rang the bell.
Ding! Ding! Ding!

“Someone’s in a good mood this morning,” Grandpa said when Rachel returned.

“Mary’s coming today. I can hardly wait to see her!” Rachel grinned. “I’ve got so much to say to Mary!”

“She’ll be here for a whole week,” Mom said. “You’ll have plenty of time to visit.”

Pap, Henry, and Jacob entered the kitchen.

“Is breakfast ready?” Jacob asked as he hung his straw hat on a wall peg near the door. “Milkin’ cows is hard work, and I’m hungry as a mule!”

“You’re not the only one who worked hard this morning.” Pap winked at Rachel. “Rachel helped me care for the horses, and
mir hen die zeit verbappelt
[we talked away the time].”

Jacob rolled his eyes. “I can imagine. Rachel’s such a blabbermouth; I’ll bet she talked your head off.”

Rachel glared at Jacob. “I did not. I only talked a little while I watered the horses.”

“Don’t let Jacob ruffle your feathers.” Henry nudged Jacob’s arm. “He just likes to see if he can rile you, Rachel.”

Rachel shrugged. “No one can rile me this morning.”

Jacob tickled Rachel under her chin. “You don’t think so? I’ll bet I can find a way to rile you.”

She pushed his hand away. “You do and I’ll rile you right back.”

“That’ll be enough,” Mom said as she placed the pot of oatmeal on the table. She took the baby from Grandpa. “Since Hannah’s fallen asleep, I’ll put her in the cradle, and then we can eat.”