Life with Lily (21 page)

T
he skies were bleak and gray. Day after day, Lily wished it would just go ahead and snow. It was cold, so cold, but it hadn't snowed much that winter. Every now and then they would get a dusting, but Papa said there was hardly enough snow to track a cat. The wind would sweep that little bit of snow in funny wavy patterns across the frozen barnyard. It would gather in tiny drifts beside the barn or under the trees. Everything looked brown and drab during the long winter without pretty white snow to cover it like powdered sugar.

Each evening, Lily would press her nose against the cold windowpane and hope that the ground would be nice and white when she woke up. Each morning, she was disappointed. Christmas was coming, but without snow Lily worried it would not seem like Christmas at all.

Mama and Papa didn't seem to mind that there was no
snow. Papa went whistling off to work every morning while Mama worked in the kitchen, humming and singing Christmas carols.

Today, Mama was making Christmas treats. Rice crispy candy, chocolate-coated pretzels, and—Lily's favorite—chocolate-covered peanut butter balls. When Mama was finished dipping the pretzels and peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate, she handed Lily a bag of raisins. “Dump these into the leftover chocolate and stir them. Then put little spoonfuls on the sheet of waxed paper.”

Lily loved to help Mama make Christmas goodies. It was fun to drop the chocolate-covered raisins into little mounds on the waxed paper. She hoped these would be Papa's favorite Christmas treat.

As Lily worked, she wondered what she might get for Christmas. She could never guess but knew it would be something she liked. Christmas was always filled with wonderful surprises.

As she thought of presents, she had an idea. She wanted to give something to Papa and Mama too. But what? She didn't have any money to spend. She would have to think of something to make.

Later that day, Lily dug through Mama's bag of fabric scraps to see if she could find anything she liked. She didn't know how to sew anything except dumb nine-patch squares, but at least she could make a pretty nine-patch pot holder for Mama. She set to work carefully cutting patches from the fabric. Purple and green on one side, lavender and blue for the other. She sewed the patches together on her sewing machine. First one side, then the other side. Then she put the sides together and sewed a seam around all of the edges—but she left a little hole so she could turn it inside out, just like she had seen Mama do.

After she had turned the pot holder inside out, she studied the hole. What should she do with it? She didn't like to sew by hand, so she sewed it shut with the sewing machine. It didn't look very neat. There were loose threads sticking out from the hole. She had planned for the pot holder to be a nice big square, but it wasn't much of a square. More like a triangle. Lily didn't know how to fix it. It was the best she could do. She would have to give it to Mama the way it was. She hid it in her dresser drawer so Mama wouldn't see it before Christmas.

Now, what to make for Papa? She tried to think of the kinds of things Papa liked. She dug through the fabric scraps again and found a long narrow piece of fabric—as long as an apron belt. An idea popped into her head. She would make a tool belt for Papa! She sewed little strips of colorful fabric together and then used them to make pockets. Papa could put nails and his tape measure into the pockets.

Mama walked through the living room and stopped by Lily at the sewing machine. “What are you making?”

Lily looked up at her. “Something for Papa for Christmas. But I want to keep it a secret.”

Mama smiled, conspiratorially. “I won't tell him.”

Lily went back to sewing the tool belt. Next, she had to sew the pockets to the strip of fabric that would become the belt for Papa to tie around his waist.

After she finished, she held it up to admire it. It looked very colorful. Almost like a rainbow! She was sure Papa would love this pretty tool belt. She jumped up from the sewing machine and hid the tool belt in the dresser, next to the pot holder she had made for Mama.

Christmas morning finally arrived but still no snow. Lily was so disappointed. Delicious smells wafted up the stairs.
She knew that Mama was already working on their special Christmas breakfast. Lily couldn't get dressed fast enough. She flew down the stairs to help. Mama pointed to the special Sunday china in the cupboard. Lily set the table with the china, as carefully as she could, and then placed an orange beside everyone's plate. Her mouth watered at the thought of eating a juicy orange. Christmas was the only time they had oranges.

Papa came in from milking Jenny in the barn and washed his hands at the kitchen sink. Mama broke eggs into the frying pan and started scrambling them with a flick of her wrist—
swish, swish, swish
. Lily filled the glasses on the table with water while Papa helped Mama dish up the food. There were plump sausages, crispy bacon, strips of Mama's homemade French toast, fried potatoes, fried cornmeal mush, and cheese sauce to spoon over the scrambled eggs. There was even real store-bought bread that Mama fried in butter on both sides until it was golden brown. Beside each water glass was a mug of steaming hot chocolate with little marshmallows floating on top. Lily was sure that Christmas breakfast was the best meal of the year. The very best.

Too soon, breakfast was over. Lily helped clear everything away. There were so very many extra things that needed to be cleared away and washed.

This part of Christmas breakfast was not fun. Not fun at all.

After the last dish was washed, dried, and put away, Papa looked at Lily, Joseph, and Dannie with a twinkle in his eyes. “It's time to go upstairs and wait for Mama and me to get your gifts ready.”

Lily held Dannie's hand as they climbed the stairs. Joseph ran ahead and hopped on Lily's bed. After Dannie had
climbed on the bed and sat beside Joseph, Lily opened her favorite storybook and started reading to them. She would read a page, then strain to listen for Papa calling, then read another page, then strain to listen. She had just finished the second story when she finally heard Papa call to them.

“You can come downstairs now.”

Lily quickly put her books away and grabbed her gifts out of her dresser drawer. She hurried downstairs to join Joseph and Dannie. She didn't want them to start opening presents without her!

At their places at the kitchen table were funny, lumpy-looking piles covered with Mama's prettiest towels. Lily peeped under the corner of her towel and then gently pulled it away. Underneath was a beautiful red Etch-a-Sketch, a plate filled with candy and nuts, and a book. Joseph and Dannie each had a toy barn, plus a plate of candy and nuts.

Papa showed Lily how to use the Etch-a-Sketch. He turned the knobs and made funny wiggly pictures. Joseph and Dannie were excited about their barns. They opened up the barn doors and found all kinds of surprises inside. Miniature animals, a small buggy, a yellow tractor, and four little people. They had never had a toy tractor. They immediately set up their farm sets and began to play.

In her excitement, Lily had completely forgotten about her gifts for Mama and Papa. She handed Mama the pot holder.

Mama
oohed
and
aahed
, admiring the pretty colors. “What a good idea to make it into a triangle shape,” she told Lily. “It's much easier to hold on to.”

Lily was so pleased. Then Lily gave the tool belt to Papa. He tied it around his waist, grinning from ear to ear. Lily was afraid he might think it would be silly looking. It was too colorful.

Papa removed it and folded it carefully. “I will have to find a place to keep this nice,” he said. “I don't want such a pretty tool belt to get dirty.”

Lily was so happy that Papa and Mama both liked her gifts. Papa sat on the floor to help Joseph and Dannie play with their farm sets for a little while. Lily started reading her new book.

She had not read very far when Papa noticed the time.

“The morning has flown!” he said, rising to his feet. “It's time we get ready to go to Grandpa Miller's. Grandma is preparing a big Christmas dinner.”

Lily was sad to close her book. She would have to wait until they got home before she could find out what happened next. Joseph and Dannie were reluctant to leave their farm sets too, but Grandpa and Grandma Miller were expecting them. They went upstairs to change their clothes and get ready to leave.

When they arrived at Grandpa Miller's, Lily was happy to see Uncle Elmer's buggy—that meant Hannah was already here! Lily ran inside to find her playing with Aunt Susie. They told each other what they had received for Christmas that morning. Aunt Susie was excited about her own new coloring book and crayons and a little bonnet for her doll. Lily was happy for her aunt. She knew that dolls and coloring books were Aunt Susie's favorite things.

After Christmas dinner was over, the entire family gathered in the living room outside of Great-Grandma's bedroom door to sing Christmas carols to her. The beautiful music cheered Great-Grandma up and she looked happy, but Lily still kept one eye on that cane by her bed. Great-Grandma was getting stronger and Lily did not want to get anywhere near that cane.

While everyone was singing the last song, Grandma motioned to Hannah and Lily to come into the kitchen with her. She handed them bowls of Christmas treats to hand to the grown-ups. After everyone had a treat, Grandma gave Hannah and Lily their own plate, filled with goodies. Lily sat beside Hannah and nibbled at everything. It seemed she had been eating all day. She really wasn't hungry any longer.

As the sun was dropping low in the sky, behind the pine trees, it was time to go home. Even on Christmas, Jenny needed milking and all of the animals wanted their dinner. Grandma stood beside the door to say goodbye to everyone. As they went out the door, she handed each child a cute little horse and buggy. The buggy was made out of a big marsh
mallow with Lifesaver candies for wheels. A little gummy bear sat on top of an animal cracker horse. It was fastened to toothpick shafts with a piece of thread. Joseph and Dannie couldn't wait. They ate their horse and buggy right away, but Lily thought it was much too cute to eat fast. Little boys needed to learn to wait.

Back at home, Mama popped a popper full of popcorn. The family sat around the kitchen stove to eat it while she read a story aloud. The room was filled with flickering light from the oil lamp. And warmth and love.

Even without the snow, it was a wonderful Christmas.

O
ne cold morning in January, Papa woke Lily early. “Wake up, sleepyhead!” He patted her head. “We have a big day ahead.”

Quickly, they all ate breakfast, wasting no time in talk, and Mama and Lily washed and dried the dishes. Any minute, a big red van was due to arrive at Singing Tree Farm. In the van would be Grandma and Grandpa Miller and Aunt Susie. They were all going to visit an Amish community in Pennsylvania. They wanted to visit the church and school and look at farms to buy. Grandma Miller's sister came to care for Great-Grandma while they were househunting.

Lily liked to travel. She was getting used to the idea of a move, even though she still wished Mama and Papa might change their mind and stay at Singing Tree Farm. She didn't think they needed school at all. But if they had to move, Lily hoped there would be a lot of children in this new community.
Mostly, she hoped there would be a nice teacher in the school, and not a cross teacher like Katie Zook.

By the time the sun was up, the van had arrived and the adventure had begun. Lily sat by the window to see the sights, but the van whizzed along too fast. She couldn't see the things she usually liked to see from the buggy. She couldn't see little birds flit from branch to branch in the trees beside the road. Why, the van was going so fast that Lily could hardly see the branches!

Lily's tummy was growling by the time they arrived in Pennsylvania, at the farm of Papa and Mama's friend, Jonas Raber. Jonas and his wife, Alice, bustled out of the big house to welcome them. They had been expecting them. Alice had made a big pot of chicken noodle soup for lunch, along with bread, butter, and jam, and peaches and cookies for dessert. The soup was simmering gently on the back of the woodstove where it wouldn't burn. The big kitchen table was set with spoons and napkins.

Alice set the soup kettle on the table and poured water into glasses. Everyone, including the driver of the van, sat at the table. After a silent prayer, Alice ladled soup into bowls as the men talked about farms and properties that were for sale. They talked about how many families lived in the community and what people did for a living. The soup was delicious, but Lily quickly grew bored listening to grown-ups talk about grown-up things.

Alice noticed Lily's boredom. “I'm guessing you are almost the same age as my little girl. My Beth is seven. How old are you?”

“I'm seven too!” Lily's whole day brightened. That meant there was at least one other little girl in Pennsylvania.

Alice smiled. “Beth and Reuben are both in school right
now. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you and Joseph played with their toys until they come home.”

Lily perked up. Pennsylvania had her half interested. She tried to imagine what Beth would look like. Would she resemble her mother or her father? Lily stole a glance at Jonas. He was a strange-looking man. His hair and beard were like dry straw, and his snaggled teeth jutted out in all directions. Lily wasn't even sure how he could chew food. She hoped Beth looked like her mother. Alice was very friendly looking. She hoped Beth would be a nice little girl who liked to play with dolls. Dolls were so important.

As soon as lunch was over, Alice showed Lily and Joseph to the toy box. Lily could hardly believe her eyes. On top of the toys was a real doll! This doll had bright blue eyes and a tiny red mouth that was parted just enough to show a tiny tooth. She was dressed in Amish clothes. Perfect, she was perfect. Lily gathered the doll gently in her arms.

Joseph was busy with blocks and toy animals and tractors. He tried to coax Dannie to come play, but he was acting shy around strangers again and refused to leave Papa's lap.

The afternoon flew by. All of a sudden, a little girl appeared and stood by the toy box. “I'm Beth,” she said. “I see you like my Sally too.”

Lily jumped to her feet. Would Beth be angry with her for playing with her doll? She held the doll out to Beth. Beth's face broke into a big smile. She didn't take the doll back.

“My doll is named Sally too,” Lily said. “But she's only a rag doll. She isn't as pretty as your doll.”

“I have a rag doll!” Beth said. “I'll go get her.” She ran upstairs to her room and came down with a limp rag doll. She sat next to Lily and started playing with it.

“Here.” Lily held out the pretty doll. “You play with Sally.”

“You can play with her while you're here,” Beth said.

Beth was such a nice girl! If Papa and Mama decided to move to Pennsylvania, Lily would have a very good friend. Lily stole peeks at Beth while they played dolls. Beth was pretty. She had very light blonde hair, so light it was almost white. Her eyes were bright blue and she had cute little dimples in her cheeks.

“Where is your brother?” Lily asked.

“Reuben is out in the barn feeding the calves and helping with the chores,” Beth said. “He said he would do my chores tonight so I can stay in the house to play with you.”

Reuben sounded as nice as Beth. Lily had always wanted an older brother like Reuben. If everyone else in Pennsylvania were as nice as Beth and Reuben, it might not be quite so terrible to leave Pleasant Hill.

The next morning, both families piled into the big van. The plan was to drop Reuben and Beth at school, stay for a brief visit, then look at nearby farms for sale.

The first thing Beth did at school was to put her lunch box on a shelf. Then she pulled Lily over to meet her friends. Lily was sorry to see there were only two other little girls. All the other lower grade children were boys. Lily thought she had never seen so many boys in one place. That was a huge disappointment. Huge.

The teacher came to the back of the classroom to shake hands with the visitors and welcome them to school. When she approached Lily, she said, “I am Teacher Rhoda. What is your name?”

“I'm Lily.”

Teacher Rhoda smiled kindly at her. “Welcome to Greendale
School, Lily. Today, you can sit and watch everything. I hope you enjoy your visit.”

“I will,” Lily said. She liked Teacher Rhoda. She reminded Lily of Teacher Ellen, kind and sweet.

Lily looked around the schoolroom. The walls were covered with pictures that the children had created. Teacher Rhoda liked art. Any teacher who liked art must be a good teacher.

As Teacher Rhoda rang the bell, the students hurried to their desks. After roll call, Teacher Rhoda read a from the Bible. The scholars stood to recite the Lord's Prayer together. After they had sung three songs, Teacher Rhoda assigned arithmetic to everyone. Carefully and patiently, she explained the math problem to the scholars. She didn't even get cross when a boy had to ask her for help.

Too soon, Papa rose to his feet. It was time to go. Lily was sorry they couldn't stay longer. She would have liked to stay longer at this school. It looked like fun!

Jonas Raber sat in the front seat of the van to give the driver directions. They stopped at a farm and looked over the house and barn. Papa and Grandpa walked the property lines with the owner. The women and Lily, Joseph, and Dannie stayed in the warm van to wait for them. It was too cold to trudge through the snow to see property lines.

After that farm, they went to another, then another. Lily was tired of househunting. She was ready to go back to Jonas and Alice's house. Alice had packed some pretzels for snacks, but they hadn't expected to be gone so long. Lily was hungry, and Beth would probably be coming home from school soon. Lily didn't want to miss a moment of playing dolls with Beth.

“There is one more property to look at,” Jonas said. “It's
only fifteen acres. You might just like it, though, if you wanted to do something other than farming for an income.”

Papa looked intrigued. He liked carpentry more than he liked to farm. “I'd like to see it.”

The van stopped in front of an ugly olive green house. It had dirty yellowish gables. This house would not do. It would not do at all. Lily was sure Papa would not like this ugly house.

They all spilled out of the van and walked up to the front porch of the olive green house. Jonas knocked on the door. An older lady opened the door and invited them inside.

Lily followed Mama into the kitchen. The countertop was bright orange—so bright that Lily had to blink her eyes fast, like she was looking at the sun. Upstairs were two small bedrooms, a tiny bathroom, and a little corner that was half-room and half-hallway. Papa went to look at the attic and basement, but Dannie was getting cranky so everyone else went out to the van to wait.

Papa came out to the van. He said he wanted to walk the property lines and look through the barn. Lily thought that was a waste of time. The house was too small. It was painted an ugly color on the outside. The kitchen had bright orange counters. No, Lily decided, she would not want to live at that house. No, no, no.

Papa came back to the van with a broad smile on his face. “I think we found the place we've been looking for.” He sounded very happy. “What do you think, Rachel?”

It seemed a long time before Mama said gently, “Well, Daniel, I think we could be happy here.”

Oh, this was terrible news.

Papa hopped in the van. “Let's sleep on it overnight. If we still feel like it's the right place, we can make an offer tomorrow.”

But what about Lily? What if she didn't think it was the right place? No one ever asked her what she thought about this ugly olive green house with the orange countertops.

Except for meeting Beth and her doll, and maybe school, Pennsylvania was a huge disappointment to Lily. Huge.