A New Home for Lily Page 12

  Mama smiled at her. “As soon as we are done getting these beans ready to put in jars, you can have the rest of the day off to do whatever you want to do.”

  Instantly, Lily cheered up. She knew exactly what she wanted to do with the rest of the afternoon. A big patch of burdocks grew in the pasture behind the barn. She had wanted to gather the pretty pink and purple burrs and make little baskets with them.

  Finally, the last of the green beans had been snapped and were ready for Mama to put into jars. Lily ran to find several little pails. She handed one to Joseph and one to Dannie and they raced each other to the pasture to gather burrs.

  The patch of burdocks behind the barn looked even prettier than it had when Lily had last noticed them. There weren’t very many green burrs any longer. Most of them had turned pretty shades of pink and purple.

  Lily started to pick the burrs and drop them in her little pail. Joseph and Dannie filled their pails too. When a pail was full, Lily found a place in the cool, shady barn to dump them. After picking several more pails, Lily thought they had enough to start making the baskets.

  Inside the cool of the barn, Lily sat on the floor and showed Joseph and Dannie how to stick the burrs together. She tried to help Dannie make a basket, but he didn’t seem to care what he was making. He ended up sticking one burr to the next and made a big ball. Then Joseph added his burrs to Dannie’s to make an even bigger ball.

  Lily finally gave up trying to show those boys how to make a pretty basket. The boys started to kick the big burr ball around the barn. That was the problem with boys. They didn’t know how to play quiet games.

  Lily started to make a basket for herself. She made a little one just big enough to hold an egg. It was beautiful, so she decided to make a big basket. She started by making the sides. She sorted through the pile of burrs to choose only the prettiest purple burrs. Purple was her favorite color. She wanted this basket to be the prettiest one she had ever made. Once the sides were completed, she was ready to start making the bottom, but first she had to lift it and admire it a little more.

  As she looked at it more closely, it looked like a crown. Dannie came over to see what she had made. “Would you like to wear a crown, Dannie? You can pretend you are a king.”

  Dannie liked that idea. He bowed his head while Lily placed the burdock crown carefully on the top of his head. Dannie stood up straight and pretended he was a very important king. Now Joseph was interested. Dannie pretended he was even more important. The two boys started to get silly again, so Lily decided it would be best to get the crown off Dannie’s head and finish making her basket.

  Uh oh.

  The burrs were stuck to Dannie’s hair. Stuck like glue. Lily pulled harder. Dannie started to yelp. The crown wouldn’t come off.

  Lily forgot about trying to make a pretty basket as she painstakingly started trying to pick one burr at a time from Dannie’s hair.

  Dannie was crying now. Howling. This was a big mess and Lily was only making it worse. She had no idea what to do next. She would have to take Dannie back to the house and see if Mama could help him.

  Dannie wailed like a siren all the way to the house. Mama must have heard him because she met them at the door to see what was wrong. Her eyes went wide when she saw the tangled mess of Dannie’s hair. But Mama was a quick thinker. She led Dannie into the kitchen and told him to climb on the stool. She started to try to comb the burrs out.

  Even Mama had trouble. The burrs wouldn’t let go of Dannie’s hair. Mama worked and worked while Dannie pitched a fit the whole time. Finally, Mama had enough. She decided there was nothing else that could be done but to cut the burrs out.

  Lily watched as Mama snipped the burrs out of Dannie’s hair. By the time Mama was finished, Dannie didn’t look like a little Amish boy. He looked like a plucked chicken.

  Mama stood back and squinted her eyes. It didn’t look as if she liked what she was seeing. “Well, thankfully, hair grows back.”

  Lily had been lingering at the door and started to slip outside. But Mama saw her with the eyes in the back of her head. “And now, little lady. Maybe you can explain to me what happened.”

  “I was trying to make a pretty basket,” Lily said. “I thought the sides looked like a crown and I set it on top of Dannie’s head. I didn’t think it would get stuck like that. I’m sorry.”

  “Lily, I know you’re sorry when things go wrong,” Mama said. “But it would be a good idea to think about what could happen before you do things instead of waiting to think until after something goes wrong.”

  The thing was, Mama made thinking sound so easy. She thought Lily just had to think more. But Lily knew thinking was so much harder than it sounded.

  One good thing about having a hallway bedroom was that Lily could hear everything going on downstairs. On this warm morning in late August, Lily heard Mama in the kitchen. Usually, Lily would wait until Mama called for her, but today, she jumped out of bed. She wanted to help Mama get breakfast ready.

  It was the first day of school and Lily could hardly wait. Her new lunch pail hung on the wall peg by the kitchen door. It had been there for weeks, waiting and waiting for this day to arrive. Her newly made school clothes hung on several hooks on her hallway bedroom wall. A little paper bag had been filled with crayons, glue, scissors, and a pencil. Best of all, she had a brand new ink pen! She was in third grade now. Old enough to have a pen in school. She took it out every day to show to Joseph. He would need to wait a year for a pen. She liked to point that out to him. Finally, finally, the day had come when she could use all of these wonderful new school supplies.

  Lily skipped down the stairs, happy and lighthearted. She said good morning to Mama and asked if she could pack the lunches.

  Mama smiled. “Yes, you can. Let me slice the bread for you and you can start making the sandwiches.”

  Lily spread butter and salad dressing on the bread while Mama sliced a nice big garden tomato. Today, Joseph and Lily would have a delicious tomato sandwich.

  Lily tucked a homemade cookie into each lunch box and closed the lids. She took a moment to admire her new lunch box. It was sunny yellow and the lid had a border of pink and purple flowers. In the center of the lid, a little girl sat on a grassy hill with purple flowers around her feet. Beside the girl were printed these words: “Herself the elf. Elf fun is for everyone.”

  Joseph trudged into the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He wasn’t nearly as excited about going back to school as Lily was. He hadn’t climbed as many trees as he had wanted to and had gone fishing only once. He was sorry that summer was over. Slowly, much too slowly, he worked on his breakfast. His slow eating drove Lily crazy.

  Lily couldn’t wait until it was time to leave for school. As soon as the breakfast dishes were washed and dried, she hurried upstairs to change into her new blue dress. A few minutes later, she stood by the downstairs clock, waiting until it was time to start for school.

  The clock didn’t move. Maybe it was broken? Lily couldn’t hold still any longer. “Mama, can we go now?”

  Joseph groaned.

  Mama looked at the clock and smiled. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to get to school a little early on the first day.”

  Lily bolted to the door. “Come on, Joseph!” She paused at the door just long enough to toss a goodbye over her shoulder to Mama and Dannie.

  It was a beautiful morning. Fall would be coming, but for now, it was warm enough to stay barefooted. Small finches sang and twittered as they gathered seeds from big thistles along the road. Lily liked to watch them flit from plant to plant. She wanted to hold one in her hands. She wished they would know that she would never hurt them. It would be fun to hold a bird.

  Lily noticed a cluster of black-eyed Susans along the road. She handed her little brown paper bag filled with new school supplies to Joseph. “Hold this for me while I pick flowers for Teacher Rhoda.”

  Joseph patiently held Lily’s bag while she waded through the tall grass. She gathered a
s many black-eyed Susans as she could carry. She knew Teacher Rhoda would be pleased.

  “You’ll have to carry my bag the rest of the way to school,” Lily said.

  Joseph wasn’t very pleased that he had to carry two bags plus his lunch box. So Lily told him she would carry the bags if he carried the flowers and then he didn’t seem to mind the bags.

  At the schoolhouse, Teacher Rhoda filled a quart jar with water and Lily’s black-eyed Susans, then she put it on her desk in the front of the room. She told Lily that her favorite flower was black-eyed Susan, and Lily couldn’t stop grinning.

  Little name tags sat on each desk. Lily walked up and down the rows until she found the desk with her name on it. She carefully unpacked her little bag of supplies. She wondered who might be sitting across the aisle from her this year. Beth, she hoped. She peeped at the name on the desk.

  No. Oh no. Lily’s heart sank. The name tag said “Aaron Yoder.” Two years in a row! It was too much to bear. She wondered why Aaron had to sit there, of all places. If Lily were the teacher, she would have Aaron sit in the very front of the row where she could keep an eye on him.

  If Lily had to sit next to him, she would not look at him. Not for the entire year. He would be invisible to her.

  The Invisible Plan worked all morning long. She completely ignored Aaron. She didn’t glance at him, not once. When it was lunchtime, Lily went to wash her hands and get her new lunch box. She sat at her desk and looked at the beautiful little girl elf on the lid.

  Suddenly, a loud guffaw came across the aisle—from the invisible part. “Hey, Sam!” Aaron called to his friend. “Lily’s lunch box says ‘herself the elf.’” Aaron let out a few more guffaws. “She must be an elf! That’s why she’s so skinny.”

  Lily quickly opened her lunch box so the picture would be hidden.

  “Elf, elf, elf,” Aaron chanted.

  Sam and a few more of his friends joined him with the elf chant until Teacher Rhoda stopped them with a stern look. “That’s enough, boys.”

  The lunch box didn’t seem quite so pretty to Lily since Aaron had made fun of it. It was spoiled for her.

  When the children finished lunch and went outside to play, Aaron ran up to Lily and started to chant, “Elf, elf, elf. Lily is an elf.” More of Aaron’s friends gathered around Lily and chanted “elf.” She felt surrounded by a pack of wild hyenas. She darted away and ran off to join the girls.

  She thought she might hate Aaron Yoder. She had never hated anyone before, not even Mandy Mast in New York, and it wasn’t a good feeling. She knew Mama and Papa would be sad to think she hated anyone. But still, she couldn’t deny how she felt about him.

  That evening, Lily stood in front of her mirror. Maybe Aaron Yoder was right. Maybe she was too skinny. Maybe that was why her eyes looked too big and she didn’t have dimples in her cheeks like Beth did. She made up her mind to eat more. Then, Aaron Yoder would stop teasing her.

  Lily went downstairs to help Mama prepare supper. Mama chatted pleasantly as she worked at the stove. Usually, Lily enjoyed talking about her day to Mama, but tonight she had too much on her mind. Mama noticed. “Is something bothering you, Lily?”

  Out spilled the story about the lunch box and how the boys had called her “elf.” She might have emphasized that Aaron Yoder started the teasing and that he was a horrible boy.

  Mama studied the lunch box. “That wasn’t very nice,” she said. “But look at how pretty the little elf girl is. I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.”

  “But he—I mean—they said I’m too skinny.”

  Mama was quiet for a long moment. “You are perfectly healthy and have nothing to be ashamed of. I think you look just right for our Lily.”

  That evening, Mama took a scouring pad and scrubbed the picture right off the lid of the lunch box. It was still a nice sunny yellow but the picture was gone. All because of Aaron Yoder.

  21

  The Funeral

  As the clock ticked toward eight, Papa stood and stretched. “It’s bedtime for little lambs,” he said. Bedtime always came too early. Lily looked forward to being a grown-up. The first thing on her to-do list was to stay up as late as she wanted to, maybe all night long.

  As she headed to the stairs, a knock came on the door. Papa opened the door to Grandpa Miller. Lily paused on the stairs to hear why he had dropped by at this time of day. “Grandma passed away,” she heard him say.

  No, no, no! It couldn’t be. Not Grandma. She burst into tears and ran to Papa’s side. “There, there, don’t cry like that,” he said, patting her back. “We’ll miss Grandma but she was ready to go. She had been wanting to go to heaven for a long time.”

  “It’s not fair,” Lily sobbed. “Why couldn’t God take Great-Grandma instead of Grandma? She was so old!”

  Papa and Grandpa exchanged an odd look. Grandpa crouched down so he was face-to-face with Lily. “He did, Lily,” he said. “Great-Grandma passed away this evening. Your Grandma is doing just fine.”

  Relief flooded through Lily. She brushed the tears from her eyes. Grandma was fine! Lily brushed her teeth, changed into her nightgown, hopped into bed, and pulled the covers up beneath her chin. Downstairs, Lily could hear Papa and Mama talking at the kitchen table. Lily knew Mama was crying softly. She felt sorry for Mama—she had loved Great-Grandma the way Lily loved Grandma.

  But now Lily wouldn’t have to worry about shaking Great-Grandma’s bony claw whenever she went to visit Grandma and Grandpa. She felt a tiny pinprick of guilt for feeling so happy about it. Death was supposed to be sad. As hard as she tried, as much as she scolded herself, she couldn’t stop smiling.

  Papa didn’t go to work the next morning. Instead, the family dressed up in their somber black Sunday clothes and walked slowly up the road to Grandpa and Grandma’s house.

  Benches filled the living room, just like a church Sunday, even though it wasn’t Sunday. It was Great-Grandma’s viewing day. In the corner of the living room, a big black casket rested on several chairs. Papa and Mama led the way over to the casket and they all got a good long look at Great-Grandma. Every hair on Lily’s head stood up. She thought Great-Grandma looked scarier dead than alive, if that was possible. She smelled funny too. Lily wanted to pinch her nose. She tried not to shudder as the family sat down on the benches.

  Before long, people from their church started to arrive. Slowly, each person shook hands with the family and had a good long look at Great-Grandma, then they sat on the bench to visit for an hour or two. Paying respects, they called it. All day long.

  Time passed—lots of it. Lily had never known a day could last that long. All of her friends were at school, having fun, while she was stuck here on a hard bench. Her back and legs grew tired. Joseph and Dannie fell sound asleep. Longingly, she gazed at the door. She would love to slip out the door and run, run, run. She didn’t care where she ran as long as it was far, far away from Great-Grandma’s smelly casket.

  In the kitchen, the women had gathered to prepare large amounts of food to be served after the funeral in two days. For a while, Lily entertained herself by listening to Ida Kauffman order the women around and tell them what to do. She sounded just like Effie did during recess.

  When Papa stood and said it was time to go home for chores, Lily had never felt so relieved. But the happy feeling quickly vanished when Papa said they would return tomorrow for more sitting and visiting.

  Those two viewing days were the most miserable days of Lily’s life. She was so happy when the day of the funeral arrived. School was canceled for the day, and that meant Beth would be at the funeral too. Lily was amazed that Great-Grandma had so many friends. Vans and buses arrived in Cloverdale, filled with people from other communities. Buggies rolled in from four neighboring church districts. There wasn’t enough room at Grandpa’s house for everyone, so the men put benches in the basement and in the barn. Even in the new sawmill. A minister would preach a sermon in each spot.

  Only the families who were related to Grea
t-Grandma stayed in the house. It felt like a church day, except that Papa and Mama sat next to each other, with Lily, Joseph, and Dannie beside them. Lily wished they could sit like this every Sunday.

  Unlike church, there was no singing at the funeral. Only preaching. Long, long preaching. Just like church. When the minister was finally done, he sat down and everyone rose to file past the casket for one last look at Great-Grandma. Lily cringed. Not again.

  Finally, it was time to fasten the lid to the casket. Several men carried it outside to a waiting buggy. Then a long line of buggies started for the graveyard, ever so slowly. The buggy horses weren’t even allowed to walk fast or trot. Lily felt so sorry for Jim.

  Mama stayed at the house instead of going to the graveyard and told Lily she could stay too. The kitchen was bustling with noise as women hurried to prepare the meal for everyone to eat as soon as they returned from the graveyard. Ida Kauffman came into the living room to start setting up the benches to make tables. Her bespectacled gaze grazed over Lily and Mama. “I would think a person would like to be at her grandmother’s burial.”

  Mama smiled in her sweet way. “Daniel thought it would be a good idea if I stayed here and rested instead of standing at the gravesite too long in the hot sun.”

  Ida Kauffman lifted a disapproving eyebrow, giving off a look that suggested she did not agree with Papa. Then she bustled off to the kitchen, peppering other women with instructions about how to set things out properly.

  An hour later, everyone returned from the graveyard. People were laughing and joking and visiting, as if it were just an ordinary church day and not a boring funeral day. How strange. Lily hoped she would never have to go to another funeral as long as she lived.

  22

  A Surprise for Lily

  Before the sun rose on a Saturday morning, Papa woke Lily from a sound sleep. Lily blinked a few times, sure she was dreaming. “Wake up, Lily. Wake up.” She saw Papa standing by her bed. “I need you to take your brothers to Grandma Miller’s right away. Give her this note and stay there until I come to get you.”