A New Home for Lily Read online

  “Well, don’t just sit there,” Effie said. “We want to play too.”

  Beth smiled at Lily. “I think your covering is nice. It doesn’t make you look funny at all.”

  Beth’s encouragement made Lily feel a little better. She decided she would not let Effie spoil another day for her. Effie was always saying things to make others feel like they’d bitten into a sour lemon. From now on, Lily wouldn’t pay any mind to things Effie said. She concentrated on carefully lifting a pick-up stick from the pile. Another stick moved ever so slightly and her turn was over.

  That afternoon, Lily and Joseph walked home from school. All the other children had run ahead of them, but Lily didn’t mind. She enjoyed the walk home from school much more if they slowed down to see things.

  This afternoon was much too nice to hurry. The snow banks beside the road were growing smaller. They didn’t look very pretty with all the clinging dirt. The melting snow ran into the ditch along the road. Little Coltsfoot flowers were blooming. So brave. The first flowers to blossom after winter. They weren’t very pretty, but they still made Lily feel happy when she saw them. A sure sign that spring would be here soon.

  Lily stooped to pick a few and drop them into the water in the ditch. She watched them bob along the ripples in the water and wondered where their journey would take them. They might drift into a creek that could take them to a river. Maybe those little flowers would end up bobbing in the ocean. She wished there was a way that she could follow them and see where they went. If she were a flower on a creek, she might try to float all the way back to her little farm in New York and go visit Chubby the miniature horse and Stormy the dog. Chubby had been sold at auction and Stormy had been given to a family at the church. She missed them and she was sure they missed her.

  Lily and Joseph stood and watched until the flowers disappeared from sight, then they started for home.

  It was getting late. They walked a little faster now. Lily was hungry and couldn’t wait to see what Mama was making for supper tonight. When they reached home, Mama was working in the kitchen. Three glasses of milk and three cookies were waiting for them.

  Dannie stood next to his chair. “Hurry and change,” he said. “I’m hungry.” He was starting to get bossy. It was a worry to Lily.

  Lily and Joseph changed into their everyday clothes and then sat at the table to enjoy their snack. Ever the copycat, Dannie sat on his chair and dunked his cookie into his glass of milk just like Lily and Joseph were doing.

  “So how was school today?” Mama asked.

  Lily listened patiently as Joseph told Mama about his day. When he was done, she said, “I like school but I don’t like recess.”

  “What’s wrong with recess?” Mama asked. “I thought you liked to play with Beth and your other friends.”

  “I like playing with Beth,” Lily said. “But not all the children are as nice as she is.” Effie, she meant.

  “Always remember, Lily, it is much more important to treat others kindly than to think that they have to be nice to you,” Mama said. “I hope you are nice to all the children and not just Beth.”

  “I do try to be nice to everyone,” Lily said. Malinda, she meant. It was hard work to say only nice things to Effie when she didn’t care what kinds of things she said to Lily.

  Besides, Lily doubted that Effie’s mother would give the same advice as Mama gave. Effie’s mother was a big-boned, full-voiced lady who acted like her little girl could do no wrong. Lily had already learned that Effie Kauffman could do no right.

  Two days later, Lily and Joseph walked in the door from school and Mama said to hurry and change their clothes. “Then come down and eat your snack. I want Lily to try on her new covering that I made today.”

  Lily ran upstairs and slipped into her light blue everyday dress. She felt excited. Finally, she would look like the other girls. Effie could no longer make fun of Lily. At least, not about her unusual covering.

  Mama had spread peanut butter on apple slices. The apples were waiting for them to eat as Lily ran into the kitchen. She wished that Mama had given them a glass of chocolate milk instead of the apple. She could drink faster than she could chew apples and today was not a day to waste time on a snack.

  Lily offered the rest of her apple slices to Joseph and he was happy to take them. Joseph was always hungry. Lily washed her hands and hurried to the living room to try on her new covering.

  There it was, resting on top of the sewing machine cabinet. It was a beautiful shiny black satin instead of the thin black organza she had always worn.

  She removed the covering she was wearing. Mama carefully placed the new one on her head and tied the wide satin ribbons under her chin. Lily went to find a mirror to admire the fluffy bow that these wide ribbons made. The bow looked nice, but something was wrong with this covering. Terribly wrong.

  It was noisy! Every time Lily talked or moved her head she could hear her covering. Coverings weren’t supposed to make sounds.

  Mama smiled at her. “Well, how do you like it?”

  Lily hesitated to tell her that it was broken. After all, Mama had spent time making it. “It is pretty,” she said. “But it rattles.”

  A puzzled look came into Mama’s eyes. “It rattles?”

  “Every time I move, even a little, it makes a rattle.”

  Mama removed the covering and held it to her own ears. She grinned. “It’s the thick fabric. I think you’ll get used to it. Before long you won’t even think about it. You can wear it to school tomorrow.”

  Lily wondered how she was supposed to concentrate on her lessons if she had to wear a covering that rattled all day long. She removed the new covering, glad to get away from the noise it made, and replaced it with her old, comfortable, quiet covering. She wished Mama had waited a little longer before making her a new one. Like everything else in this new town, it was strange and uncomfortable.

  4

  The Mirror at Midnight

  Lily glanced at the clock on the schoolhouse wall. Only ten more minutes until recess. Teacher Rhoda was busy with the first graders, who were trying to learn a new letter and its sound. Lily liked watching the first grade class. They were cute and little and their schoolwork was easy. Much easier than the math problems she was working on. Rain beat against the windows. The gentle patter of raindrops made Lily feel sleepy. She yawned as she turned her attention back to the last few subtraction problems. Only three more.

  “Put your books away for recess,” Teacher Rhoda said.

  The room was filled with the sound of books closing, papers shuffling, and the opening and closing of desk lids. Lily tucked her arithmetic workbook and pencil into her desk. She wished she had hurried to finish those stupid math problems. She would have to finish them after recess.

  She closed her desk lid and waited as Teacher Rhoda dismissed one row of students at a time. She wondered what they would be playing today. They couldn’t play outside in the rain. It had been raining for weeks now and she was tired of indoor games.

  The children gathered at the back of the schoolhouse, but nobody had any ideas of what to do. Someone suggested they could play Still Waters, but that suggestion was met with groans. Lily was relieved. She didn’t like when it was her turn to be it and she had to wander around the schoolhouse blindfolded, hunting for children. They could walk and run away from her until Teacher Rhoda called out “Still Waters” and everyone froze in place. They had to hold still until Lily had found them. It always took her a long time to find everyone. Last time, Aaron Yoder had stuck out his foot and tripped her.

  Jay Troyer, one of the first grade boys, opened up his umbrella and walked around the schoolhouse with it.

  Effie planted her hands on her hips. “Close that umbrella right now!”

  Jay kept right on walking. “Why?”

  Effie didn’t like for her orders to be ignored. “Don’t you know bad things happen to people who open umbrellas indoors?”

  Jay’s mouth opened in a silent
O. He quickly closed the umbrella, horrified. Lily hadn’t known that, either. She tried to think back and remember if anything bad had ever happened to her after she had opened Papa’s big, black umbrella in the house. Once, she had stubbed her toe as she put the umbrella away. But she often stubbed her toes, even when there was no umbrella in sight.

  A few children started to talk about other things that were bad to do. Marvin Yoder—who was nice, unlike his younger brother Aaron, who was not—said that when a lamp chimney broke or cracked while the lamp was lit, it meant that someone in the family had died.

  Effie said that if your left ear itched it meant that someone was saying something bad about you.

  One of the eighth grade girls added that if a girl walked up the stairs and accidentally stepped on the skirt of her dress, it meant she would not be getting married that year. Right then and there, Lily decided to step on her skirt every year. She didn’t want to get married. She never wanted to leave Papa and Mama.

  Beth rubbed her hands together. “If you look into a mirror when a clock strikes midnight, you will see what you will look like in your coffin.”

  Lily shivered. How awful! She wondered if it was really true. It must be true. Beth never lied. Effie did, but Beth never did.

  Lily was glad when Teacher Rhoda rang the bell and it was time to return to their desks. This recess had been spooky.

  When Lily got home from school, she changed into her everyday clothes and looked at her reflection in the mirror. It was the same as it always was. Big brown eyes, a few freckles splashed across her nose and cheeks, and mousy brown hair. She couldn’t help but wonder what she would see if she looked into the mirror at midnight. Fear trickled down her spine.

  Later that night, after bedtime, Lily snuggled under the covers and soon drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, she jerked awake. She could hear the chimes of the clock downstairs. Lily’s heart beat faster as she sat up and counted every strike. One . . . two . . . three . . . then, seven . . . eight . . . nine. Everything went quiet. Lily fell back on her pillow with a sigh of relief. It was only nine o’clock.

  She hopped out of bed and turned her mirror to face the wall. Too risky. She did not want to see what she would look like in a coffin if she happened to wake up at midnight.

  Each evening after that, Lily made sure the mirror was turned toward the wall. It became part of her going-to-bed routine.

  Until one evening, when she forgot. The chimes of the clock woke her. Outside the moon was shining brightly and its soft light filtered into her window. Lily sat up in bed and counted as the clock struck ten . . . eleven . . . twelve!

  She couldn’t help herself. She looked! She looked in the mirror. Lily expected to see an old, old woman, as old as Great-Grandma, staring back at her. But all she could see was her own reflection. She breathed a sigh of relief and snuggled back under her covers.

  Then came a dreadful thought. What if that meant she was going to die soon? How awful! How sad.

  Lily was wide awake. She might die in her sleep! She lit her oil lamp and opened her dresser drawer to find a piece of paper and a pencil. Since she was going to die, she might as well write out a Last Will & Testament. She would give Joseph all of her books and games. Dannie could have her doll Sally. And Papa and Mama could have the rest of her things.

  She folded her will and set it on top of the dresser. Then she blew out the lamp and climbed back into bed. She tried to imagine how much Papa and Mama, Joseph and Dannie would cry when she died. Buckets and buckets of tears. Just thinking about it made her cry. She sniffed and pulled the covers up over her head. She would never sleep tonight. Never.

  “Lily! Time to get up!” Mama called from the bottom of the stairs.

  Lily blinked twice, then opened her eyes wide. She hopped out of bed and grabbed the will she had written last night. She had better get this over with. Poor Mama. She tucked it into her pocket. In the kitchen, she handed it to Mama.

  Mama opened it and read it quietly. She looked at Lily. “What is this all about?”

  “I’m going to die soon,” Lily said. She was trying to be brave, but it was sad. So sad.

  “What makes you think that?”

  Lily told her all about what Beth had said about the mirror at midnight. She told her that she had woken up and seen herself, at age eight, so she knew she wouldn’t live to be as old as Great-Grandma. So sad, so sad.

  Lily glanced up to see if Mama might need a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. But no! Mama’s eyes were smiling. In fact, it looked as if she were trying not to laugh. “Oh, Lily. That’s only a very silly superstition. The mirror only shows a reflection of who looks into it. It doesn’t have any special powers. It’s just a mirror. You don’t have to worry about seeing an old wrinkled woman in it until you are old and wrinkled.”

  Mama bit on her lip as if she was trying very hard to hold back a smile. She turned back to the frying pan where several pieces of bacon sizzled and popped. Instantly, Lily felt light and happy. And very hungry. She wasn’t going to die soon after all. She would get to keep all her toys and books and never have to worry about looking in that mirror again.

  She wondered if all those other things she had heard from her new friends were only silly superstitions. Probably so. But she thought she would still step on her skirt while going up the stairs at least once every year. Just in case.

  Papa had found a job with a construction crew only a few days after moving to Pennsylvania. Unlike in New York, he didn’t work on Saturdays. That made Lily happy. That was the second good thing about moving to Pennsylvania. The first good thing was making friends with Beth. Those were the only two things on her list.

  On Saturdays, Lily and Joseph were Papa’s little helpers as he worked on the house. Lily loved to watch and help Papa with all the interesting things that he did.

  Earlier that week, Lily and Joseph had come home from school and had seen that someone had delivered a big, empty propane tank. It was set under the big spruce tree beside the house. Lily and Joseph liked to climb on top of the tank to slide over the side. It was only a short ride, but it was fun.

  On this particular Saturday, Papa was putting gauges on top of the tank. He told them that he didn’t want them to climb on it any longer. He didn’t want them to touch the gauges. “The best way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to stay off the tank.”

  Papa dug a ditch across the yard to the little gas engine. He placed another compressor behind the engine. Once it was hooked up, he started the engine and pumped air into the propane tank until he was satisfied there was enough pressure.

  Lily grew bored watching Papa work on the propane tank. It wasn’t as interesting as fixing the refrigerator. You could see ice, but you couldn’t see air.

  When the tank was full of compressed air, Papa took the lid off the water well. He started to pull at the pipes and wires that were attached to the electric pump that pumped water to the house. It was hard work. Soon, Papa gave up trying to do this project by himself. He went inside and sat at his desk to write a note. He handed it to Lily. “Run to Grandpa Miller’s and give this to him.”

  Lily hurried down the road to Grandpa Miller’s house and handed him the note at the door. He read it and said, “If you can wait a little, I’ll walk back with you.”

  Lily would never mind waiting for Grandpa. It would be special to have time alone with her grandfather. Soon, Grandpa finished his task, plucked his hat and coat from the wall peg, and the two were on their way.

  Grandpa walked with a purpose. He did everything with a purpose. Lily did the best she could to keep up, but her short legs had to take two steps for every one of his long, graceful strides. She chattered happily as they strolled down the road. Grandpa pointed out some birds that Lily had never noticed. He knew about all kinds of things—birds and wildlife and trees and clouds. Sometimes, Lily thought that Grandpa knew everything, even more than Papa. The walk didn’t take nearly long enough. It was the first time she had ever wished Gra
ndpa lived farther away, so they could walk longer together.

  When they reached the yard, Grandpa helped Papa pull the electric water pump out of the well. Together, they made quick work of it. They fastened the air hoses to the new pump and slid it down into the well.

  Once they were satisfied that everything was secure, it was time to try it out. They went into the house and opened the kitchen faucet. Water sputtered out but it was dirty and muddy and brown. And then it stopped coming altogether.

  Papa didn’t seem to be concerned but Lily thought it was a terrible thing to have to drink such filthy water. Soon, the water started sputtering out of the faucet again. Papa stood there watching as the water flowed. He said that changing the pumps had stirred up some dirt. They needed to be patient until it had time to settle and become clear again.

  Lily watched the water run. Every once in a while it would stop and make a long gasping noise before it started to flow again. “Why does it do that?”

  “That’s the way air pumps work,” Papa said. “Every time the pump has to bring another load of water, it pauses until it fills up.”

  Grandpa brushed his hands together like he was dusting off flour, a sign that he was satisfied. “It looks like everything is working so I guess I may as well start for home.”

  Papa thanked him for coming over to help. He turned back to the sink to watch the water. It was starting to run clear.

  Lily could get used to having a refrigerator on the porch instead of the kitchen. She could get used to having flickering oil lamps again instead of electric lights. But she wasn’t sure she could ever get used to a gasping faucet.

  5

  Lily’s New Doll

  Another week went by and Mama was still too busy to make clothes for Lily’s new doll. Mama explained to Lily that she had many clothes to sew for the family so that they would be dressed the same as everyone else in the church. There was a way of dressing in the Pennsylvania church that was different than Lily’s New York church: the fabrics were different, the pleats in Mama’s dress and cape were different, Mama’s apron had to be one inch shorter than it had been, no snaps allowed on Papa’s coat—only hooks and eyes. Lily asked Mama what difference it made and she had no answer for her.