Life with Lily Read online

  Lily slid into the seat and opened the lid to her desk. There was a pile of books inside, as well as a box of new crayons, a pair of scissors, and glue. Joseph’s eyes grew wide. He wanted to start school today too, but he would have to wait. Lily hoped Teacher Ellen would let her start writing in those books soon. Mama had taught her the alphabet already.

  Mama crouched down by Lily’s desk. “It looks like you’re all settled in. It’s time for me to take the boys home now. I’ll come pick you up after school.”

  Lily stood at the door and watched as Mama drove away and left her there. She wasn’t sure what she should do next. A group of children played a game on the playground, but she didn’t know what game they were playing. Everything was so strange and new. She saw her cousins, Hannah and Levi, playing with a girl named Mandy Mast and some other children she knew from church, but no one seemed to notice her. She didn’t know what to do with herself. Maybe, if she hurried down the road, she could catch up with Mama and go home. She could try school another day.

  Teacher Ellen put a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “Would you like to help me ring the bell to start school?”

  Lily changed her mind about running off to catch Mama. Ringing the school bell would be fun! And wouldn’t Joseph be envious when he heard what she had done? Teacher Ellen showed her how to pull the rope and make the bell ring. Lily pulled it hard, twice. The bell echoed loudly, so loudly that a family of crows startled and flew out of a nearby tree.

  All the children came running to the schoolhouse. They stopped at the pump to get a drink of water before they went inside to sit at their desks. Lily was relieved when cousin Hannah sat across the aisle from her. Levi, a year older and in the second grade, sat behind her.

  Teacher Ellen stood at her desk and looked over the classroom, smiling at each student. “I am so happy to be here with all of you,” she said. “It won’t take long to get to know each other. I’m sure we will have a very nice school year filled with learning new and exciting things. Before we get started, let’s introduce ourselves.” She took a few steps forward. “I am Ellen Weaver. My home is in Wisconsin, but I am happy to come to New York to be your teacher.” She pointed to the back rows. “Now, let’s start with the eighth graders. Each person can take a turn saying his or her name.”

  As Lily listened to the big eighth graders introduce themselves, her worries returned. She wished she were at home with Mama and Joseph and baby Dannie. She wondered what Mama was doing right now. A big lump started to rise in her throat. Tears prickled her eyes. She bit her bottom lip to try not to cry.

  Mandy Mast raised her hand and waved it wildly in the air. In a loud voice she announced, “Lily Lapp is going to cry!”

  Lily’s lips started to quiver and a tear leaked down her cheek. She wanted to disappear. Teacher Ellen hurried to Lily’s desk.

  “As soon as we’re done with introductions, I have a very cute picture I would like you to color for me,” she said. “It’s a little kitten on top of someone’s birthday cake. You look like you would know how to color very nicely. Would you mind coloring it for me?”

  Lily nodded. Teacher Ellen patted her shoulder to encourage her before she walked back to the front of the room. After each scholar was introduced, Teacher Ellen handed out assignments. As she passed Lily’s desk, she handed her a paper. Lily got her crayons and started coloring. The kitten looked cute with its paws covered with frosting. She colored it yellow so it would look like her favorite kitten at home. She took out her pink crayon and started to color the frosting. It would be pink like Mama’s birthday cake.

  “EEEKKK!”

  Lily’s head snapped up. Teacher Ellen pointed to the trash can. The children jumped from their seats to see what was so frightening. Just then a little brown mouse darted across the floor and Teacher Ellen shrieked again.

  Lily shivered and quickly drew her feet up off the floor. She did not like mice. She didn’t want that mouse to run up her legs. Mice did that sort of thing. The boys started to chase the mouse, hoping to catch it. Some of the big girls joined in. Before long, the entire schoolroom had broken out in pandemonium.

  Teacher Ellen hopped up on top of her desk in the front of the room. She noticed Lily cowering in her seat and motioned to her to join her. Lily jumped up on the teacher’s desk and held on to Teacher Ellen as the terrified little mouse scurried around and around the schoolroom. Twenty children ran behind it, yelling and screaming.

  Teacher Ellen shouted out for someone to open the door so the mouse could escape. The mouse made a few more laps around the classroom before it found its way to freedom and dashed outside to safety.

  As the children settled down in the seats, Teacher Ellen hopped off the desk. “That was quite enough excitement for one day, don’t you think so, Lily?” she said as she helped Lily down. “I’m glad I had someone to be with me while the mouse was chased outside.”

  Lily smiled up at her. School was going to be more fun than she had thought. It was exciting! And she already loved Teacher Ellen.

  11

  The Trouble with Mandy Mast

  Gray morning light filled the house. Mama gave Lily and Joseph a small piece of cloth to dust the furniture in the living room. Lily loved helping with the Saturday cleaning. She sang happily as she swished her cloth back and forth over the slats in the back of Mama’s hickory rocking chair. They wanted the house to sparkle for Sunday. Not one speck of dust would be allowed to stay. Not one speck.

  After every little piece of the rocking chair had been dusted, Lily helped Joseph finish dusting Papa’s rocking chair. Then they dusted the little lampstand that stood between the two chairs.

  Mama carried the oil lamps to the kitchen. She trimmed the wicks, filled them with oil, and washed the chimneys until they were clear and sparkling. Lily helped her put each lamp back where it belonged.

  Next it was time to refill the kitchen canisters. Lily scooped flour into the big canister while Mama filled the others: white sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder in the little one. Lily placed the lids on the canisters. Mama wiped the outside surface and set them in a neat row along the back of the countertop.

  Mama checked the woodstove to make sure the fire had died down. Only a few little red coals glowed in the ashes. She raked them carefully to the side and asked Lily to pull out the ash handle. Lily grasped the wooden handle at the bottom of the stove and pulled it out. Whoosh! A little pile of ashes dropped down into the ash pan at the base of the stove.

  With the wood poker, Mama pushed the rest of the ashes into the little hole in the bottom of the firebox. After all of the ashes had fallen into the ash pan, Lily pushed the wooden handle back in and closed the little hole. Mama carefully spread the remaining ashes and red coal over the bottom and added a few scraps of wood to start the fire again.

  Now it was time to clean the stove top. Mama got several pieces of emery cloth. She set a chair at the back of the stove for Lily to stand on, then folded an old rag and placed it on top of the emery cloth. Together, Mama helped Lily press as hard as they could in one direction. They rubbed the emery cloth across the stove top until it was shiny. If they rubbed the wrong way, they could make ugly scratches. Lily rubbed and rubbed until her arms felt tired. She didn’t like the sound of the emery cloth on the stove top. Its screechy noise made her teeth shiver.

  Next came Lily’s favorite part of Saturday cleaning: time for Mama to sweep and mop the floors. Lily and Joseph were allowed to sit in Papa’s big rocking chair and look through picture books. It was the only day they got to sit in Papa’s chair and the only time they could look at those particular books. Lily wished the floor would take a long time to dry, but it never did.

  Because then came the worst part of Saturday cleaning. “Time for your hair, Lily,” Mama said, too soon.

  Every morning Mama would comb Lily’s hair back to make the part that was visible nice and neat. It was only taken down on Saturdays. All that combing back done during the week made awful snarls. Lily dr
eaded having her hair brushed out. Sadly, she slid off the rocking chair, put the special books away, and walked into the kitchen. Joseph ran to his room for this part because he didn’t like to watch Lily get upset. If she cried, then he would cry.

  In front of the sink, Mama placed a tall stool. She handed Lily a box filled with toys that were only played with while Lily had her hair done. A big matchbox filled with pretty pink and purple pop beads. Little books filled with pretty pictures and cute stories that Mama read while Lily turned the pages. A small Rubik’s cube that Lily twisted and turned but never could get all the colors lined up. A little beaded purse filled with different cute key chains. Best of all, a tiny porcelain doll with blue eyes, pink cheeks, and a bright red mouth. Mama had sewed a tiny purple dress for the doll. It was so tiny there had not been any room for buttons, so the back of the dress was sewed shut. Lily wrapped the doll into one of her flowered handkerchiefs and held it while Mama unwove her braids. Lily’s hair fell down to her knees in a river of crinkles.

  And then came the terrible, awful part. It had been a week since Mama had brushed out Lily’s hair. It was filled with snarls and tangles. Lily tried to ignore how much it hurt to have her hair brushed out. She tried to concentrate on the special toys, but before long, she couldn’t think of anything else. She started to cry. Big tears splashed down on the porcelain doll in her arms.

  To help distract her, Mama sang a funny song about a little boy and his dancing colt. Lily tried to choke back her tears so she could listen, but the brush hurt too much. She wailed even louder.

  Finally, after Mama was satisfied that every snarl had been removed, Lily hopped up on the countertop to have a shampoo. She leaned her head over the sink as Mama poured warm water on her head, then gently added shampoo. Lily liked this part of getting her hair done. It felt good. Mama rinsed the shampoo out of Lily’s hair and soaked up the extra water with a towel. Lily would sit back on the stool and Mama would brush out her hair again. Lily felt as if her hair had re-snarled and re-tangled, clinging even tighter to her scalp. Tears prickled her eyes.

  Mama saved a special story about a horse for this second brushing out. This little horse pulled a milk wagon and sneezed every time he trotted by flowers. Kerchoo! Kerchoo! Kerchoo! Lily tried not to cry too loudly so she could listen to Mama pretend to sneeze like a horse. Mama finished by braiding Lily’s hair and fixing it into a tidy little bun on the back of her head.

  “There! You’re all done,” Mama said as Lily slid off the stool. Mama sounded as relieved as Lily felt. Lily put away the special box of “hairdo” toys, happy to think it would be a whole week before she had to have her hair done again. A week seemed like months and months to six-year-old Lily.

  By the time Lily had put away the toys, Mama was already making bread dough and Joseph had come back to the kitchen. Mama let Lily and Joseph stand next to her and help punch and knead the bread dough until it was just right. Sometimes, she would give Lily and Joseph a piece of dough to make into a little loaf. If it was the Saturday before church, Mama baked six loaves of bread. Everyone brought food to share for lunch after church. Lily and Joseph took turns punching the dough until it turned from sticky to elastic. Mama covered the bowl with a towel and set it on the floor next to the stove. It would stay warm and start to rise in that little nook.

  One Saturday morning, a knock came at the door. When Mama opened it, Nate Mast stood there with his daughter, Mandy. She was thin and fair and pale, with freckles sprinkled over her nose and cheeks like a dusting of cinnamon. Mandy was just a little bit older than Lily but she liked to act as if she was the boss of everybody. Mama said Mandy needed extra patience and understanding because she didn’t have a mother. She meant, “Lily, you need to be nicer to Mandy.” So Lily tried to be sweet and patient with Mandy, but it wasn’t easy.

  Nate Mast asked Mama if she had any extra eggs to sell.

  “I think we should have plenty for you,” Mama said. She turned to Lily and said, “Keep an eye on Dannie while I go to the basement to wash and crate the eggs.”

  Nate followed Mama to the basement to help her while Mandy stayed in the kitchen with Lily. “Let’s go to your room to play with your dolls,” Mandy said.

  Lily wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. Mama had told her to keep an eye on Dannie. She peeked into the living room and saw Dannie playing with his wooden blocks beside the toy box. He seemed happy. Lily decided that if he started to cry, she would hear him upstairs and could hurry down to take care of him.

  Mandy followed Lily upstairs to her room to play with the dolls. Lily opened her closet and took out her dolls. The two girls sat on the bed and played with the dolls.

  “It will be our turn to have church at our house soon,” Mandy said. “Bring your dolls along so we can play with them after church. I found a secret place where we can play.”

  “Where?” Lily asked.

  Mandy put her fingers to her lips. “You will have to wait to find out.”

  “Mandy!” Nate Mast’s voice bellowed up the stairs. “I’ve got the eggs. Let’s go.”

  Lily and Mandy bolted off the bed and galloped down the stairs. Lily stopped so abruptly when she reached the kitchen that Mandy bumped into her. Flour was everywhere! Dannie had crawled into the kitchen, straight to the jar of flour on the floor. Lily might have forgotten to put the lid on the jar. Flour was in his hair, on his face, all over his clothes. Then he had crawled to where Mama had set the bowl of bread dough to rise in the warm corner behind the stove. He was happily sitting beside the bowl of bread dough, pressing his wooden blocks into the dough. Mama was still in the basement, but Lily knew she would not be happy.

  Mandy pointed to the mess, laughing and laughing. Her father frowned and hurried Mandy out the door. Lily wanted to slap Mandy. She thought it was partly Mandy’s fault that they had gone upstairs instead of watching Dannie like they were supposed to.

  Lily moved the bowl of bread dough away from Dannie. She pulled the wooden blocks out of the dough and set them on the sink. Dannie squealed, happy to have a playmate. Lily had to laugh at him. He looked more like a snowman than her little baby brother.

  Lily turned around and saw Mama standing at the top of the basement door, staring at the mess in the kitchen. Without a word, Mama began to clean up. Lily wished she would say something. Oh, but the silence was terrible!

  It took Mama and Lily a long time to get the kitchen and Dannie clean again. When Mama finished, she turned to Lily. “Didn’t I ask you to watch Dannie?”

  “Mandy wanted to go upstairs to play dolls!” Lily said.

  Mama looked sad. “Lily, you have to learn to say no to a friend if she asks you to do something that you know you shouldn’t.”

  Lily looked down at her bare toes. Mandy was a friend who often had exciting ideas that got Lily into trouble. She knew she had to say no to Mandy’s ideas sometimes, but it was so hard!

  Mama glanced at Dannie again and started to chuckle. “For such a little boy, he sure made a big mess, didn’t he?”

  Lily was relieved. Mama was laughing again! They dumped the bowl of dough out and started all over again. The bread for tomorrow’s church service didn’t get baked until late that evening. Lily went to sleep that night to the sweet smell of baking bread. Her dreams were filled with snowmen that looked like Dannie.

  12

  Train Tracks and Little Girls

  Monday through Friday, Lily waved goodbye to Mama and Joseph as they dropped her off in front of the little red schoolhouse in the morning. The school day passed swiftly. At recess and noontimes she played with Hannah and Mandy. She liked school and she loved Teacher Ellen.

  Teacher Ellen made learning about numbers and letters fun and easy. During recess, she would join the children on the playground and teach them new games. Best of all, Friday afternoons were devoted to art. Teacher Ellen would give several suggestions for pictures and the children would draw, paint, or sketch. The finished pictures would hang on the wall to be admire
d. The schoolroom looked cheerful and happy. Lily was glad that Teacher Ellen had come all the way from Wisconsin to be the teacher for Pleasant Hill School.

  Lily enjoyed school so much that she was sorry when Saturday and Sunday came along. She wished every day was a school day.

  “Time to wake up, Lily.”

  Lily sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes when she heard Mama’s voice. She still felt sleepy.

  “Hurry and get dressed,” Mama said, jiggling Dannie on her hip. “Breakfast is almost ready. Soon, we need to leave for church.”

  Lily jumped out of bed and slipped into her dress. She spun around so Mama could button the back. She followed Mama and Dannie downstairs to the kitchen. Papa had come in from the barn and was washing up at the sink. Joseph sat at the table, waiting to eat. Joseph was always ready to eat.

  Papa spread butter on a piece of bread and cut it into small strips so Lily and Joseph could dip the bread into their egg yolks. “Looks like it will be another beautiful day today,” he said.

  Lily glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to light the sky. No clouds! She was glad it would be a sunny day. She liked playing outside with her friends after church. Today, church was going to be at Mandy’s house and she would discover the secret place where they could play with their dolls. She hadn’t stopped thinking about that secret place.

  As soon as breakfast was over, Papa gathered the dishes from the table while Mama swirled soap into hot water in the sink. Lily stood on a little bench next to the sink. Mama washed and Lily dried and Papa put the dishes in the cupboards. When the kitchen was sparkling clean again, Mama went upstairs to help Joseph and Dannie into their Sunday clothes. She told Lily to change into her purple dress. Lily skipped into her bedroom and carefully removed her purple dress from the hanger in her closet. She loved purple. She wished she could wear this dress every day, but it was saved for church Sundays.