A Surprise for Lily Read online

  Outside, Dozer chased a chicken until she flew up a fence, safely out of his reach. Papa should have added that they would have to keep an eye on Joseph’s pesky dog and make sure he stayed out of trouble.

  The evening before Mama and Papa planned to leave for Kentucky, Carrie Kauffman arrived with her battered brown suitcase. As long as she didn’t have to worry about Pansy’s milking, Lily was looking forward to Carrie’s visit. She remembered how Carrie had played games with her and Joseph. Best of all, Carrie always did all the dishes. She never asked Lily to do them and Lily never volunteered.

  Early the next morning, before dawn, Mama, Papa, Dannie, and Paul left for Kentucky. Lily didn’t even hear them leave. Carrie, Lily, and Joseph headed out to the barn together to do the morning chores. It didn’t take long to give Jim and Pansy scoops of grain and several slices of hay, and to make sure there was plenty of water in their troughs. Joseph took care of the goats and chickens. Inside, over a leisurely breakfast, Lily thought this time with Carrie was going well. Much, much better than last time, when Carrie’s face often had a headachy look, and she had left Whispering Pines the moment Papa and Mama returned. So far, so good.

  But when Lily returned from school, the house smelled awful! Carrie was nowhere to be seen. Lily peered into a bowl on the sink. It was full of burnt Grape-Nuts. She saw Carrie cross the yard from the barn with a little pail filled with eggs. “I did the chores so we can have an early supper,” Carrie said. “I thought we could play some games this evening.”

  How wonderful! Lily ran upstairs to change into her play dress. She helped Carrie prepare supper by opening a can of applesauce. Lily was just about to pour it into a serving bowl, the way Mama did, when she had a better idea. Why give Carrie more dishes to wash? She stuck a spoon into the can and set it on the table. Carrie fried some hamburgers, and the three of them sat down to eat, much earlier than usual.

  The smell of burnt Grape-Nuts lingered in the kitchen. Even Joseph noticed. “What stinks?” he said.

  “I wanted to toast Grape-Nuts today,” Carrie said. “When I was toasting them, one of my friends stopped in to say hello. I forgot that I had the Grape-Nuts in the oven until I smelled them burning. The next batch turned out well, though.”

  “Yum!” Joseph said, smacking his lips. “Grape-Nuts for breakfast are my favorite.”

  “So much better than porridge,” Lily said.

  “I’m not sure what to do with those burnt Grape-Nuts,” Carrie said.

  “Feed ’em to the goats,” Joseph said. “They’ll eat anything.”

  Like brothers, Lily thought.

  Carrie’s visit went so well that Lily didn’t even miss Mama and Papa like she did last year. A little bit, but only at certain points of the day, like right as she went to sleep, or as she came home from school in the afternoon. It wasn’t long before the visit came to an end and Mama and Papa returned. Carrie didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get home like she did last year, either. She offered to help Mama unpack before she left for home, but Mama turned her down and hurried Carrie out the door.

  It was unlike Mama to be brisk, but soon Lily found out why. “It was a lovely couple of days, until the last few hours,” Mama said. Lily reached out for Paul but Mama didn’t pass him to her like she normally would have. “Uncle Ira’s youngest son broke out in chicken pox. That’s the most contagious time for chicken pox. I’m afraid the boys were exposed.”

  Oh no! Lily and her brothers had never had chicken pox. If Dannie and Paul did get sick, that meant Lily would get sick, too. And that would mean she wouldn’t be able to win the prize for best attendance at school! She had her heart set on winning that prize. She knew Effie was just as determined to win it, but it was only November.

  “Mama and I discussed it on the way home from the wedding,” Papa said. “We don’t want to spread the chicken pox here in Cloverdale. Since it’s likely that Dannie and Paul will get them, we won’t be going anywhere until they’re better. Lily and Joseph, we want you to stay at Grandpa and Grandma Miller’s so you won’t get them, either.”

  Mama packed a suitcase with Lily and Joseph’s clothes. She filled a grocery bag with some of their favorite books and games. Lily felt excited and sad at the same time. It would be fun to stay with her grandparents, but she would miss Papa and Mama and her little brothers. She hoped Dannie and Paul would hurry up and get over the chicken pox fast so they could be a family again.

  Papa hitched Jim to the buggy. He put the suitcases in the backseat. Mama gave Lily and Joseph a hug and told them to be good helpers for Grandma. Lily thought Mama looked as if she were blinking back tears. Lily’s eyes started to sting. If Mama cried, Lily would surely cry.

  Papa knew it was best to move things along. “Well, I think we’re ready to go,” he said. Joseph clambered up over the buggy wheel and hopped inside. Lily waited until Papa got Jim to turn the wheel out so she could use the buggy step to climb inside. It made her feel more grown-up to do it the same way Mama did. Papa lifted the reins and clucked giddyup to Jim. He trotted down the driveway. Lily waved goodbye to Mama and Dannie and Paul until they were out of sight.

  Grandma Miller welcomed Lily and Joseph inside and took them upstairs to the guest rooms. She helped Lily and Joseph unpack their clothes and tuck them into dressers. Aunt Susie was delighted to hear they were going to live at her house for a while. She grabbed their lunch boxes and held them in the air. “I’ll help Grandma fill these full of good things for you to eat at school tomorrow.”

  “But it’s Friday night,” Lily said. “We don’t have to go to school until Monday.”

  Aunt Susie’s face fell.

  “Joseph and Lily will help you remember when it’s Monday, Susie,” Papa said. He was always especially kind to Aunt Susie, Papa was.

  Aunt Susie’s face crinkled into a smile.

  Papa said goodbye to Lily and Joseph and started for home. Lily helped Grandma and Aunt Susie wash the rest of the supper dishes. Afterward, she helped Aunt Susie color in her coloring books. Being with Aunt Susie was like playing with a little girl. A grown-up little girl.

  Bong, bong, bong . . . The big grandfather clock in the living room struck eight o’clock. Grandpa set aside the book he was reading. “I think it’s time to go to bed.” He reached for the little black prayer book on the stand beside his rocking chair. Everyone knelt while Grandpa read a prayer in his singsongy way. Lily’s mind wandered off. She wondered what Papa and Mama and the little boys were doing at home. Papa was probably saying, “Bedtime for little lambs,” and they would all climb into their own comfortable, familiar beds. Lily and Joseph would be sleeping in strange beds.

  Lily climbed the stairs to the guest room. She slipped into her nightgown and got into bed. The mattress was hard and lumpy. It squeaked each time she moved. How could she ever sleep on a squeaky mattress? After tossing and turning for the longest while, she dragged all the covers off the bed and made a nest on the floor. She lay down and curled up. This was much more comfortable than the lumpy bed. No squeaking, either. All she could hear were the steady ticktocks from the grandfather clock in the living room. Tick, tock, tick, tock. The sounds echoed in the quiet house. Lily would never be able to fall asleep at Grandma’s house. Not ever.

  She turned over once more and it was morning.

  12

  The Chicken Pops

  Each day, when Lily and Joseph walked to school and home from school, they passed by Whispering Pines. In the mailbox, Mama would leave an envelope with instructions to help Lily with English class. Mama, Dannie, and Paul stood by the door of the house to wave to them as they passed. Papa came out of the workshop to wave to them. Dozer barked and danced around, but his collar was attached to a long rope so he couldn’t follow them. It was the best part of Lily’s day, even Dozer’s silly dance. Lily was glad they could all see each other a little bit.

  The following Sunday was a church morning. Lily jumped out of bed and hurried to get ready. She was sure she would see Mam
a at church. Mama never missed church. But at breakfast, Grandma Miller told her that they wouldn’t be there. Mama and Papa stayed home with Dannie and Paul so no one else at church would get exposed to chicken pox. Lily was so disappointed. Church had never lasted so long.

  In the afternoon, as they returned home, there was a box on the front porch of Grandma’s house. She picked it up and carried it inside. After she opened it, she said, “I think this is for Lily and Joseph.”

  Lily peered inside. There was a bowl filled with Mama’s oatmeal raisin cookies, a book Mama had been reading for bedtime stories before she had left for the wedding, and a fat envelope. The cookies looked delicious and the book would be wonderful to read before bedtime tonight, but what Lily really wanted was the envelope. She tore it open as soon as Grandma handed it to her. Inside were letters from Papa and Mama. Dannie had drawn a picture. Another piece of paper had a tracing of Paul’s little hand. At the bottom, Mama had written, “To Lily and Joseph. From Paul.”

  Tears pricked Lily’s eyes and she blinked fast to keep them back. She unfolded the letter from Mama.

  Dear Lily and Joseph,

  We all miss you so much and can’t wait until you can come home. Dannie and Paul haven’t shown any sign of the chicken pox. It will be two weeks on Wednesday since they were exposed to them. If they are still clear by the end of the week, then Papa and I think it will be safe for you to come home.

  Dannie has lost another tooth. He kept it so he can show it to you later. He has been trying to teach Dozer a new trick to surprise you when you come home but it hasn’t been going very well. Dozer seems to miss you too. He lies down by the shop door and doesn’t want to play. Even his favorite red ball doesn’t hold his attention very long.

  Lily felt the tiniest pang of sympathy for Dozer, though it quickly left when she remembered how thoroughly he had chewed up her doll Sally. But she knew that Dozer just wanted everything to go back to normal. That’s how she felt, too. She read on.

  I have been busy sewing and mending. Paul wears out the patches on the knees of his pants as fast as I can sew them on. Dannie has been trying to learn how to sew patches too. So far he has managed to sew on one patch. He still has trouble getting the thread tangled but he is learning. If Dannie keeps on learning like this, Lily might not have to do any more hand sewing.

  We have been drinking goat milk regularly since Pansy is dry.

  Lily felt like gagging. She hated goat milk. It tasted just like a billy goat smelled: awful. That was the first good thing she had discovered about not being at home. That and discovering that Dannie was learning to sew. Two good things.

  I hope you’re having fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. I’m sure Aunt Susie will be sorry when it’s time for you to come home.

  Love,

  Mama

  Lily flipped the paper over. Papa had written on the back. His handwriting looked tall and handsome, just like him.

  Dear Lily and Joseph,

  We miss having our family together. It will be very nice once you can all come home again. The shop seems lonely without Joseph making toys after school. I miss Lily’s cookies, too.

  He did? Joseph and Dannie gagged when they ate Lily’s cookies. That would be the first thing Lily would do when she got home. Make cookies for Papa.

  Last week, a couple came into the shop to order furniture. They brought their little boy along and forgot to watch him for a few minutes. In the blink of an eye, the little boy ran his hand along a tabletop that I had just finished putting a coat of varnish on. I had to redo the whole thing.

  Lily could just imagine the scene. Papa wouldn’t have been happy about the extra work the little boy had caused, but he wouldn’t have said anything about it to the customers. He was that kind and understanding.

  I’ve been getting a lot of orders for Christmas already. I hope I can get all of them done in time. It feels kind of nice to know Whispering Pines is helping to make Christmas special for folks.

  How is everything going in school? I hope you are both doing your best. If you have any problems, you can always talk to Grandpa and Grandma. They will know how to help.

  Love,

  Papa

  Lily handed the letter to Joseph to read and reached into the box to get a cookie. As delicious as Mama’s oatmeal raisin cookie tasted, her stomach hurt as she ate it. She was even more homesick now than before she had read the letter.

  On Monday morning, Lily and Joseph looked at the windows of Whispering Pines as they passed the house, expecting to see Mama wave to them. But no one was at the window this morning. Papa didn’t come out of his woodshop. It was the same thing in the afternoon. No one waved to them.

  Aunt Susie was waiting for them on Grandma’s porch steps. “Your papa stopped by today. Dannie and Paul have the chicken pops.”

  “Pox,” Lily said sadly. “They have the chicken pox.” She was so disappointed. She wasn’t sure when she would ever get to go home.

  “Why don’t we make a busy book for Dannie and Paul,” Grandma said. “It would give them something interesting to do as soon as they start feeling a little better. We can start it this evening after supper.”

  With that thought, Lily felt a little better.

  After supper was over, Grandma slapped her palms on the kitchen table. “I think the ladies will let the men do the dishes tonight. We need to get started on that busy book.”

  Grandpa looked shocked. “Well, what do you think of that, Joseph?”

  “I think it stinks,” Joseph said, frowning.

  Grandpa chuckled. “It never hurt a man to get his hands wet.”

  The two made a funny pair to watch. Joseph cleared the table, moving as slow as molasses in January. Grandpa was in a big hurry, filling the sink with warm water and stirring in soap to make it sudsy. Lily would have liked to watch them longer—it wasn’t every day she saw Joseph or Grandpa wash a dish—but Grandma had disappeared off to her craft room.

  Lily and Aunt Susie followed behind her. Grandma had spread out a pile of brightly colored felt on her craft table. She was digging through her pattern box. She pulled out an envelope that said BUSY BOOK in big black letters across the front.

  Grandma handed Aunt Susie and Lily a sliver of bar soap to trace around the patterns onto the felt. A funny bumpy cloud-looking pattern was actually supposed to be the top of a tree. Lily placed it on a piece of green felt and carefully marked around it with her soap sliver. Then she cut it out. Grandma was cutting out little red felt apples. After they were done, Grandma found a long strip of Velcro and cut little bits off. One half of each bit was sewed to the green treetop and the other half to an apple. Aunt Susie cut out a brown felt bushel basket. Grandma sewed the tree to a piece of white fabric and the bushel basket on another piece. She had already made two pages for the busy book. Dannie and Paul would be able to pick all those apples off the tree and put them in the basket.

  Lily grinned. This was going to be fun.

  By bedtime, Grandma had made several pages. One had a tent with a zipper that could open and close. Inside the tent was a little embroidered bear. Another page had felt flowers to pick and put in a vase. And another had a coat with hooks and eyes to open and close.

  Lily could hardly wait until tomorrow night. Grandma had said they would work on it some more. She was sure Dannie and Paul would love playing with this interesting book. And she was happy to tell Joseph that he would be doing dishes another night.

  The busy book was finished after a few nights. Grandpa took it over and dropped it off for Dannie and Paul. Then Grandma started a scrapbook for the boys using old calendars. Some evenings, they played a Bible game. Everyone had a Bible in their laps. When Grandpa said a letter of the alphabet, everyone quickly tried to find a verse that started with the letter. Whoever found it first, read the verse. Then the last letter in that verse became the first letter for the new verse. Everyone raced to see who could find a new verse. It was always fun. Aunt Susie couldn’t read very well bu
t she could still hunt for verses. Then, Lily or Grandma would help her read her verse.

  Two nights ago, they had played Dutch Blitz. Last evening, Grandpa had set up the train set that he had when he was a little boy. Although two more weeks had passed, Lily hardly missed home anymore. She felt so comfortable at Grandma and Grandpa Miller’s. She even slept on the squeaky bed.

  One afternoon at school, Lily wondered what Grandma had planned for that night. She always seemed to have something fun in mind. Teacher Judith stood by her desk. “Put your books away for dismissal.” The students scrambled to get ready to leave. They stood to sing the parting hymn, and then Teacher Judith dismissed them. As Lily put her sleeve through her coat, she heard a horse and buggy drive into the school yard. She looked out the window to see who had arrived. It was Papa, driving Jim! She jammed her bonnet on her head, stuck her hands in her mittens, and ran outside.

  Papa had a big smile on his face. “How would you like to come home again?”

  “I would like that just fine,” Lily said. She practically leaped into the buggy. She wasn’t worried about acting like a grown-up lady today. She was too happy to go home.

  Joseph came flying out of the schoolhouse and jumped into the buggy, as if he had been expecting Papa all along. Papa clucked to Jim and they were on their way. “Are Dannie and Paul better now?” Lily asked.

  “They still look a little funny from the pox,” Papa said, “but they’re no longer contagious. It’s safe for you to come home.”

  Jim trotted all the way home. Lily didn’t wait to help Papa unhitch Jim from the buggy. She jumped down and ran into the house. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she took a deep breath. The house smelled just the way Lily had remembered. Warm, cinnamony, soft and inviting. Like Mama. Dannie and Paul were sitting on the living room floor, playing with their farm animals. They jumped up and ran to meet Lily. She tried not to stare at them, but they looked disgusting. Their faces were blotchy with red spots. Mama came downstairs. She gave Lily and Joseph a big hug. “It’s so good to be a family again,” she said.