Growing Up in Lancaster County (27 page)

Yip! Yip!
Buddy tore across the field on the side of their property, yapping all the way.

“Bad dog!” Rachel shouted.

Jacob dashed after Buddy, waving his hands. “Come back here, Buddy! Come back here right now!”

Rachel ran down the driveway and dropped to her knees beside Orlie. “Are you all right? Buddy didn’t hurt you, I hope.”

Orlie shook his head. “Just knocked the wind out of me, that’s all.” He clambered to his feet and brushed the dirt from his trousers. “I think Buddy was excited to see me.”

“Maybe so, but I think the real reason Buddy plowed into you was because he stole a letter from me and was trying to get away.” Rachel snatched the letter Buddy had dropped. “It’s from my cousin Mary in Indiana.”

“How’d the hund get your letter?” Orlie asked.

Rachel groaned. “Jacob was trying to teach Buddy to get the mail.”

“Guess he needs to teach him to come when he’s called.” Orlie chuckled as he pointed across the field. “Jacob’s going to be tired by the time he catches Buddy.”

“You mean
if
he catches the hairy hund.” Rachel lifted Mary’s letter. “I’m going to the house to read my mail. Do you want to come along?”

Orlie grinned. “Jah, sure. I’d like to hear what Mary has to say, too.”

Rachel wasn’t sure she wanted Orlie to read Mary’s letter, but she didn’t want to be rude, so she smiled and said, “Let’s go sit down, and I’ll read Mary’s letter out loud.”

When they were settled on the back porch steps, Rachel tore open the letter and began to read.

Woof! Woof! Woof!
Buddy darted onto the porch, swiped his sloppy wet tongue across Rachel’s face, and then leaped into Orlie’s lap.

Jacob, red-faced and sweating, dropped onto the step below them. “That crazy mutt can sure run fast. I’m all worn out!”

Rachel grunted. “You should get rid of him. He’s nothing but trouble.”

“No way! Buddy’s a nice hund.” Jacob rubbed Buddy’s ears.

Orlie patted the top of Buddy’s head. “I’d never have given him to you if it hadn’t been for my
mamm’s
[mom’s] allergies. I’m glad you were able to take Buddy.”

Jacob nodded. “I’m glad Buddy came to live with us. He’s been a good friend to me.”

Orlie’s head bobbed up and down. “He was a good friend to me, too, and he’s also a good watchdog.”

“You two can sit here all day talking about that dumm hund if you like, but I’m going inside to tell Mom about Mary’s letter.” Rachel jumped up and raced into the house, banging the screen door behind her. “I got a letter from Mary!” she hollered as she dashed into the kitchen.

Mom was sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea. She looked up and smiled. “That’s nice. What’d she say?”

“She’s coming to Pennsylvania!”

“When?”

“I don’t know. Thanks to Jacob’s dumm hund, I didn’t get a chance to finish reading Mary’s letter.” Rachel dropped into a chair and placed the letter on the table. “I’ll finish reading it now though. Would you like me to read it out loud?”

“Jah, why don’t you?” Mom’s metal-framed glasses slipped to the end of her nose, and she pushed them back in place.

Rachel touched the nosepiece of her own plastic-framed glasses. Then she began to read.

Rachel looked at Mom and smiled. “Isn’t that the best news?”

Mom patted Rachel’s arm. “It certainly is. I know how much you’ve missed Mary. It will be nice for you girls to be together again.”

Rachel wiggled in her chair. “I can hardly wait to see Mary again!”

Mom smiled and stood up. “I’d better check on your baby sister. She should be waking from her nap soon. Then she’ll need to be diapered and fed.”

Mom hurried from the room, and Rachel picked up Mary’s letter to read it again.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop
.

Pap’s new horse pulled their gray, box-shaped buggy down the road the following morning. Rachel and her family were headed to church. It would be held at Howard and Anna Miller’s house today.

Rachel enjoyed going to church every other Sunday with her family and friends, and this morning she was even more eager to attend. She wanted to tell her friend Audra Burkholder about her letter from Mary.

When they approached the Millers’ barn, Rachel spotted Audra and Orlie across the yard by the swing. As soon as Pap stopped the horse, she hopped out of the buggy and sprinted across the yard.

“
Wie geht’s
[How are you]
?
” Rachel asked Audra.

“Okay,” Audra mumbled; then she quickly looked away.

Rachel looked at Orlie and smiled, but he hurried away. Rachel figured he was going to join some of the boys.

“Guess what?” Rachel asked, nudging Audra’s arm.

Audra shrugged.

“I got a letter from—”

“Church is about to begin. We need to get inside.” Audra hurried toward the buggy shed, where several wooden benches had been set up for the members of their Amish community to sit on during the three-hour church service.

I guess I’ll have to wait until church is over to tell Audra about Mary’s letter
, Rachel thought. She followed behind the others to the shed, her shoulders slumped and her head dropped in disappointment.

Whoomp!
Rachel bumped into Sadie Stoltzfus, a widow. “Oops! I’m sorry,” she said.

Sadie turned and scowled at Rachel. “You should watch where you’re going. Can’t you see that there are people in front of you?” Her false teeth clacked when she spoke.

“I—I was looking at the ground and didn’t see you.”

Sadie blinked her pale green eyes and shook her finger. “Well, you should pay more attention. Hasn’t your mamm ever told you to hold your head up when you walk?”

Rachel nodded.

“Then you should listen.” Sadie’s teeth clacked a little louder, and she shook her finger again. “I’m glad all my
kinskinner
[grandchildren] are grown. I have no patience with little
kinner
[children] anymore.”

Rachel thought it was obvious that Sadie didn’t care much for children. “I’m sorry I bumped into you,” she said. Then she hurried into the building.

When Rachel looked at the women’s side of the room, she spotted Audra sitting between Phoebe Byler and Karen Fisher. Rachel was disappointed again. She usually sat by Audra. Maybe they could sit together during the noon meal.

Rachel slipped onto a bench beside Rebekah Mast.

As the group began to sing the first song, Rachel looked at Audra and smiled.

Audra stared straight ahead.

Every few minutes Rachel looked at Audra, but Audra never glanced Rachel’s way.

Maybe Audra’s afraid she’ll get in trouble for fooling around in church, Rachel thought. That’s probably why she won’t look at me
.

Rachel heard someone clear her throat loudly. She glanced over her shoulder. Sadie Stoltzfus was frowning at Rachel. Rachel turned back around. She was glad she wasn’t one of Sadie’s kinskinner.

Harvey Fisher, one of the ministers, began giving his sermon, so Rachel sat up straight and listened.

“He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity,” Harvey quoted from Proverbs 21:23.

Rachel was good at spelling, and she knew that another word for calamity was trouble. I have lots of trouble, she thought. Trouble seems to find me wherever I go
.

She looked at Audra, but Audra still kept her gaze straight ahead. Rachel frowned. Was trouble brewing with Audra?

When church was over and the noon meal had been served, Rachel looked for Audra. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Audra sitting at a table between Phoebe and Karen.

Is Audra trying to avoid me? Is she mad at me for something?
Rachel wondered.
Are those her new best friends?

Rachel felt like crying. She waited until Audra had finished her lunch; then she stepped up to her and said, “Should we go out to the Millers’ barn and play?”

Audra shook her head. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Then let’s go swing.”

“Nope.” Audra hurried toward the creek.

Rachel looked after her in dismay. What would she do if Audra didn’t want to be her friend anymore? First, she’d lost Mary. Had she lost Audra now, too? Who would she play with? Who would she tell her secrets to? Who would be that special friend to laugh with her?

Tears trickled down Rachel’s face. She quickly wiped them away. It wouldn’t do for Orlie or anyone to see her cry.

“Well, if she doesn’t want to be my friend, that’s okay!” she said out loud. As soon as she spoke, she remembered the scripture from the morning. “
He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity
.”

Maybe I shouldn’t say such things
, Rachel thought. In fact, a little something inside Rachel nudged her to go after Audra. She’d try to talk to Audra one more time before she gave up on their friendship.

At the creek, she found Audra sitting on a rock with her arms folded, staring at the water.

Rachel knelt in the grass beside Audra and touched her arm. “I wanted to tell you that—”

Ribbet! Ribbet!
A little tree frog jumped out of the grass and landed on Audra’s shoulder.

“Eeeek!” Audra leaped to her feet and hopped up and down. “Get the frog, Rachel! Get the frog off me!”

Rachel plucked the frog from Audra’s shoulder and dropped it in the water.

Tears rolled down Audra’s flushed cheeks.

Rachel patted her back. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. The frog’s gone now.”

Audra pulled away. “I–I’m fine.”
Sniff! Sniff!

“It was just a little tree frog,” Rachel said. “It wouldn’t hurt you. There’s no reason for you to cry.”

Audra swiped at the tears running down her cheeks. “I’m not just crying because of the frog.”

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m not your best friend anymore.”

Rachel tilted her head. “Who says you’re not my best friend?”

“Orlie.”

Rachel frowned. “Why would Orlie say that?”

“He said you got a letter from your cousin.” Audra sniffed a couple more times. “Orlie said Mary’s moving back to Pennsylvania, and that she’s your best friend.”

Rachel could hardly believe Orlie had said those things. Was he trying to cause trouble? Was he mad because she’d called Buddy a dumm hund?

“That’s not true,” Rachel said. “Mary isn’t moving back here. She’s only coming for a visit. Orlie didn’t even hear all of Mary’s letter.”

“Really?”

Rachel nodded. “Mary and I used to be best friends, but you’re my best friend now.” She hugged Audra. “I’m excited for you to meet Mary, and for her to meet you, too.”

Audra smiled. “I guess Orlie must have jumped to conclusions.”

“What’s that mean?” Rachel asked.

“‘Jumping to conclusions’ is an expression I heard from my mamm,” Audra said. “When someone jumps to conclusions, it means they’ve made a decision without getting all the facts.”

Rachel hugged Audra again. “I think Orlie jumped to conclusions as high as that frog jumped.”

The girls laughed. Rachel felt so good to be friends with Audra. She didn’t dare tell Audra about jumping to her own conclusions.

“As soon as Mary gets here, I’ll invite you over to play,” Rachel promised.

Audra smiled. “
Danki
[Thanks], Rachel. I’ll look forward to that.”

R
achel hurried to finish the breakfast dishes so she could help Grandpa in the greenhouse. She enjoyed spending time with Grandpa. She also liked being around the plants and flowers.

“Would you hold your baby sister while I go to the garden and pull weeds?” Mom asked Rachel.

“How long do I have to hold her?”

“Until she burps.”

Rachel’s excitement about going to the greenhouse melted like a brick of ice in the hot sun. “
Ach
[Oh] Mom, you know how long Hannah takes to burp.” She motioned to the window. “I promised Grandpa I’d help him in the greenhouse this morning.”

Mom draped a piece of cloth over Rachel’s shoulder and handed her the baby. “Just keep patting her back. I’m sure she’ll burp soon; then you can put her down for a nap and go to the greenhouse.”

“All right, Mom.” Rachel headed for the living room, patting Hannah’s back as she went.

Hannah nuzzled Rachel’s neck with her soft, warm nose, but she didn’t burp.

Rachel continued to pat Hannah’s back. “Hurry up, Hannah. I need to get out to the greenhouse.”

“Goo-goo. Gaa-gaa.” Hannah drooled on Rachel’s neck.

“Yuck!” Rachel used the cloth Mom had draped over her shoulder to wipe the drool away. “You’re a cute
boppli
[baby], but you can sure cause trouble sometimes.”

“Gaa-gaa,” was Hannah’s response.