Growing Up in Lancaster County (4 page)

“I wish we could go someplace like that,” Rachel interrupted. “All we ever do is stay around here and work.”

“That’s not true,” Mom said. “We’ve had some fun times with Esther and Rudy whenever they’ve come here for supper or we’ve gone over to their house.”

Rachel bit her bottom lip. Visiting her big sister was nice, but it wasn’t as much fun as going to an amusement park. Maybe she should ask Pap to take them to Hershey Park. She’d heard a lot of fun rides were there.

“Where’s Pap?” she asked.

“He’s in the barn.”

Rachel jumped up and started for the door.

“Where are you going?” Mom called.

“I need to talk to Pap.”

“What about Mary’s letter? Don’t you want to hear what else she said?”

Rachel nodded. “Jah, okay. I guess I can talk to Pap after you’re done.”

Mom smiled and continued to read.

“Does she say when that might be?” Rachel asked.

Mom shook her head. “I’m sure it won’t be until after school gets out.”

“What else does Mary say?”

“Let’s see…” Mom’s glasses had slipped to the end of her nose, and she pushed them back in place again.

Rachel smiled. At one time she would have been jealous to hear what Mary had done with her new friend. Now that Rachel had Audra as a friend, she didn’t mind so much when Mary mentioned Betty in her letters.

“Is there more?” she asked Mom.

“Just a bit,” Mom said. “Here’s how Mary closes her letter:
‘Take care and write back soon. I’m looking forward to seeing you again. Love, Mary.’
”

“Danki for reading the letter to me.” Rachel raced for the back door. “I’m going to the barn to see Pap,” she called over her shoulder.

Rachel found Pap, Jacob, and Henry grooming the horses. “Can I speak to you a minute?” she asked Pap.

He nodded. “Jah, sure, what did you want to say?”

“I got a letter from Mary today.” Rachel gulped in a quick breath. “She said her folks took her to an amusement park in Indiana.”

“That’s nice.” Pap brushed old Tom’s back.

“She said they had fun and went on lots of rides and saw some animals.”

“Umm…I see.”

Rachel moved closer to old Tom and rubbed his soft nose. “Could we hire a driver to take us to Hershey Park some Saturday? I think it would be fun to go on some of the rides there.” She looked up at Pap. “Can we go? Can we go there soon?”

Pap shook his head. “You know I’m in the middle of spring planting. We’ll have too much farmwork for several months. Besides, your mamm isn’t feeling up to such an outing right now.”

“Maybe after the baby is born—then can we go to Hershey Park?”

“I don’t know, Rachel. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Couldn’t we go sometime this summer before school starts again?” Rachel persisted.

“If we go at all, it probably won’t be this year,” Pap said as he combed old Tom’s mane. “Since the boppli will be born in July, he or she will be too young to make a trip like that.”

“Then when can we go?”

“I don’t know, Rachel. We’ll have to see.”

“I never get to do anything fun,” Rachel mumbled as she left the barn. She was halfway to the house when she saw Grandpa heading her way.

“I’m going to town to pick up some supplies for your daed.” Grandpa smiled. “Would you like to go along, Rachel?”

She nodded eagerly. “Jah, Grandpa. That sounds like fun. Will you look for plants for the greenhouse, too?”

“Not today. Your daed’s real busy with farm chores right now. He won’t start on my greenhouse until late May or early June.”

“But June’s two months away.”

“I know.” Grandpa smiled and patted Rachel’s head. “We must learn to be patient. Good things come to those who wait, you know.”

Rachel nodded, trying not to show disappointment. She looked forward to helping in Grandpa’s greenhouse, but she wished they didn’t have to wait so long.

“Do you still want to ride to town with me?” Grandpa asked.

“Oh jah. It will give us a chance to visit awhile.”

“Okay, but you’d better go inside and check with your mamm first,” Grandpa said. “While you’re doing that, I’ll get the horse and buggy ready to go.”

Rachel hugged Grandpa and sprinted to the house. She found Mom sitting in front of her sewing machine. “Grandpa’s going to town, and he invited me to go along. Is that okay with you?”

“Not today, Rachel,” Mom said as she pumped her feet up and down on the treadle to get the machine going.

“If I can’t ride to town with Grandpa, can I go to Audra’s and play?”

“Sorry, but no.”

“How come?”

“Because you—”

“Can I go outside and jump on the trampoline?”

Mom shook her head. “If you hadn’t interrupted, I was going to say you may not play until all your chores are done.”

“But I finished my chores after breakfast.”

“You finished the ones you normally do, but as soon as I finish mending these trousers for Jacob, I want to do some cleaning.” Mom looked up and smiled at Rachel. “I’ll need your help.”

Rachel bit the end of a fingernail. She’d done enough work today. It wasn’t fair that Mom expected her to do more. She felt like all she ever did was work.

“Don’t bite your
fingerneggel
[fingernails], Rachel,” Mom said. “I’ve told you it’s a bad habit. Besides, your fingernails are full of germs.”

“Sorry,” Rachel mumbled. “I wish I didn’t have more chores to do. I was hoping to do something fun today.”

“After we finish the cleaning, maybe we can walk to the creek. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” Mom asked.

Rachel shrugged. If she went to the creek, she could probably wade in the water and look for frogs, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun as going to town with Grandpa.

Mom pushed away from the sewing machine. “I’m done with my mending now, so while I clean the living room floor and dust, I’d like you to wash the living room windows.”

Rachel groaned. Washing windows didn’t sound like fun at all!

She’d just entered the utility room to get the window cleaning solution and a clean rag when she heard the back door creak open and Grandpa call, “Rachel, are you ready to go to town? I have the horse and buggy ready to go!”

Rachel stepped out of the utility room and met him with a scowl. “I can’t go to town with you, Grandpa. Mom says I have to do some cleaning.” Her chin quivered, and she blinked a couple of times to keep her tears from spilling over.

Grandpa pulled Rachel to his side and hugged her. “It’s okay. You can go to town with me another time when you’re not so busy.”

“I’ll probably always be busy,” she said with a groan. “The older I get, the more chores I have to do.”

Grandpa patted the top of her head. “Then make your chores fun.”

“How do I do that?”

“Make a game out of what you’re doing.”

Rachel tilted her head. “Huh?”

“Let me give you an example,” Grandpa said. “When I was a
buwe
[boy] and had to wash dishes, I pretended that the dishes were
kinner
[children], swimming in a pond.” A smile stretched across Grandpa’s face. “It was fun to make the dishes dive into the pond. It made lots of bubbles, and they splashed in my face.”

Rachel giggled as she pictured Grandpa dropping silverware into the soapy water and bubbles breaking on his nose. “Guess I’ll have to try that the next time I do the dishes.”

“It doesn’t just have to be when you’re doing the dishes,” Grandpa said. “You can pretend all sorts of things while you’re doing different chores.”

Rachel nodded. “I’ll try that on the chores I do today.”

Grandpa hugged her again. “Good girl.” He turned toward the door. “Well, I’d best be on my way. I’ll see you later this afternoon.”

Rachel hurried to the living room. She figured if she got the windows cleaned quickly, Mom might let her play.

She held the spray bottle up to the window.
Squirt! Squirt!
She squeezed the lever until the window had plenty of liquid.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
She pretended she was painting a pretty picture as she swiped the rag up, down, and all over the window.

“How’s it going?” Mom asked, stepping up to Rachel.

“Fine. I’m almost done with my picture.”

Mom eyebrows lifted as she looked at Rachel. “What picture?”

Rachel’s cheeks warmed. “Oh, I—uh—pretended I was painting a picture while I washed the window.”

“I see.” Mom peered at the window. “Ach, Rachel, look at all the streaks you’ve left! You’ll have to do that window again.”

Rachel leaned close to the glass and squinted. “I don’t see any streaks.”

“Right there.” Mom pointed to a spot on the lower half of the window. “Do you see it now?”

Rachel nodded. She saw it, but it looked fuzzy. “Something must be wrong with the window cleaner,” she said.

“Here, let me try.” Mom took the rag and bottle from Rachel.
Squirt! Squirt! Swish! Swish! Swish!
“There, that’s better. You probably weren’t rubbing hard enough.” She handed the window cleaner and rag back to Rachel.

Rachel leaned close to the window again and looked outside. “I think you must have missed a few spots, because some things in the yard look blurry.”

Squirt! Squirt! Swish…swish…swish
—she scrubbed at the window some more.

“You can stop now, Rachel. That window’s as clean as it can be.”

Rachel leaned close to the window again and stared outside. Everything still looked blurry, but if Mom thought the window was clean enough, she wouldn’t say anything more. “Now can I go outside and play?” Rachel asked hopefully.

Mom shook her head. “We still have more cleaning to do.”

“Like what?”

“I’d like you to shake the living room rugs while I mop the kitchen floor.”

“Is that all you need me to do?”

Mom’s glasses had slipped to the end or her nose, and she pushed them back in place. “I believe so; unless I think of something else.” She smiled and left the room.

Rachel bent down and grabbed the small braided rug in front of the sofa. She hauled it to the porch. Pretending the porch was a trampoline and she was jumping on it, she gave the rug a few good shakes. Then she draped it over the railing. She went back to the living room to get the rug in front of Grandpa’s rocking chair. She gave that a couple of shakes, imagining again that she was bouncing up and down on the trampoline. When her arms grew tired, she draped the rug over the railing and returned to get another rug near the front door.

When Rachel stepped onto the porch again, she gasped. Buddy had one of the rugs in his mouth!
Grr
. He growled and shook it for all he was worth!

“
Absatz
[Stop]! You’re a bad
hund
[dog]!” Rachel tugged on the dog’s collar, but he didn’t let go of the rug.

Grr…Grr
…Buddy continued to shake and growl.

Rachel gritted her teeth and tugged Buddy’s collar again. “If you tear a hole in that rug, you’ll be in big trouble with Mom!” She thought about the towel Buddy had stolen from the laundry basket and ripped in two. Mom hadn’t been happy about that at all!

Grr…Grr…Shake! Shake! Shake!

Rachel let go of Buddy’s collar and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Jacob Yoder, you’d better come get your dog,
schnell
[quickly]!”

No response.

Rachel figured Jacob must still be in the barn helping Pap and Henry groom the horses. She thought about going to get him but was afraid if she left, Buddy would tear the rug.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Rachel’s head. She ran down the porch steps, raced to the water spigot, and turned on the hose. Aiming it at the porch, she sprayed Buddy’s face.

Buddy let go of the rug and howled. He leaped off the porch, circled around Rachel, jumped up, and—
slurp!
—licked her face.

“Yuk! Get down, you big hairy mutt!” Rachel shot Buddy with another spray of water.

Woof! Woof! Woof!
Buddy circled her again, bounded onto the porch, and darted into the house.

“Oh great! I should have shut the door!”

Rachel raced into the house. When she heard Mom scream, “Ach no!” she knew Buddy must be in the kitchen. She ran after him.

“Look what this dog has done!” Mom clucked her tongue as she pointed to the muddy paw prints on the kitchen floor. “Now I’ll have to wash the floor again!”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Rachel panted, “but that flea-bitten hund grabbed one of the rugs and wouldn’t let go. He kept growling and shaking the rug.” She gulped in a quick breath of air. “So I turned on the hose and sprayed him with water. He let go, but then he ran around the yard, got his feet dirty, and ran into the house before I could stop him.”

Buddy circled Mom, barking and chasing his tail.
Woof! Woof! Woof!

When he made the next pass, Mom bent down and grabbed his collar. “Rachel, take this hund outside and put him in his dog run! Then hang the rug on the clothesline, because I’m sure it got wet from the hose.”

“Okay, Mom,” Rachel said as she led Buddy out the back door.

Woof! Woof! Woof!
Buddy’s tail swished the skirt of Rachel’s dress.

“You’re nothing but trouble,” she muttered.

By the time Rachel had put Buddy in his dog run and hung the rug on the line to dry, she was tired. She trudged up the porch steps, wondering what other chores Mom had for her to do. At this rate, they would never get to take that walk, and she would probably have no time for play.

When Rachel entered the house, she peeked into the kitchen. The floor was clean, but Mom was no longer there. Thinking Mom might have gone to the living room to do more cleaning, Rachel headed in that direction. She found Mom lying on the sofa with her eyes shut.