Bubble Troubles (4 page)

“Okay, you two,” Dad said, placing his hands on Perry and Ada’s heads. “Wipe your faces, and we’ll go into the living room and play for a bit, until it’s time to have our dessert.”

Mattie forced herself to finish eating her chicken and dumplings. If it stopped raining and she was allowed to search for her dog after the dishes were done, she would need plenty of energy to help accomplish that task. Mattie knew that unless Twinkles came home, there would be no dessert for her tonight. The apple pie Mom had baked today didn’t sound appealing right now—not even the way Mattie liked to eat it, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

When supper was over, Mattie helped Mom clear away the dishes. She dragged her feet slowly from the table to the sink, with the worry she felt about Twinkles making her feel tired.

“Come on, Mattie. I can see that you’re really sad,” Mom said as she washed the dishes and stacked them for drying. “You need to remain positive and ask God to watch over your hund.”

Mattie hoped Mom was right, and although it was difficult, she told herself that everything would turn out fine and that God would protect her cute little dog.

Mattie had just put the last dirty dish in the sink and was going to start drying the ones Mom had already washed when she heard a scratching sound at the back door.
I’d better see what that noise is
, she thought.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s Twinkles
.

Mattie dried her hands on a towel and opened the back door while holding her breath.

Yip! Yip! Yip!
Twinkles, all muddy and wet, darted into the house, wagging her short little tail.

“
Ach
, Twinkles, it is you!” Mattie shouted. “I’m so happy you’re home!”

“
Absatz
—stop!” Mom hollered, quickly closing the kitchen door so the dog couldn’t run through the rest of the house. “Catch her, Mattie, and then you’d better fill the tub and give that hund a bath. I won’t allow her to run though the house with muddy, wet feet.”

Mattie scooped Twinkles into her arms, not even caring that her dress was getting wet and dirty. “I don’t know where you’ve been all this time,” she said, giving Twinkles a hug, “but from now on I’m gonna put you in the kennel whenever I’m gone. I want you to be safe and stay in the yard. You had me so worried, and I don’t want you runnin’ off ever again!” Mattie held Twinkles tightly, never wanting to let her go. She had missed her little four-legged friend, and even though she didn’t know where Twinkles had been, she was ever so thankful the dog had come home.

Mom smiled. “As soon as you’ve given Twinkles a bath, you can help me make some popcorn. And don’t forget about the apple pie I made earlier today. We’ll have some of that, as well.”

“Can we have some of Dad’s apple cider, too?” Mattie asked. Now that Twinkles was home, she was in the mood for dessert. In fact, her appetite had suddenly reappeared.

“Of course, and I’ll get out some vanilla ice cream to go with the pie,” said Mom. “Now hurry along.”

Mattie laughed as Ada starting waving her hands, and Perry jumped up and down when they came into the kitchen and heard Mom mention ice cream and pie. Feeling light on her feet, and humming softly as she held Twinkles close, Mattie headed for the bathroom to fill the tub. Now her stomach growled with hunger, when only a few minutes ago she could hardly eat a thing on her plate. All of a sudden, she was starving for apple pie and ice cream. It felt good to be relieved of all that worry.

Just outside the bathroom door, Mattie stopped and whispered a prayer: “Thank You, dear Jesus, for bringing Twinkles safely home.”

“You’re awfully quiet back there,” Mark said as he and Mattie rode their bike to school on Friday morning. “Are ya daydreaming again?”

“No, I’m not,” Mattie replied. “I’m thinking about the spelling test we’re supposed to take today.” She was glad Dad had fixed their tire last night and they could now pedal quickly to school.

“You shouldn’t be
thinkin’
about it,” Mark said. “You should be practicing the words.”

“I’m practicing them in my head.”

“Humph!” Mark grunted. “You oughta say the words out loud. That’s the best way to remember how to spell ’em.”

“You really think so?”

“ ‘Course I do. I’ll tell you what, Mattie,” Mark said. “I’ll say a word, spell it out loud, and then make a sentence using that word. After that, you can say another word and do the same.”

“Okay.”

“Popcorn. P-o-p-c-o-r-n. I love to eat popcorn.” Mark glanced over his shoulder. “All right, Mattie, it’s your turn to say a word now.”

“Tearful. T-e-a-r-f-u-l-l. I was tearful when Twinkles was lost.”

“I don’t think your hund was lost, Mattie. She just didn’t come home till she was good and ready. Oh, and you spelled the word
tearful
wrong.”

“Did not.”

“Did so. You put two
l
‘s at the end, and there’s only one. It’s t-e-a-r-f-u-l, not t-e-a-r-f-u-l-l.”

“Oh, guess I forgot. Let me try another one,” Mattie said.

“Nope. It’s my turn now.”

“Okay, go ahead.” Mattie figured whatever word Mark chose from the list, he’d know how to spell it. She wished spelling came as easy for her as it did him, but then, most of the things they learned in school seemed easy for Mark.

“The word I choose next is
flabbergasted
,” Mark announced.

Mattie let go of the handlebar with one hand and poked her brother’s arm. “That word isn’t even on our list. You made it up, didn’t you?”

“Nope, but you’re right, it’s not on the list. I’m gonna add it to the list so I can get extra credit,” Mark said.

She frowned. “Don’t see why you have to do that. I’m sure you’ll get all the spelling words right, so you shouldn’t need any extra credit.”

Mark shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t care. I like big words, and I’m gonna add it to my list.”

“What does
flabbergasted
mean?” Mattie questioned.

“It means shocked or amazed.”

“I see. Well, don’t expect me to add any words to my list. It’ll be a miracle if I can spell the words that are on the list now. I’m really worried I might fail the test. I probably didn’t study as much as I should have, ’cause I was so worried about Twinkles.”

“There you go again, Mattie. You’re worried about somethin’ that might not happen. Just practice the words some more and do your best when we take the test.” Mark slapped his knee and laughed. “I just rhymed my words:
Do your best when we take the test
.”

“I will do my best,” Mattie said, although she already felt somewhat defeated. “I’ll practice the words in my head all the way to school.”

When it came time to take the spelling test that afternoon, Mattie’s stomach knotted up again. Her hands grew so shaky she almost dropped her pencil. When the teacher said each of the words, Mattie concentrated and tried to sound them out in her head. It was a good thing she’d practiced the words on the way to school; otherwise she might not remember how to spell any of them right now.

“And now the final word on the list is
worry
,” Anna Ruth told the class.

That one should be easy for me
, Mattie thought, chewing on her pencil eraser. She wrote the word down on her paper then made a sentence using the word. “Mark says I worry too much.”

“All right now, class, pass your papers to the front of the room.”

Mattie did as the teacher asked. She’d done her best on the test. Now she had to wait until the end of the day to see how well she’d done.

During recess that afternoon, Mark’s best friend, John Schrock, tried to get Mark to join the game of baseball some of the other children were playing. John was Mattie’s friend Stella’s cousin, but he didn’t look anything like her. Stella had brown hair and brown eyes. John’s hair was blond, and his eyes were blue.

“Huh-uh.” Mark shook his head. “You know I’m not good at playin’ ball.”

“Aw, come on,” John coaxed. “You don’t play that bad.”

“Jah, I do.” Mark frowned. “I get tired of the other kids makin’ fun of me because I don’t run fast enough.” Even though he’d been watching the baseball game, Mark kept his distance. He wanted to make sure no one asked him to join in. Mark didn’t like to come up with excuses all the time, but it was the only way to avoid being teased if he played the game.

“You should just ignore ’em,” John said. “Then they’ll get tired of making fun of you.”

“Maybe so, but I’d rather not play ball.” Mark moved across the schoolyard and leaned against the fence, kicking at a rock before propping his foot on the bottom rail.

John followed. “How do ya think you did on the spelling test?” he questioned.

Mark smiled widely. “Think I did fine. The words were easy.”

“Not for me.” John shook his head. “Bet I flunked that test.”

Mark thumped his friend’s back a couple of times. “Now don’t start worrying like Mattie does. You probably did better than you think.”

“I hope so.” John dragged the toe of his boot through the dirt. “So what are you doin’ after school? Can ya come home with me and play awhile?”

Mark removed his straw hat and shook his head. “Not without asking Mom first.”

John pointed to Mark and snickered.

“What’s so funny?” Mark asked.

“You oughta see your red hair right now. It’s standin’ straight up in the air.” John laughed out loud.

Mark reached up and smoothed the top of his hair; then he plopped his hat back on his head.

“Are ya sure you can’t come over to my place today?” John asked. “You can call your mother when ya get to my house and see if it’s okay.”

“That’s not a good idea. Mom might not go out to the phone shack to check for messages, so she wouldn’t know where I was. Besides,” Mark added, “Mattie and I came to school on our bike today ’cause Dad got the flat tire fixed. If I rode over to your house, she’d have to walk home by herself.”

“It wouldn’t hurt her to do that, ya know. It’s not raining today.”

“That’s true, but it is kinda chilly. I’ll bet it won’t be long before we have some
schnee
.”

John’s eyebrows shot straight up. “Ya really think we’ll get some snow soon?”

Mark gave a nod. “Could be anytime now that winter is near.”

“I can hardly wait for some schnee to start falling,” John said. “It’s fun to build a snowman, go sledding, or ice-skate on one of the ponds around here.”

“I like all those things, too,” Mark agreed. “Say, since tomorrow’s Saturday, maybe I can come over to your house then. ’Course, I’ll have to ask Mom and Dad first, because they might want me to do somethin’ else.”

“I’ll be home all day, so if your folks say it’s okay, just come on over.” John moved away from the fence. “Think I’ll go play ball for a while before recess ends. Are you sure you don’t wanna join us?”

“No thanks.” Mark watched his friend as he walked toward the game that was now in full swing, with laughter and cheers from those who were playing, as well as from the kids standing on the sidelines watching. He hoped his folks would say he could go over to John’s house tomorrow.

“Mom, guess what?” Mattie shouted as she raced into the house after she and Mark arrived home from school that day.