Growing Up in Lancaster County (40 page)

Rachel shook her head as she poured fertilizer onto another plant. “I ate a banana while I was walking out to the greenhouse, so I’m not really hungry.”

Mom turned toward the door. “All right then. I’ll expect to see you at the house in a few minutes.” She stepped out of the greenhouse, and the bell above the door jingled when the door closed behind her.

“I guess I should have asked if you’d done your homework and chores before I put you to work out here,” Grandpa said to Rachel. “Next time, I will ask.”

Tears burned the backs of Rachel’s eyes. Grandpa didn’t trust her anymore. He probably thought she was a baby, too. “I like working for you in the greenhouse more than doing chores or homework,” she said.

Grandpa touched Rachel’s shoulder. “I’m sure you do, but there’s one thing you should always remember.”

“What’s that?”

“The Bible teaches us to do whatever we do as if we are doing it for the Lord,” Grandpa said.

“Really?”

Grandpa nodded. “If you remember that, you will find it easier to do the things you don’t enjoy so much.”

Rachel smiled, wondering if she’d ever be as smart as Grandpa.

When Rachel returned to the house, she found Mom peeling potatoes at the kitchen sink.

“Is it time to start supper already?” Rachel asked.

Mom shook her head. “Not quite, but your little sister might wake up from her nap soon, and then I’ll be busy feeding her. So I thought it would be a good idea if I started preparing supper early.” She glanced at Rachel over her shoulder. “It’s always good to stay ahead of things.”

Rachel nodded. “Should I do my homework first or start on my chores?”

“You’d better do your chores first. Now that summer’s over, it gets dark earlier than before.”

“Okay. What chores do you want me to do?” Rachel asked.

“Let’s see now. Jacob is cleaning the chicken coop, which I was going to ask you to do before you went out to the greenhouse.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. Cleaning the smelly chicken coop was not her favorite thing to do. She was glad Jacob had been asked to do it this time.

Mom held the potato peeler out to Rachel. “If you’d rather do an inside chore, you can finish peeling the potatoes while I take the dry clothes off the line.”

Rachel frowned. The last time she’d peeled potatoes she had nicked her finger. “I’d rather get the clothes,” she mumbled.

Mom nodded. “The laundry basket’s sitting on the back porch.”

Rachel scurried out the door, picked up the basket, and hurried out to the clothesline. Several big fluffy towels flapped in the breeze, along with some of the men’s trousers and a few dresses. There were also lots of baby diapers and some little outfits that her three-month-old sister, Hannah, wore.

Rachel set the basket on the wagon she often used to haul laundry to and from the house. Then she stood on her tiptoes, yanked the clothespins free, and dropped the towels into the basket. She was about to remove one of the clothespins from a pair of Grandpa’s trousers when Cuddles leaped into the basket.
Meow!

Rachel giggled and bent down to rub her cat’s head. “You silly
katz
[cat]. What do you think you’re doing?”

Purr…purr…purr
. Cuddles nuzzled Rachel’s fingers with her warm pink nose.

Rachel took a seat on the ground and put the cat in her lap. Cuddles purred louder as Rachel stroked behind the cat’s ears.

Just then Cuddles’s kitten, Snowball, zipped across the yard, leaped into the air, and landed on Cuddles’s head.

Yeow!
Cuddles jumped up as if she had springs on her legs and then tore across the yard, hissing and meowing as she raced to the barn.

Snowball burrowed into Rachel’s lap and began to purr.

“Shame on you for chasing your
mamm
[mom] away.” Rachel shook her finger at Snowball.

The cat only purred louder and licked Rachel’s hand with a sandpapery tongue.

Rachel smiled. Snowball was spoiled, no doubt about it, and she liked lots of attention.

Neigh! Neigh!
Rachel looked over her shoulder and saw Tom, their old retired buggy horse, with his head hanging over the fence.
Neigh! Neigh!
Tom bobbed his head up and down and opened his mouth very wide.

Rachel chuckled. “I’ll bet you’d like an apple, wouldn’t you, Tom?”

Neigh! Neigh!

“Oh, all right. I’ll go inside and get you one.” Rachel set Snowball on the ground and sprinted for the house.

Mom wasn’t in the kitchen, and Rachel figured she must be in her room with the baby. She hurried to the fruit bowl and grabbed a big red apple; then she rushed back outside.

Old Tom stuck his head out even farther as Rachel approached the fence. As soon as she opened the gate and stepped into the pasture, Tom plodded over and nudged her arm with his nose.

Rachel snickered. “Okay, okay. Don’t be in such a hurry.” She placed the apple in the palm of her hand and held it out to him.

Old Tom lowered his head.
Crunch! Crunch! Slurp! Slurp!
He took his time eating the apple and drooled a lot. When he was done, he nudged Rachel’s arm with his nose again.

“Sorry, Tom, but I only brought one apple for you.” Rachel patted Tom’s flank. “You’re such a good horse. I’m glad Pap put you out to pasture when you got too old to pull the buggy. I would have been sad if Pap had sold you to the glue factory, like Jacob said he might do.”

Tom wandered over to a tree, dropped to his knees, and rolled onto his side. Then he reached down and out with his mouth, as though he was yawning, and let out a strange-sounding sigh. Just seeing him there made Rachel feel tired.

She leaned against the fence and closed her eyes, letting her mind wander. She thought about the letter she’d received from her cousin Mary a few weeks ago. Mary had let Rachel know that she’d made it safely home. Rachel had fun when Mary had come for a visit. She couldn’t wait to visit Mary in Indiana someday.

Rachel thought about the bonfire Pap said he might build Saturday evening. They’d probably roast hot dogs and marshmallows and enjoy plenty of freshly squeezed apple cider. Rachel’s sister Esther and her husband, Rudy, would be invited, too.

“Rachel! Where are you?”

Rachel turned and saw Mom standing on the porch. “I’m coming,” she called.

Rachel hurried out of the pasture and ran all the way to the house. “I’m here,” she said breathlessly as she stepped onto the porch.

Mom gave Rachel a curious look over the top of her glasses. “Where’s the basket of clothes?”

“Huh?”

“The clothes, Rachel.” Mom pursed her lips. “I sent you to get the clothes off the line some time ago, remember?”

Rachel reached under her stiff white
kapp
[cap] and scratched her head. “Oh yeah, that’s right. Guess I lost track of what I was doing.”

“What
have
you been doing all this time?” Mom asked, giving Rachel a stern look.

Rachel shifted from one foot to the other, feeling like a fly trapped in a spider’s web. “Well, I—uh—”

“Did you take any of the clothes off the line?”

“Jah. Well, part of them anyway.”

Tap! Tap! Tap!
Mom’s foot beat on the porch, and she folded her arms. “If you only got part of the clothes, then what were you doing the rest of the time? And where are the clothes you took off the line?”

“Uh—some are still on the line. The others are in the basket.”

Tap! Tap! Tap!
“Why didn’t you take all the clothes off the line, Rachel?”

“I—uh—got distracted.”

“Distracted by what?”

Rachel held up one finger. “First Cuddles landed in the basket of clothes.” A second finger came up. “Then Snowball came along and jumped on Cuddles’s head.” Rachel lifted a third finger. “Then Old Tom came over begging for an apple, so I—”

Mom held up her hand. “You became sidetracked?”

Rachel nodded. “I just wanted to have a little fun, and—”

“No excuses, Rachel. When a person’s asked to do a job, he or she should do it.” Mom pointed to the clothesline. “I want you to finish the job I asked you to do, right now.”

“Okay, Mom.” Rachel trudged to the clothesline. One by one she quickly removed the wooden pins holding the men’s trousers. She put the trousers in the basket. Then she took down the dresses, diapers, and baby clothes.

Chirp-or-ee! Chirp-or-ee!
A bird called from a nearby tree.

Rachel was tempted to sit on the grass and watch the bird, but knew she’d be in trouble if she did. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed the wagon handle and pulled it to the house. She wished she didn’t have any chores to do!

As Rachel helped Mom fold clothes at the foot of Mom’s bed, she thought about Grandpa’s greenhouse.

I’d rather be out there!
she thought. It was a lot more fun to water, repot, and prune plants than it was to fold Hannah’s diapers.

She glanced at her baby sister, lying in the crib on the other side of Mom and Pap’s room, and wondered when Esther’s baby would be born. Would it be a boy or a girl? Would it have blond hair or brown? What color would the baby’s eyes be?

Mom nudged Rachel’s arm. “Watch what you’re doing, Rachel. You’re folding that windel the wrong way.”

Rachel looked down at the pile of diapers still on the bed and frowned. “I don’t like doing this. It’s boring.”

“Why don’t you make a game out of your chores, the way Grandpa taught you to do several months ago?” Mom’s glasses had slipped to the end of her nose, and she paused to push them back in place. “I’m sure you can think of something to pretend while you’re helping me fold clothes.”

Rachel nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to think of something fun about folding diapers. She couldn’t think of a thing!

Moo! Moo! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

“Now what’s going on outside?” Mom hurried to the window and peered out. “
Ach
[Oh] no! The cows are out of the pasture! They’re running all over our yard!”

She rushed out of the room, calling over her shoulder, “
Kumme
[Come], Rachel,
schnell
[quickly]. Help me get the cows back in the pasture!”

Rachel followed Mom down the hall and out the back door. When they stepped into the yard, Mom raised her hands and shouted, “Just look at my garden! They’ve trampled everything to the ground!”

Rachel dashed into the yard and shooed a cow toward the pasture. Soon the other cows followed.

“Look there,” said Mom, pointing her finger. “The pasture gate’s wide open!” She turned and looked at Rachel sternly. “Did you open that gate, Rachel?”

Rachel quickly closed the gate behind the last cow. She turned to Mom and said, “I opened it when I went to give Old Tom an apple. Guess I must have gotten sidetracked and forgot to close it when I left.”

Mom shook her head. “You’ve gotten sidetracked way too much this afternoon, Rachel. Now you’ll have double chores to do for the next few days.”

Rachel frowned. “Can’t I just help you replant the garden?”

“It’s too late in the season for that. Maybe a few extra chores will help you remember not to get sidetracked the next time you’re asked to do something.” Mom turned and went back into the house.

Rachel swallowed around the lump in her throat. She couldn’t believe she’d already forgotten what Grandpa had said about doing her chores as if she was doing them for the Lord. Wouldn’t she ever grow up?

F
or the last half hour, Rachel had been sitting at the kitchen table with her notepaper, a pencil, and a stack of books. She was supposed to do her homework, but it was a lot more fun to look at the book about a cat that she had borrowed from the book mobile. The book mobile was like a traveling library that frequently came to the Amish community. Rachel had done some of her homework but not all of it. She planned to finish it sometime before going to bed.

“Rachel, are you done with your homework?” Mom asked as she ran water into the kitchen sink.

Rachel glanced at her schoolbooks then at the cat book. “Uh—jah, I’m just about done.”

“That’s good, because it’s time for you to do the supper dishes,” Mom said.

Rachel groaned. “Already?”

Mom nodded. “I want you to wash and dry them all, and then I have some mending for you to do.”

Rachel frowned. “What about Jacob? Isn’t he helping with the dishes?”

Mom shook her head. “Part of your punishment for leaving the pasture gate open is doing extra chores, remember?”

Rachel nodded slowly as a lump formed in her throat. She didn’t think it was fair that Jacob didn’t have to help with the dishes just because she had extra chores. Why should he have the evening free to do as he pleased?

“The sink’s ready for you now, Rachel. Are you coming?” Mom peered at Rachel over the top of her glasses.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!

“I’m going to check on Hannah. Now you get busy on those dishes,” Mom said as she scurried out of the room.

“I wish I didn’t have to work all the time,” Rachel mumbled. “I wish I was a katz. They don’t have any chores to do. They get to lie around and sleep all day or scamper everywhere, having all sorts of fun. Jah, I wish I was a katz.”