Nancy and Plum (15 page)

Nancy said, “It looks like an Indian shooting a bow and arrow.”

Plum said, “To me it looks like a Roman driving his chariot.”

Nancy said, “What does that stump look like?”

Plum said, “It looks like a soldier wearing one of those tall fur hats.”

Nancy said, “It looks like a mug with a handle.”

Plum said, “What about that little aspen tree in the moonlight?”

Nancy said, “It looks like a little princess in a silver spangled cape.”

Plum said, “That’s just what I was going to say.”

Nancy said, “Let’s play ‘rhymes.’ I’ll start. I’m walking along.”

Plum said, “Singing a song.”

Nancy said, “I’ll never be wrong.”

Plum said, “Until I hear the gong.”

Nancy said, “Ding, ding, dong.”

Plum said, “Saying so long.”

Nancy said, “Don’t stick in that prong.”

Plum said, “I’m old and not yong.”

Nancy said, “That’s not a very good rhyme. Young with prong.”

Plum said, “Well, there isn’t anything else. Now let’s play what Johnny has in his pocket. I’m going to start. Johnny has a marble in his pocket.”

Nancy said, “Johnny has a marble and an apple in his pocket.”

Plum said, “Johnny has a marble and an apple and a knife in his pocket.”

Nancy said, “Johnny has a marble and an apple and a knife and a frog in his pocket.”

Johnny had a marble and an apple and a knife and a frog and a pencil and a stick and a penny and a pin and a piece of gum and a handkerchief and a nail and an orange and a candle and a top and a ball and a slingshot in his pocket when Plum saw far over in a field an enormous lump that looked as if it might be the haystack.

She said, “Nancy, there it is. The haystack. Over there.”

Nancy said, “I certainly hope it doesn’t come to life and turn out to be a bull.”

Plum said, “That’s much bigger than a bull. It would have
to turn into a whale. Come on, let’s climb over the fence and find out.”

So they climbed over the fence, which was made of rails, and would have been very easy to climb if it hadn’t been for the wild roses growing along it. Wild roses that smelled like warm cinnamon but whose thorny hands clutched frantically at Nancy and Plum and left long red scratches on their arms and legs.

After disentangling themselves from the roses, the children raced across the fields toward the haystack. The grass was new and lush and springy and so pleasant to feet in worn-out shoes that every few feet Plum jumped straight up in the air and Nancy took big giant steps that were really leaps.

The haystack was large. About fifteen feet high and as big around as a room. About as big around as a room at the top, that is. The bottom had been eaten away by the cows.

Plum said, “It looks like a giant mushroom. I wonder how we’re going to get up on top of it.”

Nancy said, “Let’s walk all the way around it. Perhaps there is a ladder or something.”

Plum said, “I don’t think there’ll be a ladder. After all, this haystack was put here for cows.”

Nancy said, “We could jerk off some of the hay and make ourselves little beds on the ground.”

Plum said, “I’d rather sleep on the top. We don’t know what’s in this field. There might even be a bull.”

Nancy said, “Oh, Plum, do you think so?” Her eyes were
wide and frightened, so Plum said, “No, I was just fooling.” But just then, from the other side of the haystack there was a terrific snort. The girls clutched each other and Plum said, “Hold perfectly still. Maybe he won’t be able to see us in the dark.”

The snort came again louder and closer. The trembling little girls clutched each other tighter. Then suddenly against the pale moonlit sky appeared the frame of a fat plow horse.

“It’s not a bull at all. It’s a horse. A darling big old horse!” Plum almost shrieked in her relief. The horse lumbered toward them, Plum reached up and stroked his nose and he nuzzled her arm with his lips.

Nancy said, “Maybe he’ll stand still and let us climb up on him and then we can get up on the haystack.”

Plum said, “But how will we get up on him?”

Nancy said, “You climb up on my shoulders and I’ll push you up on the horse and then you reach down and pull me up and then we will both climb up on the haystack.”

Plum said, “It’s a good idea if only Old Horse will stand still.”

Nancy said, “Come on. He’s right beside the haystack now. Here, I’ll bend over. Now you climb on my shoulders.”

Old Horse was very curious to know what the girls had in mind but he did stand still until they were both on his back. Then slowly and with great dignity he started galumphing across the field.

Plum called out, “Whoa, Old Horse. Whoa!”

The horse stopped, turned his head and looked at her.

Plum said, “I’ll slide off and try to lead him over to the haystack again, Nancy. You hold on.”

So Nancy clutched Old Horse’s mane and Plum pushed his nose in the direction of the haystack and said, “Giddyup.”

Old Horse walked back to the haystack but he went in underneath where the cows had been eating. Nancy had to lie down flat to avoid being buried in the haystack. In a muffled voice she called, “Plum, Plum, hurry and get him out of here.”

Plum slapped Old Horse on the side and said, “Get out of there.” So Old Horse did. He walked across the field again, Plum running after him calling, “Whoa! Whoa!” He finally stopped under a maple tree.

Plum said, “You’d better get off, Nancy. He’ll never stand still.”

So Nancy slid off and she and Plum ran back to the haystack to see if they couldn’t figure out another way to climb up on it. Plum was pushing Nancy while she tried to climb the slippery hay, when Old Horse stuck his cold rubbery lips on the top of her head.

Plum said, “All right, Old Horse, I’ll pat you if you’ll help us. Now move over here close to the haystack and stand still.”

Old Horse snorted knowingly and moved over. Nancy and Plum climbed up on his back again. Then with Plum calling, “Whoa!” constantly, he stood still while the two little girls pushed and pulled each other up to the top of the haystack. They called down their thanks to Old Horse and he snorted a little and moved into the hollowed out place.

The top of the haystack was rounded and quite scary until Nancy and Plum had jerked the hay aside and made themselves nice little deep nests. Little nests that smelled musty and were very stickery but felt like feather beds to the two tired little girls.

In no time at all Plum was dreaming about being a bareback rider in a circus and Nancy was dreaming about being adopted by a beautiful young mother and father.

The pale moon smiled on them and covered them with her soft, golden light. The night breezes peeked in at them and stroked their flushed faces with cool fingers. And Old Horse stamped his big feet and snorted to let them know that he was guarding them.

M
ORNING CAME
with a blare of noise and light. First a rooster crowed, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” Some ducks said, “Quaaaaaaack, quaaaaaaack!” A cow bawled, “Mooooooooooooo.” A dog barked, “Woo, woo, woooo.” A sheep cried, “Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” A man’s voice called, “So, boss. So, boss!” Some geese lifted their heads high on their stemlike necks and went, “Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.” A little bird sang, “Chick-a-dee-dee-dee-deee-deee.” Old Horse galumphed to his feet and whinnied, “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee.” Then a blazing sun leaped up from behind the hills and tossed a whole brimming bucket of sunlight over Nancy and Plum.

Nancy sat up and said, “Oh, doesn’t that sunshine feel good? I got awfully cold in the night.”

Plum said, “Sleeping in a haystack would be a lot more comfortable with blankets. Wow, I’m hungry.”

Nancy said, “Oh, look over there. A farmhouse with smoke coming out of the chimney and there’s a farmer carrying milk buckets.”

Plum said, “I’m starving.”

Nancy said, “We’d better hurry and get to town before Mrs. Monday finds we’re gone.”

Plum said, “She probably knows it already. It must be about six o’clock. Whee, watch me slide down the side of the haystack.”

Nancy said, “You forgot your bundle of treasures. Here, catch. Now watch me.”

She slid down. Then she and Plum patted Old Horse, ran across the field, climbed over the fence and started down the road.

On either side the wild roses, their pink dewy faces turned to the sun, tumbled over the fences, sprawled on the ground and filled the air with their pure summery smell. Freshly waxed buttercups crowded close to the road and great clumps of blue lupin and black-eyed Susans leaned forward to see over them. The billowing green fields wore white daisies like a light-falling snow and the distant hills were as purple as kings’ robes. Meadowlarks threw back their heads and tossed lovely songs into the blue sky and like stars from rockets the notes hung there suspended for one breathless, exquisite moment. It was such a morning.

Nancy and Plum felt very frisky. They pranced in the
sunlight. Gathered bunches of the wild roses. Crushed tansy leaves. Colored their chins with the buttercups. Surprised fat bees in the lupin and told their fortunes with daisies.

Then the sun grew higher and hotter. Like the beam of a giant flashlight she focussed her blazing eye directly on them. The backs of their necks turned red, beads of sweat came out on their upper lips and the dust choked them. Not only that, but every time a car went by they either had to throw themselves down in the ditches beside the road or scramble behind bushes.

Plum threw a rock at a fence post and said, “We must have been walking for hours and hours and hours. Gosh, I’m hungry. Why don’t we come to that old town?”

Nancy said, “The town’s a long way from Mrs. Monday’s but why don’t we come to a stream? I’m so thirsty.”

Plum said, “If we come to a stream I’m going swimming.”

Nancy said, “Imagine lying in cool water with little leaves floating around and a big fat frog watching you.”

Plum said, “People die of thirst, don’t they?”

Nancy said, “In the desert they do. Their tongues swell up and they crawl across the sand calling, ‘Water, water!’ ”

Plum said, “Hey, up ahead there is a grove of trees. Let’s lie down in it and rest.”

Nancy said, “Maybe we can find some wild strawberries.”

Plum said, “Let’s run. We can’t be any hotter and we’ll get there faster.”

Nancy said, “All right, here we go.”

When they reached the grove they found a funny old
grassy road branching off the main road and leading down a bank to a beautiful little stream with a deep brown pool almost hidden by willows.

“Oh, boy,” Plum said as she kicked off her shoes, ripped off her jeans and shirt and jumped into the pool in her panties. “Oh, Nancy, hurry,” she called. “It’s sandy on the bottom and so cool.”

Nancy jumped in and it was just as she had imagined it would be. Leaves and little sticks slowly whirled and drifted past, two fat green frogs peered out at them from the rushes and little shafts of sunlight pierced the tea-colored water and showed them their white feet and cloudy footsteps on the sandy bottom. They held their noses, opened their eyes under water and looked for periwinkles and minnows. They jumped off the bank and landed on the water, sitting down. They climbed on an old log and dove in belly-flop style. They floated on their backs and looked up at the sky through the trees. They found a tiny stream and made a dam. Plum caught a frog and named him Frank. Nancy started to gather rushes to weave a basket. Plum learned to whistle on a grass blade. If they hadn’t been so very hungry they might have stayed there forever.

They were taking one last dive when suddenly a man’s voice said, “How’s the water?”

Plum looked at Nancy and they both looked scared.

The voice said, “Don’t be frightened, girls. My name’s Mr. Campbell and I own the haystack you slept in last night.”

Plum said, “Did you know we slept in your haystack?”

Mr. Campbell said, “My wife saw you slide down and run
across the field this morning. She wanted me to ask you in for breakfast but I was out getting the cows and by the time she found me, you had disappeared.”

Nancy said, “I hope you didn’t mind our sleeping in your haystack.”

Mr. Campbell said, “Glad to have you but how did you get up there?”

Plum said, “We used Old Horse, I mean your horse. We just called him Old Horse last night. He was awfully nice to us.”

Mr. Campbell said, “Jerry’s gentle as a kitten. He’s too old to work much any more, so I just let him eat hay, get fat and enjoy himself.”

Nancy said, “He stood still while we climbed on him. At first he wanted to take us for a ride but then Plum steered him back and made him stand by the haystack.”

Mr. Campbell said, “Have you had a lot of experience with horses, Plum, is that right, Plum?”

Nancy said, “Her name’s really Pamela but she called herself Plum when she was little.”

Plum said, “I like horses and I’m not scared of them. Old To … I mean, a friend of mine used to let me help him with the horses and cows.”

Mr. Campbell said, “Have you children had any breakfast?”

Plum said, “No, and we’re starving.”