Look Out, Lancaster County Page 22

  “You shouldn’t have had to guess. Didn’t you study?” Elizabeth questioned.

  Rachel slowly shook her head. “I was going to study last night, but I fell asleep on my bed with my clothes on and didn’t wake up until this morning.” She drew in a quick breath. “I tried to study on the way to school, but my history book kept flopping shut. I figured I could study during morning recess, but Mary wanted me to join her and the others in the snow. Then after lunch, you asked me to cut out the stars, so—”

  “No excuses, Rachel. I’m sure you could have made time to study yesterday if you’d wanted to.” Elizabeth looked over at Orlie. “What about you? How much did you study for the test?”

  Orlie’s face turned red as a radish. “I tried to study, but I felt so bad when my mamm [mom] said I’d have to get rid of Buddy that I couldn’t think about anything else.”

  “Who’s Buddy?” Rachel asked, hoping the change of subject might take Elizabeth’s mind off the history test.

  “Buddy’s my dog. Mama’s been havin’ sneezing fits lately and the doctor thinks she’s allergic to Buddy.” Orlie blinked his eyes and sniffed a couple of times. “Last night my daed said I’d have to find Buddy a new home.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Elizabeth said, “but it doesn’t excuse you from studying.” She leveled Rachel with a serious look. “And there’s no excuse for cheating!”

  Rachel cringed. When she’d copied Orlie’s answers, she knew it was wrong. But she did it anyway. “I–I’m sorry, Teacher. I promise I’ll never cheat on another test.”

  “I certainly hope not.” Elizabeth motioned to Orlie. “Don’t you think you owe him an apology, too?”

  Rachel turned to face Orlie. “I’m sorry for copying your paper.”

  Elizabeth glanced out the window. “It’s beginning to snow pretty hard, so you’d both better go home. For the rest of this week, Rachel will stay after school for one hour and do extra work.” She reached for a sheet of paper, scribbled a note, and handed it to Rachel. “This is for your parents, letting them know that you cheated on the history test and what your punishment will be here at school.”

  Rachel swallowed hard. No doubt she would be punished at home, too.

  “Are you gonna punish me, Teacher?” Orlie asked.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “You didn’t cheat, but you do need to study when you have a test.”

  He nodded. “From now on, I will.”

  “That will be all,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll see you both in the morning.”

  Rachel shuffled toward the door.

  “Say, Rachel,” Orlie said, as he, Jacob, and Rachel left the schoolyard together, “would you like to have a big shaggy dog named Buddy?”

  “No thanks,” she said with a shake of her head. “All the big shaggy dogs I’ve met like to bark and jump up on people.”

  “Buddy doesn’t bark much,” Orlie said. “And he only jumps up when he gets excited.”

  “No thanks,” Rachel said again. “I’ve got a cat. Cats and dogs don’t get along very well.”

  “They can learn to get along, just like people.” Orlie stepped in front of Rachel. “Please say you’ll take Buddy. I need to find him a good home.”

  “Sorry, but it won’t be at our home.” Rachel pushed past Orlie. She used to think Orlie was her friend, but why would a friend try to shove his mutt off onto someone who didn’t want a dog?

  “I’ll take him,” Jacob announced. “I asked for a puppy for my birthday a few years ago, but Mom said no to that because puppies make too many messes.” His face broke into a wide smile. “Since Buddy’s a full-grown dog, I don’t think Mom will mind!”

  “Well, I mind.” Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “Cuddles wouldn’t like to have a big dog chasing her all the time.”

  “I’ll train him to not chase the cat,” Jacob said.

  “How will you do that?”

  Jacob shrugged. “I’ll figure out something.”

  “Why don’t you stop by my house on your way home?” Orlie suggested. “Then you can meet Buddy and decide if you’d like to take him home.”

  “No!” Rachel shouted.

  “Yes!” Jacob hollered. “Orlie’s place is right on the way, so we’ll stop there now and meet Buddy.”

  When they arrived at Orlie’s place, Rachel spotted Orlie’s little sisters playing in the snow. She was tempted to join them, but Orlie nudged her arm and said, “Buddy’s probably in the barn. I’ll get him.”

  A few minutes later, Orlie returned from the barn with a big, red, shaggy dog.

  Woof! The dog wagged his tail, jumped up, and licked Rachel’s face.

  “Ha ha! He likes you,” Jacob said with a chuckle.

  “Ha ha, yourself.” Rachel wrinkled her nose and crossed her eyes at Jacob. Then she pushed the dog away.

  “Come on, Rachel. Don’t give me that look. You know you like Buddy.”

  “I do not like him. He’s big and hairy, and his tongue’s wet and slimy!”

  Orlie patted the dog’s head. “He was only trying to be friendly.” He looked at Jacob with a hopeful expression. “Do you like him?”

  “Oh jah, I sure do!” Jacob said with a vigorous nod.

  “Then why don’t you take him home and see if your folks will let you keep him?”

  “No!” Rachel shouted.

  “Yes!” Jacob hollered.

  “Danki,” said Orlie. “It will make me feel much better if Buddy has a good home.”

  “Mom and Pap haven’t said you could keep him yet,” Rachel reminded her brother.

  “I know,” Jacob said, “but I’m hoping they’ll say yes when they see how wunderbaar [wonderful] he is.”

  “I don’t think he’s wonderful, and I’m hoping they say no,” Rachel mumbled.

  “I’ll get Buddy’s leash so you can walk him home.” Orlie dashed back to the barn. When he returned, he clipped a brown leather leash to Buddy’s collar and patted the dog’s head. “Good-bye, boy. Be good for Jacob. I’ll come see you whenever I can.”

  Woof! Buddy wagged his tail and licked Orlie’s hand.

  “I guess we’d better go,” Jacob said.

  Rachel and Jacob had just started walking down the driveway when Orlie called, “Wait! I forgot to give you something!” He dashed to Jacob, reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out a plastic whistle. “Here, this is for you!”

  “What’s it for?” Jacob questioned.

  “I trained Buddy with it. He comes when I blow it.” Orlie placed the whistle in Jacob’s hand. “It will also make him stop if he’s running away from you.”

  “Danki, Orlie.” Jacob smiled and put the whistle in his jacket pocket.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “See you at school.” Jacob started walking again, with Buddy plodding beside him on the leash. Rachel walked on the other side of Jacob, wishing she could say something to make Jacob give up on the idea of taking Buddy home.

  “See how nicely Buddy walks for me?” Jacob said. “I think he and I are gonna be real good friends. He seems to like you, too, Rachel.”

  Rachel only shrugged as Buddy nudged her hand with his cold nose. She trudged through the snow, gritting her teeth. Not only did she have a note in her backpack letting Mom and Pap know she’d been caught cheating, but a gross dog would probably live at their place from now on!

  When Rachel and Jacob entered their yard, Jacob took Buddy to the barn. “I don’t want him running back to Orlie’s before I talk to Mom and Pap about letting me keep him,” Jacob said to Rachel. “Don’t say anything to Mom until I’ve talked to Pap,” he added.

  Rachel just grunted and headed for the house. She found Mom in the kitchen, baking chocolate chip cookies. They sure smelled good, but Rachel knew she wouldn’t be able to eat any until she confessed that she cheated on the history test and had given Elizabeth’s note to Mom.

  “Hello, Rachel,” Mom said as she put a tray of cookies into the oven. “Are you late getting home from school because
of the snow?”

  “Not really.” Rachel dropped her backpack to the floor, slipped out of her coat and bonnet, and hung them on a wall peg near the back door. Then she picked up the backpack and walked across the room. “I did something today that I’m ashamed of,” she said, sitting at the table.

  Mom turned and wiped her floury hands on her apron. “What was that?”

  “I—I cheated on my history test, and here’s a note from Elizabeth.” Rachel reached into her backpack, retrieved the note, and placed it on the table.

  Mom sat across from Rachel and picked up the note. “Hmm … I see.” She squinted and pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose.

  “Am I going to get a bletsching [spanking]?” Rachel asked.

  “No,” Mom said. “A spanking would be over with quickly and soon forgotten.”

  Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she wouldn’t be punished. Maybe Mom would just give her a lecture or quote a few scriptures from the Bible about cheating.

  Mom dropped the note to the table and stared at Rachel. “Besides staying after school for the next week, when you come home you will have no playtime, and you’ll do extra chores and studying.”

  “But, Mom,” Rachel argued, “I’ll be studying at school, and I already have so many chores.”

  “Then you shall have a few more.” Mom pursed her lips and gave Rachel her “I mean what I say” look. “What you did was wrong. You need to learn a lesson.”

  “I know it was wrong to cheat, and I promised Elizabeth I would never do it again.”

  “Even so,” Mom said, “You will be punished.”

  “What about Jacob?” Rachel asked. “Shouldn’t he be punished for bringing home a big hairy mutt without asking?”

  Mom’s eyebrows squeezed together, making a deep wrinkle above her nose. “What are you talking about, Rachel?”

  “Orlie Troyer’s mutt. Orlie can’t keep the dog anymore.” Rachel could see by Mom’s bewildered expression that she didn’t quite believe her. “It’s true. Jacob’s in the barn right now with Buddy.”

  “Buddy?”

  “Orlie’s dog.”

  Mom stood and pushed back her chair with such force that it toppled. Without bothering to pick it up, she grabbed her shawl off the wall peg and rushed out the door. Rachel followed.

  They found Jacob in the barn, kneeling next to Buddy. Jacob jumped up. “I was going to find Pap soon, and then after I spoke with him, I was going to see if you—”

  “I already know about the dog,” Mom interrupted.

  Jacob glared at Rachel. “You weren’t supposed to tell. You’re nothing but a retschbeddi [tattletale].”

  “I never promised not to tell Mom.” Rachel wrinkled her nose. “And I’m not a tattletale!”

  “Jah, you are.”

  “No, I’m—”

  “That will be enough, you two.” Mom planted both hands on her hips. “Jacob, why did you bring the dog home without our permission?”

  Jacob’s chin quivered, and Rachel wondered if he might cry. “Orlie’s mamm is allergic to the dog, and Orlie needs to find him a good home. I thought if I brought Buddy home, and you and Pap saw how nice he was, you’d let me keep him.”

  Mom’s expression softened some as she knelt beside Jacob and stroked Buddy’s floppy ear. “He does seem to be a nice hund [dog].”

  Jacob nodded. “Oh jah, I think he’s a wunderbaar hund.”

  “Even so, you should have asked before you brought the dog home,” Mom said.

  Jacob hung his head. “Sorry.”

  “I didn’t want you to have a puppy before because they make so many messes, but since Buddy’s a grown dog, puppy messes won’t be a problem.” Mom touched Jacob’s shoulder. “If it’s all right with your daed, you can keep the big fluffy dog.”

  Rachel flopped onto a bale of straw. “No, no,” she moaned. She figured Mom had only given in to Jacob’s request because he looked like he might cry.

  “What’s the matter with you, Rachel?” Mom asked. “You have a cat. Why shouldn’t Jacob have a pet, too?”

  “Because Buddy will chase Cuddles, and he might hurt her.”

  “He won’t,” Jacob insisted. “I’ll teach him to get along with the cat.”

  “Humph!” Rachel frowned. “You can’t make Buddy be nice to Cuddles any more than I can make Cuddles stop chasing mice.”

  “I’ll bet I can. Buddy’s real schmaert [smart]. I know he can be trained.”

  “I don’t care how smart he is. He’s a dog, and dogs don’t like cats!”

  Mom stepped between Rachel and Jacob. “Let’s end this discussion and wait and see what your daed says about you keeping Buddy.”

  “Where is Pap? He’s not in the barn,” Jacob said. “Is he in the house?”

  Mom shook her head. “He, Grandpa, and Henry went to town. They said they’d be back in time for supper, but it’s probably taking them longer because of the snow. I’m sure they’ll be here soon, though.”

  Rachel squeezed her eyes shut. I hope when Pap gets home he tells Jacob he can’t keep Buddy.

  Chapter 5

  More Troubles

  For the rest of that week, Rachel had to stay after school every day. She cleaned the blackboards, swept the floor, and did extra reading from her history book. Knowing she had more studying and chores waiting at home made her feel cranky. The only good thing about staying after school was that Henry would pick her up every day with his horse and buggy. Since Jacob had chores to do at home, Mom didn’t think it was fair to ask him to wait around the schoolyard until Rachel was ready to go home. Rachel liked that arrangement. Riding in the buggy was warmer than trudging through the cold snow. Besides, she didn’t have to put up with Jacob’s teasing.

  “Are you glad the school week is over?” Henry asked on Friday afternoon when Rachel climbed into his buggy.

  She nodded. “I’m happy the weekend is finally here. At least I won’t have any more school chores or lessons at the schoolhouse.”

  “You’ll still have chores at home,” Henry reminded her.

  “Jah, I know—every day but Sunday.” Sundays were for rest. All Rachel had to do on Sunday was help Mom serve a light breakfast and get ready for church. This Sunday, church would be held in the main section of Pap’s barn. That meant they didn’t have to travel to someone else’s house for the service.

  “From the looks of that sky, I’m guessing we might get more snow,” Henry commented as he directed his horse onto the main road.

  Rachel looked at the cloudy gray sky. “Maybe it will snow so hard the school board will decide to close the schoolhouse on Monday.”

  “The weather would have to get pretty bad before they did that.” Henry snapped the reins to get his horse, Thunder, moving faster. Thunder turned his head and blew a puff of steam from his mouth. “Besides, think how bored you would be if you had to stay in the house all day.”

  “I would think of something fun to do,” Rachel replied.

  “More than likely Mom would think up something for you to do, and it would probably involve work.”

  Rachel didn’t reply. She’d done so many chores this week, she didn’t even want to think about work.

  When Henry guided his horse and buggy up their driveway, Rachel jumped down. She spotted Cuddles sitting on the porch railing. Had the cat been watching for Rachel? Or maybe she was looking for a mouse.

  Rachel sloshed through the snow and stepped onto the porch. She dropped her schoolbooks onto the small table near the door and lifted the cat into her arms. “Did you miss me while I was at school?”

  The cat purred and nuzzled Rachel’s neck with her cold nose.

  “I thought so. I missed you, too, Cuddles.”

  Rachel was about to bring Cuddles into the house when a furry red blob streaked across the porch. Cuddles hissed and jumped out of Rachel’s arms. Meow!—she leaped off the porch!

  Jacob’s dog was right behind Cuddles, barking and swiping the poor cat’s tail with hi
s big pink tongue. Rachel wished Pap had said no when Jacob asked if he could keep Buddy. But Pap had seemed almost as eager to have the dog as Jacob had been.

  “Halt ei, sell geht zu weit! [Stop, that’s going too far!]” Rachel shouted. Where was Jacob, so he could blow that whistle? “Leave my cat alone, you big hairy mutt! Pick on someone your own size!”

  Buddy skidded to a stop, whipped around, and raced back to the porch. Cuddles made a beeline for the barn. Rachel released a sigh of relief.

  “You’re a bad dog,” Rachel said, shaking her finger at Buddy.

  Slurp! Buddy swiped his tongue across Rachel’s finger.

  “Yuck! Why do you always lick me?” she grumbled.

  Woof! Buddy wagged his tail, tipped his head to one side, and grabbed Rachel’s history book in his slobbery mouth. Before Rachel could say a word, Buddy bounded off the porch and headed for the barn.

  “Come back here you furry hund!” Rachel slid through the icy snow all the way to the barn. Just inside the door, she spotted Buddy scratching at a pile of straw. She looked around. There was no sign of Cuddles.

  Rachel hurried over to Buddy. “What are you up to?”

  Woof!

  “Did you bury my book in the straw?”

  Buddy cocked his head. Woof! Woof!

  Rachel grunted. “Get out of my way!”

  Buddy jumped up, put his huge paws on Rachel’s chest, and swiped his slimy tongue across her cheek.

  Rachel wrinkled her nose. “Eww … I think you need a minty doggie bone, because you have bad breath!” She pushed Buddy down with her knee then headed for the pile of straw to look for her book.

  Buddy bounded over to Rachel and positioned his bulky body between her and the straw.

  “You’d better move,” Rachel threatened.

  Buddy didn’t budge. He just stood there with his tail waging and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

  “I’m warning you …”

  Woof! Woof! Woof!

  “What’s the problem?” Henry asked, as he popped his head over one of the horse’s stalls to look at Rachel.

  She pointed at Buddy.

  “He’s the problem!”

  “What’s Jacob’s dog done now?”