What a Pair! Read online

  “But Mom, I don’t have enough money to buy another umbrella,” Mark argued.

  “Then I’m sure your daed will find some extra chores for you to do so you can earn the money,” Mom added as she took Ada and Perry’s hands again and moved toward the house. “In fact, if he doesn’t find some chores for you, then I certainly will!” she called over her shoulder.

  Mark shot Mattie a quick glance, wondering if she was glad he’d been the one to get yelled at this time, and then he hurried into the house behind Mom. He was lucky she hadn’t given him a worse punishment. And he definitely wanted to get cleaned up before Dad came in from the fields and saw what he’d gotten into.

  During supper that evening, Mattie looked over at Mark and noticed a strange expression on his face. He hadn’t said a word since they’d started eating their meal. Was he dreading the extra chores Dad had given him to do because of all the mischief, or was there something else on her twin brother’s mind? Maybe she would let Mark off the hook and not make him wash the dishes for her tonight.

  “Won’t be long now and you’ll be going back to school,” Dad said, touching Mattie’s arm. “Are you ready to begin the third grade?”

  “Wish I didn’t have to go back to school,” Mattie said. “I can’t wait till I graduate from eighth grade and get to stay home with Mom all day.”

  “Staying home with your mamm won’t be as easy as you think,” Dad said, handing Mattie the basket of homemade bread.

  “That’s right,” Mom said with a nod. “Learning how to be a good homemaker will mean a lot more chores, as well as learning to do many things you haven’t done before.”

  “Like what?” Mattie wanted to know.

  “Like sewing, quilting, baking, and cooking meals.” Dad handed Mattie the bowl of mashed potatoes. “You’ll need to know how to do those things before you get married.”

  Mattie scrunched up her nose. “Don’t see why I’d have to learn all that, ‘cause I’m never gettin’ married. Boys are weird, and they do dumm things.”

  Dad chuckled and gave Mattie’s shoulder a pat. “You’ll change your mind about that someday.”

  Mattie didn’t think so, but she decided not to say anything more about it, because graduating from school was still a ways off, and it would be several years before she was even old enough to think about marriage.

  Mattie glanced across the table at her oldest brother, Ike. She had learned that when Ike was her age, his hair used to be bright red like hers and Mark’s. But since then his hair had grown darker and turned a deep auburn color like Mom’s. Ike had recently started going out with a girl named Catherine. Mattie had never heard him say anything about wanting to get married though. Of course, Ike was only sixteen, so he probably wouldn’t think about getting married for a few more years. Then there was Russell, who’d turned thirteen in April, and Calvin, who was eleven. It was obvious who they took after. Their hair was as blond as Dad’s. And as far as Mattie knew they had no interest in girls, other than to tease them, the way Mark often did.

  Mattie looked over at Mark. He still hadn’t said anything, and she couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t like him to be so quiet.

  She gave his arm a little nudge with her elbow. “How come you’re not saying anything?”

  “Can’t think of anything to say,” he mumbled around a piece of Mom’s juicy fried chicken. “Besides, can’t you see that I’m eatin’ my supper?”

  “We’re all eating, but we’re all talkin’, too,” Mattie said.

  Mark grabbed the meat platter and forked another piece of chicken onto his plate.

  Mattie continued to eat her meal as she listened to Mom and Dad talk about some things that had been going on in their community lately. When she got bored with their conversation she turned her attention to her little brother, Perry, whose hair was so blond it was the color of the palomino horse down the road from where they lived. She watched as Perry fed Ada his green beans. Mattie knew Perry didn’t like green beans, but apparently Ada did, for she was chomping away and smacking her lips as if the beans tasted like candy.

  Mattie giggled to herself, seeing the green beans stuck in Ada’s red hair. It looked almost as funny as the time Ada had dumped a bowl of macaroni on her head.

  Mom and Dad didn’t seem to notice what was going on, because they were talking about Dad’s woodworking business, and how many orders he’d recently gotten for new tables and chairs. Mattie thought about interrupting their conversation to tell them what Perry was doing, but figured she’d probably be accused of being a tattletale if she did, so she decided it would be best to keep quiet.

  As Mattie ate, she wondered if there was a way she could get out of going to school. She liked their teacher, Anna Ruth Stutzman, well enough, and she enjoyed playing with her best friend, Stella Schrock, during recess. What she didn’t like about school was learning her multiplication tables and trying to spell difficult words. Mark didn’t have a problem with either of those. In fact he could spell words that Mattie couldn’t even pronounce. It was funny how one minute Mark would use some big word, and the next minute he’d say “ain’t,” which even Mattie knew wasn’t proper English.

  He probably just does that to irritate me, Mattie thought.

  Mark reached over just then and tickled Ada under her chin. Ada giggled and started waving her hands, like she always did when she got overly excited.

  “Not now,” Mom scolded, looking over at Mark. “This isn’t the time or place to be fooling around. If Ada gets too excited she might knock something over. And how’d those beans get in her hair?”

  Shrugging his shoulders, Mark stopped tickling Ada and reached for another piece of chicken. Mattie couldn’t believe he could eat so much food.

  “Would someone please pass me the sugar bowl?” Mom asked. “I didn’t put enough sweetener in my iced tea.”

  “Jah, sure.” Mattie reached for the sugar bowl and quickly passed it to Mom.

  As soon as Mom lifted the lid on the bowl there was a—Ribbit! Ribbit!—then a little frog, covered in sugar, hopped out of the bowl and landed on the table with a thud!

  Mom screamed so loud that Ada flinched and started crying. Even the green beans fell out of her hair. Then Dad leaned forward and grabbed hold of the frog. “Alright now,” he said with a very stern look, “who’s the one responsible for putting that frosch in the sugar bowl?”

  No one said a word. Mattie and her brothers just sat there. She knew for certain that it hadn’t been Ada, because she was too little to do something like that. Same for Perry. And Ike was old enough to know better, so that left Russell, Calvin, or Mark.

  “Well, who did it?” Dad asked again, squinting his brown eyes as he looked at each of the children.

  Mark’s cheeks reddened as he hung his head. “I’m the one who put the frosch in the sugar bowl,” he admitted. “It was supposed to be a joke, and I never thought Mom would …”

  “You about startled me out of my wits,” Mom said. “What in the world were you thinking?”

  Before Mark could respond, Dad pushed his chair away from the table. Then, looking down at Mark with a deep frown, he said, “I’m going to put the frosch outside. You’d better finish your supper quick, because when I get back, we’re going to settle this matter.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Spilled Milk and Sour Juice

  “Dad was pretty upset with you last night, wasn’t he?” Mattie asked when she met Mark in the hallway outside their bedrooms the following morning.

  Mark nodded. “Jah, and because of the umbrella stunt and me putting the frosch in the sugar bowl, I’ve gotta clean out the chicken coop every day for a week and do some other extra chores, too.”

  “I hope you learned a good lesson,” she said, squinting at him, the way Mom did when she was scolding someone.

  Mark frowned. “I don’t need a lecture from you, Mattie. I know puttin’ that frosch in the sugar bowl was wrong, and thinkin’ I could fly was really dumm. I sure won’t do
either of those things again. Just wanted to have a little fun, that’s all.”

  “Your idea of fun is sure strange, but it’s good you’re not going to do anything like that again, ‘cause I think it really scared Mom.”

  “Didn’t mean to scare her. It was meant for you.” Mark snickered. “Just thought it’d be funny to see your expression when you opened the lid and saw that little amphibian.”

  “Oh, so that ‘amphibian,’ which I guess means ‘frog,’ was meant for me, huh?”

  Mark gave a nod.

  She poked his arm. “You tease too much, Mark. And for your information, Ich verschreck net graad.“

  Mark scrunched up his nose. “Well, you may not frighten easily, but I’m sure you would have been startled if that little ol’ frog had jumped in your plate.”

  Mattie nodded. “I wouldn’t have liked that at all.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mark said as he hurried out the door to do his chores.

  When Mattie entered the kitchen, she found Mom in front of their propane-operated stove, frying hickory-smoked bacon.

  “Umm … that sure smells good,” Mattie said, smacking her lips. “Are we having fried oier to go with it?”

  Mom shook her head. “I’m low on eggs this morning, so I’ve decided to make pannekuche to go with the bacon.”

  “Pancakes are my favorite thing to have for breakfast.” Mattie’s mouth watered just thinking about all that melted butter and warm maple syrup drizzled over a stack of big fluffy pancakes. “How come we’re low on eggs? Are the chickens sick?”

  “It could be they sense the cooler weather coming, or it could be because our chickens are getting older,” Mom explained. “As chickens age, they lay fewer eggs.”

  “Maybe we can get some little peeps to raise so we can have more egg-layers,” Mattie suggested. She thought it would be fun to have some baby chicks.

  “Well, we probably won’t think about that until springtime. Winter will be coming sooner than we think, and the cold weather can be too harsh on baby animals,” Mom said. “Now, why don’t you get started setting the table while I mix the pancake batter? We’ll eat as soon as your daed and the boys come in from doing their chores.”

  Mattie knew that Dad and her brother Ike would head for the woodshop as soon as they’d eaten. Now that the hay was all cut, they wouldn’t be spreading manure in the fields until autumn, which was still a few weeks away. So until then, most of their time would be spent in the shop.

  Mattie wasn’t sure what Mark, Russell, and Calvin had planned for the day. She’d made her own plans, however. Right after breakfast, once the dishes were done, she planned to pick some daisies and decorate the porch railing, as well as the fence that separated their driveway from the alfalfa pasture.

  “Where’s Ada and Perry?” Mattie asked as she began setting the table. “I figured they’d be in here waiting to eat. Seems like those two are always hungerich.“

  “You’re right about them always being hungry.” Mom chuckled. “Perry went out to the barn to see if Lucky’s had her busslin yet, and Ada’s still sleeping.”

  Mattie wrinkled her nose. “I hope you can find a home for all the kittens, ‘cause we don’t need any more katze around here.”

  “Since it’s Mark’s cat he’ll probably want to keep one of the kittens, but we’ll try to find homes for the rest of Lucky’s babies.”

  Mattie wished her dog, Twinkles, would have some puppies. As far as she was concerned, a puppy was a lot more fun to play with than a kitten. A pup could be trained to do tricks, too. Mattie had been working with Twinkles, and she could already do several good tricks, like roll over, sit, and play dead. The only thing Mark’s cat did was eat, sleep, purr, and scratch. Of course, she did catch some mice now and then.

  Mattie winced, thinking about the last time she’d been scratched by Lucky. She’d heard the way the cat purred whenever Mark stroked her belly, but when Mattie tried doing that a few weeks ago, Lucky hissed, stuck out her claws, and scratched Mattie’s hand. That was the last time Mattie went anywhere near Mark’s annoying cat!

  By the time Mattie finished setting the table, Mom had the pancake batter mixed. “If you’ll go wake Ada, I’ll start making the pancakes.”

  “Okay, Mom.” Mattie left the kitchen and tromped up the stairs to Ada’s room. She found her little sister curled up at the foot of the bed, with her sheet wrapped around her feet. Her flushed cheeks almost matched her flaming red hair.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Mattie gently poked Ada’s arm.

  Ada opened her eyes, but they were just tiny slits. “Is fattgange, Mattie.”

  “I’m not going away.” Mattie bent down and tickled Ada’s feet. “Mom has breakfast almost ready. It’s time to get up.”

  Ada closed her eyes and pulled the sheet over her head.

  Mattie pulled the sheet aside and shook her sister’s arm. “Mom’s making pannekuche.”

  Ada’s eyes opened wide and she leaped out of bed. “Yum! Yum!”

  “You doin’ alright today?” Russell asked Mark as they left the barn and followed Dad, Ike, Calvin, and Perry toward the house.

  “Jah, sure. Why do you ask?”

  “Figured you might be feelin’ out of sorts,” Russell said, keeping his voice so low, only Mark could hear. “After getting in trouble with Dad last night I can sure understand, ‘cause I’ve been in your shoes a few times myself.”

  “I’m fine.” Mark didn’t want to talk about this again. He just wanted to forget he’d ever put that frog in the sugar bowl and been punished for it. It probably seemed to Mom and Dad that he’d been misbehaving a little too much lately. But really, all Mark wanted to do was have some fun.

  Russell thumped Mark’s back. “Say, how’d ya like to go fishin’ with me and Calvin later this morning? We’re going to the pond by our neighbor’s place.”

  Mark grinned at his brother. “Sure, that’d be great.”

  “All right then, after Dad and Ike leave for work, we’ll get our fishing poles and head for the pond.”

  Mark felt pretty good about going fishing, and when he entered the house and smelled hickory-smoked bacon and maple syrup, he felt even better.

  “Did Lucky have her busslin yet?” Mom asked.

  Mark shook his head. “She was in her box though, so I bet it’ll be soon.”

  Mom smiled. “Well, wash up now and take a seat,” she said, motioning to the table. “The pancakes are done, and we’re ready to eat.”

  After everyone was seated at the table, they bowed their heads for silent prayer. Mark asked God to bless the food and help him catch lots of fish today.

  When the prayers were finished, Mom passed the platters of pancakes and bacon around.

  Mark reached for the maple syrup and was getting ready to pour it on his pancakes when he bumped Mattie’s elbow as she was about to pick up her glass of milk. Thunk! The glass toppled over and milk spilled onto the table.

  “Oh no!” Mark and Mattie both groaned.

  “It’s okay. I’ll take care of it,” Mom said, rising from her seat.

  While Mom wiped up the mess with a dishtowel, Mattie turned to Mark and said, “Can’t you be more careful?”

  “Sorry,” Mark said. “Guess if you were right-handed like me, we wouldn’t be bumping arms.”

  Mattie grinned. “Or if you were left-handed like me, we wouldn’t be bumping arms.”

  “Mark can trade places with Calvin,” Mom said.

  “That won’t work,” Calvin spoke up,” ‘Cause I’m right-handed, too.”

  “You’re left-handed,” Dad said to Russell. “Why don’t you trade places with Mark?”

  “Okay.” Russell left his chair and exchanged seats with Mark.

  Mom handed Dad the platter of bacon. “While I’m up getting Mattie another glass of melke, would anyone else like some?”

  “I’d rather have orange juice,” Mark said.

  “Are you sure about that?” Mom asked. “The orange juice will tas
te sour after eating pancakes and sweet maple syrup.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be good.” Mark smacked his lips. “I really do like orange juice.”

  “Very well, then.” Mom went to the refrigerator and took out two pitchers—one with milk in it, and one full of orange juice. She poured Mark a glass of orange juice and handed it to him, just as he finished eating his pancake.

  Mark took a big drink and puckered his lips. “Yuck! This juice is really sour!” He set his glass down. “I’ve changed my mind. Can I have some melke now?”

  “Jah, you can, but not until you’ve finished your orange juice,” Dad said. “We don’t waste food or drink around here, and your mamm did warn you about the orange juice being sour.”

  Mark drank his juice down as fast as he could. He’d just finished the last of it, and was reaching for the pitcher of milk, when Ada knocked over her glass. Splat!—icy cold milk went all over Mark’s plate and ran onto his clothes.

  “This is not starting off to be a very good day,” Mark mumbled as he raced up the stairs to change his clothes. “Sure hope the rest of my day goes better!”

  CHAPTER 4

  Missing!

  As soon as Mattie finished helping Mom with the dishes, she hurried outside to pick some of the pretty white daisies growing under the fence along the edge of the alfalfa pasture. As she picked the flowers, she sang a little song she’d made up.

  “Daisy … daisy … pretty little daisy … your center is yellow … your petals are white. God made you, daisy, to look just right.”

  “Ah-hem! What do you think you’re doin’ with those posies?”

  Mattie dropped a flower and whirled around. Mark stood behind her staring into the basket of daisies she’d already picked, with one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that, and they’re not posies—they’re daisies.”

  “Well, whatever they’re called, how come you’re pickin’ so many of them?” he questioned.