What a Pair! Read online

“I’m going to decorate the fence.”

  “With the flowers?”

  “Of course with the flowers.”

  “I think that’s girl stuff, Mattie,” Mark said.

  “Maybe so, but I want everything to look pretty when Grandma and Grandpa Miller come for supper this evening. They’ll see the flowers when they come up the driveway with their horse and buggy.”

  Mark shrugged his shoulders. “Well, if you want to put posies on the fence, that’s up to you, but I’m goin’ fishin’ with Calvin and Russell. Do you wanna come with us?”

  “No thanks,” Mattie said as she wrapped the stem of a daisy around the fence post.

  After the boys left, Mattie continued to sing her little song as she added more colorful daisies to the fence. She’d just finished the last one, and was about to start putting flowers on the porch railing, when her best friend, Stella Schrock, rode in on her bicycle.

  “Whatcha doin’?” Stella asked after she’d parked her bike near the porch.

  “I decorated the fence with daisies, and now I’m going to put some on the porch railing,” Mattie said with a smile.

  “Can I help you with that?” Stella asked.

  Mattie nodded.

  “How come you’re decorating the fence and the porch railing with flowers?”

  Mattie explained that her grandparents were coming for supper and she wanted everything to look nice.

  Stella smiled. “That makes sense to me.”

  Sometimes, like now, Mattie thought she and Stella were more like twins than she and Mark. They liked many of the same things, and Stella wasn’t a big tease who liked to play tricks. She didn’t use big words like Mark did either. Of course, Stella didn’t look anything like Mattie. She had dark brown hair and matching eyes, and there was not one freckle on her nose.

  As the girls wrapped the flower stems around the porch railing, they talked about school, how it would be starting up again in a few weeks, and how much they’d miss staying at home.

  “The reason I don’t like school is because I have a hard time learning some things, and Mark always does so well—especially with spelling,” Mattie said. “He knows so many big words, and hardly ever misses any of the words on our spelling tests. Sometimes I feel really dumm when I’m around my twin bruder—especially when he uses big words I can’t even say. I think he just does it for attention,” she said. “It probably makes him feel big and important if he can say words I don’t understand.”

  “Do you think Mark is full of hochmut?” Stella asked.

  Mattie shrugged. “He might be full of pride, but we’re taught in our church that it’s wrong to be prideful, so if he is, then he’s not setting a good example to others.”

  “That’s true, but nobody’s perfect,” Stella said.

  Mattie gave a nod.

  “Are you excited about your ninth birthday coming up soon?” Stella asked, changing the subject.

  “I sure am, and I’m hoping for a bicycle. Mark wants one, too. Even though we live fairly close to the school, it would be a lot quicker for us to get there every day if we didn’t have to walk.”

  “I know. I’m thankful for the bike my folks gave me for Christmas last year,” Stella said. “I can pedal to school in half the time it took me to walk. And I don’t have to carry my schoolbooks now, because there’s a basket on my bike.”

  “Mark and I have both mentioned to Mom and Dad that we’d like a bicycle, so I hope they’ve been listening. If I get a bike with a basket, I’ll decorate it with flowers. ‘Course Mark will probably say that’s girl stuff,” Mattie said. “But then he does a lot of boy stuff I’d never do, too.”

  Mattie proceeded to tell Stella how Mark had been lifted off the roof of the chicken coop using Dad’s umbrella and landed in a pile of manure.

  Stella wrinkled her nose. “Eww … that must have smelled baremlich. I bet he looked pretty funny sitting in that awful stuff.”

  “You’re right, he did smell terrible, and he looked really funny. It was hard for me not to laugh, ‘cause it really served him right.” Mattie snickered. “Mom wasn’t happy about the smelly clothes or the broken umbrella, but at least Mark didn’t get hurt.”

  Then Mattie told Stella how Mark had put the frog in the sugar bowl, hoping to scare her with it. “Dad wasn’t happy about him startling Mom like that, and now Mark has extra chores to do,” she added.

  “I think he had it coming after doing two bad things in one day.” Stella shook her head slowly. “Sometimes my bruder does things that get him in trouble.”

  “Guess we girls do, too, but since Mark’s such a big tease and likes to play tricks, he gets in trouble a lot more than I do.” Mattie stopped talking and took in a quick breath; then she went on to tell Stella about the little game she and Mark had played with her being blindfolded and how she’d ended up ruining some of Mom’s flowers.

  “It sounds like that game wasn’t much fun at all.”

  “Nope, it sure wasn’t.”

  “Looks like we’re out of flowers,” Stella said, changing the subject. “So can we do something else now?”

  “What do you want to do?” Mattie asked.

  “Why don’t we go up to your room and play with your dolls?”

  “Sure, let’s go.”

  The girls raced into the house and hurried up the stairs to Mattie’s bedroom.

  “You sure keep your room nice,” Stella said. “Everything looks so neat and tidy.”

  Mattie smiled. “I’m not like Mark. I don’t like having a messy room. Mom has to remind him all the time to pick up his room and put his things away where they belong, but he doesn’t seem to care about things like that.”

  “I don’t like a cluttered room either,” Stella agreed. “I clean mine at least once a week.”

  Mattie got out two of her favorite dolls, and as the girls took seats on Mattie’s bed, the sun shone brightly through her bedroom windows, making it extra light in the room. Both dolls had cloth bodies, but their heads, arms, and legs were made of vinyl. They were dressed in Amish clothes and looked almost like real babies.

  “I can’t wait till I grow up and have a boppli of my own,” Stella said. “Babies are soft and cuddly, and they smell so sweet.”

  Mattie wrinkled her nose. “Not when they mess their windle.“

  “That’s true,” Stella agreed. “No one likes to change dirty diapers.”

  They’d only been playing a little while when Mom stuck her head in the open doorway. “Perry and I will be heading to Millersburg now to get him some new shoes,” she said. “So I’m going to send Ada up here to play with you and Stella.”

  Mattie’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Aren’t you taking Ada with you?”

  Mom shook her head. “She gets restless when we go shopping, and it would be hard for me to keep her occupied and help Perry try on shoes. Besides, I told you earlier that I’d need your help and would be leaving Ada with you for a while. Did you forget?”

  “Jah.” Mattie wasn’t the least bit happy about watching her little sister, but with Stella there to help, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

  “Come on, Stella. Let’s go downstairs,” Mattie said, after Mom left the room.

  “How come?” Stella asked with a curious expression. “I thought we were gonna play with your dolls.”

  “Didn’t you hear what my mamm said? I have to watch Ada while she’s gone.”

  “Can’t you watch her up here?”

  Mattie shook her head so hard that the ribbon ties on her head covering swished around her face. “Ada’s even messier than Mark, and I don’t want her in my room. Besides, if she comes in here she’ll want to play with my dolls, and I won’t allow that at all.”

  “Why not?”

  “‘Cause she doesn’t know how to be careful with things, and I don’t want my dolls to get ruined.” Mattie set her doll on the bench near the window. “Let’s go downstairs. We can find something else to do while Mom and Perry are gone.”

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bsp; When they got downstairs, they found Mom standing by the back door with Perry. “Our driver’s here now, so we’re heading out.”

  “Okay, but where’s Ada?” Mattie questioned.

  “She was hungry, so I fixed her some cheese and crackers.” Mom motioned to the kitchen. “When she’s done eating, make sure her hands get washed. Oh, and Mattie … there’s one more thing. Be sure you keep a close watch on Ada. You know how she likes to wander off.”

  Mattie nodded. “Since Stella’s here we can both watch Ada.”

  Mom gave Mattie a hug and then she and Perry hurried out the door.

  “Should we go to the kitchen for a little snack?” Mattie asked Stella.

  “That sounds good,” Stella said with a nod. “I’m kind of hungerich, too.”

  When the girls entered the kitchen, they found Ada sitting on a stool at the table. Since she was too short to sit in a regular chair, the stool was just right for her.

  “Kaes,” Ada said, smiling at Mattie and pointing to the cheese Mom had cut up for her.

  “Jah. Stella and I are gonna have some kaes, too.” Mattie went to the refrigerator and took out some slices of cheddar cheese. Then she got a box of crackers down from the cupboard.

  “Would you like something to drink?” Mattie asked Stella. “How about some melke?”

  “Sounds good to me.” Stella took a seat at the table and Mattie got out the milk and two glasses.

  Mattie had just started to eat when Ada hollered, “Kaes! Meh kaes!”

  Mattie didn’t want to get up for more cheese, so she handed Ada a few pieces from her own plate.

  As they ate, they visited some more, and giggled at Ada while listening to her try to sing in German Dutch the words to, “Oh where, oh where, has my little dog gone.” It was cute hearing Ada’s own version of the song she’d heard their family sing together on many occasions.

  “When we’re done eating would you like to see some of the tricks I’ve taught my dog?” Mattie asked Stella.

  Stella nodded eagerly. “That sounds like fun. Maybe we can teach Twinkles a few new tricks, too.”

  After Mattie and Stella were done eating, they took Ada outside, and then Mattie called Twinkles, her little brown-and-white fox terrier, who liked to sleep in the barn.

  It took a few minutes of clapping and calling to get Twinkles’s attention. When the dog finally ran out of the barn, Ada started jumping up and down, while waving her hands.

  “Hundli!” Ada shouted. “Hundli! Hundli!”

  “Twinkles is not a puppy, she’s two years old.” Mattie tapped Ada’s shoulder. “And you need to settle down.”

  Mattie was sure Ada didn’t understand what she’d said, because she kept jumping up and down, waving her hands, and hollering at the top of her lungs, “Hundli! Hundli! Hundli!”

  “Calm down now, Ada!” Mattie scolded, as she shook her finger. “Twinkles won’t do any tricks if you carry on like that.”

  “What tricks can the dog do?” Stella asked.

  “Let me show you.” Mattie pointed at Twinkles and said, “Sit!”

  Twinkles sat on her haunches and looked up at Mattie with her brown, almond-shaped eyes, as if begging for a treat. Woof! Woof!

  “Good job, Twinkles,” Stella said. She really did look impressed.

  Ada squealed and waved her hands some more.

  “Roll over,” Mattie said, ignoring Ada, and turning her hand in the direction she wanted Twinkles to roll.

  Woof! Twinkles’s little black nose twitched as she dropped to the ground and rolled one way and then the other.

  Stella and Mattie both laughed, but when Twinkles rolled over again, Ada got so excited she started running around in circles, as she continued to wave her hands and holler, “Hundli!”

  Woof! Woof! Woof! Twinkles ran behind Ada, barking and leaping into the air like she had springs in her legs.

  “Stop it, Twinkles!” Mattie shouted. “Settle down now and come here to me.”

  Twinkles, paying no attention to Mattie now, continued to run and jump, until she nearly wore herself out and started panting. The poor dog’s tongue stuck out on one side of her mouth, but she still kept running and jumping.

  “Fox terriers are very energetic dogs and they love to jump,” Mattie told Stella. “There are two types—smooth fox terriers and wire fox terriers. You can see by Twinkles’s fur that she’s a smooth fox terrier. Terriers like her also like to bark, dig, and chase small animals.”

  “Twinkles is voll schpass!” Ada hollered as she danced around the yard waving her hands above her head.

  “Jah, I know Twinkles is very funny,” Mattie shouted so she could be heard, “but you’re getting her all worked up.” She raced after the dog, clapping her hands. “Go on back to the barn, Twinkles—right now!”

  Woof! Woof! Woof! Twinkles tipped her head to one side, as though thinking about it; then she gave another loud bark and headed straight for the barn.

  Mattie was relieved that the dog had obeyed her, however Stella looked disappointed, and Ada started crying. So much for showing Stella some of Twinkles’s tricks!

  “Let’s do something else,” Mattie said. “Something a little quieter.”

  “We could go back to your room and play with your dolls,” Stella suggested.

  Mattie shook her head and motioned to Ada, who was now howling like one of Grandpa Miller’s calves when it couldn’t find its mother. “No, remember, I said it’s better if we don’t do that.”

  Stella shrugged. “If you don’t want to play with the dolls, and we can’t watch Twinkles do any more tricks, then what can we do?”

  “Hmmm …” Mattie squinted her eyes and rubbed her chin as she tried to think of something fun to do.

  “I know … Let’s sit on the porch swing and read a buch,” Stella suggested.

  Mattie shook her head. “That’d be boring. Besides, we’ll be reading plenty of books when we go back to school. Why don’t we lie in the grass and look at the clouds?”

  “Huh-uh. I’d rather not.”

  Mattie snapped her fingers. “I know! We can make some homemade bubble solution and see if we can get Mark’s cat, Lucky, to chase them.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’m sure Ada would like blowing bubbles, too.” Stella glanced around the yard, and then she looked at Mattie with a worried frown. “Where is Ada?”

  “She’s right here.” Mattie looked down, but Ada was gone. “That makes no sense. She was here a minute ago.”

  “Maybe she went to the barn to find Twinkles,” Stella said.

  “You’re probably right.” Mattie raced into the barn. “Ada, where are you?” she called, looking all around.

  No response; not even a bark or a whine from Twinkles.

  Mattie searched in every part of the barn, but there was no sign of Ada. However, she finally found Twinkles curled up in a ball on top of a bale of hay. She figured Ada had to be playing somewhere in the yard, or maybe she was hiding from them.

  Mattie was almost to the barn door when she collided with Stella.

  “Oops!” Stella rubbed her forehead. “Are you okay, Mattie?”

  “Jah, I’m fine. It’s just a little bump on the head. How are you?”

  “I’ll be okay, too. Did you find Ada?”

  “No. I think she must be somewhere in the yard. Why don’t you go this way, and I’ll go that way.” Mattie pointed to one side of the yard and then the other. “One of us is bound to find her.”

  The girls took off in opposite directions. Mattie shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun. No sign of Ada in the alfalfa pasture. “Ada, where are you?” she called.

  Mattie kept searching and calling for her little sister. If she didn’t find her before Mom got home, she didn’t know what she would do. It would be awful to tell Mom that Ada was missing, and Mattie was sure she’d be in trouble for not keeping a closer eye on her little sister.

  Another thought popped into Mattie’s head. If Ada wandered off our property
and got onto the road, she could get hit by a car!

  Mattie’s heart thumped and her palms grew sweaty. Off in the distance she could see dark clouds forming, which meant rain, so she had to find Ada, and quickly!

  CHAPTER 5

  A Terrible Day

  “How’s it going over there?” Mark’s brother Calvin called to him from the other side of the pond. “Have you caught any fish?”

  Mark cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, “Nope, not even one. How about you?”

  “Not yet, but I’ve had a few nibbles!”

  Mark pointed at Russell, who sat several feet away. “He has two nice-sized fish in his bucket already.”

  “That’s great! At least one of is having some luck,” Calvin said.

  “Sure wish I’d catch something,” Mark mumbled.

  “You have to be patient,” Russell said. “Or maybe you should move to a different spot.”

  Mark frowned. He’d already moved to several spots, and none of them seemed any better. At this rate, it didn’t look like he’d catch any fish today!

  Bzzz … Bzzz … Mark slapped at a mosquito that had landed on his arm. It seemed like he’d been slapping at them ever since they’d gotten to the pond. If things didn’t improve soon, the only thing he’d be taking home would be a whole lot of itchy mosquito bites!

  Feeling kind of drowsy, Mark set his fishing pole aside, removed his straw hat, and lay back in the grass. Then, placing his hat over his face, he closed his eyes and thought about the new bicycle he hoped he’d get for his birthday next month. A blue-and-white one would be really nice. He’d also like a carrier on the back of the bike, where he could tie on his schoolbooks. How nice it would be to ride to school every day, like his two older brothers did. Mark knew that Mattie was hoping for a bicycle, too, only she wanted hers to be red.

  Mark and Mattie had both been disappointed when they’d learned that Grandpa and Grandma Troyer might not make it for their birthday celebration, which was coming up soon. Grandma and Grandpa lived farther north in a town called Burton, and it was more than one hundred miles away. Since it was too far to travel by horse and buggy, it meant having to hire a driver to bring them to Walnut Creek. That would normally be okay, but in Grandma’s last letter she said Grandpa’s arthritis had been acting up, and that if he wasn’t better by Mark and Mattie’s birthday they wouldn’t be coming to help them celebrate.