Green Fever Read online

  Mattie pulled a few more weeds until Mark came along and squatted on the grass beside her. “I hope you’re not gonna start decorating everything with flowers,” he said, dropping some colorful rocks into Mattie’s little garden.

  “You’d better not put those too close to where my flowers are coming up,” Mattie warned.

  “Oh, don’t worry….These few little pebbles won’t hurt your flowers.” Mark placed a couple more onto the soil; then he whispered, “Look, Mattie. There’s my little frosch sitting near the pool.” His eyes widened as he pointed to the ferns beside the frog house. “Ach, there’s another frosch sitting between the ferns! I can’t believe there are actually two frogs livin’ in your garden, Mattie.”

  Mattie looked at the spot where Mark had pointed. Sure enough, two little green frogs were just where he’d said. It seemed that her little garden was becoming a popular place. “They’re cute, aren’t they?” Mattie asked, looking back at Mark. “Maybe at night, when we’re lying in our beds, we’ll hear them croaking to each other.”

  “Well, we know that the one frog is a male ’cause you heard it ribet.” He nodded and grinned. “Male frogs are the only ones that croak, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see if we hear the other one or not. It’ll be fun to watch ’em all spring and throughout the summer. And who knows…maybe other frogs will make this little garden their home, too.”

  “I hope not too many,” Mattie said. “I don’t want frogs taking over my garden.”

  Mark flapped his hand. “Aw, they won’t hurt anything, Mattie. Speaking of frogs…did ya hear all the peepers last night, down at the end of the field?”

  “Peepers?” Mattie asked, tilting her head.

  “Jah. They’re little frogs that make peeping sounds instead of ribeting, like other frogs do. Spring peepers are amphibious, and they live in marshy areas or temporary pools of water,” Mark explained.

  “What does ‘amphibious’ mean?” Mattie wanted to know.

  “It means they’re able to use either land or water,” Mark replied. “The peepers are probably down there where the water always collects after a heavy rain. In the spring, they need wet areas like that ’cause that’s where they lay their eggs.”

  “Wow!” Mattie exclaimed. “You sure know a lot about peepers. Too bad you can’t find one of ’em to put in my little flower garden by the frog house.”

  Mark shook his head vigorously. “That wouldn’t be a good idea, Mattie.”

  “How come?”

  “Those other frogs might eat the peepers. Snakes and birds eat ’em, too. But I might take a walk down to the field sometime soon, to see if I can get a peek at one of those peepers.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully and grinned.

  “Eww…I sure hope we don’t see any snakes near my flower bed,” Mattie said, wrinkling her nose.

  “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Mark calmly said. “And if we should get any, it’ll probably be an old garter snake.”

  “A snake is a snake,” Mattie said, nibbling on her lower lip. “I hope I never see any of them in my garden spot!”

  “Do you wanna come with me when I go peeking for peepers?” Mark asked.

  “You’re so funny, Mark. Peeking for peepers.” Mattie giggled. “Naw, that’s okay; I don’t need to go with you. I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it if you see any peepers.”

  Just then Grandpa rode into the yard on the old bike Mark had found. It had been in Grandpa’s barn ever since he and Grandma got home from Illinois, and Grandpa had been fixing it up.

  “Wow, that looks really great!” Mark shouted. He jumped up and ran over to stand beside Grandpa. “Danki, Grandpa, for fixing my old bike. It looks almost good as new.”

  Grandpa smiled. “You’re quite welcome, Mark.”

  “Where’s Grandma?” Mattie asked, joining them by the bike. “I want her to see the tulips that are finally coming up in my garden.”

  “She’ll be coming along soon with our horse and buggy to pick me up,” Grandpa said.

  Mark nudged Mattie’s arm then motioned to the bike. “So what do ya think? It looks almost new, doesn’t it?”

  Mattie gave a slow nod, barely able to look at the bike. Besides getting a new paint job, the seat had been replaced and a new set of tires had been put on. And of course, because of the work Mark had previously done, the rust was now gone from the handlebars. Now that Mark’s bike was done, he could begin riding it. Mattie hoped he wouldn’t be selfish and would let her ride it sometimes, too.

  “Sure can’t wait to take a ride on my new bike,” Mark said, smiling widely as he rubbed his hands together.

  “Well, there’s no time like the present.” Grandpa let loose of the handlebars, and Mark grabbed ahold. “Why don’t you take a little spin around the yard or up and down the driveway?” Grandpa suggested.

  “Okay, I will.” Mark seated himself on the bike and started pedaling. “This is great!” he shouted. “It rides really nice.”

  As Mark rode the bicycle around the yard a few times, Mattie folded her arms and watched, feeling even more jealous because she had no bike of her own.

  Mattie shook her head, remembering the day they were on their way to school and Mark had seen that old bike by the side of the road. It had turned out just the way she’d figured when Mark came bounding back, all excited, saying that Mrs. Johnson had given him permission to take her son’s old bike. Mattie had even kept her fingers crossed, but of course, that hadn’t helped. She remembered Grandma Troyer saying once that crossing one’s fingers, in the hope that something would or wouldn’t happen, was superstitious. Grandma had also said it was best to pray about things and ask God’s will instead of hoping things would go a certain way.

  “Why don’t you ask your bruder if you can take a ride on his bike?” Grandpa suggested, bending close to Mattie’s ear.

  Mattie thought it would be fun to ride the bike alone without having to pedal behind someone else, like she did whenever she and Mark rode their bicycle-built-for-two. So she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Can I take a ride on your bike now, Mark?”

  “Maybe after a while, Mattie,” Mark hollered as he rode on past. “It’s my bike, and I wanna ride it some more.”

  Mattie’s shoulders shook as she dropped her gaze to the ground and began to cry. It looked like this bike of Mark’s was going to be nothing but trouble!

  Mom had just finished taking the clothes off the line, and she called to Mark, “Don’t be selfish now, son. You need to let Mattie have a turn on the bike.”

  Mark, looking none too happy, stopped the bicycle in front of Mattie. “You can go up and down the driveway twice, but that’s all.”

  Mattie climbed on the bike and pedaled off. She couldn’t believe her brother didn’t want to share his bike with her. If he’s gonna be like that, then maybe I won’t let his frogs live in my garden, she thought. But I guess that wouldn’t be very nice. It’s not the frogs’ fault that Mark is being so selfish. Besides, how would I keep the frogs out of my garden? Those hopping little critters can pretty much go anywhere they want.

  After Mattie rode up and down the driveway twice, she parked Mark’s bike near the barn, where Mark was busy doing something with their bicycle-built-for-two. “What are you up to now?” she asked.

  “I’m takin’ the bell off this bike so I can put it on my own bicycle.”

  Mattie put her hands on her hips. “If you do that, then we’ll have no bell on our bike, and you know we don’t have enough money saved up to buy a new one yet.”

  Mark merely shrugged in reply.

  Grandpa stepped up to the twins. “If you two want to earn some money, as soon as Grandma and I are ready to start picking dandelions, you can give us a hand with that. We’re a bit behind on some things this spring since we made our trip to Illinois, but we need to get those dandelions picked soon while they are still tender enough to eat.”

  “That’d be great,” Mattie said, “but what do we do i
n the meantime with no bell on our bike?”

  “We didn’t have one before I found the old bike,” Mark reminded her.

  “I know, but we should have had one. You thought a light was more important than a bell.” Mattie frowned. “You must think havin’ a bell is pretty important now, or you wouldn’t be taking it off our bike to put on the old one you found.”

  Before Mark could reply to what Mattie had said, the clip-clop of horse’s hooves let them know that Grandma had arrived.

  “Why don’t we all go in the house for a piece of pie?” Mom suggested after Grandma climbed down from the buggy.

  “That’s a good idea,” Grandpa said as he tied their horse to the hitching rail. “I’m always hungerich for a piece of pie.”

  “Me, too,” Mark and Mattie said at the same time.

  A short time later, they all headed for the house. Calvin and Russell were inside, keeping Ada and Perry occupied. Dad and Ike were out in the barn, but Mattie figured they’d be in soon.

  When Mom took out two banana cream pies and set them on the table, Mattie smacked her lips. The pies looked so good, and she couldn’t wait to taste a piece.

  Mom had just cut the pies and was in the process of dishing them onto plates when Dad and Ike entered the kitchen. “Yum. Those sure look tasty,” Dad said, pointing to the pies.

  “If everyone will take a seat, we can sample them,” Mom said.

  After the family gathered around the table, with Grandpa and Grandma sitting on either side of the twins, Mom handed Mattie and Mark each a piece of pie.

  Mark studied his piece a few seconds; then he looked up at Mom and frowned. “How come Mattie’s piece is bigger than mine?”

  “It’s not that much bigger,” Mom said.

  “Jah, it is,” Mark insisted, his cheeks turning red.

  “Is it really that important whose piece of pie is the biggest?” Dad questioned.

  “It is to me,” Mark replied. “It’s not fair that Mattie’s pie is bigger.”

  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Dad said. He looked sternly at Mark and then at Mattie. “What’s gotten into you lately? You’ve both been acting jealous about some things, and it’s not right. Do you realize that jealousy can poison a person’s life?”

  Mattie said nothing, and neither did Mark. They both sat staring at the table. Mattie figured if they said the wrong thing, they’d probably be sent to their rooms without any pie.

  “It’s not good to envy others for things you don’t have,” Dad continued. “You should be appreciative and thankful for what you do have. You know, the Bible tells us in Philippians 4:11, ‘For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.’ ”

  To make his point, Dad got up and filled a glass with water. Then he walked over to the cupboard where Mom kept all her baking spices. Sitting back down, he put in several drops of green food coloring and showed the twins how the color changed the glass of clear water into a sickly looking green.

  “Jealousy can color all areas of a person’s life, making them unhappy and discontent with what they have,” Dad said.

  Grandpa bobbed his head. “Your daed is right. Remember what I told you both the day we went fishing?”

  Mattie nodded and so did Mark. “You said a person who is green with envy can let their jealousy eat away at them till they feel sick and that green fever’s a good analogy,” Mark responded.

  “That’s correct. And you two don’t want that, do you?” Grandpa asked.

  Mark shook his head. Mattie did the same.

  “When you’re green with envy, you’re ripe for trouble,” Grandma added.

  “Would you like my piece of pie?” Mattie asked, holding her plate out to Mark.

  He shook his head. “Naw, that’s okay. Guess mine’s big enough.”

  Mattie thought about everything Grandpa and Dad had said. She would try not to be so jealous anymore because she did not want a case of green fever!

  CHAPTER 10

  Best Friends

  The following Saturday afternoon, Mattie had just taken a seat on the top step of their front porch and begun to pet Twinkles when her friend Stella Schrock rode into the yard. Mattie felt a twinge of envy, knowing Stella had a bike of her own. She also had a nice bell on her bike, which she quickly rang when Mark’s cat Lucky ran in front of her bike. Ching! Ching! Ching!

  “Wie geht’s?” Stella asked after she’d parked her bicycle and joined Mattie on the porch.

  “I’m doin’ okay,” Mattie replied, hugging Twinkles who sat comfortably in her lap.

  Stella, who had dark brown hair and matching eyes, took a seat on the step, and then she reached out and stroked the dog’s head. “Twinkles is sure a nice hund. Wish I had a dog like yours.”

  “Twinkles is a great pet.” Mattie looked wistfully at Stella’s bike. “I wish I had a bike like yours.”

  “You and Mark have a bicycle you ride together.”

  “Jah, but now Mark has his own bike, and he hardly ever lets me ride it.”

  “That’s right, my cousin John mentioned to me that Mark found a bike someone had thrown away.”

  “I think it was bad timing that the trash man didn’t come earlier that morning,” Mattie said. “Otherwise, Mark wouldn’t have seen the old bicycle lying there near the trash. Now that it’s fixed up, Mark has a bike he can ride by himself and I don’t.”

  “That’s too bad.” Stella touched Mattie’s arm. “Would you like to ride my bike? I don’t mind at all.”

  Glancing at her friend’s bicycle, Mattie hesitated a minute, but then she shook her head. “I guess not. I’m holding Twinkles right now.”

  “I can hold the hund if you want to ride around for a bit,” Stella offered, scratching the fur under Twinkles’s chin. “Go ahead, Mattie. It’ll be fun.”

  “No, that’s okay. I’d rather hold Twinkles.” Mattie knew she was being stubborn, but if she rode Stella’s bike, then Stella would be here by herself with Twinkles. Besides, riding Stella’s bike wouldn’t be the same as having one of her own. It would most likely make her feel worse and want her own bicycle even more.

  Just then Mark came out of the house holding a jar of rocks. He smiled when he saw Stella and plopped down on the step below them. “How are ya doing, Stella?” he asked.

  “I’m fine.” She leaned down and peered into the jar. “I see you have some pretty unusual felse in there.”

  “Uh-huh.” He smiled. “I enjoy searching for different kinds of rocks. It’s a hobby of mine.”

  “I hope you’re not plannin’ to put those felse in my garden,” Mattie said. “There are already more than enough in there.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Mark said. “I’ll put the rocks someplace else.” He stepped off the porch and started across the yard.

  “Think I’ll go see where he’s gonna put those nice rocks.” Stella rose to her feet, and then she glanced down at Mattie. “Did I tell you that I started a rock collection of my own?”

  “No,” Mattie said. “I didn’t know a thing about that. I thought you liked to grow blumme, same as me.”

  “I do like flowers, but after seeing some unusual felse in our yard, I decided to start a rock collection.” Stella grinned and bounded down the porch steps after Mark.

  “Hope you have fun,” Mattie muttered under her breath. She watched with envy as Mark and Stella knelt on the ground next to one of Mom’s larger flower beds. Mattie couldn’t understand why they were so interested in a bunch of rocks. They weren’t nearly as pretty as flowers, and they didn’t have a pleasant fragrance, either.

  “If Mark and Stella want to collect a bunch of silly old rocks, that’s fine with me,” Mattie muttered, hugging her dog closer. “I’d much rather grow flowers! Isn’t that right, Twinkles?”

  The dog’s only response was to slurp Mattie’s chin. It was just what Mattie needed to help her feel better. At least Twinkles wanted to be with her right now. That was more than she could say for her best friend.
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br />   “Those are really pretty felse. Are they quartz?” Stella asked as Mark positioned some of the bigger stones around Mom’s flower bed.

  “That’s right, they are, but those over there are just regular rocks.” Mark pointed to a few of the darker stones. “I like ’em because of their unusual shape.”

  “I have an interest in collecting rocks, too,” Stella said. “I just started that hobby a few weeks ago.”

  “Have you found many yet?” Mark asked curiously. He was surprised that he and Mattie’s friend shared the same interest in rocks.

  Stella nodded. “There’s a dirt road close to my house, and I’ve found a lot of neat-looking felse there. After it rains, they pop right up to the surface,” she explained. “Oh, and I’ve even found a few pieces of pyrite in the creek behind our house.”

  “Wow!” Mark exclaimed. “I’d sure like to see where you found those. Maybe sometime you can show me and we can do some rock hunting together.”

  “Sounds like fun.” Stella smiled.

  “Say, how’d ya like to get your bike and we can ride over there right now? Then I can see the felse you’ve been talkin’ about,” Mark suggested after he’d finished putting all his rocks in the flower bed. “I’ve got my own bicycle now, ya know.”

  “Jah, I know that, but what about Mattie?” Stella questioned. “Maybe she’d like to go for a ride, too.”

  Mark shook his head. “Mattie can’t go. She doesn’t have a bike.”

  “She could go if you ride your bicycle-built-for-two.”

  “I don’t wanna ride that,” Mark said, brushing the dirt from his hands as he stood. “It’d be harder to steer and pedal. I can go a lot faster if I ride my own bike.”

  Stella glanced back at the house where Mattie still sat holding Twinkles. “Do you think Mattie will mind if you and I go look for rocks? I don’t feel right about leaving her alone.”

  “Naw,” Mark said with a wave of his hand. “She’s busy with Twinkles, so she probably won’t care. Besides, she’s not really that interested in looking at stones.”

  “Mattie, would you come inside for a minute?” Mom called out the door. “I need your help right now.”