A breeze blew softly over Mark, and he let his mind drift to a time last year when Mom and Dad had surprised them all with a little family getaway. They’d hired a driver with a van and gone to Burton to visit Grandpa and Grandma Troyer and go to the Geauga County Fair. Since the fair was close to Grandpa and Grandma’s house, they were able to walk to it. During the day, while Ada and Perry took their naps, Mom and Dad had some quiet time to visit with Grandma and Grandpa while Mark and Mattie went with Calvin, Russell, and Ike to the fairgrounds to take in some of the events. Mark didn’t know what he liked best—the rooster crowing contest, the lively music, or all the good food. Of course, he’d saved room for the delicious supper Grandma had cooked. Afterward, Grandpa built a fire outdoors, and they’d all roasted marshmallows.
Thinking about all the fun he’d had made Mark feel even drowsier, and soon he drifted off to sleep, dreaming about toasty marshmallows and a brand-new bike.
“You won’t catch any fish like that. You’ve gotta put your line in the water.”
Pushing the hat off his face, Mark’s eyes snapped open and he squinted up at Russell, who stood over him with his fishing pole.
“I’m gettin’ tired of holding my pole and not catching any fish.” Mark’s stomach rumbled as he sat up. “I’m hungerich. Wish I’d brought something to snack on.” Thinking about all the good food he’d eaten at Grandma and Grandpa Troyer’s last year hadn’t helped either.
“I think Calvin brought some beef jerky along. Want some of that?” Russell asked.
Mark wrinkled his nose. “Huh-uh. Beef jerky’s too tough.”
“I have some chewing gum. Would you like a piece?”
Mark shook his head. “Whenever I chew gum it makes me feel even hungrier. Anyways, I still have a few sticks of gum in my pocket from the pack Grandpa Miller gave me the last time we visited there.”
“Well, it’s all we’ve got, so if you already have gum, and don’t want any beef jerky, then you’ll just have to suffer.”
“Maybe I’ll go look for some blackberries,” Mark said. “I’ll bet there are some ripe ones around here by now.”
“Probably so, but you came to fish, not pick berries,” his brother reminded him.
“But I’m not gettin’ any fish, so I may as well pick some berries.” Mark plunked his hat back on his head and jumped up. Then he grabbed the plastic bucket he’d brought along, which he’d hoped to fill with fish. Since he hadn’t caught any, he figured he may as well put the bucket to good use.
“I’ll be back as soon as I have some berries for us to eat,” he told Russell. “If there are enough ripe ones, I might get some for Mom, so she can bake a blackberry pie.”
Russell smacked his lips and smoothed his shiny blond hair back under his straw hat. “That sounds really good. Just don’t be gone too long, ‘cause we need to be home in time for supper.”
Feeling a little better about things, Mark hurried away. He had a hunch he might be more successful at berry picking than he was at fishing today.
When Mark reached the berry patch, he was pleased to discover lots of plump, ripe berries. The only problem was all the good ones were deep inside the berry patch. The ones near the edge had already been picked by someone else. Or maybe some critter had eaten them. Well, he’d do the best he could and get the ones he could reach.
Mark started picking lickety-split, eating a few of the juicy berries and putting the rest into the bucket. By the time he’d picked all he could reach, the bucket wasn’t even half full of berries. He’d need a lot more if he was going to take some home for Mom to bake a pie.
Guess I’ll just have to go deeper into the bushes, Mark decided.
He pushed a thorny branch aside and hollered, “Ouch!” when it scratched his arm.
“Ouch! Ouch!” Even through his pant legs he could feel the harsh thorns of the blackberry bush. They seemed to be grabbing at him with every step he took.
I’m tough. I can do this, he told himself. Can’t let a few stickers keep me from getting all those juicy, ripe berries.
Deeper and deeper into the blackberry bush he went, until a whole bunch of plump, purple berries were within his grasp.
Plunk! Plunk! Plunk! The berries went into the bucket, until it was almost full. Then Mark ate a few more berries, until his stomach was full as well.
“Kumme, Mark! It’s time to go!” Calvin called. “Hurry up now, the wind’s picking up and it might start to rain!”
“Coming!” Mark hollered, looking up at the sky. He was surprised to see how cloudy it had gotten when just a short time ago it was nice and sunny.
He took a step forward and realized that he was surrounded by thorny bushes. No matter which way he went he was bound to get all stuck up.
“Oh boy, guess I’m not as tough as I thought I was. Sure wish now I’d never come in here,” he muttered. “I need to get out really fast!”
Bzzz … Bzzz … A big bumblebee buzzed Mark’s ear.
He swatted at it, but that only made things worse. The bee left its stinger in Mark’s right hand.
“Yeow!” Mark dropped the bucket, and plowing through the bushes, he heard little ripping sounds as the thorns held fast to his shirt and pants.
Finally free of those prickly stickers, he ran screaming all the way back to the pond.
Just as he reached his brothers, a gust of wind came up, and—swoosh!—it lifted Mark’s hat right off his head. The wind carried his hat this way and that, and then it landed in the water!
“Oh no,” Mark groaned. “I wish I’d stayed home with Mattie today.” No fish, no berries, torn clothes, a bee sting, and to make matters worse, his hat was now floating in the middle of the pond!
Giving one last glance at his water-logged hat, Mark’s mouth dropped open as he watched the biggest trout he’d ever seen leap into the air and snatch a bug that had been hovering over the water.
Lifting his arms in exasperation, Mark thought to himself, I know Mattie’s got to be having a better day at home than I am here, ‘cause I’m sure having a terrible day!
“We’ve got to find Ada!” Mattie shouted to Stella. “It looks like rain is coming, and if I don’t find her before Mom gets home, I’ll be in big trouble.” Tears welled in Mattie’s eyes and dribbled onto her cheeks. “W–what if I never see my little sister again? Ach … What a terrible day!”
“Calm down, Mattie, and take a deep breath.” Stella put her arm around Mattie and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Ada’s got to be here someplace. Let’s try and think if there’s somewhere we haven’t thought to look for her yet.”
“I looked in the barn, and we’ve both looked all over the yard.”
“Do you think she might have gone into the chicken coop?” Stella asked.
Mattie felt a sense of hope. “I don’t know. Let’s go see.”
The girls ran to the chicken coop and checked it out, but Ada wasn’t there.
“The only place we haven’t looked is in the house and up the road.” Mattie gulped. “I sure hope Ada didn’t leave the yard. If she gets hit by a car …”
“Don’t even think that.” Stella motioned to the house. “Let’s check there first, and if she’s not in the house, then we’ll go out on the road and search for her.”
“Jah, okay.” Mattie was glad her friend was with her right now. Stella always seemed to be so calm about things, and that helped Mattie to relax a bit, too.
When they entered the house, all was quiet. If Ada was in here, she wasn’t making a peep.
On the main floor of the house, Mattie and Stella looked in the kitchen, the living room, dining room, Mom and Dad’s bedroom, and even the bathroom, but there was no sign of Ada.
“Let’s go upstairs,” Stella suggested. “Maybe Ada’s in her bedroom.”
Hope welled in Mattie’s chest. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of that. If Ada had come into the house, she probably would go to her room to play.
Mattie dashed up the stairs and jerked o
pen the door to Ada’s bedroom. No sign of Ada in there—just lots of scattered toys on the floor. They even checked her closest, but she wasn’t in there either.
“Let’s look in all the other bedrooms,” Stella said.
Mattie gave a nod. She didn’t think Ada would have gone in any of the boys’ rooms, but it was worth checking. However, after looking in each of those rooms they still hadn’t found her.
“There’s only one room left to check.” Stella pointed to Mattie’s bedroom. “If she’s not in there, then I guess we’d better go back outside and start walking down the road.”
Slowly, and with a feeling of dread, Mattie opened the door to her room. When she stepped inside she gasped. There lay Ada in the middle of Mattie’s bed, with Mattie’s favorite baby doll nestled in her arms. Mattie might have been okay with that, but the doll had streaks of black ink all over its face!
“Just look what she did to my doll!” Mattie wailed. “Guess I should have gone fishing with Mark, ‘cause I’m sure he’s having a better time at the pond than I’ve had here on this terrible day!”
CHAPTER 6
The Grumpy Twins
That evening during supper, Mattie had a hard time joining the conversation. She was still upset about the way Ada had disappeared, and then the scribbling all over her doll’s face made it even worse. Mom had told Mattie that she would try to get the ugly black stain off with some cleanser, but Mattie was sure the doll was ruined.
To make matters worse, the wind that had kicked up earlier blew away all the pretty daisies Mattie had put on the fence and porch railing. At least it hadn’t rained much, and it ended with a beautiful rainbow when the sun came back out. But now Dad’s folks, Grandma and Grandpa Miller, were here, and they hadn’t even seen how nice Mattie had decorated everything. Grandma said it didn’t matter, that it was the thought that counted. She also said she and Grandpa were just happy to be here sharing a meal with them, but Mattie was still disappointed. Nothing seemed to go right for her these days, and now she felt really grumpy.
Mattie knew she should have been happy that Grandma and Grandpa Miller could join them this evening. They lived on a small farm just outside of Walnut Creek, so they came by often to visit. Whenever Dad went over to see his parents, Mattie and Mark often went along. Grandma always had plenty of hugs to give, and usually had a batch of cookies in the oven. And somehow Grandpa always managed to have two packs of peppermint gum in his pocket—one for Mark and one for Mattie. When they arrived at their place, Grandpa, who was often in the barn, always came out to greet them, wearing a cheerful smile on his bearded face. The twins didn’t hesitate to jump out of the buggy and race across the yard to see who could get to Grandpa first. Grandpa would usually tousle Mark’s hair and tweak Mattie’s nose. After that, he’d reach into his pants pocket and then hold out both hands, which were clamped tightly shut. Mark was usually the one who could guess which hand the gum was in.
Mattie glanced over at Mark, noticing his deep frown. She could tell that he felt grumpy, too, because he’d told her about everything he’d gone through while he was at the pond today. She was sure the bee sting must have hurt, and then losing all the berries he’d picked and not getting any fish had made it even worse. Not to mention the scratches he’d ended up with from all those prickly thorns.
“You two are awfully quiet this evening,” Grandpa said, looking first at Mattie and then at Mark. “You’re usually both so talkative.”
Mattie shrugged her shoulders. Mark merely grunted.
“The twins had a rough day,” Mom said, winking at Grandpa.
“What happened?” Grandma asked.
Mom looked at Mattie and then at Mark. “Why don’t you take turns telling your stories?”
Mattie told about all the things that had gone wrong for her, and ended it by saying, “It was not a good day at all!”
Then Mark told about his misadventures at the pond. “Stupid bee sting still hurts,” he added, holding up his sore hand. “And look at all the scratches I have on my arms.”
“You two are quite a pair,” Grandma said with a cluck of her tongue. “I’m sorry things went so poorly for you both today.”
Grandpa gave a nod. “And I know from experience that a bee sting can really hurt.”
“I concur,” Mark said.
“What’s that mean?” Mattie asked.
“It means ‘I agree.’ ”
“Well, why didn’t you just say that then?”
“I did.”
“No, you didn’t. You said, ‘I concur.’ ”
“That’s right, I do concur.” Mark grinned as he looked over at Grandpa. “I learned that word from you, remember?”
Grandpa grinned and gave Mark’s shoulder a squeeze. “Now back to the subject of bees. I remember once when I was a boy, I accidentally uncovered a bee’s nest out in the woods.” Deep wrinkles formed across his forehead as he slowly shook his head. “My face was so swollen from all those bee stings that my bruder, Sam, hardly recognized me when I ran home screaming that I’d been stung really bad.”
“Were you allergic to the bee stings?” Ike asked.
“Nope. I just had so many on my face that it made me look really strange. It nearly scared my mamm half out of her wits.”
“I can imagine,” Mom said, nodding her head. “I’d be very concerned if one of my children came home looking like that.”
Next, Dad told a story about the time he’d gotten stung trying to get a yellow jacket’s nest out of the barn. “Guess everyone’s been stung at least once in their life,” he added with a chuckle.
“Not me,” Mattie said. “I’ve never had a bee sting.”
Grandpa patted Mattie’s arm and said, “Well, your turn’s coming, just you wait and see.”
Mattie shuddered. She hoped Grandpa was wrong about that.
After supper, Dad said he thought they ought to make a batch of homemade ice cream.
“That’s a good idea,” Mom agreed. “I’ll mix the ingredients, and then we’ll set the ice cream freezer on the porch and everyone can take turns cranking the handle.”
Dad gave a nod. “And no one had better argue about who gets to lick the wooden beaters this time, because I’ve already decided that I get that honor tonight.”
“Can you make strawberry ice cream?” Mattie asked. “That’s my favorite.”
“How about chocolate? That’s my favorite kind,” Mark said, smacking his lips.
“Strawberry’s better,” Mattie insisted. “It tastes appenditlich.“
“Chocolate’s delicious, too,” Mark said.
Calvin, Russell, Ike, and even little Perry, all nodded. Mark knew they also liked chocolate, so he was sure that would be the kind Mom would make.
“Chocolate’s good,” Dad put in, “but I also like strawberry.”
Grandma and Grandpa bobbed their heads in agreement. Ada nodded, too, but Mark was sure she was just copying Grandma and Grandpa, so her vote didn’t really count.
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” Mom said. “I’ll make vanilla ice cream, and then I’ll serve chocolate syrup and fresh strawberries to put over the top.”
“Guess that’ll be okay,” Mark said, “but I don’t like strawberries that well, so I’ll only put chocolate topping on mine.”
Mattie looked at Mark and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like chocolate that much, so I’m only going to put strawberries on mine.”
Mark wrinkled his nose right back at her. “I wish you were more like me, Mattie.”
“I wish you were more like me.”
“You should both be happy being who you are,” Grandma said. “God made each of you special.”
“That’s right,” Grandpa agreed. “In Psalm 139:14, it says: ‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ ”
“Does that mean Mattie and I are both unique?” Mark questioned.
“What’s unique?” Mattie wanted to know. “Or do I have to get the dictionary and
look it up?”
“It means you’re both special and different,” Grandpa said before Mark could respond.
“We’re different alright,” Mattie said. “I like dogs—Mark likes cats. I like collecting flowers—he collects rocks. I like to play baseball, and he doesn’t care for the game.”
“It’s okay to be different,” Grandma said. “You just need to enjoy each other’s uniqueness and try to get along.”
“That’s right,” Grandpa agreed. Then, looking over at Mark, he said, “Would you like to know another word for unique?”
“Jah, I sure would.” Mark was always looking for new words to say, and since Grandpa liked using big words, too, he often taught them to Mark.
“Another word for unique is ‘unequalled.’ That means there’s no one just like you.”
“Unequalled,” Mark repeated. “I like that word. Mattie and I are both unequalled.”
Mattie frowned. “Oh great. Now he’ll be saying ‘unequalled’ all the time.”
“I don’t know about anyone else in this room, but I’d like some ice cream before the evening runs out.” Mom pushed her chair away from the table. “Mattie, if you’ll help Grandma clear the dishes, I’ll get the ingredients for the ice cream mixed up.”
Mattie motioned to Mark. “What about him? What’s he gonna do?”
“I’m going outside to feed my cat and see how her new busslin are doing,” Mark said. He smiled at Grandma and Grandpa. “Lucky had her babies last night—and they’re really cute.”
“How many did she have?” Grandma asked.
“Five in all.”
“That’s great,” Grandpa said. “Before we head home tonight, we’ll have to go out to the barn and take a look.”
“In the meantime, while Calvin and Russell gather the ice and rock salt, I’m going to get the ice cream freezer out of the storage shed,” Dad said.
“What’s Ike gonna do?” Mark wanted to know.
What a Pair! Page 5