by Linda Byler
Dat entered the kitchen. “Lizzie, that cow has mastitis. She’s just full of infection. You must not have been milking her properly in the back. That’s why she kicked like that,” he said.
“My hands get so tired,” Lizzie said darkly.
“Well, if you don’t try and do better, we’re going to have to sell her,” Dat said firmly.
“Just sell her,” Lizzie mumbled.
“What? And lose all my homemade butter? I guess not,” Mam said.
So Lizzie learned a very valuable lesson through the cow. Sometimes you had to grit your teeth and do things you disliked, and after a while, it didn’t seem quite as bad. Especially if you had no choice.
chapter 21
Doddy Miller
Spring arrived early that year, with lots of warm sunshine at the end of March. Mam said the sun was so friendly you could almost feel its smile. Gardens were put in early, although Aunt Mary said they would have a cold spell in April, which never happened. Every day was warm and pleasant, except for spring showers every now and then.
There was only one thing to spoil that wonderful spring weather. Uncle Eli allowed a bachelor named Joseph Peachey to build a cabin on the edge of Lovely Acres. They were all quite upset about this, but there wasn’t much they could do about it.
One evening they all marched back up to the ridge, deciding to ignore Joseph Peachey and his bachelor cabin. Briars had choked out the trail. There were lots of weeds growing along the edge of the pines. Everything was just horribly depressing. Their little huts were an awful mess, same as every spring. But this year, it seemed like the magic was gone. It just wasn’t fun anymore. They stood around, a subdued group of friends, with nothing to say.
Danny kicked at the pine needles, stuck his hands in his pockets, and surveyed the tops of the pine trees. “Well, what are we going to do?”
“I don’t feel like fixing up our cabins this year,” Edna said.
“It isn’t the same with that real cabin right here where we play,” Debbie agreed.
“It isn’t fair,” Lizzie moaned.
“Did you know he catches sparrows and opens their chests to watch their hearts beat?” Danny asked.
“Who said?”
“Ivan and Ray.”
“Huh-uh!”
“Who could be so cruel?”
“He’s a strange bachelor.”
“Must be.”
“Especially if he lives way up here on the ridge by himself.”
“He spoiled our life good and proper.”
They all marched back down the trail, singing “Lovely Acres, Ugly Makers!” as loudly as they could. Somehow, it eased the pain, and they hoped Joseph Peachey was in his cabin, hearing every word they sang.
It was the same spring Uncle Eli and Dat found out about a new highway that was being planned. It would run straight through their neighborhood, past their beloved ridge. It was enough to give them the blues.
Uncle Eli and Dat talked with the neighbors, but they all agreed that there was very little any of them could do. Once the state decided on a project that huge, everyone might as well just step politely aside, they all said.
So that was the end of the ridge. Debbie, Lizzie, and Mandy had a serious farewell talk under the locust tree in the yard.
“I guess we just have to realize we’re growing up,” Debbie said sadly.
“I guess.”
“And changes happen.”
“Yeah.”
There was silence as Debbie broke off blades of grass, rolling them between her fingers.
“Another thing,” she said. “I don’t know how many evenings I could play, because of all my homework. Since I’m in high school, I have more and more books to bring home every night, it seems like. Besides, I’m signing up for baseball this spring.”
“Are you?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“We have to pick raspberries at David Phelp’s raspberry field this summer. And work in some other orchard,” Lizzie said.
“Do you?”
“Mam said.”
“Wow!”
“We’re old enough to earn money now, and there’s lots of work in these orchards around here.”
They wandered into the house, where Mam and Emma were washing the supper dishes.
“We kept your plates of food warm,” Mam said.
“Oh, good. We’re hungry. Mam, we can’t play on the ridge anymore because of Joseph Peachey’s cabin. Why did Uncle Eli have to let him build there?” Lizzie asked, peeping under the aluminum foil-covered plate.
“I guess he needed a place to stay. He works for Eli at the sawmill,” Mam said, smiling at Debbie as she set a plate of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and macaroni and cheese in front of her.
“Mmm!” Debbie said appreciatively. “I love Amish food.” She spread a piece of homemade bread with apple butter, then took a bite, rolling her eyes at Lizzie.
Doddy Miller came hobbling into the kitchen with his walker. He had come to stay for a few weeks, before taking up permanent residence at Uncle Aarons’ place. His health was failing, his steps becoming shorter, and his balance unstable. Mam told the girls he had hardening of the arteries, which had something to do with his heart.
He was not the same now. His hair and beard were still as snowy white as ever, his eyes were just as brilliant blue, and his nose as big, with all the purple and blue veins running through it. He did not tease them as much and was less talkative now. Sometimes he became irritable, which was very unlike him. So Mam was relieved to know he was moving in with Uncle Aarons. Much as she would have liked to have him stay with them, she had her hands full with the twins, Emma still being in school and all. This was Emma’s last school year, so Mam looked forward to having her help at home.
“There’s my girls,” Doddy said, more quietly than usual.
No one answered, because they were eating.
“What are you doing?” he inquired, sitting beside them, breathing heavily, his hands resting on his walker.
Lizzie told him all about Lovely Acres, Joseph Peachey, the new highway, and Debbie’s homework and baseball.
Doddy Miller listened closely, then he smiled, shaking his head. “Sounds to me as if you’re going through a bad case of growing up. You’re probably at the age where it’s just not as much fun playing on the ridge as it was a few summers ago, Joseph Peachey’s cabin or not. You’re about old enough to quit playing there,” he said kindly.
Lizzie buttered a piece of bread and frowned. He didn’t know. He probably never did anything that was nearly as much fun as playing pioneers and Indians on the ridge.
“What are you doing tomorrow evening?” he asked.
“Nothing. Why?”
“I’ll tell you what. You can push me in my wheelchair up to the harness shop and Andy Byrd’s store, and I’ll buy you ice cream,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Okay! We will!” Mandy said excitedly.
Andy Byrd had just put in a small grocery store beside the harness shop. He was an older gentleman who was retired and enjoyed visiting with his customers, especially Doddy Miller. He sold all kinds of ice cream, in cones, ice cream sandwiches, or icy, colored, juicy Popsicles. But everyone’s favorite was a thick block of Hershey’s Neopolitan ice cream, chocolate on one side, vanilla in the middle, and strawberry on the other side. There were two “lids,” like two pieces of bread on a sandwich, but they were made with the same ingredients as an ice cream cone, except they were flat.
Andy Byrd would take two of these flat “lids”, unwrap a thick block of the ice cream, plop it on top of one lid, and put the other lid on top. It was like an ice cream sandwich, except a lot bigger and much better, because of the three different flavors. Lizzie always ate the strawberry part first, because that was her least favorite, saving the chocolate for last.
Lizzie grinned, telling him they would go.
Darkness was closing the day, so Debbie got up, saying she had to go home and do her homework. “
Thanks, Mrs. Glick, for the good supper,” she called, waving to Mam as she opened the screen door.
“You’re welcome, Debbie,” Mam answered.
Lizzie sighed, her elbows on the table, her hands propping up her chin. Doddy Miller watched her, then he asked, “What’s wrong, Lizzie?”
“Oh, nothing!”
“Did you milk your cow?” he asked, trying to hide his grin. The cow was a never-failing source of amusement for Doddy Miller, who teased Lizzie about how much she liked to milk.
“No.”
“You better go.”
“I know.” She got up, ready to get down the bucket, when Dat came in the back door, carrying a frothy pail of milk. Lizzie’s eyes opened wide. “You milked tonight!”
“You weren’t here for supper, so I figured you’d be late. I could milk tonight,” Dat answered.
“Good,” Lizzie said fervently. “Dat, why did Uncle Eli let Joseph Peachey build his cabin right at the edge of Lovely Acres?”
“I guess he needed a place to live. He’s kind of different. I guess he was talking about moving to Montana or some western state. Maybe it was Alaska. I’m not sure.”
“I wish he would move to Montana. We can’t play on the ridge now, with his big green cabin right there,” Lizzie said sourly.
“You could, Lizzie,” Emma said.
“I know we could,” Mandy chimed in. “It’s all Edna and Lizzie.”
“It’s probably a good idea to quit playing there. You are working in the orchards this summer anyway, aren’t you? I doubt if Joseph wants a bunch of children yelling around his property all evening, after a hard day’s work at the sawmill,” Dat said, washing his hands at the small basin inside the door.
“We were there first!” Lizzie said loudly, her eyes flashing.
“Lizzie, he bought some of that land from Uncle Eli. That’s his. You don’t own Lovely Acres,” Emma said, carrying a stack of plates to the cupboard.
“How do you know? If you know so much about Joseph Peachey, why don’t you go marry him?” Lizzie asked.
Doddy Miller burst out laughing. He laughed and laughed, tears running down his cheeks, slapping his knee weakly. “Now!” he said, trying to reprimand Lizzie. “Maybe if you like your pine ridge so much, you should be the one to marry him.”
Lizzie tried hard to look hurt and angry, but she couldn’t help smiling at Doddy Miller. She just genuinely liked him, because he never took life too seriously. He could always find the humor in almost any situation, letting petty little worries roll off his shoulders with a good laugh.
Doddy Miller caught her eye, still smiling, as he told her she’d make a good bachelor’s wife, as much as she loved milking that cow. They’d have all the good milk and butter they needed.
Everyone laughed with Doddy Miller, then—even Lizzie. She loved him with all her heart.
The next evening, they helped Doddy Miller put on his blue denim “overcoat”, as he called a light jacket, then helped him out the back door, and into his wheelchair. They made sure he had his wallet, because he could not buy them ice cream without it.
Pushing him through the gravel was impossible, because the front wheels swiveled, getting stuck in the deepest parts. Doddy Miller chuckled as they pushed and grunted, then told them to turn the wheelchair around. That made a big difference. The large wheels in the back cut right through the gravel, and in no time they were on the macadam. They started out at a brisk pace, then Doddy Miller made them slow down. He said if a car would come in both directions, they’d have to get off to the side, and at this pace they’d dump him out.
Aunt Mary was working in her strawberry patch beside the road, so they stopped to talk a while. Doddy said he had never seen finer strawberry plants, which made Aunt Mary very happy. She had a perfect patch of strawberries, carefully kept in neat rows with plenty of sawdust in between the plants. Mam never had too much to say about Aunt Mary’s strawberry patch. Emma told Lizzie she thought Mam was just a wee bit jealous, because she never tried to raise strawberries.
Lizzie didn’t think people as old as Mam and Dat became jealous, but Emma said they did.
After they passed Aunt Mary, they went up the gradual slope to the harness shop. The bell above the door tinkled as they pushed the wheelchair through.
This harness shop was a lot bigger and contained much more than Dat’s harness shop had, when Emma and Lizzie were little girls. This harness shop had piles and piles of shoes, boots, and other leather items. There were all kinds of fancy shampoos and lotions for horses, besides halters, neck ropes, saddles, saddle blankets, and just about anything you could think of that pertained to horses.
Lizzie loved the smell of the harness shop, just as she always had. The owner was a young man who was selling it soon to a family named Keim, moving in from Ohio.
The owner greeted Doddy Miller warmly, talking about the pleasant weather, how soon the new family was moving in, and what he was planning on doing. Doddy talked and talked, until Lizzie and Mandy became terribly bored. They wanted to go to the small grocery store and buy ice cream, not stay in this harness shop so long.
The only thing that saved them from becoming upset was a man and his little boy who came to buy a pair of boots. The little boy was smaller than Jason, with the blondest hair they had ever seen. It was almost white. He tried on pair after pair of cowboy boots, clunking proudly down the aisle, but always saying the same thing: “No, not that pair.”
Lizzie and Mandy had to hide their smiles, because the father was definitely exercising all the patience he possessed. Finally, when he could take it no longer, he threw his hands in the air, telling his son that was it, he’d not be getting any boots because they were leaving. Quickly, the little boy dashed over to the box containing the very first pair he had tried on, picking it up and holding it against his chest.
“This pair, Daddy!” he trilled.
Sighing and rolling his eyes, his father got the box, plopped it on the counter, and dug into his hip pocket for his wallet.
That stopped Doddy Miller’s talking, so he turned his wheelchair and told the girls it was time to go. They couldn’t believe their good fortune, pushing him out of the shop as fast as they dared, hoping he would not change his mind and go back to talk some more.
As soon as they arrived at the small grocery store, it was the exact same thing. The owner and his wife went on and on and on, visiting with Doddy Miller.
Mandy and Lizzie sat on the wide windowsill at the back of the store, listening for a while, until they became bored. Then they walked up and down the aisles, looking at everything that was stacked on the shelves. They heard Doddy Miller say he had come to buy ice cream for himself and his two granddaughters, then he launched into a long complicated history of his threshing machine.
“Let’s go home without him!” Mandy whispered.
“I will if you do!” Lizzie whispered back.
“That would teach him a lesson to hurry up and quit talking. Listen to him,” Mandy said.
He was enjoying himself; there was no doubt about it. Gesticulating with his hands, his eyes shining like two blue stars, he was showing Mr. Byrd what happened if some wheel was placed improperly. Then, of all things, Mrs. Byrd asked Doddy if he wanted a cup of coffee, and if he wanted cream with it.
“Oh, no!” Lizzie hissed. “That does it.”
She walked quickly to the front of the store, stopping politely beside Doddy’s wheelchair without saying anything. When he looked up at her, she said, “Doddy, if you’d buy our ice cream, Mandy and I could eat it. Only if you were planning on buying us some,” she finished.
“Oh, yes, of course,” he said.
So Andy Byrd laughed, asking the girls what they wanted. Doddy Miller told him, and he placed two ice cream cone wafers on the clean counter, before unwrapping the ice cream and adding another wafer. He handed it to them in a white napkin.
“Thank you,” Mandy said.
“Thanks. Aren’t you having one, Doddy
?” asked Lizzie.
“Oh, yes,” he said. “Just as soon as I’m done talking. You go out and sit on the bench a while, and eat your ice cream.”
So they did just that, glad to be allowed out of the store. They sat on the wrought-iron bench in the golden spring evening and ate every bite. Ice cream was very special to them, because they had no freezer at home. The times they could have ice cream was when they brought it straight home from the grocery store before it melted.
The ice cream was hard to eat properly. If you crunched the top wafer too hard with your teeth, it broke off and you were left with too much ice cream and not enough wafer. If you ate too much ice cream without the wafer, it was dry and tasteless. So they broke off some of the wafer, using it to dig out the ice cream.
They wiped their mouths with their napkins, and sat a while longer.
“I’m thirsty,” Mandy said.
“Me, too.”
“Wonder if he’s ready to go?”
“Surely by now.”
When they were too tired of waiting, they opened the door, the bell tinkling. Doddy Miller looked up to see who was coming in. “Oh, are you still here?” he asked. “I guess we had better leave. I think the girls are all ready to go, their ice cream all eaten and everything.”
They pushed Doddy Miller home so fast, his head bobbed up and down and he had to hold on to his straw hat.
“Now, not so fast!” he called back.
So they slowed down a bit, but not very much. Lizzie thought if he could sit there and talk for almost an hour and a half, they could save time by pushing him home as fast as they could. Mam looked questioningly at the girls when they held the door open and Doddy Miller hobbled in with his cane. He was so tired, Mam quickly became concerned.
“Dat, you’re worn out! Where were you so long?” she asked, hurrying over to help him remove his hat and overcoat.
“Talking,” said Lizzie and Mandy, exactly at the same time.
“Now,” said Doddy Miller.
chapter 22
Old Mary
Emma and Lizzie sat on the porch, waiting on Edna and Danny to go to school. The air was a bit chilly, but they were ready to go earlier this morning, so they waited on the porch.