Life with Lily

© 2012 by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher

Published by Revell

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2012

Ebook corrections 02.18.2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3972-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Published in association with Joyce Hart of the Hartline Literary Agency, LLC.

Illustrations by Tim Foley

Mary Ann

To my parents,
for pouring their hearts and love
into their little family
and providing me with many happy memories.

Suzanne

To my four beautiful
and amusing children—
my source of constant new material.

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

1. Strange Goings-On    
9

2. Mama's Crabby Helper    
17

3. Papa's Disappearing Shovel    
22

4. A New Barn for Papa    
28

5. Jenny the Cow    
35

6. The Mean Neighbor    
44

7. Joseph Wants to Fly    
49

8. Mama and Her Sister    
59

9. Stormy's Puppies    
66

10. School for Lily    
71

11. The Trouble with Mandy Mast    
77

12. Train Tracks and Little Girls    
84

13. Teacher Ellen's Accident   
93

14. Squeaky Cheese    
101

15. Lily's New Teacher    
105

16. Chubby the Miniature Horse    
116

17. Teacher Katie's Horrible Gift    
122

18. The Stranger and the Steer    
133

19. Mandy Mast's Visit    
137

20. Lily's Birthday    
141

21. A Lesson to Remember    
147

22. An Unwanted Schoolhouse Visitor    
156

23. Mama's New Business    
164

24. Off to Kentucky    
175

25. Aunt Tillie and the Pow-Wow Doctor    
182

26. Buggy in the Ditch    
188

27. Great-Grandma's Big Cane    
195

28. Lily and Mama    
203

29. School without a Schoolhouse    
210

30. Off to Town    
215

31. Another Business for Mama    
221

32. Papa's News    
227

33. Pumpkins!     
232

34. The Sewing Machine    
239

35. Christmas    
247

36. The Househunting Trip    
255

37. Packing Up    
262

38. Grandpa's Auction    
265

39. Moving Day    
270

Frequently Asked Questions about the Amish    
277

Acknowledgments    
279

About the Author

Books by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Back Ads

Back Cover

I
t was still dark outside. Lily tried to keep up with Papa's long strides as he carried little Joseph across the yard to where the horse and buggy were tied to the hitching post. The wet grass swished against the hem of Lily's long flannel nightgown, making it slap against her legs as they hurried along. She felt wet and cold.

Only moments before, Papa had awakened Lily from a sound sleep and handed her a coat to wear over her nightgown. Something mysterious was going on that wasn't explained to five-year-old Lily.

Papa boosted Lily and Joseph up into the buggy and hurried to untie Jim, the buggy horse. Coiling up the rope, Papa tucked it under the seat before he climbed into the buggy. He gave a quick “tch-tch” to Jim and a light touch on the reins to guide the horse out the long, winding driveway.

The chilly night air had wiped all the sleepiness from Lily's
eyes. In the sky, stars twinkled and a full moon hung above the trees like a big golden ball. The only sounds she could hear were the clip-clopping of Jim's hooves and the crunchy sound of the buggy wheels as they rolled over the gravel road. The leaves rustled in the chilly night breeze and cast dancing moon shadows in the trees along the road. The lanterns that hung outside the buggy created little circles of light that shone on Jim's hindquarters. He twitched his ears forward and then back again, listening for Papa's voice.

It seemed to Lily as if they were the only people in the world who were awake. There were no lamps shining in the houses they passed. There were no cars on the road. No birdsong in the trees. The only sound of nature she could hear was the sweet sound of spring peepers, calling to each other in the creek.

As soon as they arrived at Grandpa and Grandma Miller's
house, Papa hopped off the buggy and led Jim over to the long hitching rail. He helped Lily and Joseph jump down from the buggy. Then he reached under the buggy seat for a suitcase. Lily hadn't noticed it until now.

Usually, Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house looked warm and inviting when Lily's family came for a visit. Tonight, in the dark, it looked cold and forbidding. Scary. Papa walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. His loud knock echoed in the quiet. Lily and Joseph stood quietly next to Papa, waiting. Finally, the dim glow of an oil lamp appeared in a window and moved toward the door. The door opened to Grandpa and Grandma, standing in their nightclothes with worried looks on their faces.

“How is she doing?” Grandma asked.

“She's doing fine,” Papa said, “but I need to hurry right back.”

Grandma nodded. She motioned to Lily and Joseph to come inside.

Papa paused on the porch for a moment. He bent down, gave Lily and Joseph a hug, and told them to be good little children until he came back for them. Then he ran to the buggy and hopped in. The buggy clattered down the driveway. As Lily watched the buggy disappear into the dark, a feeling of forlornness swept through her.

Grandma and Grandpa made a little nest of several thick blankets on their bedroom floor. Grandma tucked Lily and Joseph carefully into the nest, blew out the light, and climbed back into bed.

Lily lay there staring into the dark. She could hear Joseph breathing quietly in his blanket nest beside her. He had already fallen asleep! But then, he was barely four years old. He was just a little boy who didn't understand things like
she did. Shadows from the moving branches of the pine trees outside of the window moved eerily across the wall and floor. The big grandfather clock in the downstairs hallway counted down the minutes in loud ticktocks. She could feel a big lump grow in her throat. She wanted to cry.

Something must be wrong with Mama. She hadn't even come to say goodbye before Papa had hurried them off to Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Lily would never sleep tonight. Never.

She turned over once, and it was morning.

Aunt Susie still lived with Grandma and Grandpa Miller. She was almost as old as Mama, but she didn't seem that old to Lily. She was very patient, and spoke in a slow, thick way. Mama said that Aunt Susie had Down's syndrome. Lily didn't know what that meant, but she was glad that Aunt Susie was her aunt. She liked to play dolls and games with Lily. None of Lily's other aunts were as much fun to spend time with as Aunt Susie. When she came to the breakfast table in the morning and discovered that Lily and Joseph had spent the night, she clapped her hands in delight. Her whole face lit up like a beam of sunshine. Aunt Susie's happiness chased away Lily's worries about Mama.

Lily and Joseph sat on Grandpa's lap at the breakfast table. They combed his long gray beard, flowing like crinkled wires down his chest. “Looks like I will have some good little helpers today,” he said. He had a fine voice, Grandpa did. Deep and thoughtful. “I could definitely use some help in my harness shop.”

After breakfast Lily and Joseph followed Grandpa to the harness shop near the barn. Lily breathed deeply as she walked
into the shop. It smelled like Grandpa—leather and saddle soap and oil. Horse harnesses hung on wall hooks. A big vat sat in the center of the room, filled with warm neats-foot oil. The farmers brought Grandpa their harnesses for dipping once or twice a year. After thirty minutes in the vat, the leather emerged like new, soft and supple. Grandpa lifted a big harness, made for a draft horse, and attached it to several large hooks that hung from cables. The cables were fastened to pulleys so Grandpa could lower the harness into the oil vat. “Stand back so you won't get splashed,” he warned Lily and Joseph as he lowered the harness into the vat. He pulled his watch out of his pocket and checked to see the time.

Next, Grandpa took a piece of new leather to sew for a harness. Lily liked to watch Grandpa work at the sewing machine. Suddenly, they heard a
ker-splash!
Grandpa and Lily turned around to see Joseph sitting in the vat, covered with oil, a very surprised look on his small face. He had leaned over the edge to see the harness, lost his balance, and tumbled in.

Grandpa rushed over and scooped him out. Lily trotted behind Grandpa as he hurried to the house with a dripping-with-oil Joseph. Grandma's eyes grew wide as saucers as they entered the kitchen. She pointed to the bathroom. “Put him in the tub,” she ordered Grandpa.

Joseph howled like a piglet stuck between fence rails as Grandma scrubbed him down with soap. A person couldn't hear herself think. Lily dashed off to play with Aunt Susie so she didn't have to hear Joseph's wails as Grandma washed his hair again and again and again. Even after Joseph had been scrubbed and dried and stuffed into the pajamas he wore last night, Lily was sure she caught whiffs of neats-foot oil whenever she stood near him.

Grandma took Joseph's greasy clothes and put them in
the trash. “They were soaked in so much oil that they could never be cleaned,” she said, dusting her hands together the way she always did when she was making up her mind. Lily wished Joseph hadn't fallen into that vat. Grandma said that Lily and Joseph couldn't go back to the harness shop with Grandpa today. She said Grandpa had had enough excitement for one day.

Now Lily couldn't watch Grandpa hoist the harness out of the vat and help him wipe it with a rag to make it look shiny and new again. It was all because Joseph was too curious. Little boys were difficult that way.

There was a knock on the door. Grandma washed off her hands and went to open the door to see who had come to visit. And there stood Papa! He had a great big smile on his face. Lily jumped up from the chair and ran to meet Papa.

“We have a little baby boy,” Papa said, reaching down to greet Lily and Joseph.

Lily jumped up and down in excitement. “Can we keep him?”

Papa grinned. “We'll keep him!” He stroked the top of Lily's head. “Let's go home and you can see him for yourself.” He turned to Grandma. “We named him Daniel, but we'll call him Dannie.”

“That's a fine name,” Grandma said. She looked pleased.

Lily whispered the baby's name to herself.
Dannie.
She liked the name and not just because it was Papa's name.

The ride home was much better in the daytime than it had been in the dark. Jim trotted along briskly. His mane and tail blew gracefully in the wind. The buggy swayed comfortably. The birds sang their cheerful songs. Lily thought it sounded as if they were saying, “Dannie, Dannie.”

“Where did you get the baby?” Lily said.

Papa glanced over at her. His cheeks colored up as he took his time answering. “God brought him to us.”

Lily clasped her hands at that thought. How wonderful that God had taken time to bring a baby to them! “Is God still there?” she asked hopefully. But Papa said no, she couldn't see God today.

What a disappointment! Lily wished she had been home to meet God when He stopped by the house to bring a baby. The thought of meeting God was even more exciting than having a new baby.

When they reached home, Lily and Joseph helped Papa unhitch Jim from the buggy. Papa led Jim into the rickety old barn where he removed his harness and left him in his stall. Papa wanted to knock down this old barn and build a new one soon.

As they climbed up the porch stairs that led to the house, Papa cautioned Lily and Joseph to be very quiet. Lily removed her heavy black bonnet and hung it on a hook next to Joseph's little straw hat. After they had washed their hands, they tiptoed into Mama's bedroom. Next to Mama in the bed was a little bundle, all wrapped up in blankets. Lily peeked at the baby.

Why, it was the ugliest little baby Lily had ever seen!

His face was all red and wrinkly. His head was bald. Lily didn't know what to say as Papa lifted the baby carefully out of Mama's arms. He asked Lily to sit in the rocking chair next to the bed. Very gently, he placed the baby in her arms. “Say hello to your brother Dannie.”

“Hello,” Lily whispered. She looked at the tiny fingers, with tiny nails. The baby opened his eyes and started making funny whimpering little noises. He turned his head and tried to stuff his tiny little fist into his mouth.

“I think he's hungry,” Papa said as he lifted the baby from her lap and handed him back to Mama.

Lily was glad to scoot off the rocking chair and go out to the living room to play with her own sweet little rag doll, Sally. What a huge disappointment! Of all the babies to choose from in the world, she couldn't understand why God had chosen to give them an ugly one.