Life with Lily (4 page)

O
ne morning, Lily and Joseph were helping Mama pull weeds in the garden when a big car drove up. An old man wearing overalls jumped out of the car and marched over to Mama. He looked cross. He sounded cross. “There's a Jersey cow in my alfalfa field.” He pointed across the field. “Is she yours?”

Mama sent Lily to see if Jenny was in her pen. When Lily ran into the cool, dark barn, she stopped abruptly, blinking fast. She couldn't see! She had been in the bright sunshine all morning. Soon, her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She ran to Jenny's pen.
Empty
.

Lily ran to tell Mama that Jenny had gone missing.

Mama told her to stay on the swing under the trees. “Watch Joseph and Dannie while I go fetch Jenny.”

Mama grabbed a rope in the barn and went along with the angry man in his car. He drove a short distance and pulled
to the side. Lily could see the car beside a field. She could see Mama get out and walk into the field with the rope. But she still felt lonely and scared without Mama, even with Joseph and Dannie beside her. Lily gently pushed the swing to make it sway back and forth while they waited for Mama to get back. She wanted to cry, but she knew she had to be brave for Joseph and Dannie.

It wasn't long before Mama walked up the road leading Jenny by the rope. Jenny walked behind Mama, slow and steady, with a calm, innocent look in her big brown eyes. She didn't seem at all sorry about the alfalfa she had been eating in the man's field.

Then Jenny caught sight of the barn. Her head jerked up. She decided she wanted to get to her pen, fast, and see if any hay was waiting for her in the manger. She lifted her tail and kicked up her heels, broke into a gallop, and charged for the barn. The rope that Mama held on to Jenny with was wrapped around her hand. She tried to free herself, but Jenny was moving too fast. Lily and Joseph watched, wide-eyed. Lily screamed and jumped off the swing, running toward Mama, as Jenny dragged Mama over the hard ground and into the barn.

Inside the barn, Lily found Jenny in her pen. She was calmly munching hay as if nothing bad had just happened. Mama was leaning against the gate, her apron torn, trying to catch her breath. Then Lily saw Mama's arms. They were cut and bloody from getting dragged over the ground.

Mama limped into the house and sat on her rocking chair. She winced as Lily tried to clean her arms with a wet washcloth. Joseph brought a little tub of homemade salve to coat the cleaned cuts. Mama smiled weakly and called them her little heroes.

Later that evening, Lily and Joseph told Papa what had happened as soon as he came through the door. He checked Mama's cut and bruised arms, concerned, told her to sit and rest, to not worry about making supper. He said he was sure that he could cook a meal if Lily and Joseph would help him.

After supper, Papa went out to the barn and made a lock for Jenny's pen. A simple latch wasn't enough to keep a clever cow like Jenny penned up, if she had a mind to wander. On Saturday, Papa said, he would build a fence to pasture Jenny. “No more trips to the neighbor's alfalfa field for you,” he scolded her as he double-checked the lock.

Jenny blinked, batting her thick eyelashes at him. It was as if she wanted to answer Papa back: “Who, me?”

Papa was up early on Saturday, digging holes for fence posts. Lily and Joseph had a quick breakfast and ran out to help him. Walking through the woods, Papa strung wire along the fence posts that he had set. Lily and Joseph followed behind. Lily carried a little pail filled with funny horseshoe-shaped nails. Every time they came to a post, she would hand a nail to Papa. He would take it and place it over the wire, give it several taps with his hammer, make sure the wire was fastened tightly to the fence post, then move along to the next one.

At the edge of the woods, Papa dug a deep hole and planted a large corner post with wooden braces. Papa fastened a fence stretcher to the end of the wire. He moved the handle on the fence stretcher back and forth until the wire was so taut that it made funny pinging noises when Lily and Joseph tapped it.

Suddenly, a man appeared, carrying a shotgun. It was the same cross man who had complained about Jenny moseying
into his alfalfa field. Now he was angry that Papa was building a fence. He waved his gun and shouted at Papa. Lily grabbed Joseph's hand and hid behind a nearby tree. They peeped out to see what was going to happen next. Would the man shoot Papa? Would he shoot a little boy and a little girl? Lily could feel tears running down her face, but she stood still. As still as a statue.

Papa, though, didn't seem at all frightened. Calmly, he listened to the man. Once the man had finished shouting, Papa asked him where he thought the property line was. The man showed Papa a marked trail. Lily was glad when she saw that Papa's fence didn't touch the trail. But the man told Papa that he didn't like a fence so close to his land. He didn't want animals to reach through the fence and eat his grass.

After the man left, Papa loosened all the little nails that held the wire to the posts. He walked along the entire fence length and undid all the work he had done that morning. Then he pulled all of the fence posts out of the ground. It was hard work, and it was a warm day. Papa looked hot and tired. Still, he kept working. After all of the posts were removed, Papa dug more holes several feet farther away from the little trail. Then, again, he fastened the wire to each post. Now, even if Jenny stretched her neck as far as she could, she would not be able to reach a single blade of the man's grass through the fence. Not one single blade.

That evening, Papa told Mama about the angry man. Mama had spent the day baking and the house smelled of fresh baked bread. Papa said that he had an errand to run after supper and would need to drive past the man's house. “Would you mind if I took a loaf of homemade bread? I'd like to stop at the neighbor's house and give it to him.”

Mama wrapped the bread in a nice towel and gave it to Papa.

On the front porch, Lily watched Jim pull the little open buggy with Papa on the wagon seat. The loaf of bread sat beside Papa. Lily felt worried. She hoped that the man had put his gun away before Papa stopped by. She hoped that Jim wouldn't try to eat any grass from the man's yard.

Finally, Papa came home. He said the man's name was Harold Young, and that he had been pleased to accept the loaf of bread. “Every time we think of Harold Young,” Papa said, “we will try and think of something nice to say or do for him the next time we see him.”

That night, lying in bed, Lily gave Papa's words some serious thought. She scrunched up her face and thought long and hard. She tried to think of one nice thing to say about Harold Young. But nothing came to mind. Lots of mean, horrible things, but nothing nice. Not one nice thought! She had promised Papa she would try. She would just have to try harder. Maybe tomorrow.

P
apa was full of surprises. One afternoon he came into the kitchen and handed his big red handkerchief to Mama. He had tied the corners together to make a little basket. “Look what I found when I was checking the fence,” he said, his eyes twinkling.

Lily stood beside Mama and watched her untie it. What was inside?

Out rolled five big, juicy, dark red plums. Mama looked up at Papa, a smile in her voice. “You found a plum tree!”

She went to get a knife and cut them open. She twisted the plum halves apart to reveal a juicy golden and pink flesh. Lily's mouth watered as Mama handed half of a plum to Papa to eat.

“That is the best plum I've ever tasted,” Papa said. “If you have a few empty pails, I'll go pick the rest of them.”

“Wait a few minutes and I'll go with you,” Mama said.
“The bread is almost done baking and the rest of the work can wait.”

Mama cut the rest of the plums into halves and handed them to Lily and Joseph. Lily took tiny bites, savoring the sweet sticky goodness. She tried to make her plum last longer than Joseph's. Joseph gobbled his plum and then watched as Lily slowly finished hers. Lily took even tinier bites. She couldn't help but feel a little smug as Joseph watched her, a hungry look in his brown eyes. Little boys had to learn to not be so greedy.

The oven timer went off and Mama pulled several loaves of beautiful golden bread from the oven.

“Lily, you had better get your shoes and socks on,” Papa said. “There are brambles in the woods and I don't want you to hurt your feet.”

Sadly, Lily put on her shoes. Papa helped her tie her laces. The shoes made her feet feel heavy and her toes penned in, but it would be a worse feeling to step on prickly brambles with her bare feet.

Lily loved to walk in the woods with Papa. Today, with Mama joining them, it would be even more fun. Mama held Dannie in her arms as they all walked along the new fence that Papa had made. When they came to the creek, they walked along the bank, stepping over fallen tree limbs and dodging bramble bushes. Lily liked to listen to the quiet gurgle of the creek as the water ran over the rocks in the creek bed. Ferns and other woodland plants grew along the banks. Usually, Lily would stop to gather a few ferns and wildflowers to take home to Mama. Today there was something more important to do. Soon, they came to a tree loaded with red plums. Lily thought she had never seen anything look so pretty.

Papa gently shook the tree. Plums dropped to the ground
like fat raindrops! Lily helped pick them up and put them into the pails that Papa had brought along. Lily wished she could eat plums right away, but she knew they had a job to do. The plums were to be gathered and taken into the house.

Joseph picked up a few plums too, but he was more interested in watching birds flit from branch to branch. “I wish I could fly like a bird,” he said wistfully, gazing at a robin as it flew to the very top of a tall ash tree and peered down at them.

Papa chuckled. “Running and walking are the best ways for little boys to get around.”

Once the pails were filled to the brim with sweet, juicy plums, they headed back to the house. Papa carried the pails into the kitchen. Mama put Dannie down for his nap and started right to work. She cut each plum in half, removed the pit, and dropped it into clean canning jars. She boiled sugar and water into syrup to pour over the plums. Then, she fit each jar with a lid and placed it carefully in the canner, filled with steaming hot water.

Mama saved a bowl of plums to eat fresh. She filled another bowl with plum halves and poured a thick layer of sugar over them. She set the bowl on the back of the kitchen counter. Lily wondered what she was going to do with those.

Mama noticed. “Watch and see, Lily,” she said. “Soon, you'll find out.”

Mama lit the burner in the oil stove and set the pot of sugared plum halves on top. She stirred and stirred as the plums turned into a thick jam. Mama spooned the jam into little jars and set them on the sink to cool. She took a big square of paraffin wax and carefully shaved pieces off of it into an ugly old battered bowl that she used for melting paraffin. Once it had melted, Mama carefully spooned a little bit of
paraffin on top of the plum jam in each of the little jars. The paraffin would harden as it cooled, sealing the jam safely to keep it fresh until it was time to eat.

Lily helped Mama put lids on the jars and carry them to the cool, dark basement, lined with shelves for canned food. Lily thought the glass jars on the shelves looked so pretty. They were filled with sparkling red jam and pieces of plums. In a few days they would go back to the woods to gather more ripe plums. Lily hoped Mama would make more jam. Sweet jam on toast was the best thing to eat. The very best thing of all.

One afternoon in June, Lily and Joseph lay on their backs in the soft grass, watching fluffy white clouds float lazily across the sky. Lily liked imagining all the different shapes the clouds could be. If she squinted her eyes just right, she thought she could see a rabbit. And then a horse. Another cloud looked like a tree with a face.

“Do you see that tree with a face?” she said.

Joseph sat up and looked at the trees in the yard. “No, I don't. Which one is it?”

Lily laughed. “Not a real tree!” She pointed to the sky to help Joseph see which cloud looked like a tree.

“It looks like a big head of lettuce to me.” Joseph lay back on the grass and folded his hands behind his neck. “I was watching those big birds fly instead of looking at the clouds. I wish I could fly like that. It looks like fun.”

Lily watched the birds. It did look like fun to fly. The birds sailed effortlessly through the sky, hardly moving their wings at all. She yawned. She felt a little sleepy and her eyelids started to feel droopy.

Suddenly, Joseph jumped up. “I'm going to do it!”

Lily's eyes flew open. “Do what?”

“I'm going to fly! I've watched the birds long enough that I think I know how.”

“But you don't have any wings,” Lily pointed out. “Or feathers, either.”

Joseph didn't pay her any mind. He ran behind the barn, so Lily jumped up and ran after him. She caught up with him as he started to climb the pile of lumber that Papa kept stacked behind the barn. Joseph stood at the edge of the stack. He flapped his arms wildly, jumped, and landed on the ground next to her.

“I don't think I flapped my arms fast enough.” He clambered up the stack of lumber and tried again. Flap, flap, jump, land. He tried again. Flap, flap, jump, land. He looked disappointed. “I need to find something higher to jump off.” He went off to search for something else to climb.

“But you weren't made to fly!” Lily called after him.

Joseph wasn't listening to Lily's logic. He had found just what he needed: the roof of the new chicken coop. It was much higher than the pile of lumber had been. If he could only find a way to climb to the roof, he was convinced he could fly.

“You would need a ladder to get on top of the chicken coop,” Lily said.

“Can you help me carry it over here?”

Lily wished she had not said anything about a ladder. “Joseph, I don't think you can fly even if you jump off the chicken coop.”

“I'm sure I can. The stack of lumber was just too close to the ground. I couldn't start flying before I landed.”

Lily helped him lift the ladder and carry it over to the chicken coop. It was heavy and clumsy and banged their shins as they walked. Every few feet, they had to set it down, rest for a little while, then pick it up again. It took a long time
to carry it to the back of the chicken coop. Once they had it propped up, Joseph climbed up.

Lily watched nervously as Joseph stepped out on the roof. He looked so small up there. His blue shirt was almost the same shade as the sky that framed him. He was a long way from the ground. She was relieved when she heard Mama call out from the house, “Joseph! Hold still until I come. Don't move!” She ran to the coop.

Joseph obeyed and stood quietly until Mama reached the bottom of the ladder. “Hi, Mama! I'm going to fly like a bird today.” Flapping his arms, he threw himself into the air, headfirst. Flap, flap, jump, land. This time, he landed on his arm. He crumpled into a heap and let out a wail.

Mama gathered him up into her arms. “Oh Joseph, why did you jump? I was coming to help you down safely.”

Joseph kept on crying. Lily noticed that his arm seemed to be dangling at an odd angle. Mama saw too. She told Lily to run to Harold Young's house and ask if he could take them to the doctor.

Lily ran as fast as she could. Harold Young's house wasn't very far away, but it seemed to take a long time to get there. Lily was scared. What if Harold Young pointed that big shotgun at her? What would she do? But Mama and Joseph needed help. When Lily reached the door, she knocked, gasping for breath. A plump older lady with warm brown eyes opened the door. Lily peeked around the lady, hoping Harold Young wasn't behind her. She tried to tell the lady what happened, but her breath was still coming in fits and starts and the words jumbled together.

“Slow down and take your time,” the lady said.

Lily breathed in and out for a long moment, then tried again. “My brother Joseph hurt his arm and Mama needs to take him to the doctor to get fixed.”

“Wait right here,” the lady said. She disappeared into the house. Lily waited until she came back outside with her purse and car keys.

The lady held open her car door. “You can ride with me.”

Lily slid inside and sat on the seat. The lady said her name was Helen, and that she was married to Harold Young. It was hard to believe that such a friendly, nice woman could be married to Harold Young.

It only took a moment before the car turned into the driveway. Mama was waiting outside the house with Dannie and Joseph, who was still crying. Mama asked Helen Young if she could take them to the doctor, and would she mind if
they stopped by Grandpa Miller's so Lily and Dannie could stay there until Mama and Joseph got back. Helen Young didn't mind a bit.

When the car arrived at Grandpa Miller's, Grandma hurried out of the house. She knew something was wrong.

“I think Joseph broke his arm,” Mama said. “Can Lily and Dannie stay here while I take Joseph to the doctor?”

Grandma clucked her tongue sympathetically. She looked at Joseph, tears running down his face. He had stopped wailing but was still whimpering. “My, my, Joseph. What a brave little boy you are. The doctor will make you better and I'll take good care of Lily and Dannie until you get back.” She took Dannie from Mama's arms. Lily hopped out and closed the car door. The three of them stood for a while, watching the car drive away.

Grandma had Dannie on her hip. “Well, what do we want to do this afternoon?”

For once, Lily couldn't think of anything. She was too worried about Joseph to think of having fun. She felt guilty that Joseph had been hurt. She had helped carry that ladder to the chicken coop.

“Why don't we go bake some chocolate chip cookies for Joseph?” Grandma said.

The whole day brightened. Making something that Joseph would enjoy helped Lily feel less guilty. She followed her grandmother into the house. Grandma found a few toys for Dannie to play with on a blanket on the floor. Lily held the measuring cups, filled with flour and sugar, as Grandma mixed the cookie dough. She gave Lily a few chocolate chips to sample before adding the rest to the mixture. Then they spooned little piles of dough on a cookie sheet. Grandma slid them into the oven. Lily could hardly wait to taste the
cookies, hot from the oven. When they were finished baking, she and Grandma sat together at the kitchen table with a tall glass of fresh cold milk and a warm cookie.

“Can I take a few cookies to Grandpa?” Lily asked.

“He would like that.” Grandma put a few cookies in a bowl. “Dannie and I will go with you. I don't think Grandpa knows you're here.”