The girls all nodded.
“At least it’s over now,” Arianna stated, repositioning her glasses, as her long black curls played around her shoulders.
“Yeah,” Lexie agreed, looking through the snacks. “Now, how about that sick cow?” she questioned. “What happens to it?”
The Rethmans owned over twenty cows which they boarded at the Simpsons’ since they didn’t have a pasture for their cows on their own property because of their horses. The Rethmans paid rent and they paid for the cows’ feed. The Simpsons only fed and boarded the cows for them.
“The cow got sick, so the Simpsons put it down. We went over to check the other cows to see if they had the disease and to talk it over,” Mr. Rethman explained.
“Oh,” Lexie nodded.
“We need to get ready for the volleyball match,” Mrs. Rethman reminded everyone, looking at the clock. “Adara and Austy, you need to get into your uniforms. We have to be over there in one hour. You other three need to get ready as well. Wear red and black to match the team colors.”
The Rethmans lived in Clyde, North Carolina. Since Clyde was such a small town, most kids went to the school in Pisgah, and everyone did sports through that town.
“Yes, because we’re rooting for the Pisgah Black Bears!” Elise danced.
“It’s odd how we’re cheering for the Black Bears when just a little while ago Elise got chased by one,” Lexie observed.
CHAPTER 2
Into the Woods
The next day the house was buzzing from the excitement of the day before.
“That was an amazing spike you made right at the end, Austy!”
“You had some great serving, Adara!”
“I’ve never seen a game so intense before!”
“You smashed them just like I told Lexie you would! And the points had been so close! You only won by three points, and you reached twenty-five points first! That was incredible!” Elise flung her arms out for emphasis, spilling her milk on herself and the oak table. “Oops,” she blushed as everyone gasped and then laughed. She jumped up to get a towel.
They were all commenting about the volleyball match as they enjoyed breakfast.
“Everyone was going so crazy out there on the court when I served. Then Haley set Austy up for a spike, and she hit the winning spike, which ended the game,” Adara explained in story-like tones.
“Yeah, well I couldn’t have done that ‘perfect spike’ if you and our teammates didn’t help me,” Austy assured her, turning red.
“Well, we all saw it with our own eyes, and you both did very well,” Mr. Rethman said.
“Why don’t we play volleyball after lunch out back? Would anyone be up for a little game? First, we have to clean our chore rooms, though, except for Lexie and Elise since they did theirs yesterday,” Adara said.
The other four girls stood up.
“Yes!” they all answered in unison.
“Okay, great! Let’s clean up the kitchen first,” Adara told them. They loved playing volleyball in the backyard over the net.
Mr. and Mrs. Rethman stood up.
“Why don’t you girls do the kitchen chores and whatever else you have to do while your mother and I go for a ride on the horses?” Mr. Rethman asked.
“Sure, Dad. When will you be back?”
“Oh, in about an hour,” he answered. “Then I need to work on my sermon some more for tomorrow.” He was the pastor of their church family.
After the kitchen jobs were done, the other three started cleaning their chore rooms. Lexie announced, “Hey, y’all! Elise and I are going to get a little practice in before our big sister rivalry!”
The other three laughed.
“Okay! Sounds good to me!” Arianna said, as she vigorously scrubbed the bathroom tub.
“Hurry up and finish cleaning then!” Lexie called back, as she and Elise slipped out the back door, volleyball in hand. It was a little chilly outside and the birds were chirping and singing up in the treetops.
The girls hurried over to the net, through the dewy grass. Slipping off their shoes and socks and stepping onto the soft sand of their volleyball “court,” they began to practice.
“Here comes a spike!” Lexie called, as she threw up the ball and then smacked it hard on Elise’s side of the net.
“Oh!” Elise gasped as she missed the ball and, instead, landed with a thud on the ground.
Lexie dunked under the net and rushed over to Elise to help her up.
“Nice try,” she smiled, pulling Elise up.
Elise grinned and brushed herself off.
“Ready to go at it again?”
“Yep.”
Lexie rushed back over to her side of the net, and they resumed their game.
Lexie hit the ball over, and Elise smacked it back so hard that it went sailing over the net, out of the designated playing space, and landed with a bounce on the chicken pen roof. The chickens flew everywhere inside, and as one went out to see what the matter was, the volleyball came crashing off the roof to hit the chicken on the back, sending it flying like a mad dog back inside the safety of the pen.
Lexie clamped a hand over her mouth, and then both girls began to giggle.
“You see why I don’t play volleyball?” Elise reasoned, causing Lexie to smile knowingly.
They continued on with their game after fetching the volleyball.
It was hard to play with just two people since there was so much room on either side for the ball to land, but they managed to play fine.
Awhile later, the other three rushed out of the house to hop into the game.
“I brought some water for everyone,” Austy declared, struggling to carry the five cups.
“Great. You can set it over there by the edge of the net.” Adara pointed.
Then they picked teams and began their game.
“We can’t let them win!” Adara announced to her two sisters on her team when Austy and Lexie scored a point.
“Here comes a smacker!” Austy yelled, and she spiked the ball over the net. Her long red braids flicked this way and that every time she hit the ball.
Adara hit it up into the air, Arianna set it for her younger sister, and Elise spiked it over, scoring a point as the two on the other side missed the ball.
“Yippee!” Arianna clapped, “We’re tied!”
“Not for much longer!” Austy sang out.
Arianna laughed, “We shall soon see!”
The ball went back and forth.
“We’re doing pretty well for only having two people on our team,” Austy winked at Lexie.
“Yeah, we are,” Lexie agreed, “and I hardly know how to play.”
“Well,” Austy set the ball up in the air for her, “you’re doing good.” Lexie sent the ball flying over. Elise missed it, and the ball slammed into the cups of water, sending water flying and spraying poor Austy.
“He-y-y!” Austy yelled, spluttering from the sudden shock and disappointed that the water she had gotten was now spilled.
Elise, shocked as well, suddenly started laughing and was joined by the others. Soon even Austy giggled along with them.
The game ended a little later with Austy and Lexie as the champions.
“Whoop! Whoop!” Lexie clapped, “we did it!”
“Rematch?” Adara questioned, raising her eyebrows up and down to try to intimidate the others as she tossed the volleyball in her hand.
“Well, Dad and Mom will be back soon from riding.”
Elise daydreamed for a second about galloping along the pasture on Blossom’s back. She recalled how they had come to own Blossom. The horse was actually hers because she had found the palomino a couple years ago up in the mountains. The poor horse had run away from its former master. Elise had been able to tell that the owner hadn’t treated Blossom well because the horse had whip lashes on her back. Mr. and Mrs. Rethman had located the owner. He immediately said he wanted to be rid of Blossom as long as the amount they paid him was good. The fami
ly bought the horse from him. So, Elise had come to claim it as hers, and everyone agreed that it should be since she had found Blossom. Before long, Elise had trained the horse to be gentle and sweet. Now the two had become great friends.
Elise snapped back into present time. She adored horses. Her and Arianna’s room was decorated with horse pictures and horse figurines.
After their parents came back and the horses were taken care of, the family gathered around for morning Bible study.
An hour later, when they had just finished with the study, the phone rang. Mrs. Rethman ran to answer it.
“Hello? Uh-huh… alright… when?… okay… yes, I’ll be able to make it. One, you said? Alrighty, I’ll be there… Yep, you’re welcome. Okay… bye.”
Mrs. Rethman hung up the phone.
“Mrs. Davis needs help setting up for her garage sale at one o’clock and managing it. Adara, why don’t you come with me? Jonathon, you have to finish working on your sermon, right? Are you doing that in your office at the church building?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, Adara, you come with me while the other girls stay here and take care of the house, or if they want to come, they can.” she looked at the girls.
They all shook their heads and said an excuse, but Adara answered, “Oh, I can go. I don’t have anything going on.” She gave the other girls a disappointed look.
“Good. Then why don’t you pack a lunch to eat on the way? You can get ready now.”
“Yes, Mom,” Adara rushed off to get ready.
“See-ya, girls,” Mrs. Rethman hugged them goodbye and then left a little later with Adara.
“I need to head out, too,” Mr. Rethman explained, as he packed a lunch to take with him while he worked on his sermon. He finished packing his lunch and walked to the door, slipping on his shoes.
“Bye girls,” he said, as he went out the door.
“Bye,” the four girls waved as he shut the door.
They heard the vehicle start up and the car pull away. Immediately the girls began running around the house, jumping around, and screaming. Finally they had a moment to be as wild as they wanted. If Adara were home, she would tell them they had to act proper. But she wasn’t here now, so they had freedom! They played a few active games and then made lunch. While they ate lunch, they pondered what they should do next. Forgetting about the kitchen chores, Lexie said, “Okay, I think that it’s reading time.” She stretched her arms. “All that volleyball playing and running around the house has worn me out.”
“I’m with you, Lex,” Arianna agreed, as the two girls raced up the steps.
“Bookworms,” Austy shook her head. “Well, I guess the two redheads are going to have to go on their own adventure, say, out in the woods?” Austy winked.
“Yes,” Elise nodded. Austy was a really fun older sister and loved to go on adventures.
“Okay, and should we include horses in our adventure?”
“Of course! Let’s go!”
The two girls skipped out the back door.
“C’mon! Hurry!” Elise raced ahead.
“Golly, Elise, be careful. You don’t want to spook the horses.”
“Oh, yeah.” Elise slowed her pace as they neared the pasture.
They each chose a horse that they wanted to ride. Elise immediately picked Blossom and Austy chose Ranger. They saddled up the two horses and rode out into the woods.
Back in the house, Arianna flipped open her book and plopped onto her bed. Just as she started to read, she heard the neigh of horses in the backyard.
“Hmm,” she got up and looked out the window.
“Aha!” she said as she saw Austy and Elise disappear on Ranger and Blossom into the woods.
“Lexie! Lexie!” she shouted, throwing her book onto her bed and running out of the room.
“What?” Lexie slowly looked up from her book as Arianna entered the room.
“Austy and Elise are out riding in the woods. Dad and Mom didn’t say that they were allowed.”
“Well, they didn’t say that we couldn’t, either,” Lexie said, uninterested in what her sister had to tell her.
“I’m going to follow them. You coming?” Arianna asked.
Lexie didn’t answer because she was too enthralled with her book.
“You coming?!”
“Huh? Oh, uh, where?”
“Ughhhh. To follow Austy and Elise out in the woods.”
“Why?” Lexie asked.
“Just to follow them. You know, to see if they do anything, what’s the word? Secretive?”
“Ah, whatever,” Lexie closed her book with a sigh, patted it longingly, and followed her sister down the stairs and out of the house.
“So what’s the plan, exactly?” Lexie asked, dreaming about her book.
“They’re probably out in the woods, lookin’ for an adventure, so we’re gonna give them one. I’ll bet they’re in the tree fort. Want to pay a visit? Or spy?”
Lexie shrugged.
“C’mon!” Arianna dragged Lexie past the pasture and into the woods.
They ducked behind trees along the trail until they reached the tree fort. They heard laughter from above.
They hid behind some brush and listened for a while.
“We’re in poison ivy!” Lexie whispered fiercely to Arianna after they had been sitting there for a bit.
“What?!” Arianna whispered back, “Oh, now what?”
They scooted to a different hideout, ducking spiderwebs and jumping over the high weeds.
They could just barely hear their two sisters above. They were chatting and laughing.
“Haha. Yeah, funny,” Lexie quietly mocked them.
“Shhh,” Arianna scolded.
“Why don’t we climb up the ladder and scare them? That’ll top their adventure,” Lexie suggested.
“I like your thinking.”
Both girls advanced toward the ladder, Lexie leading the way. Arianna suddenly tripped on something that was buried under the weeds and fell down. Lexie looked back. The thing Arianna had tripped on seemed to be a metal bar or handle sticking out of the ground. “Why would someone throw out a piece of metal?” Arianna said quietly to herself, though the piece seemed to have been firmly in the ground when she tripped. She refocused her mind back on her and Lexie’s adventure as she stood back up and brushed herself off. They made it safely to the ladder.
“Climb quietly,” Lexie instructed, “the horses could give us away.” She motioned to Ranger and Blossom tethered to a nearby tree.
Arianna nodded.
They both started climbing up the ladder, which was a little difficult to do quietly because occasional grunts were let loose.
When they were almost to the top,
“Boo!” Austy and Elise jumped out of the entrance to the tree fort and onto the deck.
“Ahhhh!” Arianna, scared out of her wits, let go of the rope. As she fell, she caught hold of Lexie’s ankle. Lexie clung for dear life onto the rope.
“Ow!” Lexie howled, her arms burning.
“Whew. That was close.” Arianna wiped her sweaty forehead as best she could, as she held on.
Austy and Elise gasped and then laughed at them.
“Hoping to scare us, huh?” Elise taunted, her hands on her hips.
“Ugh! My hands have rope burns on them. Ow! That was cruel,” Lexie groaned.
“Serves you right,” Elise scolded. “We were right in the middle of an adventure.”
“Oh, adventure, sure,” Lexie shook her head.
They climbed up the remainder of the ladder and onto the deck.
“Give us one good reason why we shouldn’t push you two off the deck to fall,” Arianna said, rubbing her rope-burned hands up and down her shirt.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Austy crossed her arms, “we should push you two off, though.”
“Humph,” Arianna glared.
“So what were you two doing anyhow?” Lexie asked, trying to make good terms.
&
nbsp; “Nothing,” Elise looked away, in order to finalize her statement.
“Okay, then we’ll be on our way. Bye,” Lexie did a girly voice and wave. She was eager to get back to her book.
“Bye and good riddance,” Elise spat.
Lexie narrowed her eyes at her. “Let’s go. They’re not being kind,” she motioned to Arianna.
“But… we can’t just leave,” Arianna threw up her arms.
Lexie pulled her to the ladder, “I have an idea.”
The two girls climbed quickly down the ladder, and Lexie shouted, “The horses! Quick!”
“No!” the two on the deck shouted as their sisters clambered onto the horses, untethered them from the tree, and rode off satisfied down the trail, their hair flapping in the breeze.
“Man! That was mean!” Austy stamped her foot.
“Yeah that was,” agreed Elise, crossing her arms.
“It’s a good thing that you saw them coming though.”
“Yep, otherwise we probably would’ve been the ones falling off the rope,” Elise laughed.
“They looked so funny creeping along in the bushes. Did you see them sitting in the poison ivy?”
“No.”
“Golly, they’re going to get itchy,” laughed Austy.
“Very itchy,” Elise confirmed.
The two girls descended the ladder and walked back to the house on foot.
“How fun,” Austy grumbled.
“Well, at least we won’t have to worry about putting the horses away now,” Elise explained. “I’ll race you back to the house.”
The girls raced each other on the hilly trail until it opened up into the clearing and their house came into view.
“I’m tired now. I think I might do some crafts in my bedroom.”
“I’m going to draw a picture,” Austy said. She was really good at drawing and all kinds of art.
Two hours later, while the girls were hard at work on their projects, Mrs. Rethman and Adara came home.
“How was it?” Lexie asked.
“It was good. We got a lot of customers, and Mrs. Davis let me choose things from the garage sale since I helped out,” Adara held up a small bag, “a nice shirt, two books, and two bracelets; I picked out the two books for Lexie and Arianna,” she held out a book for each of them.
Map to Treasure Page 2
