Look Out, Lancaster County

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  Rachel took out her spelling book. Spelling was her favorite subject, and since she was the best speller in the third and fourth grades, she hoped she would feel better after they’d had their spelling bee.

  While Rachel waited for the teacher to get things ready, she studied the list of spelling words: address, blister, cavity, disturb, entry, faithful, gelatin… She knew how to spell every word on the page and should be able to easily win the class spelling bee.

  She glanced across the aisle. Audra was studying her spelling words, too. Could Audra spell well? She didn’t like bugs and couldn’t play baseball very well. Maybe Audra liked spelling and would be hard to beat. She’d played Scrabble fairly well—until she’d accused Rachel of cheating. Maybe…

  “All right, scholars,” Elizabeth said, rising from her desk, “this is how we’re going to do our spelling bee today.” She motioned to the front of the room. “Those of you in grades one and two will line up to receive your words first. When we have a winner from that group, the third and fourth graders will come up front, followed by the fifth and sixth graders. Our seventh and eighth graders will go last.”

  Rachel was glad the first and second graders were going first. That gave her more time to study her list of spelling words. Of course, she didn’t know which of the words on the list Elizabeth would ask, but she wasn’t worried. In fact, she figured the spelling bee would be the best part of her day.

  It didn’t take long until the first and second graders were done. Danny Fisher was the last scholar standing, and he got to put a yellow star on the first and second grader’s section of the wall. Then he got to choose one of the new fiction books Elizabeth had brought to school today. Sharon gave all the first and second graders a piece of candy from a basket on her desk.

  “Now it’s time for the third and fourth graders to take their places,” Elizabeth said.

  Rachel hopped up from her desk and made her way to the front of the room. She squeezed into a spot between Orlie and Audra. At least they aren’t standing together this time.

  Elizabeth started at the end of the line, giving the first word, street, to Nona Lapp.

  That’s an easy word, Rachel thought. I could spell “street” when I was in the first grade.

  Nona spelled the word correctly, and Elizabeth continued down the line. When she came to Orlie she gave him the word walnut. Orlie rubbed his chin and squinted his eyes. “Hmm…let me think.”

  “The word is walnut,” Elizabeth repeated. “Can you spell it, Orlie?”

  Orlie blinked a couple of times, and a silly grin came over his face. “Sure, I can spell it. I-T.”

  Everyone laughed—except Elizabeth and Sharon.

  Elizabeth frowned and said, “Orlie Troyer, do you want to stay after school today?”

  He shook his head and stared at the floor. “No, Elizabeth.”

  “Then stop fooling around and spell the word walnut for us.”

  Orlie shifted from his right foot to his left foot and bit his lip nervously. Rachel could tell he was struggling and didn’t know how to spell the word. She was tempted to whisper it to him but knew that would be cheating. Once, she cheated on a history test, and after that she promised never to cheat again.

  Elizabeth tapped her foot against the hardwood floor. “We’re waiting for your answer, Orlie.”

  Orlie cleared his throat a couple of times and finally lifted his head. “W-a-l-l-n-u-t. Walnut.”

  Rachel groaned inwardly, and Elizabeth shook her head. “That’s incorrect. I’m sorry, Orlie, you’ll have to take your seat.”

  With a bright smile, Orlie dashed back to his desk. It seemed as if he was glad he had missed the word. Rachel knew spelling wasn’t one of Orlie’s best subjects. Maybe he was relieved that he didn’t have to stand in front of the class and be embarrassed any longer. Now he could sit in his desk and wait for someone else to mess up.

  I hope it’s not me, Rachel thought. I don’t want to miss one single word. I want to win this spelling bee.

  “Rachel, did you hear what I said?”

  Rachel jerked her head toward Elizabeth. She’d been so busy thinking about Orlie and how much she wanted to win that she hadn’t heard what her teacher said.

  “Uh…what was that?” she mumbled.

  Everyone laughed, and Rachel’s face heated up.

  Elizabeth clucked her tongue. “Please spell the word walnut.”

  Rachel nodded. “Walnut. W-a-l-n-u-t. Walnut.”

  “That’s correct,” Elizabeth said.

  Rachel smiled, feeling quite pleased with herself.

  Elizabeth faced Audra. “Your word is windmill.”

  Rachel held her breath and waited to see if Audra could spell the word.

  Audra smiled and said, “Windmill. W-i-n-d-m-i-l-l. Windmill.”

  “Correct.”

  I guess Audra’s a good speller, Rachel thought. Either that or it was a lucky guess.

  Elizabeth continued down the line, giving each of the students in the third and fourth grades a word. Some spelled their words correctly and others ended up taking their seats like Orlie. Elizabeth started at the beginning of the line again, and when it was Rachel’s turn, she spelled her next word correctly. Audra spelled her word correctly, too.

  On and on it went, until only two scholars were left standing—Rachel and Audra.

  The next word went to Rachel. It was harness.

  Rachel’s heart went thump…thump…thump. “H-a-r-” She paused and drew in a quick breath. I’ve got to get this right. I can’t mess up now.

  “Do you know the word, Rachel?” Elizabeth asked.

  Rachel started again. “H-a-r-n-e-s-s. Harness.”

  “That’s correct.”

  Rachel breathed a sigh of relief.

  Elizabeth faced Audra. “Your word is oxygen.”

  Audra scratched her head. “Let’s see now …”

  “We’re waiting, Audra,” Elizabeth said.

  Audra’s forehead wrinkled and she pursed her lips. “O-x-y—No, the correct spelling is…uh—o-x-e-g-e-n.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “I’m sorry, Audra, that’s wrong.”

  Audra’s face turned bright red. With head down and shoulders slumped, she shuffled to her desk.

  “Rachel, you’re the winner of the third and fourth grade spelling bee.” Elizabeth handed Rachel a star to put on the wall and motioned to the basket on Sharon’s desk. “Help yourself to a piece of candy.”

  Rachel took a stick of licorice then went to hang up her star. She felt really good about herself—maybe even full of a little hochmut [pride]. She remembered hearing their bishop say during church one day that it was wrong to be full of hochmut. “We should be humble, never boastful,” he’d said.

  As Rachel put her star in place, she thought about the bishop’s words. It was hard not to feel prideful sometimes—especially when she’d done something that made her feel so good. Maybe it was all right to feel good when she’d done something well. She just needed to be careful not to brag about it.

  Rachel headed back to her desk. She was almost there when Audra turned sideways in her desk, and—thump!—Rachel tripped on Audra’s foot and landed face-down on the floor!

  Blood spurted out of Rachel’s nose. “No, no! Not again!” she moaned. Why was it that every time things seemed to be going well, something happened to bring more trouble?

  “Are you all right?” Elizabeth asked as she helped Rachel to her feet.

  “My naas—it’s bleeding.” Rachel struggled not to cry as Elizabeth led her to the back of the schoolhouse where she kept a basin of water. Rachel sat on a stool while Elizabeth put wet cloths on her nose and the back of her neck.

  “Audra tripped me on purpose,” Rachel whimpered.

  “Now, Rachel, why would Audra do that?”

  “She’s probably jealous because I won the spelling bee.”

  “Audra shouldn’t have had her feet in the aisle,” Elizabeth said, “but I don’t think she tripped yo
u on purpose.”

  Rachel folded her arms and sat there feeling sorry for herself. Why did everyone think Audra was so nice? Couldn’t they see she was nothing but trouble?

  Audra approached Rachel quietly, a worried expression on her face. “I’m sorry about your nose, Rachel,” she said. “I turned in my seat so I could ask Orlie something and didn’t see you coming down the aisle.”

  Rachel stared straight ahead.

  Elizabeth touched Rachel’s shoulder. “Aren’t you going to accept Audra’s apology?”

  Rachel lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

  “God tells us to forgive others when they apologize,” Elizabeth said.

  Rachel closed her eyes and prayed: Lord, I still think Audra tripped me on purpose, but help me to forgive her and have a better attitude.

  She opened her eyes and mumbled, “I forgive you, Audra.”

  Elizabeth turned to Audra. “From now on, please keep your feet under your desk and not in the aisle.”

  “I will.” Audra hurried back to her desk.

  Rachel clenched her hands into fists to keep herself from biting a nail.

  Chapter 8

  Wishing Fishing

  Would you like to do some wishing fishing with me today?” Grandpa asked Rachel on Saturday morning as she stood at the sink helping Mom do the dishes.

  “What’s wishing fishing?” Rachel asked, turning to face Grandpa.

  He wiggled his bushy gray eyebrows. “Wishing fishing is when you drop your line into the water and sit there wishing you’ll catch a big one.”

  Rachel giggled and dropped the sponge into the water, sending colorful bubbles to the ceiling. “Wishing fishing sounds like fun, Grandpa. Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?”

  “My back’s doing better now. I think a day in the sunshine with my fishing pole is just what I need. Maybe it’s what you need, too, Rachel.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Mom as she reached into the drainer and plucked out a clean dish to dry. She looked at Rachel and smiled. “Your daed and Jacob left for town right after breakfast, and Henry’s going over to see his girlfriend soon. You and Grandpa will have some time to be alone together today.”

  “What about you, Mom?” Rachel asked. “What are you going to do today?”

  “I’m planning to sew some clothes for the boppli.” Mom patted her round belly. “It won’t be too many more months before our little one will be born, and he or she will need some clothes to wear.”

  Grandpa left the table and came to stand beside Rachel. “I’ll bet you’re getting excited about being a big schweschder [sister], jah?” he asked, squeezing her shoulder.

  Rachel shrugged. She didn’t want to think about becoming a big sister right now. She just wanted to think about going fishing with Grandpa.

  Grandpa ambled across the room and plucked his straw hat from the wall peg where he’d hung it last night. “I’ll go on out to the barn and get our fishing poles. Then I’ll hitch a horse to one of your daed’s buggies. When you’re done with the dishes, come on out.” He looked over his shoulder and winked at her. Then he plopped his straw hat on his head. “It won’t be long until we’ll be doing some wishing fishing!”

  “Ah, the Lord is so good!” Grandpa said as he and Rachel sat on a grassy spot on the shoreline of the pond. “Can you smell that fresh spring air?”

  Rachel’s nose twitched as she inhaled deeply. “Jah, it does smell kind of nice.”

  “Pretty soon there’ll be wild flowers growing all around the pond.” Grandpa smiled. “Those will smell nice, too.”

  Rachel nodded.

  “Speaking of flowers,” Grandpa said. “After you went to bed last night, I spoke with your daed about my greenhouse idea.”

  “What’d he say?”

  “He agreed to help me build it near the front of his property.”

  “Oh, Grandpa, that’s wunderbaar [wonderful]. When will it happen?”

  “Probably sometime this spring.” He patted her arm. “Maybe you’d like to help me in the greenhouse when you’re not in school.”

  Rachel nodded happily. “I’d like that. I think being around all those flowers will be a lot of fun!” She removed her sneakers and wiggled her bare toes in the grass. It felt nice to be here with Grandpa, talking about his new greenhouse and getting ready to catch some fish. Today was turning out to be a pretty good day.

  “Having a greenhouse will be fun,” Grandpa said, “but it will also mean a lot of work.”

  “Working with flowers won’t seem like work to me,” Rachel said with a shake of her head.

  Grandpa chuckled. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see about that.” He reached into his bag of fishing supplies and pulled out a can of worms. “Would you like me to bait your hook, Rachel?”

  “That’s all right. I can do it myself.” Rachel reached into the can, plucked out a fat, wiggly worm, and baited her hook. Then she cast the line into the water.

  Grandpa took a worm from the can and baited his hook. He drew his arm back, flicked his wrist, and—swish—Rachel’s kapp lifted right off her head.

  She looked up in shock at her hat as it dangled from the fishhook at the end of Grandpa’s line. “Grandpa, what’d you do that for?”

  “Was is do uff? [What’s the matter here?]” His forehead wrinkled as he studied the kapp hanging in midair.

  Rachel giggled as she watched the kapp sway in the gentle breeze. “It looks like you caught a big one, Grandpa!”

  Grandpa’s eyes twinkled and he laughed. “We won’t be throwing this one back into the lake.”

  Rachel jumped up to retrieve her kapp. She worked to gently remove the hook, but the hook left a noticeable hole. “Oh no! You put a hole in my kapp! It’s ruined now,” she said with a frown.

  Grandpa examined the damage to her kapp. “I’m sorry, Rachel. It was an accident. I sure didn’t do it on purpose.”

  Rachel tossed her pole to the ground. “I don’t feel like fishing anymore.”

  “Come on, Rachel,” Grandpa said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s not let a little accident ruin our wishing fishing trip.”

  She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

  “Are you going to forgive me?”

  Rachel shrugged. “Mom’s gonna be mad when she sees that my kapp is ruined.”

  “I’ll explain things to your mamm.”

  “She’ll probably make me wear the kapp with a hole in it because she doesn’t have time to make me a new one. She’s too busy making baby clothes.” Rachel sniffed. “After the boppli’s born, Mom will be even busier than she is now. She probably won’t have time to sew anything for me.”

  “I’m sure she’ll take the time to make you a new kapp,” Grandpa said. “Either that or she’ll fix the hole in this kapp.” Grandpa motioned to Rachel’s fishing pole. “Are you going to fish or not?”

  She shook her head. “I’m out of the mood.”

  “Suit yourself.” Grandpa cast his line into the water. Rachel sat staring at the trees on the other side of the pond. So much for a fun day of wishing fishing! The only thing she was wishing for now was a kapp that didn’t have a hole in it. If she had to wear her kapp with a hole in it to school on Monday morning, Jacob, Orlie, and some of the other kids would probably make fun of her.

  “You’ve been awfully grumpy and unforgiving lately,” Grandpa said. “What’s the problem?” She shrugged.

  “Does it have anything to do with Mary moving to Indiana?”

  “Maybe.”

  Grandpa took one hand off his fishing pole and touched Rachel’s arm. “I realize you’re having a hard time adjusting, but you shouldn’t take it out on everyone. If you’re not careful, you won’t have any friends at all.”

  She grunted. “I don’t need any friends.”

  “Jah, you do. We all need a good friend or two.” Grandpa plucked a blade of grass and put it between his teeth. “If your attitude doesn’t change, you might lose the friends you do have, a
nd you certainly won’t make any new ones.”

  “Humph!” Rachel grunted. “I could never be Audra’s friend.”

  “Audra?”

  “She’s that new girl at school.” Rachel clucked her tongue, the way Mom often did. “Audra and I are as different as Cuddles and Buddy. I don’t think we could ever get along.”

  “It doesn’t matter whether you like the same things or not,” Grandpa said. “You can still be Audra’s friend if you want to be.”

  I don’t want to be Audra’s friend, Rachel thought, but she didn’t tell Grandpa that. Instead, she picked up her pole and cast her line into the water. “I guess I will fish awhile,” she said.

  Grandpa smiled. “That’s good to hear.”

  It wasn’t long before Rachel had a bite on her line, and she quickly reeled in a nice big fish.

  “Do you need help taking the fish off the hook?” Grandpa asked.

  Rachel shook her head. “I can manage.” Carefully, she removed the hook from the fish’s mouth. Then she put the fish in the bucket Grandpa brought along. She baited her hook with another wiggly worm and cast her line into the water again.

  In no time at all Rachel caught two more fish, but Grandpa had only caught one. He didn’t seem to mind, though, as he leaned back on his elbows in the grass and lifted his face to the sun. “Ah, the Lord is good,” he murmured.

  Just then Rachel spotted a plump little frog leaping along the water’s edge. It made her think of the day she caught two frogs in their backyard. She put them in a box and took them to church, hoping to race them after the service was over. But one of the frogs escaped from the box and made quite a scene during church. When Mom found out that Rachel was the one responsible for the leaping frog, she wasn’t happy at all. In fact, she’d given Rachel extra chores to do. Right then and there Rachel had decided she would never catch another frog and bring it to church.

  But I could catch a frog here at the pond and take it home with me, Rachel thought. She set her fishing pole aside and crawled slowly through the grass toward the frog.

  “What are you doing, Rachel?” Grandpa asked.

  “Shh…I’m getting ready to catch a frog.” She reached out her hand, and—flump!—the frog leaped into the air and landed on a rock in the shallow water.