Mattie couldn’t believe how much her twin brother knew about bats. Of course, he knew a lot about many things because he liked to read so much.
“Even so, you can’t take any chances when it comes to a wild animal, so it’s better to be safe,” Dad said. “You could get mighty sick if you got bit and contracted rabies, and the treatment for rabies can be pretty painful, too.”
Once the excitement calmed down, everyone settled in and got comfortable again while Dad prepared to read.
“Tonight I’ll be reading from Luke 6:31,” Dad said as he opened the big leather Bible. “‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’”
Mattie thought about the surprise waiting for Mark in his bed. God’s Word said she should do to others as she would have them do to her. She wouldn’t want someone to put something she was afraid of in her bed. She realized now that what she’d done was wrong. Besides, with the bat incident, she thought they’d had enough scaring for one night. Somehow she had to sneak into Mark’s room before he went up there, and get that creepy rubber snake out of his bed.
CHAPTER 10
Day of Surprises
Mark stepped into his bedroom, yawned, and stretched his arms over his head. Today had been long and tiring, and he was more than ready for bed. Smelling that skunk, and then the little brown bat in the living room had sure livened things up this evening.
After putting on his pajamas, he knelt on the floor by his bed to say his prayers.
Dear Lord: Bless my family, and keep us all safe tonight. Be with Grandpa and Grandma Miller, and help Grandpa Troyer to feel better so he and Grandma can come to Mattie’s and my birthday party next week. Thank You for not letting anyone get hurt by the bat. Oh, and please help me and Mattie to do well on our spelling test tomorrow. Amen.
Mark stood, pulled his covers aside, and let out a yelp. There was an ugly-looking snake curled up in his bed!
He dashed across the room, jerked open his bedroom door, and ran into the hall.
“Schlang! Schlang!” Mark hollered when he bumped into Mattie, who’d just come up the stairs. “There’s a schlang in my bed!”
Mattie grabbed hold of Mark’s arm and gave it a little shake. “Calm down. It’s not a real snake.”
“It—it sure looks real.” Mark’s heart was beating so fast he could hardly get his breath.
She shook her head. “Well, it’s not. It’s just a rubber snake.”
“H–how do you know that?”
“Because I put it there,” she whispered.
“What was that?”
“I borrowed the snake from Calvin and put it in your bed.”
Mark’s forehead wrinkled. “Why would you do a thing like that?”
“Well, you’re always teasing others, and I wanted to show you that I could tease, too.” Mattie stared at the floor. “After Dad read the Bible verse to us this evening, I realized what I’d done was wrong. So I was heading to your room to get the snake, but you got there first.” She lifted her gaze to look at him. “I’m sorry, Mark. Will you forgive me?”
Mark tapped his bare foot and stared at Mattie. She really did look sorry. “I’ll forgive you, but you’d better never do anything like that again.”
“I promise I won’t.”
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!
Mark turned and saw Dad coming up the stairs. “I thought you two were getting ready for bed,” he said.
Mark knew if he didn’t think of something quick, he and Mattie would both be in trouble. “Oh, uh … Mattie and I were just talking about something, but we’re ready for bed.” He looked at Mattie again and noticed she wasn’t wearing her nightgown. “Well, at least I’m ready for bed.”
“I’m going to my room right now,” Mattie said.
“All right then. Sleep well, you two.” Dad gave them both a hug and clomped back down the stairs.
Mattie started for her room, but Mark grabbed hold of her arm. “Wait a minute. Isn’t there something you forgot?”
She shook her head. “I can’t think of anything.”
He pointed to his bedroom door. “You’d better get that snake out of my bed or I’m gonna tell Dad what you did.”
“Can’t you take it out yourself? It’s just a rubber one, you know.”
“I don’t care. You’re the one who put it in my bed, so you’re the one who should take it out.” Truth was, even though the snake was only rubber, it looked real, and Mark didn’t want to touch it. He could tolerate a lot of other things, but not creepy snakes—not even a rubber one!
Mattie hesitated a minute, and finally nodded. “Okay. Since Calvin’s already in bed, I’ll put the snake in my laundry basket and give it to him in the morning.”
“I don’t care where you put it, just as long as it’s not in my room!”
When Mattie woke up the next morning she looked at the clock and realized she’d forgotten to set her alarm the night before. If she didn’t move quickly, she’d either miss breakfast or be late for school. She hurried to get dressed, ran down the hall to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, and then raced down the stairs.
“You should have been down here sooner,” Mom scolded when Mattie entered the kitchen. “You’d better hurry and eat your cereal or you’ll be late for school.”
“I know, and I’ll hurry.” Mattie noticed that there was no one else at the table.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
“The little ones are still in bed, your daed and Ike left for work, and your brothers are on their way to school,” Mom said.
“Even Mark?”
Mom shook her head. “He’s in the barn with Lucky and her busslin, but you’d better hurry and eat so the two of you won’t be late.”
“Okay.” Mattie picked up her spoon. Then, remembering that she needed to pray, she bowed her head. Dear Lord, help today to be a good day; thank You for this food; keep us all safe, and help the days go quickly until Mark’s and my birthday.
When Mattie opened her eyes, Mom tapped her shoulder. “I’m going upstairs to gather everyone’s dirty laundry, because I need to wash clothes today. Oh, and Mattie, don’t forget to put Twinkles in her pen before you leave for school.”
“I’ll do it, Mom,” Mattie said around a mouthful of cereal.
Mom left the room and went up the stairs. A few minutes later, Mattie heard a terrible scream. “Schlang! Schlang!”
Oh no! Mattie gulped. She’d forgotten to put the rubber snake back in Calvin’s room this morning.
Mattie left her seat and raced up the stairs. She found Mom in her bedroom, staring at the snake in the laundry basket and looking pale as a bucket of goat’s milk.
“It’s okay, Mom. It’s not real. It’s just a rubber snake,” Mattie quickly said. It was obvious that Mom didn’t care for snakes any more than Mark did.
“B–but how did it get in your laundry basket?” Mom sputtered.
“Well, I … uh … borrowed it from Calvin.”
Mom’s eyebrows furrowed. “How come?”
Mattie wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t want to lie about it, but wasn’t sure she should tell Mom that she’d put the snake in Mark’s bed. Mom would probably scold her for that.
Mom’s forehead wrinkled as she stared at Mattie with a questioning look. “What’s going on, Mattie? Why did you borrow Calvin’s rubber snake?”
“Well, I … uh …” Tears welled in Mattie’s eyes, then she blurted out the whole story, knowing she would feel much better once she’d told the truth.
“Oh Mattie, you know it’s not right to tease someone like that—especially with something you know they’re afraid of,” Mom said, slowly shaking her head.
Mattie nodded. “I told Mark I was sorry and I was going to put the snake back in Calvin’s room this morning, but I forgot.” She clasped Mom’s hand. “I’m sorry the schlang scared you, and I promise I won’t do anything like that ever again.”
“I’m glad.” Mom bent down and gave Mattie a hug.
When the hug ended, Mattie grabbed the snake, raced across the hall to Calvin’s room, and tossed it inside. Noticing the look of relief on Mom’s face, Mattie bounded happily down the stairs.
On the way to school, Mark practiced the spelling words for the test they’d be having that day. He wanted to make sure he did well on the test. “Camping. C-a-m-p-i-n-g. Camping.”
“What about camping?” Mattie asked, trudging along beside him, looking like she was still half-asleep. “Are you hoping to go camping soon?”
“Nope.” Mark kicked a pebble with the toe of his boot and sent it flying. “Camping is one of the words we’ll have on our spelling test this morning.”
Mattie groaned. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot about the test.”
“Does that mean you didn’t study for it?” he asked.
“I studied a little bit.”
“Just a little bit?”
Mattie nodded.
“Then don’t expect to do well on the test.”
“What are all the other words we’ll be having?” Mattie asked. “I lost my list.”
“If you didn’t daydream so much you’d probably know where you put it.”
“Are you gonna help me or not?” Mattie asked.
Looking down at his study sheet, Mark recited the words to his sister. “Camping, fishing, fuzzy, yesterday, zipper, dizzy, plastic, coolest, packed, vase, smell, grass, coming, summer, kitten, spins, bending, facts, think, and Sunday. Oh, and there’s a bonus word—invention.”
“Most of those words are hard—especially the bonus word.” Mattie frowned. “I’ll probably fail the test.”
“You should have studied, Mattie.”
“I was studying, but when you started teasing Twinkles with that rag, I went outside to ask you to stop, and I never got back to looking at the spelling words.”
“Don’t blame me for you not studying enough. If you fail the test you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”
“Now you sound like Mom.”
“I just think you need to study more so you’ll get good grades. So let’s practice some of these words while we walk.”
“Okay.”
Mark said a word, and then Mattie repeated it and tried spelling it correctly. She was doing pretty well until she spotted some yellow and white flowers growing along the edge of the road. “Oh, look at the pretty flowers. Wouldn’t they look nice in our flower beds at home?”
Mark rolled his eyes. At least he’d offered to help Mattie. If all she was going to think about was pretty flowers, she’d never pass her spelling test.
During noon recess that day, Mattie sat on the porch beside her friend Stella while they ate their lunches and visited.
“Are you still coming to my birthday supper next week?” Mattie asked, after she’d taken a bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Stella bobbed her head. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Mark’s invited your cousin, John, because as you know, he’s Mark’s best friend.” Mattie smiled. “Oh, and my Grandpa and Grandma Miller will be there, too.”
“What about your other grandparents—the ones who live in Burton?” Stella asked. “Won’t they be at the birthday celebration, too?”
Mattie shook her head, feeling suddenly sad. “Grandpa Troyer’s arthritis is acting up, so I don’t think they’ll be coming.”
“That’s too bad. I’m sure they’ll send you both a gift, though.”
“The best gift of all would be to see their smiling faces. That would make me so happy.” Mattie took a drink of milk from her thermos. It was cold and refreshing.
“Get away from here!” someone hollered from across the porch.
Mattie turned to see what was going on, and was so surprised when she saw Twinkles with her little black nose inside Jared Herschberger’s lunch pail, sniffing around. Mattie liked surprises, but not this kind, and she couldn’t figure out what the dog was doing at the schoolhouse, but then she remembered that she’d forgotten to put Twinkles in her pen this morning.
“Go home, Twinkles!” Mattie shouted, clapping her hands. “Go home right now!”
Woof! Woof! Woof! Twinkles raced back and forth across the porch excitedly, stopping only to sniff several other children’s lunch pails.
Mattie continued to holler at the dog, and so did some of the others, but Twinkles still wouldn’t go. She wasn’t being an obedient dog today, and Mattie was so embarrassed.
The teacher, Anna Ruth, stepped onto the porch just then and looked right at Mattie. “Is that your dog?”
Mattie nodded slowly, wishing at this moment that Twinkles belonged to someone else.
“Well, she can’t be here at school. Please, take her home right now.”
“Okay.” Mattie didn’t mind at all, because it would take her some time to walk home and back, which meant she’d miss taking the spelling test they’d be having soon.
“Oh, and since we’ll be having the spelling test while you’re gone, you’ll have to stay after school to take it,” Anna Ruth said.
Mattie frowned. It was bad enough that she hadn’t studied much. Now she had to stay after school and take the spelling test. She realized her forgetfulness about not putting Twinkles away like Mom had told her to do this morning would probably get her in trouble with Mom, too. She wished she’d come down with a bad cold or the flu so she could have stayed home in bed today!
CHAPTER 11
Unexpected Gift
“What are you thinking about?” Mark asked, sneaking up behind Mattie and tickling the back of her neck with a feather.
She whirled around. “Absatz! You know I don’t like to be tickled!”
“Aw, sure you do.”
“No, I don’t. Not when I’m thinking.”
“What are you thinking about—the spelling test you failed at school last week?”
“Do you have to spoil our birthday by reminding me about that? Would you like me to keep reminding you about falling down the last time you tried to play baseball?”
“No, and I’m glad Anna Ruth has been letting me push some of the younger scholars on the swings during lunch recess, ‘cause that’s a lot more fun than playing baseball.”
“I guess you are happier doing that,” Mattie said, “but I’d rather play ball.”
“That’s because you’re so good at it. It’s always more fun to do something you can do well than something you always mess up.” Mark tickled Mattie’s chin with the feather again. “So what were you thinking about when I snuck up on you?”
“I was wishing Grandma and Grandpa Troyer could be here for our birthday celebration tonight.”
“I wish that, too. It would have been nice if Grandma had called and said Grandpa was feeling better by now. I’ve been praying for him.”
“Same here,” Mattie said with a nod.
Mark smiled. “Even though Grandma and Grandpa Troyer can’t come for our party, when everyone else shows up I’m sure we’ll have a good time.”
“I hope so.” Mattie’s mouth turned up at the corners. “I’m glad our birthday’s on a Saturday this year. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend the day in school.”
“Oh no, that would be baremlich.” Mark snickered and slid the feather under Mattie’s chin once more.
“Will you stop teasing?” She pushed his hand away. “If you don’t, I’ll find a feather and tickle you right back.”
“You can’t, because the only place I’m ticklish is on the bottom of my feet, and since I’m standing you can’t tickle me there.”
“If I was big like Dad or Ike, I’d pick you up and put you right on the ground,” Mattie said. “Then I’d sit on you and tickle your feet till you couldn’t stand it anymore.”
Mark plopped his hands against his hips and crinkled his nose. “Well, you’re not big like them, so don’t even think about tickling my feet!”
Mattie flapped her hand at him, like she was shooing away a pesky fly. “Why don’t you go play with your
katze, or find someone else to tease with that feather?”
“Think I just might, ‘cause you’re so monotonous.”
“Monotonous? What’s that mean?” Mattie asked.
“It means you’re boring.” Mark gave Mattie one final tickle with the feather, and then he snickered all the way to the barn.
“Brothers,” Mattie mumbled. “I wish today was just my birthday and not Mark’s. Wonder what it’d be like to have a birthday all to myself and not have to share it with him?”
That evening Grandma and Grandpa Miller came for supper, along with Mattie’s best friend, Stella, and Mark’s best friend, John. There was enough food to feed a huge crowd. Mom fixed meat loaf, mashed potatoes, a tossed green salad, corn on the cob, and buttermilk biscuits. She even used their good dishes and put out the pretty stitched tablecloth with brightly colored squares on it, which made the birthday celebration even more festive.
“Umm … everything tastes appenditlich,” Grandma said, smiling at Mom.
“Danki, I’m glad you think it’s delicious,” Mom said. “Mattie likes meat loaf and biscuits, and Mark likes mashed potatoes and corn on the cob, so I made both of their favorites.”
“Who likes the tossed green salad?” Stella asked.
“I do,” Mom said with a grin.
Mattie smiled, too. She appreciated the good supper Mom had made for her and Mark’s birthday. She was glad their parents did nice things for them. She hoped that if she ever did become a parent when she grew up that she’d remember to do nice things for her children, too.
“What’s for dessert?” Russell wanted to know.
“Homemade ice cream,” Dad replied.
Mark’s mouth drooped at the corners. “Do I have to crank the handle again? That’s always hard work, and I don’t think I should have to work hard on my birthday.”
“No, you won’t have to crank,” Dad said with a chuckle. “Ike and I made the ice cream earlier, while you, Calvin, and Russell were doing your chores.”
“What kind of ice cream is it?” Mark asked with a hopeful expression. He was probably hoping for chocolate this time.
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