Life with Lily

by Mary Ann Kinsinger

  © 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.

  Contents

  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

  1

  Strange Goings-On

  It 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 tabl
e 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.

  2

  Mama’s Crabby Helper

  Lily woke to the sound of someone working in the kitchen. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she climbed down the ladder of her bunk bed. Joseph was still sound asleep in the lower bunk. Lily tiptoed quietly to her closet to get her favorite play dress. It was light brown with five bright red buttons down the back. She could fasten the top button by herself, but Mama would have to help with the rest.

  Lily loved getting up early to help Mama make breakfast. As she skipped down the stairs, she was surprised to see a stranger at Mama’s stove. This woman was tall and skinny, with stooped shoulders and a red face. Lily paused at the door, watching and waiting, not sure if she wanted to go into the kitchen or not. Where was Mama? Then she remembered. Mama had a little baby. Quietly, she tiptoed away from the kitchen before the stranger could notice her. She hurried upstairs to see if Mama was still in bed.

  Lily knocked on her parents’ bedroom door. She was relieved to hear Mama’s sweet voice call out to her to come in. Mama was sitting up in bed. Baby Dannie was sleeping in a little white bassinet right beside her. His eyes were scrunched shut and his little wrinkly fist peeped out of the light blue and white polka-dot blanket. Lily walked over to Mama to have her button her dress.

  “You’re up early this morning,” Mama said. “Do you want to come see the baby?”

  Lily shook her head. “I wanted to help you make breakfast. But there is someone else in the kitchen.”

  “She’s a helper named Frieda Troyer,” said Mama. “She has agreed to stay with us for a while so that we can spend our time enjoying our new baby.” Mama smiled at Lily. “I’m sure Frieda would be glad to have a little helper in the kitchen.”

  Lily hesitated. She had a funny feeling that Frieda might not be as glad to have a helper as Mama thought. But she went downstairs to the kitchen and found Frieda looking through all the cupboards. Shyly, Lily said, “I can set the table for you.”

  Frieda spun around and peered at Lily through her b
ig thick spectacles. “I can take care of it myself. Run along and look at some books until breakfast is ready.”

  Lily went into the living room to get her doll, Sally, and sit on the couch. No one had lit the oil lamp yet so she couldn’t see well enough to look at a book. Holding Sally close, she waited for Papa to come into the house after he fed Jim. From where she sat, she could see Frieda bustling around the kitchen, rearranging the things in the cupboards. She clinked and clanked and banged the dishes as she set the table.

  Lily wanted to tell Frieda Troyer to go home and leave Mama’s things alone. She was glad when Papa finally came in from the barn. He would tell Frieda to leave Mama’s cupboards alone. But Papa didn’t say anything. Not a word. He went over to the washbasin to wash his hands. After they were clean, he scooped up big handfuls of water and splashed it over his face. Frieda watched him, frowning, as little droplets of water splashed on the sink and floor.

  When breakfast was ready, Papa filled Mama’s plate with scrambled eggs, toast, and a big spoonful of liverwurst. Lily thought it was disgusting that Frieda would serve liverwurst for breakfast. She followed Papa as he took the tray to Mama in the bedroom. She told Mama what Frieda Troyer was doing to the cupboards. Mama exchanged a look with Papa.

  She turned to Lily. “I guess you’ll have to help me put everything back into place after Frieda goes home. But that will be our little secret. Okay?”

  Lily smiled and nodded. It would be fun to keep a secret. Whenever she saw Frieda putting wrong things in the wrong cupboards, she would think of the secret she and Mama were keeping.

  Every single day, Frieda told Lily and Joseph to get out of her way. She wanted to keep the house nice and didn’t like it when they sat at their little table in the living room to color in their coloring books or put their puzzles together. She didn’t like it when Joseph played with his toy animals or when Lily sat on the couch to play with her doll. She didn’t even like it when they sang songs. Too noisy, she said. It hurt her ears.

  Lily thought she had never seen anyone who didn’t like so many things. The only thing Frieda liked to do was clean house and rearrange cupboards. And serve liverwurst for breakfast. Disgusting! Lily wrinkled her nose at the very thought of liverwurst.