After Mama had washed the dinner dishes and put them away, she came down to the basement with the clothes hamper. She carefully sorted all the dirty clothes into piles. Once sorted, she put each pile into its own big five-gallon bucket. After Lily and Joseph had finished filling the kettle, Mama took the hose and filled each bucket to the brim with water. The clothes would soak overnight. Tomorrow, Mama and Lily would do the laundry.
Early the next morning, Papa opened the little door in the bottom of the iron kettle and stuffed an armload of wood inside. With a match, he lit the wood on fire and closed the door. The fire would heat the water while the family was upstairs, eating breakfast.
After breakfast, Papa checked the water in the kettle and found it bubbling hot. He picked up an empty five-gallon pail and carefully dipped it into the boiling water. He poured the hot water into the washing machine until it was almost filled to the top. He checked the gas supply in the little motor attached under the machine. He made sure the exhaust pipe, snaking from the motor to a specially designed hole in the wall, was snug and secure. Satisfied, he went back upstairs to the kitchen.
“Everything is all set for the laundry, Rachel.” He peered out the window. The sun was just rising. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. “Looks like a beautiful day. It won’t take much time at all for clothes to dry.”
Mama handed Papa his lunch box and gave him a special smile, one she had just for Papa. “Thank you, Daniel.”
Papa whistled as he walked down the steps, on his way to work. Papa was always whistling.
Mama gathered up the pot holders and tea towels she had used for breakfast and handed them to Lily and Joseph. “Run down to the basement and put these into the pail with towels.”
Joseph and Lily carried the towels downstairs. Mama followed behind them with Dannie in her arms. She placed him into a large cardboard box, partially filled with sand and toys. Papa had created an indoor sandbox for Dannie to play in while Lily and Joseph helped Mama do the laundry.
Mama pulled the starter rope on the little gas motor. She lifted up the heavy pail filled with soaking clothes and started feeding them, one by one, through the wringer. Water ran from the wringer down on a little tilted tray and back into the pail. She started with white clothes. The last load of the day would be Papa’s dirty work trousers. By the time they got to Papa’s trousers, the water had turned from crystal clear to muddy-colored.
Lily and Joseph liked watching the agitator turn back and forth, back and forth. Steam rose from the washing machine. When Mama was satisfied that the clothes were clean, she added a little bit of bluing to make the rinse water nice and blue. With a big wooden stick she carefully lifted the clothes from the hot water and fed them through the wringer.
“Careful,” Mama cautioned.
Lily and Joseph stood back so they wouldn’t get splattered with hot water. Then they pushed the clothes down into the cold water as deep as they could. Every piece had to be rinsed by itself. Mama lifted a big towel as high as she could, then plunged it back down into the water. She plunged it three times before she fed it into the wringer.
Lily liked to help Mama with the rinsing. Mama let her do the smaller pieces. Up and down. Up and down. A little river of water was squeezed out of each piece of clothing as it went through the wringer. The one thing Lily didn’t like washing was bread bags. Mama reused store-bought plastic bread bags for her home-baked bread. The butter Mama spread on top of her own loaves made the bags greasy, so they had to be washed, like everything else. Mama didn’t want them going through the wringer—she was certain they would tear. But if Mama happened to turn her back, Lily would feed a bag through the wringer. They didn’t tear. They never had.
Lily reached into the water to get another piece of clothing. She swished her hand around and felt one of the plastic bread bags. An idea popped into her head. If the bread bag were filled with water, the little river of water that squeezed out of it in the wringer would be like a waterfall! Mama was checking on Dannie in the sandbox and bent over to tie one of his shoelaces. Her back was turned. Lily quickly fed the bread bag through the wringer.
Mama stood up and turned her attention back to the washer. She saw what Lily was up to. She darted over to stop the wringer but—too late!—the bread bag burst, showering Mama with cold water.
“Oh, Lily!” Mama said, dripping from head to toe with water. “You should know never to put bread bags through the wringer. I was trying to save the ones I had left. Now I’ll have to buy a loaf of bread the next time we go to town.”
Lily felt a little guilty, but not too much. She preferred store-bought bread to home-baked bread. But she was sorry Mama had gotten soaked. “I’m sorry, Mama,” she said truthfully.
Mama dried herself off. Finally, after all the clothes and towels and sheets had been rinsed, Mama tied her clothespin bag around her waist. Lily carried Dannie and followed behind Mama and Joseph. They handed pieces of clothing to Mama to hang on the clothesline. Mama sang happily as she hung up her clean clothes.
Now came the fun part. Mama carefully drained the washing machine into several big pails and carried them out the basement door that led to the edge of the garden. Lily and Joseph dipped tin cups into the soapy water and poured the water over the cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli plants. Three cups for each plant. Mama said the soapy water helped to keep bugs and worms away. “Shoo, bugs!” Lily would say as she gave each plant some soapy water.
Mama dumped the rest of the water on the basement floor. She scrubbed it with her broom until it was nice and clean and all of the water was swept down the drain.
It had taken all morning to do the laundry. Lily was hungry.
Mama fixed a few sandwiches and chocolate milk for everyone. It was time for Dannie to take his nap. Then, Mama and Joseph and Lily went outside to see if the first batch of hung clothes were already dry. Mama piled fresh, clean-smelling clothes onto Lily and Joseph’s wide-open arms. Lily ran into the house and piled the clothes on the table. She waited for Joseph—in case he needed help with his pile of clothes—before she ran back outside for another armload.
When the last of the dry clothes were piled on the table, Mama came inside to fold them. As she folded, she sang a little song she had made up for laundry days.
Thank you, Lord, for this nice day.
Bless us as we put away
All the garments clean and bright
That were dried by wind and light.
Lily and Joseph sang the song with Mama until the last pieces of clothing were folded and put away. Lily loved laundry day, especially on warm sunny days. She loved helping Mama. She loved plunging the clothes in the rinser. She loved the smell of fresh, sun-dried clothes in the house. Next week, she would skip slipping a bread bag through the wringer. She definitely would skip that part.
But Lily was looking forward to eating a slice of store-bought bread, lathered with sweet creamy butter and dripping with Mama’s homemade plum jam.
29
School without a Schoolhouse
Late on a hot August afternoon, the mailman came and left a big parcel on the porch. Lily and Joseph were shocked. They never got any mail. Lily watched as Mama opened the box with a knife. She pulled out glossy new books, with pages for writing and arithmetic. Schoolbooks!
Mama handed Lily the books. “Papa and I have decided we will have school at home until the school board finds a teacher.”
Lily stroked the covers of the shiny new books. She was glad that she could keep learning even if she and Joseph couldn’t go to a real school.
Papa and Mama moved the furniture out of the spare bedroom and put it into the attic. Papa carried two little school desks upstairs and put them in the room. He built a frame around a piece of blackboard and hung it on one of the walls. Mama moved the little brown table from the living room into the room. The spare bedroom didn’t look like a bedroom anymore. It looked like a little schoolhouse.
Lily clapped her hands. This was going to be
fun!
Mama set a strict new routine. As soon as the breakfast dishes were washed, they went upstairs to have school. Lily liked having Mama for a teacher. She didn’t lose her temper like Teacher Katie. She was much nicer than Teacher Katie. As soon as Lily and Joseph finished their workbooks, Mama let them go outside to play or help her in the kitchen or keep Dannie out of mischief. Mama was working hard to keep up with selling baked goods out of the buggy while also teaching school to Lily and Joseph.
But there were some things Lily didn’t like about having school at home. Mama never had time to read Lily a story anymore, or sit on the porch to listen to birdsong. And Lily hardly ever saw her friends. She did miss her friends.
One night, Lily lay in bed and listened to the barks and howls from a pack of wild dogs that had been roaming around the farms. It was a scary sound. She worried that wild dogs might eat little girls and little boys. Usually, the wild dogs roamed at night, stealing chickens that didn’t make it into the coop to roost at night. Once in a while, Lily would spot a few dogs running through the fields in the day. They were ugly and mean. Papa said the wild dogs were worse than wolves because they weren’t afraid of fire or light. They weren’t afraid to get too close to people.
Tonight, the wild dogs sounded close by, as near as Jim and Jenny’s pasture. Though it was a hot night, the sound made Lily shiver. Lily hoped that Jim and Jenny were both safe. Stormy didn’t like having those wild dogs get too close. She barked at them, loud and long. Lily was glad Stormy was trying to keep the wild dogs away.
At breakfast the next morning, Papa spread butter on a piece of toast, deep in thought. “Those stray dogs got the rooster last night.”
The rooster? Their proud, strutting rooster? Lily was sad, though she hadn’t forgiven the rooster for pecking at her red buttons. She stayed clear of that rooster, but she never wished him to be killed by wild dogs.
“It seems as if those dogs are getting bolder and bolder,” Mama said.
Papa nodded. “They worry me more than coyotes. They’re more vicious and dangerous.”
“At least we don’t see them much during the day,” Mama said. “But I am getting tired of having them around during the night. The barking woke Dannie up so much last night that he’ll be cranky today.”
Oh no! That was sad news to hear. Whenever Dannie was cranky, Mama would ask Lily and Joseph to play with him to keep him happy. It was hard work to make a cranky little boy happy.
Mama wanted to work in the garden after breakfast. The last of her sweet corn was ripe, ready to be gathered for canning. She spread a blanket under one of the cedar trees in front of the house and asked Lily and Joseph to play with Dannie. She sat Dannie on the blanket and gave him a few toys to play with. She handed Lily a pretty picture book to read to Dannie and Joseph.
Dannie wasn’t interested in the toys. He wanted to be with Mama and cried when Lily told him to stay on the blanket. Lily opened the book that Mama had given to her. It was filled with colorful pictures.
“Let’s play picture hide-and-seek,” Lily said. “I see a pink tulip. Can you find it?”
Dannie looked and looked at the picture, but Joseph spotted the tulip first, so it was his turn to choose something to find.
“Can you find a brown horse?” Joseph said.
Lily pointed out the horse right away. It was the main thing to see on that page. She didn’t even have to look for it. She wished that Joseph would pick something that was a little harder to find.
Lily’s turn. She asked Joseph to find a little mouse. It was taking him a long time to find it. Suddenly, Lily heard Stormy barking behind the barn. Then she heard the bark of another dog. Stormy came bounding around the corner of the barn chasing a big, ugly, spotted yellow dog. A wild dog!
Where was Dannie?
While Lily and Joseph had been looking for things in the book, Dannie had toddled off. Lily saw him heading toward the garden. The dogs were hurtling right at him! The wild dog was in the lead, with Stormy right behind, snapping at its heels. Joseph hid behind the tree. Lily jumped to her feet and ran to scoop Dannie into her arms while the dogs raced around them, circling and circling. Her heart was pounding. She didn’t know what to do!
Mama came running toward them and snapped her big blue apron at the wild dog. It looked like a wolf—curling its lips, baring its teeth, snarling, growling viciously, but Mama didn’t back down. “Shoo, shoo! Get away from here!”
The wild dog didn’t like getting whacked by Mama’s apron. He howled, tucked his tail between his legs, and ran back to the woods. Mama grabbed Dannie out of Lily’s arms and hugged him close to her. She was trembling.
“Lily, you were very brave to grab Dannie before the wild dog could snatch him! Weren’t you scared?”
“I was! I was scared,” Lily said. “But Joseph was scareder.”
“I wasn’t any such thing!” Joseph said, but Lily knew that wasn’t so. He was still behind the tree.
Stormy flopped down on the blanket, her long pink tongue dangling out of her mouth. Lily went over to pat Stormy and tell her how wonderful she was. She thought Stormy looked pleased with herself.
“I’m glad we have such a good dog,” Mama said. “No telling what all those strays might do if it weren’t for her.”
Lily was glad Stormy was their dog. But she was even more glad that Mama had a big apron and knew how to snap it at snarling wild dogs.
30
Off to Town
On a hot afternoon in September, Trisha and her father, Larry Smith, stopped by Singing Tree Farm to buy a dozen eggs from Mama’s chickens. After Trisha’s father had paid for the eggs, he leaned against his car to chat with Papa for a while.
“Trisha’s school is having their annual parade next weekend,” Larry Smith said. “I was wondering if you might consider giving people rides with your horse and buggy. You could charge them a dollar a ride. I think you’ll have a pretty long line of people wanting rides.”
Papa took his straw hat off and raked his hand through his hair, mulling that over. “As long as it’s on Saturday instead of Sunday, I think we could probably do that.” He put his hat back on. “Just let me know what time I should be there.”
Larry Smith’s face broke into a broad smile. “I’ll talk to the parade organizers and let you know. Thanks, Daniel.” He opened the car door. “Hop in, Trisha. We’re ready to go home.”
Lily gave Trisha a goodbye hug. She stood next to Papa and waved and waved, until the car disappeared down the road. “Can I go to town with you, Papa?”
“We’ll have to see what Mama wants to do. It all depends if she wants to come. If she does, then we’ll all go. But if not, she’ll need your help with the boys. You’ll need to stay and I’ll have to go by myself.”
Lily ran to the house to find Mama. “I want to see a parade and Papa said I can only go if you go. Please, Mama, please go! Say yes!”
Mama looked at Papa curiously as he came into the kitchen. He walked over to the sink to wash his hands.
“What parade?” Mama said. “Where and when?”
Papa wiped his hands with a dish towel and explained what Larry Smith wanted him to do. “I thought you and the children might like to pack a picnic lunch and sit on one of those benches beside the street. You could watch the parade while I give people rides in the buggy. I was thinking of using the open buggy. It’s lighter, so Jim won’t get as tired from having to give so many rides.”
“That sounds interesting,” Mama said. But she didn’t say she was going. She didn’t say she was staying at home, either.
Lily wished Mama would give her answer right away, but she knew she should not ask again. One time was enough. Lily knew that from past experience. Mama would tell her after she had made a decision.
On Saturday morning, Papa woke up extra early to brush Jim until his coat shone. Every little hair was perfectly in place. The night before, Papa washed and polished the little open buggy so it would be ready to go.
; And here was the best part: Mama had decided to go along! Lily was so excited. She watched Mama pack a basket filled with delicious food. Mama had made little buns of bread stuffed with cold chicken and homemade cheese. Lily had helped her bake little pecan tarts. She placed them carefully into the bottom of the basket. Mama carefully wrapped Papa’s favorite, Apple Schnitz Pie, into a soft clean towel. She filled two water jugs to the very top with fresh water. Lily carried the water jugs to the buggy while Mama carried Dannie and the picnic basket.
They were ready for the parade!
The open buggy was small. It had only one seat. Papa had fastened a board against the dashboard for Lily and Joseph to sit on while they were driving. Dannie sat in Mama’s lap. After everyone was settled in, Papa flicked Jim’s reins and they were on their way.
Lily loved to ride in the open buggy. There was so much more to see than when they used the top buggy. She and Joseph counted eleven lambs, standing close by their ewe mothers, in a pasture. They saw a Cooper’s hawk soaring in the sky. A doe and her fawn peeked shyly at them through the trees.
Jim trotted briskly all the way to town, as if he knew what an important job he had for the day. Papa pulled up to the town square and helped Mama and Dannie out of the buggy. He lifted Lily and Joseph and set them down. Papa jumped back into the buggy and drove off to meet Trisha’s father. Mama led the way to a bench under a big shady maple tree. She tucked the picnic basket beneath the bench, then they all sat down to wait for the parade to begin.
Soon, Papa and Jim drove by with someone in the buggy. Lily loved how Jim lifted his feet so proudly as he walked along. Papa said he did that because Jim’s father had been a Hackney horse. Lily was sure no other horse in the world was as handsome and high stepping as Jim.
Life with Lily Page 16
