by Linda Byler
“Are you sure Mam said it’s alright?”
“Yep, she did,” Lizzie said, a bit carefully, because she was so afraid he’d say no.
But he didn’t. His eyes twinkled, and he took Emma’s hand. “Alright. I’ll help you hitch up. You know you have to stay on the back alley, don’t you?”
“Sure, sure. Mam said so, too,” Emma assured him. “We promise,” Lizzie added.
When they came to the barn, Dat opened the big doors where the pony cart was kept. The big buggy was in there, too. The cart was little, a lot smaller than the buggy, and had only two wheels. Dat had painted it with thick, glossy black paint and very carefully drew gold lines down the shafts and around the seat. It was actually a very fancy cart and Lizzie was so glad Dad liked fancy pony carts. She thought it was the prettiest thing she had ever seen, besides high-heeled shoes at the store.
Emma opened the gate to Dolly’s pen and led her out. They never tired of looking at Dolly. She was often brushed and cared for lovingly. They fed her carrots and so many apples that fell from the tree in the yard that Dolly got sick. So Dat told them they were not allowed to give her any more apples until she felt better.
Emma brushed Dolly, and Lizzie just stroked her smooth, satiny neck. Dat watched while Emma carefully brushed across Dolly’s rump. “Always stand to the side, Emma. If you stand right behind a horse or pony, they could be frightened and kick you,” he told her.
“Oh, I know that, Dat,” Emma answered airily. Lizzie chimed in, “You already did tell us that lots of times.”
Dat smiled. “Oh,” was all he said, and there was a smile on his face.
When Emma grabbed the little black pony harness and slung it across Dolly’s back, he smiled some more. These little girls certainly shared his love of ponies, he thought. He watched as Lizzie raced to the other side to fasten the crupper that went under Dolly’s tail. She stood carefully to the side as he had taught them. Dat handed the bridle to Lizzie, and watched as she tried to put the bit between Dolly’s teeth. Dolly would not open her mouth. Lizzie kept tugging the bit, and saying, “C’mon Dolly—open your mouth!”
Dat showed Lizzie how to put her finger along the back of Dolly’s mouth and press in. Nothing happened. Dolly just wouldn’t open her mouth. So Dat put his hand under the pony’s jaw, pressed along the back, and—just like magic—Dolly popped her mouth open. Lizzie quickly slipped in the bit, and they pulled the bridle up over the ears, fastening the chin strap along the side of the pony’s face.
The bridle had two big black pieces of stiff leather on each side of Dolly’s head. That was so she couldn’t see what was beside or behind her. Lizzie often thought about blinders—that’s what they were called. And she thought they were very cruel. If she was a horse, she wouldn’t do it to wear them. Sometimes when Lizzie was running, she put her hands on each side of her head and thought how awful that would be for the horses.
But she didn’t think about that now, as they pulled the pony cart up to Dolly and put the shafts into the leather loops that supported them. Lizzie pulled one thick strap from Dolly’s back and fastened it to the cart. Emma did the same on the other side. Then they clipped the snap from the leather wound around the shafts to the britchment, and they were all set. Dad unwound the leather reins and watched as the girls clambered into the cart. Emma set the tin milk jug carefully in one corner on the floor, and Dat handed her the reins.
Emma grasped them firmly in both hands, smiled at Dat, and said, “We’ll be back soon. Bye!”
“Bye!” Lizzie waved happily as Emma clicked her tongue.
Dat stepped back and waved as Dolly started off. They had to make a circle, so they could go behind the barn, where a narrow alley ran along the back yards of the neighbors’ houses.
Dolly trotted along, and they passed backyard fences, gardens, and doghouses. Mrs. Zimmerman was hanging out her dishtowels on a small line on the porch, and she waved at Emma and Lizzie. They waved back.
Lizzie felt so important, with only her and Emma sitting on that pony cart seat. She thought Mrs. Zimmerman probably thought they looked cute. Lizzie felt cute.
They came to Uncle James’s lane, and Emma carefully stopped Dolly by pulling back on the reins.
“Whoa, Dolly,” she called.
Dolly stopped and they looked both ways to see if there was a car coming. There wasn’t, of course, but you never knew when a car would pull into Uncle James’s lane. Emma pulled gently on one rein and clicked her tongue; Dolly stepped out obediently.
Lizzie was so filled with love for this nice pony. She sighed and told Emma they had the best pony in the whole world.
“I know,” Emma agreed. “She just listens so well and not just that, Lizzie—we’re pretty little to be driving this pony all by ourselves.”
“Then yet, we have to get milk,” Lizzie agreed. She sat up straighter and pulled in her stomach. “I think we are actually grownup for our age.”
Dolly trotted along, and the breeze rippled the grass by the side of the lane. As they approached the buildings, they saw Uncle James in the cornfield picking corn with two huge workhorses. He waved at the girls and they waved back as hard as they could.
They drove around the big white barn and pulled up to the hitching rack. There was a chain-link fence around their yard, and a gate that opened into it. A sidewalk led up to the porch of the old stone house. Everything was mowed and trimmed to perfection. There were a few leaves in the yard, and a few more bright yellow ones fell to the ground. Lizzie thought Aunt Becca would probably rake them soon.
“Lizzie, you go ask Aunt Becca for milk, and I’ll stay here and watch Dolly, okay?” Emma asked.
“Why don’t you tie her?” Lizzie wondered.
“I forgot a neck rope,” Emma answered.
“Oh.” Lizzie looked around. “You could use the chain that hangs down there,” Lizzie pointed.
“I guess I could,” Emma said. She hopped off the cart, grabbed the chain, and clipped the bright silver snap to the ring in Dolly’s bit.
They both jumped when Aunt Becca came up behind the cart and said, “Well, girls! What are you doing? Driving that pony all by yourself, Emma? My, you must really be brave today!” She smiled at them as she picked up the reins from the ground. “Here. You should always put the reins through this ring when you tie your pony.”
Lizzie loved Aunt Becca. She was short and often wore a navy bandanna on her head, with a knot under her bob. She was always working hard and usually singing or whistling. She had only one little baby daughter, whose name was Arie, and her house was so clean that the linoleum shone like a mirror.
“We need this filled with milk,” Emma said, as she handed the jug to Aunt Becca.
“Alright-y,” she said, as she started toward the milkhouse. “Come along.”
The girls trotted along as Aunt Becca walked rapidly toward the barn. Inside the milkhouse there was a huge stainless steel tank filled with rich, foamy milk. Aunt Becca yanked open one side of the lid on the tank and lowered a clean stainless steel dipper into the vast amount of milk. A few turns of her wrist and the tin jug was filled to the brim. She fastened the top, closed the tank lid, and rinsed the dipper and jug under running water in a huge stainless steel rinse tub.
“There you go, girls,” she smiled. “I’ll just write this down, then when your Dat comes to settle up at the end of the month, he’ll pay for it.”
“Is Arie sleeping?” Emma asked.
“Yes, she is finally taking a good nap,” Aunt Becca sighed.
“Was she grouchy today?” Lizzie asked.
Aunt Becca laughed. “Yes, I guess you could say she was grouchy today. But she’s teething, so she’s in pain, too. What I need is two little girls like you to help me babysit while I help Uncle James in the field.”
Emma looked at her seriously. “We could.”
Lizzie wished Emma wouldn’t say that. She often felt bad, but she really didn’t like babies that much. Especially if they yelled and
screamed, and drooled on your hand if you held them. In church, all the little girls wanted to get someone’s baby after services, so they could play they were the mother. Lizzie never liked that. Babies were just such a mess, and they made Lizzie nervous.
So when Aunt Becca said, “No, I was only kidding,” Lizzie was immensly relieved. She even gave Aunt Becca an extra-big smile as they loosened the snap and picked up the reins. The jug of milk was put securely in the box, and they were ready to go.
“Thank you!” They waved and smiled as Dolly trotted out the lane. Aunt Becca watched and then turned to get her rake.
“Emma, why did you say we could babysit for Arie?” Lizzie asked her sourly.
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Well, what’s wrong with that?” Emma wanted to know.
“Oh, nothing.” Lizzie wasn’t going to tell Emma that she didn’t like babies very much, because Emma would think there was something wrong with her. So they drove on in silence. Emma guessed Lizzie was just grouchy because she was not allowed to be the driver. Dat said she had to wait until she was older, and Lizzie was that way. She never really gave up right.
They turned off the lane and headed up the alley. Suddenly a fierce barking broke the silence. A huge black and brown German Shepherd dog lunged at Dolly’s heels. Up, up came Dolly’s head, until it looked like her back was straight up and she would topple over backward.
Everything was just a horrible blur as they strove to stay on the seat. The reins were loose, so Dolly reared in terror. The dog’s harsh barking terrified Lizzie as much as Dolly.
Dolly jerked as she hit the ground running, and Lizzie and Emma were thrown onto the hard gravel.
Lizzie felt a blow to her backside, and her head slammed against the hard earth. Stars exploded in her head, as she yelled as loud as she could. It hurt so much, she just kept screaming. When her sight cleared, she saw Emma sitting in the grass, crying with all her might. The tin jug of milk was lying on its side, and milk was splattered everywhere.
Way in the distance, she saw Dolly galloping home with the empty cart bouncing behind her. The reins were flapping loosely on the ground as she rounded the corner to the barn.
Emma picked herself up and came over to Lizzie. “Lizzie, stop screaming!” she cried. She jerked back at the sight of all the blood in Lizzie’s hair.
“Ewww, Lizzie—your head! It’s all bloody! Lizzie, I hope you’re not going to die!” And Emma cried harder than ever.
Lizzie felt her head, and terror welled up anew. Her fingers were red and sticky with blood, and she gazed at them in disbelief. The only thing she could do now was sit there and cry along with Emma.
That is how Dat and Mam found their girls. After seeing Dolly come running home with an empty cart, Mam’s knees turned weak with fear. She ran into the harness shop and called for Dat. With great fear, they both ran down the alley, praying their little girls would not be seriously hurt.
As they approached, Mam was relieved to hear their cries. At least they were conscious. Dat reached them first, and fell on his knees beside Emma. “Emma, Emma!” was all he could manage, as he felt all over to make sure she was alright.
He ran over to Lizzie, where Mam was kneeling and had found the wound in her head. “My poor baby. Poor Lizzie,” she crooned, as she cradled her in her warm, comforting arms. Emma came over and stood in the safe haven of Dat’s arms as Mam finished examining Lizzie’s wound.
“It’s not too deep,” she said softly. “We’ll be able to clean it up and put a nice bandage on it. Do you think you can walk home, Lizzie, or should Dat carry you?”
“I-i-it-it was a dog,” Emma sniffed.
“What was a dog?” Dat asked kindly.
“A dog ran out. A huge black and brown one. He scared Dolly, and she jumped way up and dumped me and Lizzie off.”
Dat looked around at the back yards. There was no big dog anywhere, and none of their neighbors seemed to have heard a thing. No doors were open, and no one came running at the sound of the girls’ screaming, so Dat guessed it was a stray dog that was just passing through the alley.
They all walked home together, Dat carrying Lizzie, and Mam holding Emma’s hand very tightly, while she carried the empty milk jug with the other. Mam and Dat were very thankful the girls were not hurt worse.
Dat went straight to the barn to unhitch Dolly, who was standing inside the big barn door, shaking with fright.
Mam took Lizzie to the bathroom and cleaned the long, deep cut with alcohol on a cotton swab. Then, with a warm washcloth, she carefully cleaned away the dirt and gravel. The alcohol stung, but after the bandage was in place, it felt a lot better. Mam laid her carefully on a clean pillow on the sofa and kissed her cheek. Lizzie felt so much better, although she often wondered where that dog came from and where he was going.
Emma came to sit quietly on the end of the sofa where Lizzie lay. They didn’t say a word, just looked at each other with eyes that were filled with concern. You could never be careful enough, driving a pony. And Lizzie was glad Mrs. Zimmerman didn’t see her sitting there, yelling as loud as she could.
chapter 11
Playing Cow
It was Thanksgiving Day, and the Glick family was all dressed up. They were going to Uncle James’s house for a big Thanksgiving dinner.
It wasn’t really cold outside, but they had to wear their shawls and bonnets. Lizzie didn’t know why Mam made them wear their shawls. They were so black and scratched the back of her neck terribly. Her bonnet was navy blue and way too big. It felt like she had blinders on, because it was so big she could barely see right or left.
So she walked a little behind everyone else and thought unhappy thoughts. For one thing, she had to wear her purple Sunday dress and Emma had a new one. It was purple, too, almost the exact same shade, but Mam put really pretty buttons on it. Lizzie never had buttons as nice as those, and she wished her bonnet wasn’t so big.
She felt ugly, with an old purple dress. Then, this morning Emma said Lizzie’s cheeks were not near as pink as her own. Lizzie pulled back her hand to smack Emma, but Mam caught it and held it firmly. She had heard the whole thing, which was good for Emma.
Mornings were like that, though. Especially when they had to get dressed up and go away. Mam was in a rush and always telling the girls to hurry up and get going. It made Lizzie grouchy inside, especially if she was sleepy. And, the worst thing was Mam doing their hair. When they went away, Mam always rolled their hair tighter and more smoothly. She used some kind of horrible-smelling gel on their hair to make it stay nice and neat all day. If Lizzie wrinkled her forehead, she felt that stiff feeling along the side of her head and it made her uncomfortable. So she always complained, and Mam always told her the same thing. It would be okay—but it never was. Then she flopped that huge bonnet on her head.
So it was really no wonder Lizzie was in a bad mood. When they came to the gate leading up to the old stone house, the door burst open and Marvin and Elsie came flying out. They ran straight up to Emma, grabbed her hands, and said, “Hi, Emma.” They found Lizzie and squeezed her hands. “Hi, Lizzie! Boy, are we going to have fun today!”
Emma looked at Marvin and Elsie. “Why?”
Marvin talked enthusiastically about Uncle James’s empty cow stable. “We can play cows all day. And you know what else, Emma? Uncle James has that big bull in his pen and he can’t get out at all. And he gets mad if you tease him.”
Lizzie was thrilled. She forgot all about her stiff hair and big bonnet. This might be lots of fun.
“Come, girls,” Mam called. “Dinner’s almost ready now, so you have to stay inside till after dinner. Come give me your shawls and bonnets.”
They went inside, where a warm, steamy smell enveloped them. Lizzie blinked because the kitchen was darker than outside. She saw Grandma Glick mashing potatoes at the sink, with clouds of steam pouring over her face. She laughed and took off her glasses.
“Well, I can’t see my l
ittle girls that way,” she smiled. Grandpa Glick was seated beside the shining brown coal stove. He reached out and grabbed Lizzie’s shawl, pulling her up close to him.
Grandpa Glick was not a warm and cuddly grandfather. He was a minister who preached loud sermons in church, with a voice that boomed. Lizzie often thought he looked like Moses when God gave him the Ten Commandments. He was a bit stern, and when he spoke to Marvin and Elsie, they ran to do his bidding.
But he could also be a big tease, and today Lizzie glanced timidly up into his face. His eyes were twinkling and there was a broad smile on his face.
“Lizzie, do you know why the chicken crossed the road?” All the uncles and Dat laughed when Lizzie said, “I don’t know. I guess it wanted to go over to the other side.” She said this very seriously, with respect to Grandpa.
“Very good, Lizzie. That’s exactly right. That’s the real reason the chicken crossed the road. You’re not dumb, are you?”
Dat smiled at Lizzie, and Lizzie smiled back. “Come, I’ll take off your bonnet.” So she went to Dat and he took off her shawl and bonnet. He handed it to Mam, who was walking past with a stack of shawls and bonnets.
Marvin and Elsie stood with Emma, talking excitedly. Lizzie ran over to listen to what they were saying.
Marvin was telling Emma about the tree house he was building. Every day when he had time, he told them, he was building it.
“Come, children, time to sit down and eat now,” trilled one of the aunts. Everyone was rushing around, carrying bowls of steaming food. The table was covered with a white tablecloth that had tiny little pink flowers embroidered on the end. The china also had pink and red roses, with crystal clear water glasses set carefully at every plate.
Bowls piled high with creamy mashed potatoes were set along the huge table. Rivers of browned butter ran across the top. Platters of chicken and stuffing, creamy yellow corn, and pretty glass dishes of coleslaw filled the table. There were plates of homemade bread, and delicate little jelly dishes filled with raspberry jelly. Slices of dark green cucumbers and dark red beets were arranged in pretty cut glass dishes. There were deviled eggs on blue egg trays, and applesauce in little glass bowls.
