Little Amish Lizzie

by Linda Byler

  “Mam!” Lizzie yelled.

  “Lizzie, not so loud. The neighbors will hear you,” Mam said.

  “I can’t rake these leaves. They just stick to my rake!” Lizzie frowned down at the rake.

  Mam went on raking. “Don’t worry about it—they’ll just hang there to help push along the other leaves as you go.”

  So Lizzie went on raking. This just made no sense to her. Only half of the leaves were going where she wanted them to and her shoulders ached. She stopped and pulled at her itchy green scarf, because her ears felt like they were steaming.

  Mam stopped to lean on her rake. “Whew!”

  Lizzie leaned on hers. “Whew!” she mimicked.

  Mam laughed at Lizzie. “You weren’t even working very hard yet,” she said.

  “Oh yes, I was, Mam. You just didn’t see me.”

  The shop door slammed shut, and Dat walked across the porch and down over the lawn. There was an older English gentleman with him. He wore denim overalls and a bright red cap. Dat was smiling and looking eagerly at Mam.

  “Annie, this is Mr. Hudson. Thomas Hudson, right?” he looked at the man.

  “Yes, that’s right. Just call me Tom. Pleased to meet you,” he said, shaking Mam’s hand firmly.

  “Tom, this is my wife, Annie, and daughter, Elizabeth,” Dat said politely.

  Mam said she was pleased to meet him, but Lizzie didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything. She thought this must be a very important man if Dat said her name was Elizabeth.

  “Annie, this is the man who wants to sell his miniature ponies. Remember, we talked about this before?” Dat asked Mam, a bit anxiously.

  “Oh yes,” Mam said. “I think we did discuss this. Or rather, we argued about this!”

  Dat looked sheepishly at Thomas Hudson. Mr. Hudson threw back his head and laughed heartily when Mam said that.

  “Well, I can see the Mrs. isn’t too enthused about your idea of buying them,” he said.

  “I’m still trying to persuade her that it could be profitable, selling them later hitched to the little spring wagon I’m building,” Dat said.

  “Oh my, yes, it will be profitable. No doubt about that!” Mr. Hudson boomed.

  The grownups went on talking, but Lizzie was rooted to the spot. Her fingers nervously worked knots into her green scarf, without even thinking. Her eyes followed Dat and Mr. Hudson carefully, listening to every word they said. She hoped so much Dat would buy these tiny little ponies, that she had to remember to breathe, because she kept holding her breath anxiously.

  When Mandy came across the lawn, crying and asking for Mam, they all turned. Mam scooped her up in her arms, and tried to quiet her, saying, “Whatever you decide, Melvin.” Then she told Mr. Hudson it had been nice meeting him, but she had to go get Jason.

  Dat and Mr. Hudson walked slowly toward the shop, and Lizzie followed a polite distance behind them. And when Dat got his checkbook, Lizzie almost choked with excitement. She had to find Emma this very second. They were going to have two very little ponies!

  She fairly danced up the steps, throwing open the door with a bang. “Emma!”

  No answer.

  “Emma!” Lizzie shouted, at the top of her lungs.

  “Lizzie, if you don’t quiet down right this minute, I’m going to have to spank you!” Mam said, her eyebrows drawn down over her eyes. “Don’t be so noisy. Can’t you see that Jason is asleep?”

  Emma came out of the bedroom, closing the door very carefully. “Lizzie, stop being so noisy. I just put Jason down for a nap,” she said quietly and in her most grownup manner.

  But Lizzie’s excitement at the prospect of having two tiny little ponies was far bigger than being scolded.

  “Emma!” Lizzie gripped Emma’s arms with both hands, leaning forward so her face was only inches away from Emma’s.

  “Did you hear? Did Mam tell you? We are going to get two teeeeny tiny ponies to hitch to the spring wagon Dat is making!”

  “How do you know?” Emma asked. But Lizzie could tell Emma was as excited as she was, or almost.

  “’Cause. There’s an English man here now. Let’s go down and listen to what they’re saying.”

  “Oh no, you’re not,” Mam said. “You’re going to stay right here and help clean up the house while I get supper started.”

  Lizzie looked at Mam. Yes, she was grouchy, Lizzie decided. She remembered now that Mam did not want Dat to buy the ponies, saying she didn’t think they could afford them. So now Mam had to give up, and Lizzie kind of pitied her, but not too much. Mam didn’t like ponies as much as Dat did, so she just didn’t understand how exciting this was. But because Mam’s face was flushed, and she was peeling potatoes with sharp, quick motions, Lizzie knew better than try and change her mind. Mam meant business.

  As they crawled around the living room on their hands and knees, picking up toys, Emma said quietly, “Lizzie, when are they coming?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow. Yes, I think tomorrow,” Lizzie answered.

  “But you don’t really know, do you?” Emma asked skeptically.

  “No, not really. Actually, I have no idea,” Lizzie said.

  That really struck Emma as being funny, so they giggled quietly as they went about their work. But they had to be careful, because Mam was not in a very good mood.

  · · · · ·

  About a week later, a bright red truck with silver-colored sides on it pulled into the Glick family’s driveway. Dat was helping Mam burn great piles of leaves, but he put aside his rake and hurried to the barn.

  “Here they come!” Emma said to Lizzie.

  Lizzie was way down deep inside a huge pile of leaves. She was having so much fun with Mandy she didn’t even know what Emma was yelling about.

  She popped up out of the pile of leaves, brushing them out of her scarf. “What?” she asked.

  “The truck! Lizzie, don’t be so dumb! The ponies are here!” Emma pointed to the barn.

  Lizzie turned to look and saw the red truck. She couldn’t think what was in the truck, so she just stood there in the pile of leaves.

  “The ponies, Lizzie!”

  “Oh! Are the ponies here? Oh yes, the ponies!”

  Lizzie raced across the lawn, followed by Emma and Mandy. Dat told them to stay back until the ponies were unloaded, so they stood by the fence and waited until the truck was turned in the right position to lower the gate.

  Carefully the gate was lowered by Mr. Hudson and his helper. The girls strained to see inside the truck, but it was pretty dark in there. Dat and Mr. Hudson walked up to the gate, and the girls heard a clicking noise as they untied them. Dainty little hooves bounced up and down on the bed of the truck, making it sway a bit. Dat appeared first, leading a little brown pony by the halter.

  It was so little, Lizzie thought at first it was a dog. She put her two hands up to her mouth and squealed, without even meaning to make a sound. Emma was jumping up and down, with Mandy jumping too, just because Emma did.

  Dat walked slowly down the ramp, followed by a tiny little brown pony. Mr. Hudson followed with one that looked exactly like the first one.

  They were nervous, Mr. Hudson explained. “See, they normally are much more quiet, but they’re all excited today about their ride in the truck,” he told Dat.

  “They’ll be fine,” Dat said. He was stroking his pony in soft, smooth strokes, and the pony was nuzzling at Dat’s suspender. “Lizzie, come say hello to the ponies,” he called. Lizzie shook her head no. She wasn’t really afraid of them, but she felt shy of the two English men. Besides, she was afraid those ponies would kick, because they were so nervous from their ride in the truck.

  “Come, Emma,” Dat said. “Come over and pet them. They won’t hurt you.”

  So because Emma went first, Lizzie followed, being careful not to look at the men. Dat picked up Mandy and set her on his pony’s back, but the pony moved away skittishly.

  Lizzie watched the ponies, but refused to
touch them, even if Mr. Hudson insisted they would not bite her or kick at them. Suppose they did? Then what? She would be terribly embarrassed with those English men watching her. So she stood staunchly, her green scarf tied securely under her chin, her sweater hanging loosely from her shoulders, and her hands clenched behind her back.

  Emma reached out and softly touched one pony’s nose. The pony reached out, following Emma’s hand. Mandy giggled. Emma was enchanted at the touch of that velvety nose. She slid a hand under the silky golden mane, while the pony nuzzled the buttons on her sweater.

  But Lizzie refused to budge. She waited until Mr. Hudson and his helper had put up the ramp, secured it firmly, shook hands with Dat, and the truck had moved slowly out the gravel drive.

  “Lizzie, you act so dumb,” Emma said.

  “Well, suppose one of the ponies would have bitten me? I would have had to cry, and those English men would have seen me,” Lizzie said haughtily.

  “Lizzie, come feel how soft they are,” Emma said. So Lizzie reached out and held one pony’s halter. It was a bright blue halter, much softer and finer than Dat’s halters in the harness shop. The ponies were so clean their coats glistened in the evening sun. Slowly, Lizzie ran her fingers through the soft hairs of the pony’s forelocks. She bent down to look closely at its eyes, to see what color they were. They were a very light brown, and the pony had long, black lashes that swept across the eye. Lizzie thought she had never seen anything so pretty in her whole life as these two ponies.

  Dat stood back, watching the girls become acquainted with their new ponies. “I think we should name them ‘Teeny’ and ‘Tiny,’” Dat said.

  “‘Teeny’ and ‘Tiny’?” Lizzie giggled.

  “Those are good names,” Emma agreed.

  “Alright. Which one is Teeny and which one is Tiny?” asked Dat.

  Lizzie stepped back to see if there was a difference in one of them. She looked carefully, but there was no difference. Dat and Emma walked around them, while Lizzie held the halters, looking for a white mark or a flaw that would distinguish one from the other.

  “Here,” Mandy said quietly.

  They all turned to look and found Mandy pointing to the tip of one ear.

  “It’s white,” she said.

  Dat laughed. “Why, sure it is, Mandy! It is a white mark. Okay, this one is Teeny, because we discovered a mark first. The other one is Tiny.”

  Emma led one pony into the barn, and Lizzie followed with the other. “It’s so nice they can be together in one stall,” Lizzie said.

  “Oh yes, you can’t separate ponies like this. They’re used to being together all the time,” he said. He gave them a tiny bit of grain, and one block of hay, checking to see if they had clean water.

  Dolly hung her head over the gate and nickered. Then she raced around her stall, kicking at the sides, tossing her head like a wild pony. Lizzie ran over and laughed at her. “Dolly, you big, clumsy thing—stop it! She seems so big now. Emma, come here and look at Dolly. She seems like she’s huge.”

  Emma ran over and laughed, too. “She does!” She looks like a workhorse compared to those little ponies.”

  “Come here, Dolly,” said Lizzie. She sort of pitied her, because now they had two new ponies that were much prettier than plain old Dolly. But Dolly would always be special, Lizzie decided. She was a good pony, one that she and Emma could hitch up all by themselves and never feel afraid or anything.

  Mam came into the barn, carrying Jason. He cooed and reached out his arms to the ponies, and Dat smiled at Mam.

  “See, he likes them already,” he said.

  “Aren’t they adorable?” Mam said, as she leaned across the gate with Jason to have a good look at the ponies. “Melvin, I’ve never seen anything like it. They’re simply so tiny you can hardly believe it.”

  Dat took Jason, putting his hand on Mam’s shoulder. “You just wait till I hitch them to my little spring wagon,” he told her.

  Mam pulled Dat’s hat down over his eyes. “What spring wagon? I don’t see one,” she said, laughing when Dat pushed his hat up on back of his head.

  “Oh, you will, you will. It’s going to be the cutest thing you ever saw, Annie,” he said. Then he looked at Mam so lovingly, that Lizzie felt like jumping to the ceiling because Mam did not care that Dat had bought the ponies. She loved Mam with all her heart, and she loved Dat and the ponies so much she thought she might pop like a balloon.

  She guessed if everyone always loved everyone else, and everybody was allowed to have all the ponies they wanted, it would almost be as nice as Heaven.

  She hoped with all her heart that her whole life would be as good as this moment, with Dat, Mam, Emma, Mandy, and Jason, in the little old barn.