A Big Year for Lily (21 page)

O
n a Saturday morning in late July, Joseph ran into the house. “Lily! Look what the mailman brought for us!” He waved an envelope in her face.

Lily looked at the envelope. It was addressed to Lily and Joseph Lapp. “Give it to me,” Lily said, reaching for it.

“It has my name on it too,” Joseph said. He held it behind his back, keeping it away from her.

“My name is first,” Lily said. She was the oldest. That role came with privileges.

Joseph's face fell. “But I hardly ever get mail. You get lots of letters.”

That was true. She received a letter at least three times a year. “Well then, I'll let you open it, but I should be the one to read it first,” Lily said. Since she was oldest, she needed to be the first informed for every event—big or small.

Joseph happily agreed. He was still young enough for Lily
to trick, but she knew it wouldn't last much longer. He opened the envelope and handed the letter inside to Lily.

Lily unfolded it and glanced at the signature.
Rhoda Yoder
. A letter from Teacher Rhoda! She cleared her throat the way Bishop Henry did before he was about to say something important. Then she began to read out loud.

Dear Lily and Joseph,

Next Saturday, I am hosting a taffy pull for all the children whom I used to teach. It will be at our new home at one o'clock in the afternoon.

I hope you both can come.

Sincerely,
Rhoda Yoder

“What's a taffy pull?” Joseph asked.

“I don't know,” Lily said. “I've never been to a taffy pull.”

Lily ran to find Mama and show her the letter. “Can we go?”

Mama read the letter. “That sounds like fun. We'll see what Papa has to say about it after lunch is ready.”

Joseph, who usually disappeared when there was kitchen work to be done, helped Lily set the table. Like Lily, he wanted lunch to be ready as soon as possible. Mama was at the stove, boiling potatoes. She drained the liquid off the potatoes and reached for the potato masher. She looked up to find Lily and Joseph watching every move she made. She smiled. “You can go tell Papa lunch is ready. The potatoes will be ready by the time everyone is washed up.”

Joseph ran to the shop. Lily listened for the band saw to shut down. She heard a hiss of air as Papa blew all the sawdust
and shavings off his clothes with the air hose nozzle. She heard a bang: the door of the shop shut. Time for washing up. Lily quickly filled a pitcher with water to fill the glasses while Mama dished out mounds of fluffy mashed potatoes.

Papa barely eased into his chair before Lily popped the question. “Teacher Rhoda invited us to a taffy pull on Saturday. Can we go?”

Papa's eyebrows lifted. He looked at Mama, seated next to him. “Teacher Rhoda is probably missing all the children,” he said. “I think it would be nice to spend an afternoon at her house. And a taffy pull sounds like fun. Hope you'll save a piece for me.”

“We will,” Joseph and Lily said at the same time.

Lily wished today was the day for the taffy pull. Seven whole days was a long time to wait for something so exciting.

Lily woke to the sound of raindrops splashing against her window. She jumped out of bed and ran to the window. What a disappointment! She had high hopes for a brilliantly sunny day. Today was the day for Teacher Rhoda's taffy pull party.

Papa and Mama weren't at all alarmed by the chance of rain ruining this special day. They chatted while they ate breakfast and didn't even talk about the weather.

Lily could hardly pick at her food. Too worried to eat. “Do you think it will rain all day?”

“There's an old saying about rain,” Papa said. “Rain before seven. Quit before eleven.” He looked at the clock. “It's not quite seven yet so I don't think you have to be worried about it raining all day long.”

Lily brightened. Her appetite suddenly returned and she
finished her breakfast in three or four big gulps. Then she had to wait, tapping her toes, until everyone else was done.

First, Lily needed to help Mama with the Saturday cleaning. She kept one eye on the window to see if the rain was stopping. By nine o'clock, a streak of sunlight broke through the heavy gray clouds and Lily felt quite cheerful. But then, heavy fog rolled in. How terrible! Fog was worse than rain. So eerie and gloomy.

After lunch, Papa told Joseph and Lily to change their clothes while he went to the barn to hitch Jim to the buggy. Lily didn't even have to do dishes today. She bolted upstairs to her room to change. In a flash, she was back downstairs. Mama checked Joseph and Lily's hands and faces before they ran out the door and hopped in the buggy. They both sat on the front seat next to Papa. Jim trotted down the road, and Papa whistled merrily. The fog swirled around them and she wondered how Jim knew where the road lay. She looked up at Papa. “Have you ever been to a taffy pull?”

“I've been to a few,” Papa said. “I think you'll enjoy it.”

“What do you do?” Joseph asked.

“Rhoda will cook sugar into taffy,” Papa said. “As soon as it's cool enough to touch, she'll divide it into pieces. It will look a little like a rope. Everyone pairs up to pull and pull and pull the ropes until it's ready to eat.” He grinned. “When I used to go to taffy pulls, the boys paired with the girls.”

Lily's eyes went wide in horror, so Papa quickly added, “I doubt Rhoda would have you do that.”

Lily let out a big breath of relief. Papa turned Jim into the driveway that led to Samuel and Rhoda's house. As Lily and Joseph climbed out of the buggy, he said, “Be good and have fun. I'll be back around four o'clock to pick you up.”
He waited to drive away until Lily knocked on the door and Teacher Rhoda invited them inside.

A whiff of sweet vanilla and caramel floated past the open door. Lily smiled. Even dreary fog couldn't ruin that smell.

Teacher Rhoda hurried back to the stove and stirred a pot of bubbling taffy. Joseph and Lily were the first to arrive and peeked around the house. Everything looked new and shiny, but not cozy. Not yet. A row of chairs and several benches lined the walls in the living room. A sewing machine was tucked in the corner.

A few children started to drift into the house: Beth and her brother Reuben, Hannah and Levi. Everyone stood around, acting stiff and awkward. No one knew what to do. Teacher Rhoda was busy with the hot taffy on the stove. Effie arrived, followed by Aaron Yoder and his brother Ezra. Disappointing! Lily had secretly hoped they might not be able to come today. Soon, the little house seemed to be bursting with children.

Teacher Rhoda handed butter to the oldest girls and asked them to spread it on the table. Lily watched as they coated the table with slippery butter. Lily was shocked! She had spread butter with her fingers on the bottom of cake and bread pans, but never a tabletop. She started to imagine what it would be like at home to have butter on the table. Dishes would slip right off and crash on the floor! Wouldn't Paul and Dannie be surprised by that?

Teacher Rhoda poured the hot taffy onto the table to cool. As soon as it was cool enough to touch, she had the children coat their hands with butter while she cut the taffy into ropes. She asked everyone to pair up and handed a rope to each twosome. She showed them how to pull it and then
fold it back together before pulling it again. Pull and fold. Pull and fold.

Lily and Beth were a pair—so were Hannah and Malinda. Effie had paired up with one of the bigger girls, whom she preferred because she thought they were more mature than girls her own age. Across the room, the boys laughed loudly as they pulled their taffy as far as they could before folding it back together. Lily was sure they were going to get some stuck to the floor before the day was over.

“I'm glad we're pulling taffy together,” Lily whispered to Beth. “Papa said when he used to go to taffy pulls the boys had to pair up with the girls.”

Effie overheard and her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Teacher Rhoda, Lily thought of a good idea. Can we pair up with the boys like the youth do at taffy pulls?”

Lily's mouth dropped in an
O
. How awful!

“How many of you would like to do that?” Teacher Rhoda asked.

A chorus of “We do!” sang out from the girls, drowning out Lily's “Not me!”

“It could be fun for a little while,” Teacher Rhoda said.

Effie dropped her end of the taffy and hurried across the room to Aaron Yoder. “I'll pull taffy with you,” she said eagerly.

Hannah bolted in front of her. “No! I get to pull with Aaron.”

The two girls glared at each other while Aaron calmly ignored them and kept on pulling his taffy with Sam Stoltzfus. Effie reached in and grabbed one end of the taffy as Sam folded it up to Aaron's end.

Teacher Rhoda stepped in. “Hold on, girls. I'll write the boys' names on a piece of paper and put them in a bowl. Each girl can draw a name.”

Effie squinted her little mean squint at Hannah. Hannah spun around and walked away. Neither one liked Teacher Rhoda's solution. Lily didn't either. She was furious. Why did she ever say anything about Papa to Beth? Everyone was having fun until Effie opened her big mouth. She hoped she would draw Joseph's name. Or Cousin Levi's.

But when it was her turn to draw a name, she reached into the bowl for a little piece of paper, opened it, and read: “Aaron Yoder.” How awful! How terrible. She should have known this day was going to turn out badly—first the rain, then the fog, and now . . .
this
!

Everyone started to pair up. Lily waited miserably until Aaron was the only person without a partner. She made her
feet move across the room to join him. She expected to see him stick his tongue out at her like he always did at school. Surprisingly, he didn't.

Effie gave Lily one of her mean squinty looks. She was partnered with a little second grader named Leroy. Instead of pulling the taffy, she practically jerked it out of poor Leroy's hands. He was terrified of her.

“I don't know why you always have to get the best things,” Effie said to Lily.

The best thing? Aaron Yoder? “We can trade,” Lily said.

Effie tossed the taffy at poor Leroy and flounced over to Aaron. But he would have none of getting traded off. He held the taffy behind his back. “I think we should stay with the names we drew,” he said. “It's only fair.”

Since when did Aaron Yoder ever worry about being fair? Lily wasn't sure what to do next. Neither was Leroy. He held a big ball of taffy in his hands, trembling like a leaf.

Calm as a cucumber, Aaron offered Lily the other end of the rope of taffy so she went back to pulling it. Pull and fold. Pull and fold.

But Effie wasn't so easily fobbed off. Her eyes narrowed into angry little slits. She grabbed the ball of soft taffy out of Leroy's hands and smashed it down on Lily's head. For a moment that felt like an hour, Lily stood there, stunned. Then she dropped the taffy she was pulling on with Aaron and tried to remove the gooey taffy from her hair and prayer covering. She was a mess.

Tears filled Lily's eyes. She had been so excited about this day, and it was turning into a disaster. Teacher Rhoda hurried over to help Lily get the taffy off her head. “Effie, go sit on one of the chairs in the living room,” she said. Effie scowled
and marched into the living room. She sat on a chair where she could still watch what was going on with the rest of the children.

Teacher Rhoda did the best she could, but she finally gave up trying to clean all the taffy out of Lily's hair. “You'll have to wash your hair as soon as you get home tonight.”

Soon, it was time to cut the taffy into little pieces. Teacher Rhoda put the pieces into sandwich baggies so everyone could take some home with them. Lily was relieved to see Papa's buggy drive up to the house. His eyebrows lifted curiously when he saw the tufts of taffy stuck in her hair, but he could tell she didn't want to talk about it and he didn't ask.