Growing Up in Lancaster County (3 page)

Rachel didn’t look forward to taking care of the chickens, but she knew better than to argue with Mom. “Can we play after we finish our chores?” she asked.

“Of course.” Mom patted Rachel’s arm. “The sooner you get the jobs done, the sooner you can play.”

Jacob put an orange slice between his lips and bit. A squirt of juice hit Rachel’s forehead.

“Hey! Watch what you’re doing!” Rachel dashed to the sink, splashed cold water on her face, and patted it dry with a clean towel. “I’ll bet you did that on purpose,” she said when she returned to the table.

“Did not.”

“Did so.”

“Did not.” “Did—”

Mom clapped her hands. “If you don’t stop squabbling, you may not play when you’re done with your chores.”

“Sorry,” Rachel and Jacob both mumbled.

Grinning, Jacob looked over at Rachel and said, “I love you,
schweschder
[sister].”

On her way to the chicken coop, Rachel spotted Buddy sleeping on the roof of his doghouse. His nose was tucked between his paws, and his floppy ears covered both eyes. Rachel hadn’t liked Buddy when he’d first come to live with them, because she was afraid he would hurt her cat. But Buddy and Cuddles had become friends, just like Rachel and Audra. Now Rachel only had to worry about Buddy giving her sloppy wet kisses. She tried to stay away from Buddy whenever Jacob let him out of his dog run.

Rachel glanced at the barn, where Jacob was cleaning the horses’ stalls. A gray and white ball of fur streaked across the lawn and ducked into the barn. Rachel figured Cuddles was probably after a mouse.

Rachel opened the door to the chicken coop. As soon as she stepped inside, she knew she was in for trouble.
Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!
Hector, the biggest, noisiest rooster, flapped his wings and flew around the coop, dropping feathers everywhere.

Rachel didn’t know if Hector was carrying on because he was hungry, or if he was just being ornery. As long as he didn’t try to peck Rachel or get in her way, she didn’t care how crazy he acted.

Rachel opened the lid on the bucket of chicken feed, scooped some out, and poured it into the feeders. Squawking and flapping their wings, all the chickens in the coop swarmed around the feeders, pecking at the food.

While the chickens ate, Rachel took the water dishes outside. Using the hose, she filled them with fresh water and hauled them back to the coop. She’d just set the last one inside when Hector started carrying on again.

Squawk! Squawk! Cock-a-doodle-do!
He strutted across the floor with his wings outstretched. When he reached the open door, he flew past Rachel and landed in the yard. With another noisy squawk, Hector headed straight for Buddy’s dog run. He stuck his head through a hole in the fence and grabbed food from Buddy’s dish.

Rachel dashed across the yard, waving her hands. “Stop that, you
narrish
[crazy] rooster! You have your own food in the coop!”

Hector kept eating.
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Rachel clapped her hands. “Buddy, wake up! Hector’s stealing your food!”

Buddy opened his eyes, stretched, and scratched his ear.

Rachel pointed to the rooster. “Don’t you care that he’s robbing your food? Chase him away, Buddy!”

With a shake of his furry head, Buddy jumped to his feet and leaped off the doghouse.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
He rammed the fence with his nose.

Hector screeched and jerked away from Buddy’s dish, but when he tried to pull his head through the hole in the fence, he got stuck.
Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!

Grrr. Woof! Woof!
Buddy swiped at the rooster’s head with his paw.

Bawk! Bawk!

Woof! Woof! Woof!

“What’s all the ruckus about?” Jacob shouted as he raced from the barn. “What’s wrong with Buddy?”

Rachel pointed to the chicken. “Hector was trying to steal Buddy’s food. Then Buddy went after him, and now Hector’s head is stuck. Can you do something, Jacob? I’m afraid Buddy might hurt him.”

Even though Rachel had wanted Hector to stop eating Buddy’s food, she didn’t want Buddy to hurt the poor critter.

“Jah, okay. I’ll see what I can do.” Jacob opened the gate to Buddy’s dog run and stepped inside. “Here, Buddy. Come, boy!”

Grrr
. Buddy was nose to beak with the rooster and wouldn’t budge.

“Bad dog! Come when I call!” Jacob grabbed Buddy’s collar and pulled him away from the chicken. “See if you can get the rooster’s head out now,” he said to Rachel.

Rachel squatted beside Hector and placed her hands around his neck. Slowly, gently, she pulled.

Bawk! Bawk!
Hector’s head popped free. Looking a bit dazed, he stood there a few seconds, shook his head, and then wobbled across the yard, crowing all the way.
Cock-a-doodle-do!

“What a narrish chicken,” Rachel muttered. “He ought to know better than to stick his beak where it doesn’t belong.”

Jacob snickered. “Jah, just like some people I know.”

Rachel glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing.” Jacob patted the dog’s head, stepped out of the dog run, and closed the gate. “Be good, Buddy. I’ll come back to play with you after I finish my chores in the barn.”

Buddy plodded back to his doghouse; only this time he crawled inside instead of jumping on top.

“That was a close call for the rooster,” Rachel said as she walked beside Jacob.

Jacob shrugged. “That’s what the critter gets for trying to steal Buddy’s food.”

Rachel’s brows furrowed. “How would you like it if some big animal came along and tried to eat Buddy?”

“I wouldn’t like it,” he said.

“When the rooster was acting crazy inside the chicken coop, I was angry with him, and when he went after Buddy’s food, it really made me mad.” Rachel sighed. “Even so, I didn’t want the chicken to get hurt.”

“I see what you mean. I’ll have to think about what I’m saying from now on.”

“Does that mean you won’t tease me anymore?”

“I’m your
bruder
[brother], so I’ll probably still tease,” Jacob said. “But I’d never do anything on purpose to hurt you.”

Rachel smiled and headed for the chicken coop. It was comforting to know Jacob would never hurt her intentionally. She just hoped he would stop teasing her.

“Where are you going?” Jacob called. “Haven’t you finished feeding the chickens?”

“Jah, but I forgot to check for eggs.”

“I have one more stall to clean, and then I’ll take Buddy for a walk.” Jacob disappeared into the barn.

Rachel stepped into the coop and picked up the basket Mom kept near the door. Checking under each hen, she found only three eggs. “Guess that’s better than none,” she said, heading back to the house.

When Rachel entered the kitchen, she was surprised that it was empty. She had figured Mom would have started supper by now. She cleaned the eggs and put them in the refrigerator, then headed to the living room to get the book she’d left there last night.

Rachel found Mom asleep on the sofa, so she picked up the book and tiptoed quietly out of the room.

Outside, Rachel sat on the porch swing and opened the book. She’d only read a few pages when she heard a horrible shriek, followed by
thump-thump-thump!

“I hope Buddy isn’t after Cuddles now,” Rachel moaned. She set the book on the swing and stepped into the yard to investigate.

She scanned the area, but didn’t see anything unusual.

Thumpety-thump-thump!

Rachel bent down and peered under the porch. Two beady eyes stared back at her.

Hector wobbled out from under the porch, shaking his head and ruffling his feathers.

Rachel’s mouth fell open. The crazy rooster had a yogurt cup stuck on his beak!

“Hold still, Hector.” Rachel crept closer to the chicken. “Let me get that off you.”

Squawk! Squawk!
The rooster hopped onto the porch, shaking his head and flapping his wings.

Rachel felt sorry for the bird, but she still laughed. The critter looked hilarious, dancing around the porch, flipping his head from side to side.

She tried to corner Hector between the swing and the porch railing, but he darted around her and leaped off the porch, leaving red feathers in her hands.

Rachel ran into the yard after the rooster, but every time she came close, he turned another way. With a frustrated sigh, she went to get Jacob.

“Are you done cleaning the horses’ stalls?” she asked when she found Jacob sitting on a bale of straw.

He nodded.

“I need your help again.”

“What is it this time, Rachel?”

“Hector got his beak stuck in a yogurt cup, and I can’t catch him to get it off.”

“No problem. I’ll capture that crazy rooster.”

Rachel followed Jacob out of the barn. They found Hector banging the yogurt cup against the horses’ watering trough.

“I’ll catch him!” Jacob dashed across the yard, took a flying leap, and landed in the water trough with a splash!

Rachel laughed so hard she could barely breathe, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“That wasn’t funny,” Jacob mumbled as he pulled himself out of the trough. He shook his head, splattering water all over Rachel.

Rachel jumped back. “Hey! Watch what you’re doing!”

“Since you thought it was so funny to see me wet, I thought I’d share the water with you.”

Rachel was about to tell Jacob what she thought, when the rooster wobbled up and stopped at her feet. He tipped his head back and looked at her as if to say, “Would you please get this thing off my beak?”

Rachel grasped the cup with both hands, and—
floop!
—it popped right off!

Hector shook his head and flew up to the fence. Tilting his head back, he let out a garbled
Cocker-doodle-de-do!

Rachel looked at Jacob, and they both laughed. “I’m glad we live on a farm,” she said. “Around here something funny is always going on.”

O
n Saturday morning a few weeks later, Rachel headed down the driveway to the mailbox. The harsh wind smacked against her body with such force she nearly toppled over. The ties on her kapp whipped around her face. The spring day had started so nicely. She hoped the wind would die down soon so she could do something fun. Maybe later she could jump on the trampoline, play in the barn with Cuddles, or catch some frogs at the creek. Those were always fun things to do.

Rachel opened the mailbox and pulled out a stack of mail. “All right! I got a letter from Mary!” she exclaimed when she saw the envelope on top addressed to her.

Rachel raced up the driveway, eager to read her cousin’s words. She sat on the porch step and ripped open the letter. She’d only read the first two words, when—
whoosh!
—a gust of wind tore the letter from her hands, carrying it across the yard, along with some blowing loose straw from the piles stacked near the barn.

Rachel placed the rest of the mail on the small table near the back door and raced after the runaway letter. It zoomed across the grass, flew into the maple tree, and fluttered to the ground.

Rachel lunged for it, and—
whoosh!
—another gust of wind carried the letter away.

“Come back here!” Rachel shouted as she continued the chase. No way was she going to let Mary’s letter get away from her!

Huffing and puffing, she dashed after the letter, but it drifted on the wind and whooshed away again. She watched it sail through the air and land in the pasture where Pap’s herd of brown and white cows grazed.

The wind settled down, and Rachel climbed over the fence. Her fingers almost touched the letter, when—
snort!
—one of the cows nudged the letter with her nose, and the piece of paper flew against the fence and stuck.

“Ah-ha! I’ve got you now!” Rachel grabbed the letter, and
—rip
!—it tore right in two!

“Oh no,” she groaned. “How can I read Mary’s letter now?”

Rachel raced back to the porch, scooped up the mail on the table, and opened the door. “The mail’s here,” she said when she entered the kitchen.

Mom motioned to the table. “Just put it over there.”

“I got a letter from Mary, but the wind took it away. Then one of Pap’s cows nudged it with her nose and it stuck to the fence. When I grabbed the paper, it ripped in two!” Rachel frowned and lifted both halves of the letter.

Mom set the broom aside. “Lay the pieces on the table, and we’ll tape them together.” She got clear tape from the desk, taped the pieces, and handed the letter to Rachel. “Here you go—good as new.”

Rachel sat at the table to read Mary’s letter.
“Dear Rachel: How are you
—” She squinted as she tried to figure out the next words. They looked blurry. “I wonder why Mary wrote with such tiny letters,” she mumbled. “I can’t read some of the words.”

“Maybe you’re having problems reading the letter because it was torn. Would you like me to see if I can read it?” Mom asked.

Rachel nodded and handed her the letter.

Mom pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose and began to read.