Growing Up in Lancaster County (9 page)

“That’s how it usually is after a good goat chase.” Grandpa tugged his earlobe. “I remember one day when I was boy, my daed’s old billy goat stole my hat and chewed off the brim. So I took out after him and we ran around the yard so many times we made a path in the grass.”

Mom clucked her tongue. “Ach, how you exaggerate, Dad.”

“I’m not exaggerating.” Grandpa shook his head. “That story really happened, just the way I told it.”

“Did you ever catch the goat?” Rachel asked.

“Sure did. I caught him out behind the barn when he was trying to get through the fence.” Grandpa pulled his other earlobe. “Silly goat ended up getting his head caught instead.”

Rachel snickered. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one who’d ever had trouble with a goat.

Just then, the back door squeaked open, and Pap entered the room.

“Hi, Pap. Do you notice anything new about me?” Rachel asked, stepping up to him.

He studied her a few seconds and smiled. “Are you wearing a new dress?”

She shook her head.

He glanced down at her feet. “New shoes?”

“
Nee
[No]. They’re the same shoes I had on this morning.”

“Hmm…” Pap stroked his beard then rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Now I wonder what could be new with my Rachel today?”

Mom poked Pap’s arm and rolled her eyes. “Your daughter got her new glasses this afternoon, Levi.”

Pap leaned closer to Rachel, studied her for a few seconds, and grinned. “Well, well…so you did. Those glasses are nice, Rachel. Jah, very nice indeed.”

“What’s very nice?” Henry asked when he entered the room.

“Your sister’s new glasses.” Pap motioned to Rachel. “Come see what you think.”

Henry moved over to Rachel. “I see you picked out some blue ones to match your eyes.”

She nodded. “Do you think they look all right?”

“They look more than all right. They look
fehlerfrie
[perfect] for you.”

Rachel smiled. “Danki, Henry.”

Jacob stepped into the room. “I’m finished with my chores. How soon till supper?”

“It’ll be a while,” Mom said. “Rachel and I were at the optical shop, and then we stopped by Esther and Rudy’s to show them her new glasses.”

Jacob squinted at Rachel.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“I didn’t realize your glasses would be so thick.” Jacob’s lips turned up at the corners. “Ha! Now you have four eyes instead of two!”

“What?” Rachel’s chin trembled, and her eyes filled with tears.

Mom frowned at Jacob. “Apologize to your sister for saying such a mean thing.”

“Your mamm’s right,” Pap put in. “That remark was uncalled for and not even true.”

“Sorry, Rachel,” Jacob mumbled.

Rachel didn’t reply. She raced to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
Do I really look like I have four eyes? If I do, I don’t see how I can go to school tomorrow. I’ll have to come up with a good reason to stay home
.

B
am! Bam! Bam!
“Mom wants you downstairs for breakfast!” Jacob called as he banged on Rachel’s bedroom door. “If we don’t eat now, we’ll be late for school!”

Rachel pulled the covers over her head.

“Schnell, Rachel! Schnell!”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be there soon.” Rachel climbed out of bed and hurried to get dressed. She still hadn’t come up with a good reason to stay home from school today, but she hoped she could think of something during breakfast.

Or maybe
, she thought as she slipped into her shoes,
I won’t wear my glasses at school
.

Rachel left her glasses lying on her dresser, hurried from her room, and rushed downstairs.

“
Guder mariye
[Good morning],” Mom said when Rachel entered the kitchen. “We’re ready to eat, so have a seat at the table.”

Rachel pulled out the chair beside Grandpa and sat down.

Pap looked at Rachel and frowned. “Where are your glasses?”

“I—I left them in my room.”

Mom placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of Rachel. “Be sure you get them right after breakfast.”

Rachel fiddled with the edge of her napkin. “Maybe I—uh—shouldn’t wear them today.”

“Why not?” Pap asked. “You’re supposed to wear them all the time, right?”

“Jah, but—” Rachel could barely speak around the lump in her throat. She took a drink of milk. “What if the kinner laugh at me the way Jacob did last night? What if someone calls me ‘four eyes’?”

“I’m sure no one at school will tease you about your glasses,” Mom said, sitting on the other side of Rachel. “Elizabeth would never allow such a thing.” She looked at Jacob and frowned. “You’d better not tease your sister about wearing glasses again.”

“Okay, Mom,” Jacob said with a nod.

“What if someone teases me during recess when Elizabeth’s not there to hear?” Rachel asked.

“Then you should find the teacher and tell her what was said,” Henry spoke up.

“If I do that, the kinner will call me a
retschbeddi
[tattletale].”

Jacob looked at Rachel and wrinkled his nose. “That’s because you
are
a retschbeddi.”

“Am not.”

“Are so.”

“Am not.”

“Are so.”

“Am—”

“That will be enough!” Pap said loudly. “Now bow your heads for silent prayer, and be sure when you pray that you make things right with God for arguing with each other this morning.”

As Rachel headed to school wearing her glasses, she noticed the colorful flowers along the way. She wished she had time to stop and pick a few.

She looked at the fluffy clouds floating lazily overhead. It would be nice to lie in the grass and study the shapes of the clouds.

When they came to a tree where some birds were singing, Rachel stopped and listened to their melody.

Jacob nudged her arm. “Hurry up, slowpoke. You’re gonna make us late to school if you don’t keep walking.”

“I am walking.”

“No you’re not. You’ve been looking at the sky and stopping every few minutes to smell the flowers.”

“I haven’t been smelling the flowers; I’ve only looked at them.”

“Whatever you say, little bensel.”

Rachel frowned. “Mom said you weren’t supposed to tease me.”

“I wasn’t teasing.” Jacob kicked a pebble with the toe of his boot. “You
are
a little bensel.”

“I am not a silly child, and you’d better stop calling me that!”

“I will, when you stop acting like one.” Jacob walked faster. “See you at school!”

When Rachel arrived at the schoolhouse, the bell was already ringing. She hurried inside and put her lunch pail on the shelf.

“I see you got new glasses,” Orlie said. “They sure make you look different.”

“Different in a good way?” she asked hopefully.

Orlie shrugged and grinned. “I think they make you look like you’ve got four eyes.” He looked at Audra’s brother, Brian, and said, “Don’t you think Rachel looks like she has four eyes?”

Brian stared at Rachel a few seconds; then he looked back at Orlie. “I think her glasses look like
schlang aage
[snake eyes].”

Rachel clenched her fingers. “Have you two been talking to Jacob?”

Orlie shook his head. “Huh-uh.”

Audra put her lunch pail on the shelf beside Rachel’s. “Don’t listen to Orlie and Brian. They just like to tease.” She patted Rachel’s arm. “I think your glasses are nice. They make you look grown up and real
schmaert
[smart].”

“Do you really think they make me look smart?”

Audra nodded. “Sure do.”

Brian nudged Audra’s arm. “That’s
lecherich
[ridiculous]. Glasses don’t make a person look smart. They just tell the world you can’t see.”

“I’m sure Rachel can see real well now that she’s got glasses,” Audra said. “Isn’t that true, Rachel?”

Rachel nodded. She was glad Audra had stuck up for her, but after the comments Brian, Orlie, and Jacob had made, she didn’t feel smart or grown up. She felt ugly in her glasses. Maybe she shouldn’t wear them at school anymore. Maybe she should only wear them at home.

After lunch, Rachel went outside for recess. She spotted Jacob and some other boys sitting on one end of the fence. Orlie was there, too, only he stood on the other end of the fence—his left foot on one railing—his right foot on the railing above.

“
Bass uff as du net fallscht
[Take care you don’t fall],” Rachel told him.

He grinned. “Don’t worry; I won’t.”

“I thought I wouldn’t fall from the tree when I tried to rescue Cuddles,” she said, “but remember what happened?”

He nodded. “You broke your arm.”

“That’s right, and if you fall, you might break something, too.”

“Ah, you worry too much. I know what I’m doing.” Orlie wrinkled his freckled nose. “And just because you’re wearing glasses that make you look scholarly doesn’t mean you’re smarter than me.”

Rachel shook her head—one quick shake, and then another. “I don’t think I’m smarter; I’m just saying you could get hurt if you’re not careful.”

His lips twitched with a smile, and he puffed out his chest. “Want to see me stand on one leg?”

“No.”

“Well, here I go!” Orlie pulled his left leg up so he stood with both legs on the top railing. Then, holding his arms straight out to keep his balance, he lifted his right leg.

Rachel’s heart thumped in her chest as Orlie wobbled. She glanced over to see if Jacob saw what Orlie had done, but he was talking to Brian and didn’t seem to notice.

“Orlie, please come down from there,” she pleaded.

“Aw, quit worrying; I’m doin’ fine.” He switched to the other leg, and—
whoosh
!—tumbled right to the ground.

Rachel’s heart pounded. She rushed forward and dropped beside Orlie. “Are you okay?”

Orlie stared at her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

The boys who’d been sitting on the fence hopped down and crowded around Orlie.

“Are you hurt?”

“Did you break anything?”

“Should we get the teacher?”

Everyone spoke at once.

Orlie grunted and pulled himself to a sitting position. “I—I’m okay. Just had the wind knocked out of me.”

Rachel clucked her tongue, the way Mom often did, and shook her finger at Orlie. “I told you standing on the fence was a bad idea. You’re lucky you weren’t hurt. You’d better not do that again.”

Orlie stood and brushed the dirt from his trousers. “You’re not my mamm, Rachel. You have no right to be tellin’ me what to do.”
Aaa-choo!
He sneezed.

“When you do foolish things, someone needs to tell you about it.” Rachel looked at Jacob. “Standing on the fence with one leg is dumm, isn’t it?”

Jacob shrugged. “If Orlie wants to stand on the fence with one leg or two, that’s up to him.” He pointed at Rachel. “You, little bensel, should mind your own business!”

Hot tears pushed against Rachel’s eyelids, and she gritted her teeth. Why couldn’t Jacob stick up for her—especially when he should know she was right?

Rachel whirled around and walked away. Maybe swinging would make her feel better.

“Where ya goin’?” Orlie called after her.

Rachel kept walking.

“She’s probably going to look for some flowers to smell.” Jacob snickered. “Now that she’s got new glasses, she can see what she’s smelling!” He tipped his head back and howled with laughter.

The other boys joined right in. “Ha! Ha! Ha!”

“Say, Rachel,” Brian hollered, “how’s it feel to have four eyes? Do those glasses make you see double?”

Rachel covered her ears to block out their teasing and ran as fast as she could. She didn’t want to swing now, so she headed for the schoolhouse.

“Four eyes!”

“Snake eyes!”

“Little bensel!”

The boys scampered past Rachel and raced up the schoolhouse stairs, laughing all the way.

Audra caught up to Rachel and slipped her arm around Rachel’s waist. “You should tell the teacher on them. It’s not right the way they tease.”

Rachel sniffed and swiped at the tears running down her cheeks. “If I tell, they’ll call me a retschbeddi and tease me even more.”

“Maybe I should tell the teacher then,” Audra said.

Rachel shook her head. “Please don’t. I’ll think of some way to deal with this.”

On the way to school the following morning, Rachel made a decision. She decided to take off her glasses before she got to school and put them back on before she got home.

She stopped near the schoolhouse driveway, removed her glasses, and put them inside the small case she’d put in her backpack.

Jacob frowned at Rachel. “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like?”

“It looks like you’re not planning to wear your glasses today.”

She nodded. “That’s right.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like being called ‘four eyes’, ‘snake eyes’, and ‘little bensel’.”

“Okay, I won’t tease you anymore,” Jacob said.

“That won’t keep Brian and Orlie from teasing.” She started walking again. “I’ve thought it through, and I’ve decided not to wear my glasses at school.”

“But if you’re not wearing your glasses, then how will you see?”