PIECES OF LAUGHTER AND FUN (12 page)

"You only have an apple to be sorry for," I replied. "I have a ruined dress to worry about, too."

After school, we started slowly toward home.

"Do you suppose it would be better if we told our folks together?" Sarah Jane wondered.

I thought about that. "It wouldn't make much difference. They already know that if you did it, I did, too."

"If this wasn't class meeting Sunday, we could wait another week," Sarah Jane said.

We walked along in silence, thinking about the task ahead of us.

"I'm going to have more sympathy for Eve when I read about her in the Bible after this," Sarah Jane declared. "We don't even have a snake to blame it on. It was all our idea."

We parted at my lane. "Ma might not let me come over tomorrow," Sarah Jane said. "But I'll see you Sunday. Are you going to tell them right now?"

"No, I think I'll wait until after we have prayer tonight. It will be easier after pa prays for me."

Which it was. But not easy enough. When I had finished my story, pa looked very serious. "I'm glad you told us, Mabel. Now what are you girls going to do about it?"

I was surprised. "Do about it? We can't take the apple back, because Miss Gibson ate it." Pa didn't say anything.

"Oh, pa! Do I have to tell Mr. Gibbs I climbed his tree?"

"No," pa replied. "You don't have to. We didn't have to know about it either. Why did you tell us?"

"Because I knew I did something I shouldn't have. I feel better when you forgive me."

"That's right, Mabel. But, it wasn't my tree. God forgives us when we do wrong," he added gently. "But we need to ask the person involved to forgive us, too."

"All right, pa. We'll go and talk to Mr. Gibbs tomorrow. But I don't think I like apples as well as I did."

"You will," pa laughed. "After this, just stick to the windfalls, and they'll taste just fine!"