Authors: Mary Christner Borntrager

Tags: #Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #test

Ellie (11 page)

Page 91

like Amos's have," she said. "So we have to get a
Maut
again."

"I'll get you a
Maut,
if you need one," Jake replied, "but I guarantee you it won't be Susie Glick." Lizzie just smiled.

The next six weeks were busy ones. Mr. Maust had no problem selling his place, because of the improvements he and his wife had made since moving there. He received even more than he expected he could get. Also, Amos Schrock felt he could come down in price for his farm, since he was selling to a fellow church member. They were glad to see him move his family back into the Amish settlement again.

The
Maut
that came to help was no Susie Glick, in more ways than one. She was not happy and jolly like Susie, nor did she work as well, and she most certainly was not kind to Ellie. But she dressed very plain, so Papa was satisfied.

All the good dishes had been packed into boxes and neatly stacked in the corner of Ellie's and the hired girl's room. The walls and ceilings were washed, the basement cleaned, the empty jars taken from their rack and carefully wrapped to prevent breakage.

The night before the Saturday of the big sale day, Papa and the boys lined up things outside. It was all so exciting. Ellie couldn't settle down to sleep that night. It was late when she went to bed.

"Stop your
rutsching
(squirming) and go to sleep," said Mattie Yoder, their new hired girl. Ellie tried harder than ever to lie still. She ached all over. Her leg cramped, then her back itched. Finally, she could

Page 92

stand it no longer. She moved. A poke in the ribs from Mattie's elbow caused her to cry out.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed.

"Get out," scolded the
Maut.
"If you can't hold still, then sleep on the floor. This bed isn't big enough for both of us, anyway."

True,
thought Ellie.
It would take a big bed just for you alone. You are so fat.
Without saying a word, Ellie took her pillow and curled up on the floor. She was cold all night and couldn't help but think how understanding Susie would be if she were here. Even now, she could hear her in her thoughts, saying,
What's wrong, Bussli? Can't you sleep? I know you hate to leave your friend at school, but there will be other friends. I'm here, so try to sleep. Tomorrow things will look brighter.
Oh, how she missed Susie.

Early next morning, people began to come from all directions for the Maust auction. There were more cars there than horses and buggies. Mrs. Maust had decided to sell a few household items, and among them was the small chest of drawers in Ellie's room. After breakfast, she sent Mattie up with a box to empty it of its contents. Then she had Roy and Sammie carry it down and set it in the yard along with the other things to be sold. A few minutes later Ellie heard the hired girl come downstairs.

Calling to Mrs. Maust, Mattie said for all to hear, "Look what I found in your daughter's chest of drawers," and she held out the box of body powder Susie had given Ellie.

Ellie felt cold all over. She had forgotten to hide

Page 93

the powder when she knew that piece of furniture was to be sold.

"Throw it in the trash," Lizzie instructed. Mattie smirked at Ellie as she marched out the back door to the trash barrel, where she deposited the box and its contents with a plop.

You wait,
reasoned Ellie.
You won't get away with this. When you aren't around, I'll go and get it back.

The care of baby Andy had been assigned to Ellie for the day. Many people stopped to fuss over the "cute little fellow," as they called him. This embarrassed Ellie. She said very little to anyone until she saw Missy and her father coming up the walk toward the house. Ellie was surprised and delighted to see her good friend here today.

"Come in, Missy. You can stay with me. I have to take care of the baby."

"Can I hold him?" asked Missy.

"I don't care. If you want to, you can," she answered. Rather reluctantly, the baby sat on the Englisher's lap. He kept looking at her with big somber eyes and a solemn expression.

"Well, I'll come for you when I'm ready to go," said Missy's father. "Don't be a bother, now."

Ellie heard the auctioneer only when he was selling close by the house. She never knew anyone could talk so fast. Half of it she couldn't understand, and she and Missy laughed at the way he sounded.

Missy told Ellie how lucky Ellie was to have a real baby to play with, and not pretend ones like her dolls. Missy also told her she wished she could wear long dark dresses with matching aprons and a white

Page 94

cap, or a black one like Ellie sometimes wore. And Ellie told Missy how she wished she could always have what she asked for like Missy could, even if Mama and Papa said that spoils a child.

The sale lasted almost all day, but by evening, everyone had gone, and Papa and Mother were happy and content.

''Everything brought a good price today," Jake said. "The Lord has blessed us richly." Of course, he spoke this in German, but Ellie understood, and she was glad. Only one thing overshadowed her happiness. When they moved, it meant leaving Missy. Well, it wouldn't be for two more weeks; and to a child, two weeks can be a long time. She wouldn't worry yet. There was too much to do to worry.

Page 95

14
A Hard Good-Bye

On Monday morning following the sale, Ellie heard her father tell Roy to haul the trash barrel down to the junk pile in the orchard before leaving for school.

"Take the sorrels and hitch them to the mud boat. You can do it if you hurry."

Then Ellie remembered the box of body powder. Very quickly, on the pretense of needing to go to the outhouse, she ran out the back door. Going directly to the trash barrel, she looked inside. To her delight, she saw what she was looking for. It lay along the side of the barrel, partly hidden by other discarded bottles, tins, and various debris. Could she reach it? Ellie wondered. Well, she was sure going to try. Pulling herself up to her full height, she bent in over the top and reached down as far as she could. Her fingertips just barely touched the lid of the box. She knew she must hurry or she might be discovered in the act.

Page 96

Once more she tried, and this time she got it. Some of the powder spilled, but Ellie brushed it off. Concealing her treasure inside her pocket, and using her apron to cover her dress, she returned to the house. The box left quite a bulge, so she held her arm to her side, hiding the evidence.

"Why do you walk around with your arm so close to your side?" asked the
Maut.

But before Ellie could answer the busybody, her mother said, "Ellie, the schoolbus is here."

Gratefully, Ellie grabbed her lunch pail and ran out the door. Once she was seated, she carefully removed the box from her pocket and put it in her lunchbox. She was glad Roy and Sammie both had their noses in their schoolbooks. That way they didn't notice what she was doing. She decided to hide the powder box inside her desk until she could figure out a way to sneak it back home and to hide it from Mattie Yoder.

This was the last week Ellie and her brothers were attending Hatfield School. The teacher told Ellie she was sorry to see her go because she was such a good student and obedient child.

"Really, I can't call you a child anymore," she said. "You are a young lady, and a friend worth knowing. Your parents surely are teaching you well."

Ellie was embarrassed at such flattery but managed to say, "I'll miss you, Mrs. Kirk." Ellie liked Mrs. Kirk almost as well as she had liked Miss Olive during her first year of school.

Friday came all too soon for Ellie. She wished with all her heart she had a present to give her best

Page 97

friend. At noon recess, the two girls talked and planned how they might stay in touch.

"We could write to each other," said Missy, her blue eyes sparkling. "But you must write to me first so I will have your address."

"But I don't have any envelopes or stamps, and Papa wouldn't like it if I asked him for some," answered Ellie.

"Why not?" asked Missy. "My father gives me almost anything I want. Is your papa mean?"

"No, no," remarked Ellie quickly. "He just doesn't think it's necessary. I asked him once when I wanted to write to Susie Glick, and he said it would be a waste of money."

"Well, then," said Missy, "I will write to you and send an extra envelope and some stamps. That will be my going-away present to you." How Ellie wished she had a present to give to Missy.

The school bell rang, calling the boys and girls in from recess. Two of the bigger boys came running and crowded in ahead of Missy and Ellie. In so doing, they knocked Missy over. She fell on a piece of broken concrete near the first step going into the schoolhouse and cut an ugly gash in her forehead. Ellie reached down to help her to her feet. The boys ran on, not caring. But another girl ran for the teacher, and soon they were leading the injured girl to the washroom. Mrs. Kirk sent the children back to the playground so she could attend to Missy. But Ellie did not want to go back outside. Instead, she went straight to her room and sat with her head on her desk. She felt so sorry her friend was hurting.

Page 98

Ellie was hurting, toohurting because she had nothing to give her.

Reaching inside her desk for a handkerchief to dry her tears, Ellie's hand touched the powder box. She had almost forgotten it. Then a happy thought came to her.
I will give it to Missy. Susie would understand. Besides, it will be a long time before it's time for Rumschpringe,
she reasoned. Quickly she took the box and wiped it with her hanky. Tearing a sheet of paper from her writing tablet, she decorated it, drawing pretty flowers and birds and stars. On a small piece of paper she wrote, "I'll never forget you, Missy."

Wrapping the box and note with her handiwork, she glued the corners firmly with her school paste. It made a neat little package. Even though Papa would have chided her for wasting paper, crayons, and paste, she didn't feel at all guilty. Then Ellie remembered to quickly write her new address on a slip of paper, fastening it to the package for Missy so she could write.

Presently the teacher came into the room to get Missy's lunchbox and gather up a few of her other things. "Why, Ellie," she exclaimed. "Why aren't you outside playing with the other children?"

"Oh," answered Ellie, "I just made a surprise for Missy. Is she hurt bad?"

"Probably not seriously, but to be safe a doctor should check her. So Mr. Banks, the janitor, is taking her home."

"Would you please give this to her for me?" asked Ellie, handing the package to her teacher.

Page 99

"Sure I will," answered Mrs. Kirk, seeing the troubled look in Ellie's eyes and hearing the anxiety in her voice. "Don't worry. Missy will be alright."

In a way, Ellie was almost glad she didn't have to say good-bye to Missy. It would have been too heartbreaking. How Ellie hoped she would soon hear from her English friend, and with the good news that she was well again.

Somehow Ellie made it through the rest of the school day. Soon she was cleaning out her desk and neatly placing all her belongings in a brown paper bag provided by Mrs. Kirk. As she left the schoolyard for the last time, she wondered if she would ever see Missy again.

"Change your dress right away," were the first words Ellie heard as she passed through the kitchen door. "We will be so busy the next week, every minute must count. Moving is a big job, and I need all the help I can get," said her mother.

Ellie hurried across the kitchen toward the stairway. At the same moment, Mattie came out of the pantry with a crock of apple butter. They collided. Mattie and the apple butter crock hit the floor with a crash. Ellie just stood there dumbfounded.

"Ach, my, what a mess," said Lizzie Maust, as she came to the aid of her
Maut.
Mattie had apple butter on her dress, apron, face, arms, and even in her hair. When she got to her feet and recovered her voice, she began scolding Ellie.

"You
doppich
little snipe. Why don't you watch where you are going? If you wouldn't always have

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