GRANDMA'S ATTIC SERIES (3 page)

"I think they've found the pig," Sarah Jane observed.

I nodded.

"We'd better get moving," Sarah Jane said. "We're in for it sooner or later!"

By this time, Roy had reached us, and he breathlessly reported the news. "Someone stole Mrs. Carter's baby and left a pig in the buggy. You're going to get it, because it's wearing your doll clothes."

"I told you Lucy would sleep for hours," Sarah Jane declared impatiently. "She didn't even cry to let them know where she was. How did we know they'd look for her before she woke up?"

I was sure that argument wasn't going to impress Ma, because I had used similar logic on her before without success. But the sooner they found out where the baby was, the better off we would be.

Once everyone stopped long enough to listen, Sarah Jane and I explained everything, and Mrs. Carter was reunited with her baby. When she saw that Lucy was safe, she told Ma not to punish us.

"They just didn't think. I know they didn't mean to be bad."

"They'd better learn to think," Ma replied crossly.

"Do you suppose you can ring the dinner bell without doing something foolish?" she said to me.

Soon Pa came in from the field and washed for dinner. Sarah Jane and I sat as quietly as we could, hoping that no one would pay any attention to us and praying that the boys wouldn't tell Pa what had happened. '

Unfortunately they didn't need to. Pa sat down, asked the blessing, and looked around the table. "Would someone tell me what the fool pig is doing down in the pen with doll rags on? The sow won't even let it come near her." Pa waited for someone to reply.

Sarah Jane and I avoided his glance, Roy sputtered into his glass, and Reuben looked disgusted. Then, to our surprise, Ma and Mrs. Carter began to laugh!

Pa laughed too when he heard the story, making Sarah Jane and I feel better.

Grandma picked up the pan of beans and went to check on her bread. I sat on the steps and looked out over the front yard. I could almost see the buggy and that funny pig!

Grandma," I said, "I've lost the book that is due at the library tomorrow. Have you seen it?"

"No, I haven't. Did you look all over your room?"

"I've looked everywhere!" I said. "It just isn't here. I'll I iave to pay for it if I don't find it, and I haven't any money. What shall I do?"

"We could pray about it," Grandma said. "We'll ask the Lord to help us find it."

"I didn't know the Lord cared about library books. I thought we were just supposed to ask for big stuff."

"Nothing is too small for God to care about when it involves one of His children," Grandma replied.

We prayed about the lost book, -and I went to get ready for bed. When I turned back the covers, my book was under lie pillow!

"Look, Grandma," I called. "Here it is! That was a quick answer to prayer, wasn't it?"

Grandma came to my door and nodded her head. "I'n not surprised. The Lord says 'Before you call, I will answer. He knows just what we need all the time."

"We didn't really have to pray then. The book was here anyway, and the Lord knew I needed it."

"Get into bed," Grandma said, "and I'll tell you why we should always pray, even though God knows our needs."

When I was a little girl, we always had family prayer in our home, and Pa expected each of us to pray. We were brought up to believe that God always hears and answers when His children call.

But I was often a very stubborn child. There were times when I didn't want to do what I knew was right. The morning that I remember was one of those times. Pa had promised that the whole family could go with him to a cattle auction in the next county.

' "There is a homemaking exhibit for the ladies, I hear," Pa said to Ma. "You will enjoy that."

"Even me?" I asked excitedly. "I can go too, Pa?"

"Pa said it was for ladies!" Roy put in. "That sure wouldn't include you."

I started to protest, but Ma interrupted. "Now, Roy, don't start something you'll be sorry for. Of course that includes you, Mabel. Have we ever left you at home?"

I was excited, and I could hardly wait for the day to come. It finally did, and we were up before daybreak to have breakfast and get started. I was in such a hurry to leave that I didn't want to finish the meal.

"You'll wish you had before you see dinnertime," Ma w;irned. "You'd better eat."

Ma didn't know how true that would be.

After breakfast, Pa reached for the Bible.

"Oh, Pa!" I protested. "We aren't going to take time for prayer this morning, are we? Couldn't we do it when we get home tonight? It's a long way to the exhibition grounds!"

Pa looked at me with surprise. "God always comes first in this house, you know that, Mabel. We want to start our day by talking to Him."

"Well, I don't," I replied crossly.

It's a wonder Ma didn't spank me right then. But she didn't. She just looked at me quietly. "All right, Mabel, you won't need to pray this morning."

Somehow the day didn't seem quite as exciting to me now. I knew I had been horrid and should have been punished.

We got into the buggy and started out. I sat very quietly while the boys chattered about what they would see and do. As the sun came up, and we neared the grounds, my spirits rose, and I began to think of the fun I would have. "The first thing I want to do is find Sarah Jane. We want to look at everything that is here."

"You won't have far to look," Ma replied. "I see her standing by the buggies, waiting for you."

Sarah Jane was hopping from one foot to the other with excitement. "Hurry, Mabel," she called. "I've been waiting and waiting for you. What took you so long?"

I started to say something about having prayer before we left, but then thought better of it. "We're here now," I said. "Let's go."

We ran off toward the big tent that held the homemaking exhibit, and our mothers followed close behind.

"Oh!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, "we'll never see all this! I didn't know there were that many quilts in the whole world! Have you ever seen so many things?"

"No," Ma laughed. "I guess I haven't. And look at all the baked goods and canned food! We'd better get started, or we'll miss something."

For a long time Sarah Jane and I trailed along after our, mothers, looking at the displays and pointing out what we liked best. Shortly before noon, the ladies sat down to rest.

"Don't you girls wander off too far," Ma said to us. "We'll be eating in just a little while."

"May we go outside and look around, Ma?" I asked.

"I guess that would be all right. But don't get out of sight of the tents, will you?"

"Oh, no," we promised. "We'll stay right close by."

And we fully intended to do that. There were a number tents with different displays in them, and we were going look at those and come right back. A large woods lay at

the end of the exhibit grounds, and as we approached the edge of it, Sarah Jane stopped and grabbed my hand.

"Look, Mabel. Do you see that?" She pointed toward the high trees.

"What is it? Did one of the calves get away from the animal tent already?"

Sarah Jane shook her head. "I don't think so. It looks like a fawn to me. Let's go see."

Quietly we tiptoed to the end of the clearing and Approached the tree. It was a fawn, and it was watching us.

"He doesn't seem to be afraid," I said. "He's not running away.

Slowly we walked toward the little animal, hoping that we could pet it. As we came closer, he turned and started into the woods. If he had run, we would have given up and gone back. But he walked slowly and let us keep him in sight.

"Isn't he pretty?" Sarah Jane exclaimed. "I wish he'd stop . And let us get closer. If we hurry any faster, I'm afraid we'll scare him."

So without thinking that we were in a strange woods, we followed the fawn for a long time. Finally he disappeared from view, and we turned to go back to the exhibit grounds.

"We've come a long way, Sarah Jane. I can't see the edge of the woods from here. What if we go in the wrong direction?"

"You can't go in the wrong direction if you just turn around from the way you've been going," she said. And to prove it, she turned around and started back. I followed, assured that she knew how to get to the exhibit ground.

Even though the sun was overhead by now, it was cool and shady in the woods. We walked on for what seemed like a long time; then Sarah Jane stopped.

"We don't seem to be going anyplace," she said. "I don't think we walked this far."

"You mean you don't know the way back? You acted like you did. How come we've gone the wrong way if all we had to do was turn around?"

"I guess we didn't turn around far enough," Sarah Jane admitted. "We'd better stop and think about it a minute."

We stopped and sat down on a log. The woods didn't seem as friendly anymore, and I began to feel anxious. Sarah Jane looked around thoughtfully. "My brother says that moss always grows on the north side of trees."

"What has that got to do with anything?" I asked crossly.

"We don't even know what direction we came from. We could stand in the woods with our noses pointed north all lay and never get out."

"You don't have to be cross," Sarah Jane said. "I was trying to think of something to help us. What do you think we should do?"

"I'm sorry," I said, "but I'm getting sort of worried. Besides, I'm awfully hungry. It must be way past dinnertime hy now. Do you suppose they'll go ahead and eat without us?"

"Probably," Sarah Jane replied glumly. "They won't know we went away from the grounds. We were sure dumb to follow that fawn."

We sat for a few more minutes, staring into the woods, then got up and started to walk again. Everything looked alike, and it seemed as though we had seen every tree in the woods.

"Look," said Sarah Jane in disgust. "This is the same log we were just sitting on. We've just gone around in circles. I think we'd better stop and pray about it. The Lord can help us find the way back."

Suddenly I remembered that I had stubbornly refused to pray that morning. Now that I needed help, I was ashamed to ask God for it. I was sorry that I had been so rebellious and foolish.

"You pray," I said to Sarah Jane as we sat back down on the log.

"Dear Lord, please send someone to find us," she prayed. "Or show us the way back to our folks. Thank You." "Now what shall we do?" she asked.

"Pa told us that if we ever got lost in our woods we should sit still until someone finds us. Maybe we better do that in this woods too."

"I guess so. We didn't do much good moving around, so we'd better stay right here and let God send someone after us."

"I hope He doesn't send Roy." I sighed. "He'd never let us forget it. Do you suppose we better add to the prayer that we'd rather have Pa come?"

"I'm so hungry I don't care who He sends," Sarah Jane whined. "Anyone would look good to me right now."

It seemed like we sat on that log for hours. We sang all the songs we knew, and recited all the poems we had learned. As the shadows lengthened in the woods, it became harder to sit still, rather than trying to find our way out.

"Do you suppose we better remind God that we're still here?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I don't think we need to. I'm sure He's already told our folks where we are."

"I wish they would hurry up and come then," Sarah Jane said. "It must be almost night."

Finally both of us fell asleep. The next thing we knew we were being picked up in strong arms and carried toward the exhibit grounds.

"I knew you'd come," I said to Pa. "We asked the Lord to send someone. Did He tell you where to find us?"

"Yes, I'm sure He did," Pa replied. "And I'm glad you remembered to stay in one place."

"Pa," I said, "I'm sorry I didn't pray this morning. I won't ever do that again."

Pa hugged me, and I knew he had forgiven me. Soon we were back with our families. Were we surprised to find out that we had only been gone for about two hours!

"Girls!" Roy said in disgust. "They don't even know which way is which!"

"We do so!" I retorted. "It's just that the trees all look alike, and this is a strange woods."

"I'm glad the Lord was watching over you girls," Ma said. "If He doesn't, there's not much hope for either of you, I'm

afraid." '

We ate dinner, and spent the rest of the day close to Ma. Even though the Lord knew where we were, I was certainly glad we could pray that day!

Grandma tapped on the kitchen window to signal that my lunch was ready.

"Who was your little friend?" she asked as I came into the kitchen. "I saw you swinging with someone."

"I don't know," I replied. "He followed me up the lane when I came from the mailbox, and we just started playing."

"You know his name, don't you?"

"No, I didn't ask him."

Grandma looked surprised. "You played together all morning and didn't ask his name?"

I shrugged. "I didn't have to call him for anything. He was right there. He didn't ask me my name, either."