Andy (3 page)

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Authors: Mary Christner Borntrager

Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Juvenile Fiction, #Religious, #Christian, #test

BOOK: Andy
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Page 19
3
Faraway Places
Andy heard it. He was sure he did. It came from the direction of the smokehouse.
Jake had told his son to stay away from there and not bother Cloyce after working hours. It had been three weeks since this man came, and not once had Andy disobeyed that rule. But now he could not resist.
Such beautiful music he never heard before. In fact, Andy seldom heard any music other than the sounds of nature or of singing. Musical instruments were
verbodde
(forbidden) in Amish homes.
Now Andy thought he just must see what Cloyce was up to.
Creeping to the shanty, he hoisted himself up on a piece of firewood to look in the window. There sat Cloyce playing and singing.
Andy had never seen such an instrument before. It looked like a long-handled wooden paddle with strings. Cloyce made music come from that with his
 
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fingers. He was singing something about "land, lots of land," and "don't fence me in."
The piece of a log Andy had been standing on shifted, and he lost his footing. Down he went with a crash.
The noise brought Cloyce to his feet immediately, and the door opened. Even though Andy tried to run, he was stopped in his tracks as a rough hand grabbed his shirt by the back of the neck.
"What are you doing out here, boy?" Cloyce asked.
Andy was shaking so badly that he couldn't answer.
"Come on, boy. I asked you a question."
"I was listening to you sing and to the music," Andy whimpered.
The hand that gripped Andy's shirt loosened a bit. "So, you like my singing and playing, do you? Well, come on inside, and I'll show you some real pickin'."
"But I'm not supposed to bother you."
"Who says it's a bother?"
"My mom and dad, they told me."
"If I invite you, then that's different. Don't you agree?"
"Well, maybe. But first I'd better go and ask."
"What's your name? I can't remember, but it won't do to keep calling you 'boy.'"
"My name's Andy."
"It gets mighty lonesome here at night sometimes, Andy, so I'd be pleasured if you sit a spell with me. Anyway, I want to ask you some questions.
"I like your spunk, Andy. You get teased a lot by other kids, don't you? When your folks had company, I heard them calling you 'Fatty, Fatty, two-by-four,' and 'Andy, Andy, want some candy?'
 
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''Don't blame you for gettin' riled. Don't blame you a'tall. Now, are you comin' in or aren't you?"
Andy was still amazed at the sudden change in the attitude of Cloyce.
"Come on. I'll tell your old man I asked you to come in my house." Cloyce let out a guffaw as Andy gingerly stepped through the open doorway. "Here, sit on the cot. I like to sit on the chair to do my performance." He snorted out another laugh.
First he played "Tumblin' Tumbleweed." Then upon a request from Andy, he again played and sang "Don't Fence Me In."
"Why do you people dress and talk different?" Cloyce asked.
"Because we're Amish," Andy replied.
"What's Amish?"
"It's when you can't have any worldly things."
"Like what?"
"Ach, like cars, or telephones and electricity, or tractors."
"Why do your ma and sisters wear such plain, long dresses and those funny-looking caps?"
"They're Amish and are supposed to." Andy simply answered the best he knew how.
"I sure wouldn't want to live that way if I wouldn't have to. Say, you work pretty hard for a boy your age. What do you do for fun?"
"I like best to go down to the creekjust me and our dogand I like to play with our baby animals. When I'm alone, no one teases me."
"I like to be alone, too," Cloyce told Andy. "Don't do for me to stay put in one place long. I'm a rambler. Yes
 
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sir, you should hear about all the wonderful sights I've seen.
"I've been way out West where the sky is so blue and the water so clear you can see right to the bottom. Ain't many trees, though, just miles and miles of prairie.
"I remember the beautiful, golden grain in the Kansas wheat fields, and the green cornfields of Iowa. It's a sight, boy. It purely is. Some of the big towns I've been towhy, Andy, the buildings look like they reach to the clouds."
"No!" exclaimed Andy.
"Yes, they do. That's why they're called skyscrapers. I've rode me many a freight train and seen some faraway places. In California, trees grow so big you can drive a car right through the trunk."
A loud knock sounded on the smokehouse door. Cloyce answered, and there stood Jake Maust.
"Is my son in here?" he asked.
"Yes, he is, mister," said Cloyce.
"Andy, go to the barn and wait for me," Jake sternly commanded him.
"Wait a minute," Cloyce said. "I asked him to come in."
"He's been told to stay away from the smokehouse and not bother you," Jake stated.
"No bother, none at all."
"That's not the point. I'm his father, and he's to obey."
Jake turned and walked toward the barn. He had a talk with his son and then punished him for disobeying. Andy knew he deserved what he got.
 
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"From now on," said Father, "Cloyce may tell us of his travels while we rest on the porch or under the shade trees. As for playing music, that's not for our people. I'm telling you once more, stay away from the smokehouse."
Andy went to bed with a sorry heart because he had done wrong. But he could not forget those faraway places. Someday he would see them for himself. Someday, when he was all grown up.
 
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4
He's Gone!
Friday night couldn't come too soon for Andy Maust. School would be all right if his classmates were kinder, he thought.
Andy loved books. Many times he pretended to be the hero in a story. This brought him almost as much comfort as spending time with his animals or eating.
"Andy," called Lizzie as he got home from school,
"kumm mol do
(come here once)."
"Was wit
(what do you want)?" he asked.
"Dad wants you to take the cows and pasture them along the roadside for an hour or so. The grass in our field is getting short."
"Oh, good!" Andy exclaimed. He loved the outdoors, and he loved animals.
"Waard
(wait)!" Lizzie called to him. "You must take Shep along. He's a good cattle dog. They'll stay in line for him. I'll send Esther out to let you know when to bring the cows in."
 
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"Ya, Mom.
Ich geb achtsam
(I'll be careful)."
After he changed to his work clothes, Andy ran outside and called the family dog. On his way, he grabbed several just-baked cookies.
"Here, Shep," he called. Around the corner of the house came the dog, wagging his tail with excitement.
"Ya, Shep,
du bist froh mich zehne
(you're glad to see me)," Andy said. He gave the dog a piece of cookie. "I wish the kids at school, and at church, too, would be happy to see me like you are, Shep." Andy reached down and patted the collie.
"Come on, boy, we have to bring the cows in." He opened the barnyard gate and started for the field. Most of the cows stood listlessly chewing their cud or lying under some shade trees.
The instant Andy said, "Go get 'em, boy," Shep knew what he was to do. He headed in the direction of the cows. Barking and nipping at their tails or heels, he soon had them moving in a straight line toward the barnyard.
"That Shep, now he's a smart dog. I guess Johnny, Levi, Enos, and none of the other boys have one so smart," Andy mused to himself.
"Cloyce likes you, too." This time the remark was directed to Shep, who wagged his tail all the harder.
His younger sister, Esther, was waiting by the lane to help Andy get the cows started in the right direction. It didn't take long because the tall green grass looked inviting to the hungry cows.
"Esther," called Andy as soon as the cows began to eat. "Esther, bring me some cookies, a few crackers, and a jar of water."
 
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"Ach, my!" Esther exclaimed. "If you don't quit eating so much, you'll get as big as these critters." She pointed to the cattle who were already cropping the grass.
"I will not!" fumed Andy. "You bring me some or I'll come get them myself."
"And leave the cows alone? Ei-yi-yi!"
"Well then, you bring me some," Andy demanded. His neck and face turned red, as they often did if he was angry.
"Mir gucke mol
(we'll see once)." His sister turned to the house.
Later she came back with one cookie and a few crackers, plus a jar of water. "Mom said this is all you can have before supper."
Andy quickly reached for the morsels she brought and wished for an early evening meal.
He loved to watch the cows wrap their tongues around the clumps of orchard grass. He listened to the chomp, chomp as they bit the grass and the squeak, squeak as they tore off each mouthful because they had teeth only on the bottom jaw.
Lying on his back, he watched soft white clouds drifting by. He thought once more of those faraway places Cloyce told him about. He vowed to see them for himself someday.
Just then a big blue fly buzzed close to his ear. It startled him, and he forgot to watch the cows. They were almost at the end of the road. Shep was waiting there to turn them back toward Andy.
"I hope Shep minds his business," Andy told himself out loud. The dog did his duty, and soon it was
 
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time to take the cows in for the evening milking. Esther again helped herd them back into the farmyard for chore time.
Father and Cloyce had just come from the field. They were hot and thirsty. Cloyce was glad the weekend was approaching. He was not afraid of hard work, but Sundays he slept much of the day or played his guitar. As a boy he had been taught the Scriptures, he had told them, but now he was not a churchgoing man.
"I hope Cloyce reads that Bible we put in his shack," Lizzie remarked. "God can do what we can't. He can change a hard heart."
"Ya,
sell is so
(that is so)," agreed Jake.
Andy did not think Cloyce had a hard heart at all. The new farmhand had told him a lot of interesting things.
Last week though, Cloyce dropped a paper from his hip pocket, and when Andy picked it up, he snatched it away quickly. "You give that here!" he demanded, his eyes narrowing to mere slits. "Don't you ever tell anyone you saw this. Understand?"
For the first time, Andy was afraid of this man. He hadn't really seen anything except some numbers and a picture that looked like Cloyce.
"Promise me, upon your word of honor, you won't mention this even to your old man."
Andy didn't know what "word of honor" meant, but he promised.
"Okay, Andy," Cloyce ordered, "forget this even happened."
Sunday was a rainy day. Cloyce did not come to the house for breakfast.

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