Green Fever (13 page)

“I won’t,” Mark said. “I’ll do ’em as soon as we’re done eating supper.”

As Mark rode to school, quickly passing Mattie along the way, he felt free as a bird that had just been let out of its cage. He wished he could ride his own bike to school every day instead of riding with Mattie. But he guessed that probably wouldn’t happen unless Mattie had a bike of her own.

Too bad the Johnsons weren’t getting rid of two bikes that day
, Mark thought.
It would have solved everything for both me and Mattie
.

As Mattie walked to school by herself, she envied Mark even more, getting to ride his own bike. Why couldn’t it have been her who’d found that old bike? But then, remembering how bad the bike had looked, she probably wouldn’t have wanted it anyhow. If she had seen the bike first, she’d have gone right by and not given it much thought.

Sure wish I could earn enough money to buy my own bike
, Mattie thought as she trudged along the path, watching Mark way ahead as he tried to catch up with Russell and Calvin.
But even picking dandelions for
Grandma and Grandpa, I’m sure we won’t earn a lot of money
. New bikes, and even some that were used, could be
expensive
. That’s why Mattie’s folks had bought the used bicycle-built-for-two they’d given Mark and Mattie for their birthday last year instead of getting them each a bike of their own.

Walking along, Mattie glanced at some pretty pink wildflowers growing in the field near the path and decided to stop and pick a few. She set the two lunch pails on a large, flat rock and started picking. She’d heard many people call some of the flowers she liked “wild phlox,” but Mattie knew their correct name was “dame’s rocket.” These wild phlox grew plentiful along the roadways and meadows, and their clusters gave a beautiful hue of purple, pink, or white.

One nice thing about walking to school, she could stop and pick flowers easily. Whenever Mattie rode with Mark and saw some flowers she wanted to pick, he usually said they didn’t have time to stop for that. There was another advantage to walking this morning, for she soon had a beautiful bouquet to give to her teacher, Anna Ruth.

By the time Mattie reached the schoolhouse, she was tired and out of breath. After she’d picked the flowers, she was concerned that she might be late, so she’d run the rest of the way.

Seeing no children in the schoolyard, her heart started to pound. The teacher must have rung the bell, and class had probably begun.

Mattie hurried up the steps and into the school house. Sure enough, all the scholars were already at their desks.

“Sorry I’m late, Anna Ruth,” she panted. “I had to walk to school today, and…” Mattie stopped talking and placed the flowers on her teacher’s desk. “I picked these for you.”

“I appreciate that, Mattie,” Anna Ruth said. “But the next time you walk, try not to be late.”

“I don’t plan on walking too often,” Mattie said, turning to look at Mark, who sat at his desk with a grin on his face.

Mattie didn’t say anything more, just hurried to take a seat at her desk. At least when she walked home from school this afternoon she wouldn’t have to worry about being late.

Placing her lunch pail on the shelf under her desk, Mattie suddenly realized she didn’t have Mark’s lunch box with her.
Oh no! What did I do with it?
she wondered, putting her head in her hands. The last thing she remembered was placing their lunch pails on that large rock when she’d stopped to pick the flowers. She couldn’t go back to look for it now, so the only thing she could think to do was share her lunch with Mark and look for his pail on the way home from school.

As Mark headed for home that afternoon, he pedaled as fast as he could, trying to get ahead of his brothers. He’d started out before them, but it didn’t take long before they passed right by, leaving Mark in a trail of dust.

“Hurry up, slowpoke,” Calvin called over his shoulder.

“See you at home!” Russell shouted as they moved even further ahead.

Calvin and Russell were used to riding their own bikes, and with them being older, their long legs were probably stronger because they sure rode like the wind.

Frowning, Mark was reminded once again of how short he still was.
Will I ever have long legs like my brothers?
he wondered.
Will I grow up to be taller than
Mattie, or will I end up being a short-legged man?

Mark thought about how tired Mattie had looked when she’d arrived at the schoolhouse a few minutes late this morning. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to walk, but it wasn’t fair for her to expect him to ride the bike they shared when he had his own bike now and could travel much faster without a passenger on the back. Even though Mattie was supposed to pedal, she sometimes quit when she was watching for pretty flowers. Maybe if he was willing to do the dishes every night, she’d agree to let him ride to school by himself every day. Washing and drying the dishes was a chore Mark wouldn’t mind doing so much if Mattie went along with the idea. At least he figured it was a fair enough trade.

Mark thought about how Mattie had left his lunch pail somewhere between home and school, and he realized that it might have been partially his fault since he’d asked her to carry it for him. Mattie had been nice and shared her lunch with him that afternoon, but Mark’s stomach growled afterward because it really hadn’t been enough food for both of them. Mark couldn’t wait for supper this evening. He knew he’d probably eat like a horse. Hopefully, Mom would have a snack ready when he got home, and that would tide him over until it was time for their evening meal.

As Mark came closer to home, he saw Calvin and Russell up ahead.
Maybe if I pedal extra hard I can catch up to them
, he thought.

Directing his bike onto their graveled driveway, he turned too quickly. The bicycle wobbled, tipped one way, and then the other. Mark gripped the handlebars tightly and tried to keep the bike upright, but it was too late. He lost his balance and fell off.

Mark groaned as the bike toppled over and the back wheel landed on his ankle. Tears welled in Mark’s eyes because it hurt so much. Oh, he hoped it wasn’t broken!

As Mattie walked home from school that afternoon, she wondered if she’d ever get the chance to ride Mark’s bicycle again. It seemed that every time she asked her brother about it, he had an excuse that he was using the bike and Mattie would have to wait for some other time to ride it.

It isn’t fair
, she thought once more. It had made her feel even worse when she’d watched Mark pedal over the hill this afternoon and quickly disappear out of sight. At the rate he’d been going, Mattie was sure that her twin brother would be home in no time at all. He’d probably make it there way before she did, too.

Mattie was at the spot now where she’d picked the wildflowers this morning. After looking behind the rock where she’d set their lunch pails, she spotted Mark’s lunch pail in a clump of high weeds. No wonder she hadn’t seen it when she’d grabbed her own pail and rushed on to get to school.

Maybe I’ll get up early some Saturday morning and take a ride on Mark’s bike
, Mattie thought as she trudged wearily toward home.
I’ll just need to make sure I’m back before Mark knows I borrowed it
.

Mark tried to stand, but his ankle hurt too much
. He moaned and fell to the ground with a thud. All he could do was lie there, moaning and struggling not to cry. He turned his foot this way and that, but there was pain no matter which way he moved it.
Please don’t let my ankle be broken
, he prayed.

“Help me! Help me!” Mark hollered, hoping Calvin or Russell would hear him. But then he spotted their bikes parked near the barn and realized they must have already gone into the house.

Mark looked at his knee and saw blood seeping through a hole in his trousers. He’d obviously skinned it when he landed on the gravel. But that wasn’t what hurt so bad—it was his throbbing ankle. He cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered once more, “Help! Help! Help!”

Several more minutes went by; then Ike stepped out of Dad’s wood shop on the other side of their yard. When he spotted Mark, he ran down the driveway and knelt beside him. “Hey, what happened, Mark? Did you fall off your bike? Are you hurt?”

Blinking back the tears stinging his eyes, Mark nodded, rubbing his foot. “My
gnechel
hurts. I—I think it’s broken.”

“Let’s get you up to the house so Mom can take a look.” Ike quickly scooped Mark into his arms and carried him up to the house.

Mark was glad his big brother was strong and had muscular arms. If Russell or Calvin had tried to carry Mark, they might have dropped him. Then he might be hurt even more than he was.

“Ach, what happened to Mark?” Mom asked when Ike came in and placed him on the sofa.

“He fell off his bike and injured his ankle,” Ike said.

“I—I think it might be broken.” Mark sniffed. “It hurts somethin’ awful.”

“Is your daed back from running his errands?” Mom asked, looking at Ike.

He shook his head.

“Mark’s ankle is starting to swell, so I think we ought to take him to the clinic and have it checked out,” Mom said. “Ike, would you please run out to the phone shack and call our regular driver? Hopefully, he’ll be free to pick us up right away. If not, then you should call someone else.”

“Okay, Mom, I’ll do that right away,” Ike said before hurrying out the door.

Mom removed Mark’s shoe and gently placed a pillow under his leg; then she went to the kitchen to get some ice and antiseptic for Mark’s knee. She’d just returned to the living room and had put the bag of ice on Mark’s ankle when Mattie rushed in the door.

“What happened to Mark?” she asked, eyes wide with concern. “I saw his bicycle lying in the driveway, so I brought it up to the house.”

“I fell off,” Mark said, feeling a little better now that the cold ice had numbed his ankle a bit. “I turned the corner too sharp and lost my balance.”

“I suppose that could have happened even if we’d been on our bicycle-built-for-two,” Mattie said.

“Maybe so,” Mark agreed, “but it probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been trying to catch up with Calvin and Russell.”

“I got a hold of our driver,” Ike said, reentering the house. “He’s coming right over to take Mark to the clinic.”

Mom turned to Mattie and said, “I’ll need to go with your bruder, of course, so I want you to keep an eye on Ada and Perry.”

“Okay.” Mattie gave Mark’s arm a gentle pat. “Hey, don’t worry; it’ll be all right. At least I found your lunch pail on the way from school. It was right where I left it this morning when I stopped to pick wildflowers.” She held up his pail and then opened the lid. “I hope your gnechel’s not broken, and I’ll say a prayer for you.”

“Danki, Mattie. I hope that helps.” Mark reached down and rubbed his ankle, which had started to throb as soon as he lifted the bag of ice. “It could be the tibia or the fibula, or even the talus that’s broken.”

“Tib-a-what?” Mattie asked.

“The bones in my ankle. The tibia, fibula, and talus,” Mark explained. “Those are the three bones that make up the ankle joint, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of ’em isn’t broken.”