Green Fever (2 page)

Mattie went back to her garden. Leaning down to peek inside the frog house, she slowly tipped it back. The only thing she saw inside was a squiggly earthworm, tunneling its way into the damp dirt.

“Ewww…” Mattie quickly lowered the frog house. Then she noticed a few weeds wrapped around the wooden sign Dad had made for her birthday last summer. She grabbed one of the weeds and gave it a tug. Suddenly, the frog leaped out from behind the miniature rosebush Mom had helped her plant.
Ribet! Ribet!
He landed on top of the frog house. Mattie snickered. That cute little frog looked like an ornament, sitting there like that.

She jumped up, eager to tell Mark that the frog was back. He just had to believe her this time!

As Mattie dashed across the yard, Mark’s cat, Lucky, streaked in front of her in pursuit of a mouse. Mattie, trying to get out of Lucky’s way, stumbled and fell flat on her back.
Oomph!

Mark stopped mowing and raced over to Mattie while she struggled to get up. “What happened, Mattie? Are you okay?” he asked, reaching his hand out to her.

“Thanks to your
katz
, I tripped, but I’m fine.” Once Mattie was on her feet, she brushed the grass clippings from her plain green dress, then she pointed to her garden plot. “The frosch is back. He’s sitting on top of your frog house as though he belongs there.”

Mark folded his arms. “I hope you’re telling the truth, Mattie. That frosch had better be there this time.”

She bobbed her head. “It is. Kumme, Mark. Come quickly!”

Mark followed Mattie across the yard, and Perry came, too. When they got to her garden, they dropped to their knees. Mattie couldn’t believe it, but the frog was gone again!

“Where’s the frosch?” Mark questioned. “He’s sure not sittin’ on top of the frog house like you said.”

“No frosch,” Perry said, shaking his head.

“I—I can’t figure it out,” Mattie stammered. “He was here a few minutes ago, honest.”

Wrinkles formed across Mark’s forehead. “If he was here, then where is he now?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I—I don’t know. That sneaky little frosch keeps disappearing. He’s as bad as you—always playing jokes on me.”

Mark tapped his foot and frowned at Mattie. “I’m tired of this silly game. You’re the one playin’ jokes, Mattie, and I need to finish mowing the lawn. So please don’t bother me again!” Mark took Perry’s hand and tromped off toward the mower.

Mattie couldn’t help but notice that her twin brother’s smile was no longer there.
I can’t believe
that crazy frosch
, she thought.
He keeps hiding, and it’s making me look foolish
. Mattie wondered if the frog might be afraid of people. Maybe she could add a few ferns to her flower bed, especially around the frog house and its little swimming area. That way, once the ferns grew thicker, it would give the frog more cover as well as some shade from the hot sun. Maybe then he wouldn’t be so scared and wouldn’t hop away.

Mattie knew exactly where to get some ferns, too. Recently, she’d seen some fiddlehead ferns beginning to curl up out of the ground. They grew near the creek across the road from where she often picked wildflowers. One day soon, on the way home from school, she and Mark could stop and dig up a few of those ferns to bring home and plant in her garden.

For now, though, Mattie figured she’d better give up on the frog. When she heard Twinkles, her brown-and-white terrier, barking, she hurried over to the kennel to let the dog out. Since none of Mattie’s flowers were coming up yet and the frog kept disappearing, it might be more fun to play fetch with Twinkles than to sit and look at her garden. She could have the dog do some of the tricks she’d taught her, like rolling over, sitting up, and walking on her hind feet.

Mark couldn’t believe Mattie would tease him like that. He figured it had to be because of the toast incident earlier that morning. If she really had seen the frog in her garden, then it would still be there. He pushed the mower as fast as he could, anxious to get done so he could do something else. Perry had gotten bored with helping Mark push the mower, so he’d gone back into the house. That was fine with Mark. Perry’s legs were short and he couldn’t walk very fast, so it was easier and quicker for Mark to do the mowing himself.

When I’m finished with the lawn, maybe I’ll go to the barn and see if my cats are there
, Mark thought. It was always fun to let Lucky and Boots play with a ball of string or even just sit with them on a bale of straw and scratch behind their ears.

By the time Mark finished with the lawn and had put the mower away in the shed, his forehead was damp and a layer of green pollen covered his straw hat. Even though it wasn’t real warm out today, he’d worked up a pretty good sweat.

Mark took off his hat and watched the green dust fly as he hit it across his legs. Then he reached for the roll of paper towels Dad kept on a shelf near the door of the shed. Even on his tiptoes, he couldn’t quite reach it.
Sure wish I was as tall as Mattie
, Mark thought.
We’re twins, and it’s not fair that she’s taller than me. I’m a boy, and I oughta be taller than my twin sister
.

Mark usually wasn’t jealous of Mattie, but ever since his sister’s growth spurt, he’d been envious of her height. Mattie’s long legs made it easier for her to run, which might be why she could sprint so much faster than Mark.

Mark looked around the shed, searching for something to climb on so he could reach the shelf where the paper towels were kept. He spotted a step stool at the other end of the building and went to get it. Placing the stool in front of the shelf, Mark was about to climb up when Mattie came in.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m gonna use this wooden stool to get the roll of paper towels,” he answered.

“Want me to get it for you?” she asked.

He shook his head determinedly.

“I just wanna help.”

“I don’t need any help. I can do it myself.” Mark climbed onto the stool, grabbed the roll of paper towels, and stepped down. After he’d wiped his sweaty forehead and thrown the paper towel away, he climbed onto the stool and set the roll back on the shelf.

Mattie stood there a minute, staring at him; then she turned and went out the door.

Mark returned the stool to the place he’d found it.
I wonder if I’ll ever be tall like my brother Ike. I’m sure he wouldn’t have had any trouble reaching those paper towels
, Mark thought as he stepped outside and closed the shed door.

As he headed for the barn, Mark heard a
Ribet!
Ribet! Ribet!
He tipped his head and listened. There it was
again. Ribet! Ribet!
“That sounds like it’s comin’ from Mattie’s little garden,” he said.

Mark quickened his steps. When he came to the garden, he stopped and listened.
Ribet! Ribet! Whoosh! Plop!
A little green frog landed right on Mark’s foot! He chuckled and bent down, scooping the frog into his hands. Then Mark hurried across the yard to the porch where Mattie sat holding her dog.

“Look what I found,” Mark said, holding the frog out for Mattie to see.

“Where was it?” she asked, looking up at him.

“In your garden. I heard the frosch but didn’t see it at first—not till it leaped onto my
fuuss.”
Mark snickered. “Think I’m gonna call him Hoppy Herman.”

“See, I told you he was there,” Mattie said, bobbing her head. “Now don’t you wish you’d believed me?”

“I thought you were just pullin’ my leg,” Mark said.

Mattie’s eyebrows furrowed. “I would never do that. If I pulled your leg, you might lose your balance and fall over.”

Mark leaned his head back and laughed. “When someone says somebody’s pullin’ their leg, it means they’re teasing them.”

Mattie gave Mark’s arm a little poke. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

Mark opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say a word, Mattie’s dog caught sight of the frog.
Yip!
Yip! Yip!
Twinkles leaped into the air and touched the frog’s nose with the tip of her long, pink
tongue
.

Ribet! Ribet!
The frog jumped out of Mark’s hands, landed on the grass, and hopped away.

Mark groaned. “Oh great! Now I’ll have to search for that sneaky little frosch all over again!”

“Hurry and finish your breakfast so we can be on our way to Millersburg,” Mom said, handing Mattie a bowl of cereal with sliced bananas on top
. She looked over at Mark, who’d already been given his cereal, and smiled. “We’ll be shopping for new shoes, so let me know if your old ones are getting too tight.”

“Mine sure are,” Mark said, nodding his head. “My old sneakers pinch the ends of my
zehe.”

“If your shoes hurt your toes, then your feet must be growing,” their brother Ike, who was seventeen, said, bumping Mark’s arm. Ike had auburn-colored hair, like Mom’s, and he was nearly as tall as Dad.

“My feet are about all that’s growin’ on me,” Mark mumbled. “Don’t think I’m ever gonna be as tall as you are, Ike.”

“Give yourself some time,” Dad said. “Remember, Ike’s eight years older than you, and as I have said before, there’s plenty of time for you to grow tall like your
bruder.”

“That’s right,” blond-haired Calvin, who’d recently turned twelve, agreed. “It took me awhile, but I’m getting taller every year. You will, too, Mark; I’m sure of it.”

“Maybe Calvin’s right,” thirteen-year-old Russell said, reaching for his glass of milk. Russell also had blond hair, and he looked a lot like Dad, only shorter.

Mark sighed and leaned his elbows on the table. “I sure hope so ’cause I’m gettin’ tired of bein’ so short.” He appreciated his family trying to be supportive, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with the fact that everyone in their family, except for Ada and Perry, was taller than him.

Mom gave Mark’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry about it, son. You’ll grow in good time; just wait and see.”

As they made their trip to Millersburg that morning, Mattie began to feel drowsy. It was a little over ten miles from their house to the Walmart store, and by horse and buggy, it took much longer to get there than it would have if Dad had hired a driver. Perry and their little sister, Ada, who was three, rode up front with Mom and Dad, while Mark, Mattie, Calvin, and Russell sat in the back. Ike had decided not to go since he’d made plans to be with some of his friends today. That was fine with Mattie. There really wasn’t room for one more person in the buggy. They were sitting close together as it was. If Ike had come along, he’d probably have ridden his bike or taken his own horse and buggy. Since Ike was the oldest brother, he often went many places on his own.

Enjoying the warmth of the spring day, Mattie closed her eyes, almost ready to nod off. The movement of the buggy and the rhythmic
clip-clop, clip-clop
of the horse’s hooves made it even harder to stay awake. She was nearly lulled to sleep when Mark poked her arm.

“Wake up, sleepyhead. We’re almost there.” Mattie opened her eyes, stretched, and yawned as she sat up straight. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so tired once she got out of the buggy and started walking around the store.

“Hey, watch it,” Calvin fussed. “You almost gave me a black eye stretchin’ your arms out like that.”

“Sorry,” Mattie apologized. “If we weren’t squeezed in so tight in the backseat, we’d all have more room.” She noticed, as they turned into the parking lot, that the store looked really busy today with all the vehicles in the parking spaces and many still rolling in from the main road.

“Can we go to the bicycle department first?” Mark asked as Dad secured their horse to the hitching rail on the far end of the parking lot.

“I don’t know; we’ll see,” Dad replied. “Your
mamm
has a list of things she needs to buy, so where we start in the store will be up to her.”

Mark looked at Mattie, and Mattie looked at Mom, who was busy helping Ada and Perry out of the buggy. “Can we go to the bicycle department first?” Mattie asked, tugging on the sleeve of Mom’s dress.