Green Fever (5 page)

Mattie decided to raise the bulbs a little, putting more dirt underneath. When that was done, she patted a layer of dirt over the top.
Maybe now they’ll start to grow
, she thought.

Ribet! Ribet!
Mark’s frog leaped over Mattie’s hand and landed in the little ceramic dish pool with a
splat!

Mattie snickered. The frog didn’t seem to be afraid at all. He was making himself right at home in her little garden spot. She still wanted to get some ferns to plant in the garden to add a little hideaway for the frog. While she sat watching the frog, Grandpa Miller’s horse and buggy pulled into the yard.

“Wie geht’s?”
Grandpa called after he’d climbed down from the buggy and tied his horse to the hitching rail.

“I’m fine,” Mattie replied. “How are you?”

“Doin’ good.” Grandpa approached Mattie’s garden. “Ah, I see you have a little visitor,” he said, pointing to the frog.

She nodded. “Only I don’t think he’s just visiting. He lives in Mark’s frog house and likes to sit in the little ceramic dish Mark’s using as a frog pool.”

“Glad to hear the critter took up residence in the little house.” Grandpa grinned and knelt beside Mattie to get a closer look. “I remember when I was a young
bu
, my bruder Freeman and I often caught frogs down at the pond behind our folks’ house. Then we’d try to race them and see whose frog was the fastest or could jump the farthest.”

“If Mark knew about that, I’ll bet he might try it if he had more than one frosch.” Mattie giggled. “ ’Course he’d have to catch ’em first.”

“Maybe someday he will.” Grandpa stood. “Speaking of Mark… Where is he? I came to ask if he’d like to go fishing with me tomorrow.”

“Mark went with Mom to the Shoe and Boot Store in Charm,” Mattie replied. “He needed a new pair of sneakers, and they had to order his size. A team of wild horses couldn’t have kept Mark from goin’ after those shoes today.”

“Sounds like he was pretty anxious. Have they been gone long? Should I wait, or would you rather give Mark my message?” Grandpa asked.

Mattie thought it would be nice to have Grandpa’s company. Mark usually got to spend more time with Grandpa, and that made her feel jealous. “You could wait here with me if you want to,” she said.

Grandpa removed his straw hat and slapped it against his knee. “That’s what I’ll do then. It’ll give us a chance to visit.”

“That’d be nice,” Mattie said, watching as Grandpa held out his closed hands to her. She didn’t get the chance to visit with Grandpa by herself that often, and this was the perfect opportunity, especially since Perry and Ada were still napping.

“Uh, that one,” Mattie guessed, pointing to Grandpa’s left hand.

“Jah, you’re right.” Grandpa smiled, handing her a pack of peppermint-flavored gum, which was Mattie’s favorite kind. “Should we take a seat on the porch swing?” he suggested.

“Sure.” As Mattie stood, she brushed away the dirt that clung to her skirt. Then she followed Grandpa across the yard and onto the porch.

“What have you been up to lately?” Grandpa asked after they’d both taken a seat on the swing.

Mattie unwrapped a piece of gum and popped it into her mouth. “Right before you got here, I replanted some tulip bulbs. I discovered that they were buried too deep, so I think that’s why they haven’t come up yet.”

“Good thinking.” Grandpa tapped Mattie’s arm. “Your grandma’s tulips, and even a few daffodils, are already poking their heads through the ground. It won’t be long now and all of her flower beds will be alive with vibrant colors.”

“What does ‘vibrant’ mean?” Mattie questioned. Like Mark, Grandpa sometimes used words that Mattie didn’t understand.

“Vibrant means vivid or brilliant,” Grandpa explained. “Bright is another good way to describe the word.”

“Oh, I see. Well then, I’m hoping for some vibrant colors when the flowers in my garden start blooming.”

They sat silently for a while, moving the swing back and forth in a gentle rhythm. Then Mattie spoke again. “Say, Grandpa, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. What did you want to know?”

“Would it be all right if I went fishing with you and Mark tomorrow?” she asked, chewing contentedly on the gum.

Grandpa tipped his head and looked at Mattie with a curious expression. “You want to go fishing?”

She bobbed her head.

“I didn’t think you liked fishing that well,” he said. “When I’ve asked you to join us before, you’ve always said no.”

“I changed my mind.” Mattie grinned. “I think it might be kind of fun to go fishing. Maybe I’ll even catch the biggest fish.”

Grandpa chuckled. “It’s fine with me if you want to go, but we’ll have to wait and see who catches the biggest fish.”

“Oh good, I can’t wait. But I’m not sure I’ll use a
warem
for bait. Maybe I’ll use corn or something else,” Mattie said.

Just then the robins resumed their cheerful chorus.
Maybe they’re glad I’ll be leaving the worms for them to eat
, she thought, smiling.

“Now isn’t that a pretty sound?” Grandpa looked into the tree where the robins sat. “Just listen to them sing.”

“I know,” Mattie agreed. “Remember last year when a robin nested outside our living-room window?”

He bobbed his gray head. “As a matter of fact, I do. As I recall, you and Mark had your nose up to that window every chance you got.”

Mattie smiled. “It sure was fun watching Mrs. Robin sit on her nest. But it was even more exciting after the babies hatched and we watched ’em being fed by their parents. It was kinda sad when they grew and finally left the nest. I’m hopin’ some robins build their nest in that same spot again. I think Ada and Perry would have fun watching them.”

Grandpa gave his long, full beard a quick tug. “And I would enjoy that, too.”

On the ride home from Charm, Mark couldn’t stop admiring his new sneakers, and he didn’t think he’d ever stop grinning. They felt so good on his feet. The shoes looked nice and new. They smelled good, too—not a trace of stinky feet.

“You’re going to stare a hole through those shoes if you don’t stop looking at them.” Mom laughed and clicked her tongue, urging Ginger, their horse, onward toward home.

“I can’t help it.” Mark smiled at Mom, quickly taking his eyes off his feet.

“Well, you go right on grinning,” Mom said. “You waited all week for those sneakers, and I’m sure you’re glad to finally have them.”

“I’ll say,” Mark said with a nod. As they continued on down the road, he thought about the past six days and the long wait to get his new shoes. Now that the week was over, he realized it was worth the wait. After he’d put some tissue in the toes of Calvin’s old shoes, wearing them had been a little more bearable. Even so, he still hadn’t enjoyed wearing hand-me-down sneakers and had continued to be envious of his siblings’ new shoes. It hadn’t helped, either, when Mark walked past Mattie’s room a few nights ago and saw her new shoes lying right next to her pillow. Normally, that might have been funny, but not with him wanting so desperately to have some new shoes of his own.

I won’t think about that anymore
, Mark thought as Mom turned their horse and buggy up the lane leading to their home.
I’m too happy to feel jealous of anyone right now
.

The
clip-clop
of horse’s hooves caused Mattie to glance to her right, where she saw Mom’s horse and buggy coming up the driveway. After Mom pulled the horse up to the hitching rail, Mark got out of the buggy and sprinted for the house.

“Wie geht’s, Grandpa?” he shouted, leaping onto the porch. “It’s good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you, too, and I’m doing quite well.”

“Look what I got today.” Mark pointed to his sneakers.

Grandpa whistled. “Those are real nice. I heard you were pretty excited about going to get them.”

“That’s right, but I’m even more excited now. These shoes feel so comfortable, and I don’t have to wear Calvin’s stinky old shoes anymore.” Mark grinned widely. “I have the newest shoes in our family now, ’cause everyone else’s shoes are a whole week old!”

Grandpa laughed, holding out his closed hands to Mark. “When I was a youngster, I never liked wearing my brother’s hand-me-down shoes.”

“That one!” Mark tapped Grandpa’s right hand and watched with an anxious expression as Grandpa revealed a pack of cinnamon-flavored gum. Mark smiled. Cinnamon was Mark’s favorite flavor, and Grandpa knew that, too.

“It’s good to see you,” Mom said to Grandpa when she joined them on the porch. “What brings you by here this afternoon?”

“I came to see if Mark would like to go fishing with me tomorrow,” he replied. “Oh, and Mattie said she’d like to join us.”

Mark’s blue eyes widened as he looked at Mattie in disbelief. “You want to go fishing?”

Mattie nodded. “Grandpa said I could, and I think it might be fun.” She blinked her eyes rapidly. “And you know what else?”

“What’s that?” Mark asked.

“I’ll bet I catch the biggest fish.”

Mark shook his head vigorously as he unwrapped a piece of gum. “Bet ya don’t.”

“Bet I do.”

Grandpa stepped between the twins. “It doesn’t matter who catches the biggest fish. Let’s just go and have fun. We’ll make some good memories.”

Mark and Mattie both nodded, but Mattie knew her brother was hoping he would catch the biggest fish. Well, they only had one more day to find out.

Mark sat near the edge of the pond, watching Grandpa and Mattie while gripping his fishing pole so tightly that his fingers ached
. Grandpa had spent the whole morning showing Mattie how to bait her hook and throw her line into the water. Mark was used to having Grandpa’s full attention when they went fishing, and he didn’t like sharing Grandpa with Mattie. He wished his sister had stayed home today, and he didn’t understand why she’d come along at all. She’d never been interested in fishing before. Was Mattie trying to prove something by being here? Was it just to see if she could catch the biggest fish? Well, Mark didn’t think that was likely to happen—especially since Mattie had never fished before.

“That’s the wrong kind of bait you’re usin’,” Mark said when he saw Mattie put a piece of corn on her hook. “You’ll never catch any fish with corn. You need a big, fat warem.”

Mattie wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like worms.”

Mark wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like corn. It gets stuck in my
zaeh.”

“Why are you worried about it getting stuck in your teeth?” Grandpa asked, raising his bushy gray eyebrows. “Mattie’s not eating the corn, Mark. She’s using it for bait.”

“How come?” Mark wanted to know, trying not to let on how he really felt.

“Because she doesn’t want to touch the worms,” Grandpa replied. “When I was a boy and my sister and I went fishing, she had good luck using corn for bait.”

“Worms are slimy, slippery, and they wiggle all around,” Mattie said. “And when you put them on a hook—well—eww! I just don’t like ’em.”

“Ah, don’t be such a
boppli,”
Mark said, reaching into the can full of worms by his side and then plucking one out.

Mattie thrust out her chin. “I am not a baby.”

“You know what, Mattie?” Mark asked, motioning to her fishing pole.

“What?”

“I’ll bet I can catch more fish with my worms than you can using corn.”

“Bet ya can’t.”

Mark grunted, feeling even more competitive and sure that he was right. “We’ll just have to see about that.”
Those fish don’t know what corn is, but they do know what worms are all about
, he thought.
I’m bound to catch the most fish. Probably the biggest, too!