Bumpy Ride Ahead! Read Free Page A

we didn’t have what they wanted.”
    “It was really nice of you to do that, but don’t worry, you’ll have other chances to earn money,” Dad said.
    “That’s correct,” Russell put in. “Grandpa Miller’s always lookin’ for someone to help him with chores.”
    Their eleven-year-old brother, Calvin, bobbed his blond head. “I helped Grandpa clean out his barn a few weeks ago, and he gave me some money when we were done.”
    “It’s nice to earn money,” Dad said, handing the platter of ham to Mark. “But we should be willing to help others even without getting paid. The Bible tells us in Philippians 2:4 that we shouldn’t look to our own interests, but to the interests of others.”
    “Our
daed’s
right,” sixteen-year-old Ike agreed, pushing a strand of red hair out of his blue eyes. “It’s a real good feeling to do something nice for someone.”
    Mom nodded in agreement.
    “I did something nice for Russell when I helped him rake the leaves that big dog scattered today,” Mark said.
    “Did you do it with a smile on your face?” Mom asked, reaching over to wipe some mashed potatoes from three-year-old Ada’s face.
    “No, he sure didn’t,” Russell promptly answered before Mark could reply. “He grumbled about it the whole time.”
    “That’s ’cause I was upset about losin’ the glicker Grandpa Troyer gave me.”
    Ike tapped Mark’s shoulder. “Maybe the marble will turn up someday.”
    “Well, I’m gonna keep looking,” Mark said.
    “That’s fine,” Dad said. “Just don’t spend time looking for the marble when you should be doing your chores.”
    Mark shook his head. “I won’t.”
    “Where do you think the marble could be?” Calvin asked.
    “I’m not sure,” Mark replied. “I didn’t find it when Russell and I raked up the leaves and unloaded ’em on the compost heap.”
    “If I find the glicker, can I keep it?” asked Perry, who was five and also had blond hair like Dad’s.
    “No!” Mark said quickly. “If you find the marble, you must give it back to me right away.”
    Perry blinked like he might be about to cry, but Mom turned his attention to something else when she put two olives on his plate.
    Perry loved olives and liked to put them on the ends of his fingers before popping them into his mouth. Little sister Ada didn’t care for olives, but she liked pickles very much. Mark liked pickles, too, but Mattie preferred olives—especially the green ones stuffed with pimento.

    Mark noticed that there was only one pickle left, and he was about to reach for it when Ada hollered, “
Bickel!
Bickel!”
    Thinking someone might give the last pickle to Ada, Mark quickly snatched it, and—
chomp! chomp!—
it was gone!
    “Bickel! Bickel! Bickel!” Ada screamed. Tears ran down her red cheeks that almost matched her hair. “I want a bickel!”
    “Calm down, Ada.” Mom patted Ada’s back, then she turned to Mark and said, “It was greedy of you to eat that whole pickle when you could have given Ada half.”
    “Sorry,” Mark mumbled. “But you know how much I like bickels.”
    “I understand, but Ada likes them, too.” Mom pointed to the door leading to the basement. “Would you please go downstairs and get another jar of pickles?”
    “Okay, Mom.” Mark leaped out of his chair and hurried down the stairs to the basement. He was happy to get a jar of Mom’s homemade pickles because it meant he could have another pickle, too.
    Mark found several jars of pickles on the shelf where Mom kept her canning jars. He chose the jar that had the biggest pickles in it, and when he reached for it, a large black cricket jumped out from behind another jar.
    “Wow, he’s a big one!” Mark exclaimed. “Boy would I love to catch this one!” Mark had caught crickets before and kept them in a small aquarium, just long enough to observe them for a while before releasing the insects back outside. Mark loved watching the bugs eat when he gave them small pieces of