Farmed Out

Farmed Out Read Free

Book: Farmed Out Read Free
Author: Christy Goerzen
Tags: JUV025000
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shuddering.
    â€œWhat was that, Maddie?” my mom asked.
    â€œNothing,” I said.

Chapter Three
    â€œAnna will be excited to meet you,” Ruth said, passing me a jar of homemade plum jam.
    We were having a “bite” in the farmhouse kitchen. The Friesens’ idea of a bite was an all-you-can-eat deluxe spread. I’d never seen anything like it. Their huge table was covered in pitchers of milk and juice, loaves of bread and buns, jars of jam and honey, a bowl of hard-boiled eggs, and plates of cheese, meat, tomatoes and pickles. I had loaded up my plate and was about to dig into a bun filled with Swiss cheese and ham.
    â€œAnna?” my mom and I said in unison.
    â€œOur daughter,” Ruth said. “She’s about your age, Maddie. Fifteen.”
    â€œShe’s at a meeting right now,” Klaus said. “The summer fair is coming up.”
    Fifteen. The same age as me. Thoughts flew around in my mind. What did Anna look like? Would we get along?
    â€œThat’s great that Maddie will have someone her own age here,” my mom said, cracking open a hard-boiled egg. Usually on our adventures there were never any other kids around, just adults. Ha, I thought. Not this time, Mom.
    Klaus offered my mom a plate of sausages.
    â€œOh, no thank you,” said my mom. “I’m a vegetarian.”
    Ruth and Klaus exchanged looks. I thought I saw Klaus roll his eyes. I took the plate from Klaus and helped myself to four sausages. They looked delicious.
    It didn’t take my mom long to launch into dumb-question mode.
    â€œWhy did you become farmers? When do you harvest your wheat? How many chickens do you have?”
    Klaus said something about being a fifth-generation farmer. I tuned out the rest. Farming wasn’t the most exciting topic.
    While my mom grilled the farmers, I looked around. The house looked about a hundred years old. The walls were white, with plain yellow curtains on the windows. The only picture on the wall was an old black-and-white family photo where no one was smiling. I couldn’t see a TV or computer anywhere.
    â€œDo you wake up every day and notice the smell of manure, or do you become immune to it after a while?” Mom asked.
    I sank down in my chair. Ruth and Klaus smiled. My mom kept yakking.
    After we ate, the Friesens showed us to our room. A four-poster iron bed stood in the center of the room, covered in a colorful quilt. Great. Sharing a bed with my mother made a bad situation even worse.
    â€œOooh!” my mom exclaimed, clapping her hands as she looked around the room. “Very Little House on the Prairie . And look, Maddie, we get to share a bed. It’ll be like a sleepover!”
    Shut up, Mom, I thought for the hundredth time that day. I wasn’t sure I could handle a whole week of constant embarrassment. Hopefully I could find somewhere to hide out and draw for the Canvas art contest.
    After showing us our room, Ruth and Klaus led us out to the front yard to give us the “grand tour.” Just then, a teenage girl turned into the driveway on a red bike.
    â€œHere’s our girl,” Klaus said. The girl skidded neatly to a stop, a small cloud of dust billowing from beneath her back tire. “Anna, these are our volunteers for the next week, Lynn and Maddie Turner.”
    â€œHey,” Anna said with a small smile. She had braces and wore her red hair in a long braid.
    â€œHow was the 4-H meeting?” Ruth asked.
    Anna shrugged. “Pretty good.”
    â€œI just checked Frida,” Klaus said. “I’m certain that she will calve in the next few days.”
    Anna nodded and turned to us. “I’ve got a cow that’s about to pop.”
    I wondered how many other farm volunteers Anna had had to greet so far that summer. She didn’t seem too excited by us.
    â€œYou and Maddie are the same age, dear,” Klaus said. “Maybe you two would like to spend some time

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