Green Fever Read Free

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.
    “We’ll see,” Mom said. She took Ada and Perry’s hands and started walking across the parking lot toward the store. Mark, Mattie, and the rest of the family followed.
    Mattie couldn’t help noticing