Life with Lily Read Free Page A

of his brow with his shirtsleeve. “Looks like a lot of work before it will be a barn. We’ll have to see if we can organize a frolic.”
    â€œWhat’s a frolic, Papa?” Joseph said.
    Lily knew! She answered before Papa had a chance to explain. “It’s when everyone comes to help you work.”
    Papa smiled at her. He understood. She was the big sister. She knew these things.
    Later that day, Lily and Joseph were in the kitchen, watching Mama make molasses cookies. Through the window, Lily saw Papa hitch Jim to the little open buggy and tie him to the hitching post. He came into the kitchen. “I’m ready to go invite people to the frolic. Would Lily and Joseph like to come along?”
    Lily and Joseph looked up at Mama. They knew Papa’s question was directed to her, not to them.
    â€œThey had their naps already,” Mama said, eyes smiling. “I think they might like to go.”
    Lily ran to get her black heavy bonnet off the wall peg. She tried to stand still as Mama tied the strings in a neat little bow beneath her chin, but it was so hard and the bonnet wasso big. She skipped happily beside Papa as they walked to the buggy. Papa lifted Joseph to the seat and then boosted Lily up. Joseph had to sit in the middle, between Papa and Lily, so he wouldn’t fall off while they were driving down the road. He was just a little boy. Barely four.
    Lily loved riding in the open buggy. As Jim trotted down the road, she could see everything around her so much better than when she was in the top buggy. Big thistle plants grew in the ditches along the road. Goldfinches flew in funny little bouncing swoops from one thistle to the next, gathering seeds to eat.
    Looking down, Lily could watch the wheels turn around and around. When Jim trotted, the spokes whirled into a blur, but when he slowed to walk up a hill, the spokes turned slowly. Papa whistled cheerfully as they drove along. Suddenly, Jim blew his nose in a loud snort. A wet spray blew back at Papa, Lily, and Joseph, splattering their face and arms. Papa’s whistle died on his lips as he wiped off his face. Lily knew Jim didn’t do it on purpose. Secretly, she thought it would be fun to be a horse and be able to blow her nose like that, whenever she wanted to.
    As they reached the first Amish neighbor, Papa pulled the buggy up to the hitching post. He tied Jim’s rope to the post and told Lily and Joseph to stay in the buggy. He was going to find someone to invite to the barn-building frolic.
    As Papa disappeared, Lily gathered up the reins and pretended to drive the buggy. “Giddyup! Whoa!” she told Jim. Joseph wanted to drive too, so she handed him a rein. “Giddy-up!” they shouted to Jim.
    The gentle horse turned his head and looked back at them but didn’t budge. Jim knew that Papa wasn’t there. He was too well trained to try to leave without Papa.
    When Papa returned, he took the reins back from Lilyand Joseph. He told them never to play with a horse’s reins. “Even a nice horse like Jim might not like it.”
    All afternoon, Papa drove the buggy from one neighbor to another, until everyone in their entire church was invited to come to the frolic on Saturday.

    Lily and Joseph sat on top of a little mound of dirt and watched as Papa and Mama pounded little wooden stakes into the ground. Papa wanted to square off the foundation of the barn before the frolic, so that it would be built straight and solid. Baby Dannie kicked his feet and cooed as he lay on his back in the baby carriage beside Lily. He tried to swat at strings of colorful beads that Mama pinned to the roof of the carriage for him.
    Lily liked sitting on the little mound. It was several inches higher than the rest of the yard. There was another mound just like it closer to the house. Papa thought those mounds were a nuisance and an eyesore. Soon, he would try to level them. “Whoever did the