Read Little Joe for Free Online Page B

both caught the wind—and horse and rider leapt into the air, clearing the rails.
    “Ma, can you hurry up?” Eli said, fidgeting. There was no way he was going to be caught getting his hair cut in front of Tess.
    “Just a few more wisps in the back, Eli,” Ma promised. “I’ll be careful going around the scratches.” The cold sides of the scissors skimmed his neck.
    “Maybe Tess’ll buy one of my Easter bunnies. I’ve only got two dwarfs left.” Hannah put Sleepy in the rabbit crate. “And Snow White’s gonna kindle again in a month, so I’ll have eight more.”
    “She’s got enough animals of her own to take care of,” Eli said. He tried to sound funny, like he didn’t care if Tess came over or not, but it came out kind of mean.
    “They’ve only got one house pet—Blue.” Hannah sounded hurt. “And he’s getting really old.”
    Pa lifted the top of the coffeemaker and poured his cup back into the filter. He never got used to store-bought milk. Said it tasted all runny and that the color wasn’t natural. Like they bleached it white or something. Eli could barely remember what real milk tasted like, but he knewthey could drink as much as they wanted. That it was more cream and had a grassy smell to it—like clover and alfalfa chopped up. Pa drank it warm without shaking. He didn’t care about mixing the top part and the bottom part together.
    “There.” Ma gave Eli a smile. “All finished.”
    Eli tugged at the shiny cape with all the daisies on it. He hoped to wrench it free but banged his sore hand instead. “Ouch!” Eli shook his stitched-up palm and tried not to show how much it stung.
    “I’ll get the ointment,” Ma said.
    “Does it hurt a lot, Eli?” Hannah asked. “Here. Take Happy.” She scooped up another bunny between her arms and placed the white clump on Eli’s lap. “Give his fur a few strokes and you’ll feel better.” She smiled. “Mini-lops are the most lovable buns in the world.”
    Eli felt Happy’s whiskers moving while the bunny sniffed. He clung to Eli’s thighs with his nails and blinked his ruby-colored eyes. Eli touched the droopy ears to get the bunny to stop shaking and could see the pink skin right through the fur.
    “Should I take the bandage off?” Ma asked. “And rub some more cream in?”
    Eli shook his head.
    Hannah put a bandage on the ruddy patch of moleskincovering Eli’s stitches. “This is from my Princess collection,” she said. “It’s my last Snow White.”
    It had black-haired princesses all over it. “Ah, why’d you go and do that, Hannah?” Eli moaned.
    The doorbell rang and there was Eli, in a haircutting cape covered with daisies, petting a bunny on his lap with a Snow White bandage on his bandage. He tore them all off and got Happy to hop onto the kitchen floor.
    “Hey.” Tess walked into the kitchen with a jug of fresh milk and a whole bunch of yarn.
    “Hey.” Eli fingered the tablecloth and saw that his stitches were oozing blood.
    “Nice to see you, Tess.” Ma took Tess’s coat and put it on a kitchen chair. “Oh, how thoughtful. Did you see, Chet? Tess brought us some milk.”
    Ma took the jug and put it in the fridge. “How ’bout I bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies to go with that milk?”
    “Yum!” Hannah squealed. She nudged Happy into the rabbit crate with Sleepy. “Can you make ’em extra gooey? And have Eli promise he won’t eat more than his share?”
    Eli blushed. He was glad Tess could barely see him, with the Easter lily and all. He didn’t know what to do with his hands anymore, so he leaned over, stuck a fingerin the planter like Ma did and got a chin full of dusty bits from the creamy petals.
    “Hear you got stitches.” Tess rested against the kitchen table and looked down at Eli’s hand.
    “It’s nothin’.”
    “His bull calf did it,” Hannah blurted.
    “Little Joe?” Tess asked.
    “Uh-huh.” Hannah smiled and put her unicorn-mane-braiding kit on the kitchen table. “He’s