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clambered to her feet as the noise drew closer and louder. What was that strange sound?
    She looked up. “Oh no! Bees!”
    Naomi ducked, but it was too late. It seemed as if her head were encased in a dark cloud. One that moved and buzzed and stung like fire. She swatted at the enemy invaders as they pelted her body with their evil stingers, and she shrieked and rolled in the grass.
    It seemed like an eternity before the swarm was gone. When she was sure they had disappeared, Naomi crawled to the edge of the creek. She grabbed a handful of dirt, scooped some water into her hands, mixed it thoroughly, and patted mud all over the stingers. Her face felt like it was twice its normal size, and her arms ached where the buzzing insects had made their mark. If Caleb could see the way I look now , he would surely change his mind about wanting to court me.
    “I need to get back to the house and fix a real poultice,” Naomi muttered. She’d never had an allergic reaction to a bee sting, but then she’d never had so many all at once. Even if she wasn’t allergic, she had a homeopathic remedy that should help the swelling go down and take away some of the pain.
    Naomi took off on a run. Beside the fact that the stingers hurt something awful, it had begun to rain. By the time she reached the back porch, raindrops pelted her body, while streaks of lightning and thunderous roars converged on the afternoon sky.
    Naomi flung the door open and bounded into the kitchen. She screeched to a halt and stared at the floor. “Was in der welt —what in the world?” she gasped.
    Mary Ann knelt in the middle of the room and looked up at Naomi with tears in her eyes. “Me and Nancy woke up and were hungry. We’re feelin’ better and wanted to make ginger cookies.”
    Streaks of flour dotted the little girl’s face and pinned-up hair, which made the otherwise mahogany tresses look as though they were splattered with gray. The floor was littered with broken brown eggshells mixed with runny yellow yolks, and a sack of flour had been dumped in the middle of the mess.
    Naomi’s gaze traveled across the room where Nancy stood at the sink with a sponge in her hand. “What happened here?”
    “Everything was goin’ okay ’til Mary Ann dropped the carton of eggs,” Nancy huffed. “I was haulin’ the flour over to the cupboard and slipped.” She lifted her chin. “The flour spilled and landed on Mary Ann’s head, and it’s all her fault.”
    Naomi groaned. Nancy was four years older than Mary Ann and usually managed fairly well in the kitchen. She also tended to be a bit bossy where the younger ones were concerned. Why did I allow myself the luxury of falling asleep at the creek? For that matter, why did I go there in the first place? Now I’m paying the price for my desire to spend a little time alone.
    A piercing wail shattered the air, and she whirled around. It was Zach hollering from his playpen in the adjoining room.
    “The boppli’s awake,” Mary Ann announced.
    “Jah, I know the baby’s awake, but I can’t go to him now.” Naomi lifted her arms, covered in mud. “I’ve been stung by a swarm of bees.”
    “Oh, Sister, you look so elendich !” Nancy cried. It was obvious she hadn’t even noticed Naomi’s condition until now.
    Naomi nodded. “I’m sure I do look pitiful, but I feel even worse than I appear.”
    “Are you gonna help us bake ginger cookies?” Mary Ann asked, scooping up a handful of eggshells.
    “No.” Naomi tried to keep her voice steady and calm. There was no point getting upset and yelling at her sisters. It wasn’t as if they’d made the mess on purpose. “I need to tend these bee stings.”
    Naomi opened the cabinet door above the sink, grabbed a box of baking soda and her bottle of medicine. “I’m going upstairs to the bathroom. While I’m gone, one of you needs to clean this mess, and the other can get the baby before he tries to climb out of his playpen.” She pointed toward the living