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field.”
    Pa laughed. “Yes. They grow well in our fields, too.”
    Mr. Brummel, the sheriff, stopped by next with his wife and three nearly grown-up daughters. And last of all Mr. and Mrs. Heggersmith, the owners of the general store, came to greet them.
    â€œIf there are any groceries you need, Mrs. Vogel, we’d be happy to open the store for you,” Mr. Heggersmith offered kindly. A gold tooth gleamed when he smiled. “Silly to have to make a special trip back tomorrow when you’re here today.”
    Ma looked tempted. “You have no plans we would be upsetting?” she asked.
    â€œNot a one,” Mrs. Heggersmith said. “You come along and get all that you need.”
    Esther slipped away while Ma and Pa thanked them. She hoped to see Bethany one more time. She was relieved to find her new friend waiting at the foot of the church steps. When Bethany spotted Esther, she waved and gave a little skip of excitement.
    â€œWhat took you so long?” she demanded when Esther had scooted down to join her. “Papa’s in a hurry to leave, but I said I couldn’t go without saying good-bye.”
    â€œPeople kept coming to meet us,” Esther said. She smiled. “I’m glad you waited.”
    Bethany took a backward step toward the Klause buggy. “Will you be at school tomorrow?”
    â€œI hope so.” Esther held up a hand to show her crossed fingers.
    â€œI’ll see you there,” Bethany promised. “I have to go now.” She waved and ran off.
    Walter tugged on Esther’s hand. “Ma said to come,” he told her.
    Esther nodded and let him lead her back to the buggy. Under her breath she sang the chorus of a song she’d heard on the radio.
“Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again . . .”
    It was a happy song, just right for this happy, happy day.

5 CountryGirl
    ESTHER WAS DISAPPOINTED WHEN MA announced that school would have to wait for a few days.
    â€œFirst we clean. Then we unpack.
Then
you go to school,” Ma said firmly. She wrinkled her nose as she eyed the house. “You can tell it was a man without a wife who lived here. No woman would let a house get so filthy.”
    Esther and Violet swallowed their groans and rolled up their sleeves. They swept and scrubbed and polished until Esther was sure her arms were going to fall off. She was grateful when Pa called her to help with some of the outdoor chores. They had to be much easier than housework.
    But she quickly learned that nothing about farm life was easy.
    She learned, for instance, that not all hens willingly give up their eggs. Some, like the scruffy brown speckled hen, actually fought to keep them! And the two geese were even nastier than the hen. They ran at her with snapping beaks when all she wanted was to feed them. “Stupid birds,” Esther told them. “You should be grateful.”
    â€œWhy do we need geese anyway?” she demanded of Pa, rubbing a pinched thigh tenderly. “We don’t eat their eggs.”
    â€œBut look,” Pa said, picking up a fluffy feather from the ground. “Ma will use their feathers to make soft pillows and warm quilts. This is good, yes?”
    Esther just sighed.
    Feeding the pigs was not scary like collecting the eggs or feeding the geese. The little piglets tumbling and grunting in the straw were even kind of cute. But the smell in their pen was disgusting. Esther learned to take a deep, deep breath before she opened the door of the pig shed. She held her breath all the while she poured the pail of slop into their trough. She tried not to breathe until the pail was empty and she was safely outside again. But sometimes she ran out of air—ugh!
    She would much rather have fed Fritz and Bruno, the horses. Bruno, especially, was her pet. He already recognized her and nickered whenever she came into the barn. She’d even gotten to ride him for a few minutes