“What do you want, Will?”
Silly question.
Jem already knew the answer. Will wanted to pick on Jem and Ellie. He picked on them every Saturday afternoon.
Didn’t that rich boy have anything better to do?
Probably not, Jem thought.
Only a few children lived in Goldtown. The schoolhouse was never full.
“What kind of pies are you peddling today?” Will asked in his know-it-all voice.
Jem and Ellie looked at each other.
It was not a friendly question. Will never asked friendly questions.
Before Jem could answer, a Bible verse popped into his head. Be ye kind one to another.
Mama expected Jem to be kind. Even to Will Sterling.
Sometimes Jem and Will said mean things to each other. When that happened, Mama found plenty of Bible verses for Jem to learn by heart.
He did not feel like learning another Bible verse today.
Will frowned. “I said what kind of pies are you peddling today?”
“Blueberry,” Jem answered nicely.
Will grinned. “Mmm, I like blueberry pie. How about one teensy slice? You don’t have to tell your mother.”
Will was right about that.
Jem would not have to tell Mama anything. She would find out soon enough. The miner with the missing piece of pie would tell her.
“You can have a slice when your mother buys a pie.” Jem tugged on the wagon handle. “Now, get out of my way.” He paused. “Please.”
“You are not my boss, pie boy.”
Jem closed his hand into a tight fist. Just one punch. One punch would send this sissy rich boy home.
“Jem, no,” Ellie whispered.
Jem’s hand relaxed.
A fight with Will wasn’t worth it. Not today. He had pies to deliver.
Besides, Will never picked on them for long. He always said something mean and then walked away laughing.
But Will did not laugh and walk away today.
Instead, he stepped closer. He lifted the cloth off the last four pies.
“I think I’ll just help myself,” he said.
“No!” Ellie shouted. “Go away, you big meanie!”
Will reached into the wagon.
“Don’t touch those pies!” Jem yelled.
Bible verses about being kind flew out of Jem’s head. He pushed Will away from the wagon.
“Hey!” Will dropped the cloth and gave Jem a shove.
Jem fell backward into the wagon. His feet flew up. His backside came down on something warm and squishy.
Will’s face turned pale. He looked at Jem and didn’t say a word.
Jem sat in the wagon. He didn’t say a word either. He didn’t move. His back felt wet and slippery.
Then Ellie began to cry.
Jem had to get out of the wagon and take care of his sister. That’s what big brothers did.
Squish! Jem’s hand landed in a gooey, purple mess.
He grabbed the edge of the wagon and pulled himself up. His feet touched the ground. At last!
Jem stomped over to Will. “Look what you did!”
“It’s not my fault.” Will’s voice came out shaky. “I wasn’t going to touch your sour ol’ pies. I was just funnin’.”
“You were not!” Jem shouted.
“Was too!”
Will turned around and walked away fast. “You shouldn’t have pushed me,” he yelled over his shoulder.
Sobbing, Ellie looked inside the wagon. “The pies are smashed. All of Mama’s hard work.”
“Roasted rattlesnakes, Ellie!” Jem said. “Stop crying. You’re not hurt, are you?”
She shook her head. Her two dark-red pigtails slapped her face. “But Mama’s—”
“Look.” Jem pointed near the front end of the wagon. “One pie is barely touched. We can sell that one.”
He found the pie cloth and rubbed it across the seat of his pants. The cloth turned purple.
Good thing his pants were dark brown. Nobody would see the blueberry mess.
Ellie wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Will’s a big meanie. He didn’t even say he was sorry.”
Ellie was right. Will did not say he was sorry in words. But his white face told Jem he was very sorry.
Maybe even a little scared.
But probably not scared enough to stop picking on us, Jem thought.
“Come on.” He dropped the cloth in the wagon.
Then he paused. The squished pies looked up at him.
Jem reached his finger into the goo and licked it. Mmm! “Try it, Ellie.”
Ellie’s tear-streaked face turned smiley.
She poked a finger in the pie filling and popped it in her mouth. “It tastes good. Not like a smashed pie at all.”
“Pa says there’s nothing so bad you can’t make something good of it.” Jem smacked his lips and reached for more. “Pa’s right.”