34

The Sewing Machine

On a cold and rainy morning in late October, Mama set Lily to work on a science lesson. Yesterday, Mama had Lily gather all the different leaves she could find in the yard. Mama taught Lily how to identify the trees from the leaves. Lily’s task was to label each leaf and write some information about each tree. Lily had just spread all of the leaves on her desk when a knock came on the front door.

“Keep working until I get back,” Mama said, pointing to Lily and Joseph.

Lily wished she could go downstairs and see who had come by for a visit. Instead, she was fastening a large oak leaf to her book. She tried to think of something she knew about oak trees. THEY HAVE ACORNS, she wrote in her careful handwriting. She finished that sentence and couldn’t think of anything else about oak trees. She knew how to spell many words, some of them important. Words like DOLLHOUSE and RED DRESS and PUMPKIN COOKIES. But she didn’t know any other words about oak trees. She tiptoed to the door to see if she could hear who Mama’s visitor was, but she heard Mama come up the stairs so she scurried back to her desk.

Mama raised an eyebrow at Lily when she came back to the room they used for school. How did Mama seem to know everything? It was a mystery.

“Helen Young was at the door,” Mama said. “She wondered if Jenny might have extra milk to spare. She’d like to buy a quart of fresh milk from us three times a week. Lily, I told her I would send you over tomorrow with a quart.”

“I could take her some now,” Lily offered, trying to sound helpful. She had run out of oak tree knowledge after ACORNS and would rather go play.

“I set out all our milk to sour this morning or I would have given her some,” Mama said. Every week, Mama would let some of Jenny’s milk sour to make all kinds of delicious-tasting butter, yogurts, and a variety of cheeses: cottage cheese, cheese curds, hard cheese to slice, and Lily’s favorite, “smear kase.” It spread like peanut butter or honey, and was used in the winter on top of fresh bread. “Tomorrow, you can take some milk to Helen Young. For now, back to the oak tree project.”

As Lily wrote another sentence about oak trees—SQUIRRELS LIKE TO EAT ACORNS—she looked forward to taking the milk to Helen Young’s. She liked Helen Young, but she did hope Harold Young wouldn’t be at home. She still thought he was frightful. Always scowling! And she hadn’t forgotten that shotgun he had pointed at Papa. That was hard to forget.

The next day, after school, Mama poured some fresh sweet milk into a clean quart jar. She wrapped it into a towel and placed it in a little box. “Set the box in our little red wagon,” she said. “That way you won’t spill a single drop.”

Lily and Joseph held the handle of the wagon and pulled it down the driveway and up the road to the Youngs’ house. Lily was happy to hear the roaring sound of Harold Young’s tractor, far off in his field.

Helen Young met them at the door. “Why, it’s my milk delivery!” she said. “Come in, come in. You must be hungry after walking over here. Let me get you some cookies.”

Lily and Joseph stepped into the warm and friendly kitchen. Lily had never been in an English person’s kitchen. It was fascinating! Frilly white curtains, embroidered with strawberries, framed the window. A big white refrigerator purred noisily next to the kitchen counter. On the front of the refrigerator were magnets that held pictures of children and other people. The room was bright too. Lights were on even though it was a sunny day. Several pictures hung on the walls. Artificial vines with strawberries and strawberry blossoms twined and twisted together and draped above the pictures. A big soft rug was under the table and chairs. Lily wondered how Helen Young kept the kitchen looking so clean. At home, one of Lily’s jobs was to sweep the crumbs around the table after every meal. How did Helen Young sweep the rug? Maybe Harold and Helen Young didn’t get crumbs on the floor when they ate. Maybe they were tidier eaters than Joseph and Dannie.

Helen put the quart of milk into the refrigerator. Lily was amazed to see a light inside the refrigerator. What a good idea! It was so much easier to see what was inside. On the counter sat a big white cookie jar. It had strawberries on it too. Lily thought Helen Young must love strawberries best of all. Everywhere Lily looked, she saw strawberries.

Helen took some cookies out of the cookie jar and handed them to Lily and Joseph. Lily had never seen such a tiny cookie. It fit into the palm of her hand. She could get the whole cookie inside her mouth with just one bite, though she knew that would be rude. It would take four or five of these cookies to make one of Mama’s.

Now Lily realized why all the English people made a fuss over Mama’s baked goods. They must eat only tiny cookies. What a wonderful surprise it must be for them to discover Mama’s big cookies!

Lily nibbled her cookie slowly. When it was finished, she motioned to Joseph that they should leave. On the way home, Lily spotted a bunch of goldenrod flowers growing beside the road. She stopped to pick them for Mama. Mama liked every kind of flower and would be happy to get their bouquet.

Every other day, Joseph and Lily took a quart of fresh milk to the Youngs’. Harold Young was never at the house. He always seemed to be out in his fields, which made Lily happy. Each time, Helen Young would invite them inside for a treat. Helen Young always had a gift for them—often tiny cookies or miniature bars, but other times, she had stickers or some unusual rocks. Lily looked forward to seeing what surprise Helen Young had for them. One time, she gave them a box of new crayons. Taking milk to Helen Young felt like a little bit of Christmas to Lily. Papa and Mama always said it was better to give than to receive, but Lily thought it was much more fun to receive.

One day, Helen Young didn’t have anything waiting on the table for Lily and Joseph, like she usually did when they brought milk to her. Instead, she put the milk into the refrigerator and asked them to come into the living room.

Lily and Joseph followed her. Lily hadn’t gone into the living room before. She tried not to stare, but it was decorated even prettier than the strawberries in the kitchen. A big soft sofa and matching chairs with plump pillows scattered on them. Helen Young walked over to a black sewing machine. The word Singer was written in gold lettering on the top of it.

“This used to be my grandmother’s sewing machine,” Helen Young said. She placed a hand on the top of the machine. “It’s a treadle machine. She used to pump the treadle with her foot while she sewed clothes.” She looked at the machine. “I never use it. It only stitches straight lines. It just collects dust.” She looked up at Lily. “If you think your parents wouldn’t mind, I’d like to give it to you.”

Lily’s eyes went wide. A sewing machine of her very own? Oh, what a wonderful surprise! She hoped Papa and Mama would say yes. They simply had to say yes. She had to have this beautiful black machine!

Helen Young smiled. “I’ll write a note to take to your parents.” She burst into a laugh. “Lily, if your eyes get any wider, you’ll need a bigger face.” She sat at the kitchen table and wrote a note, then handed it to Lily.

Lily walked slowly and calmly out of the house. As soon as they were out of sight of the Youngs’ house, she started to run. Joseph pulled the wagon along, trying to keep up with her as it bounced and clattered behind him. Today, Lily didn’t stop to find pretty flowers or leaves to take home for Mama. All that Lily could think of was to get that note to Mama as soon as she could. They ran until they were too tired to run any longer and then walked the rest of the way.

“You put the wagon away this time, Joseph,” Lily said as she bolted up the porch steps. She let the door bang shut behind her and ran to give the note to Mama.

But Mama wouldn’t take the note from Lily. “Go open the door and close it nicely,” she said, eyebrow raised.

Lily knew they weren’t allowed to let the doors bang. She hurried back to open and close the door quietly. Then, she handed Mama the note. Mama read it and tucked it into her pocket. She didn’t say a word.

But Lily couldn’t leave it at that. She simply had to know! “Mama, will you let me have the sewing machine?”

“I’ll talk to Papa about it first.” Mama turned her attention to her quilting.

Lily sat by the window. Gray clouds hung heavy in the sky. She wished it would start raining so Papa would come home early. He couldn’t do carpentry work in the rain. Rain, rain, rain, Lily wished, squeezing her eyes shut. But when she opened her eyes, the ground was dry.

The afternoon dragged on. Finally, Mama put away her thread and needles and started getting supper ready. Lily watched for Papa by the front window. When she saw him, she ran outside to meet him and tell him about the special note in Mama’s pocket.

Papa looked a little curious as Mama handed it to him. Lily watched anxiously as he read it.

A big smile spread over Papa’s face. “I think I can go pick it up tonight just as soon as we’re done with the chores.”

Lily jumped up and down. She would be getting her very own sewing machine! Mama could teach her how to sew! She already knew what she wanted to make. A red dress for her doll, Sally.

The next morning, Lily brought Sally downstairs and sat in front of her new sewing machine. Her feet couldn’t quite touch the treadle. If she stood, she could push her foot to make the needle move up and down. A little awkward for her, but she could manage. After all, she had an important job to do today! “Mama, I’m ready.”

Mama popped her head out of the kitchen. “For what?”

“To sew Sally clothes!”

Mama looked at Lily as if she were trying not to laugh. She wiped her hands on a rag and came into the living room. “Lily, when you are learning something new, you have to start at the beginning.”

“I know,” Lily said. “So I thought we could make Sally a red dress.”

Mama shook her head. “We’re going to start with a nine-patch square for a quilt for Sally.”

A nine-patch square? For a dumb little quilt? Lily was so disappointed. Quilting was boring. Mama pulled out some extra fabric, some scissors, and a little square template. “Before you start to use the sewing machine, you need to cut your patches, nice and straight.”

When Mama went back into the kitchen, Lily whispered to Sally, “I’m sorry, Sally. Soon, I will make you a red dress.” She looked at the stack of fabric, the scissors, the square template. Boring!