Part 1

“It’ll be fun,” Andrew Belden said on the phone to his older brother, Peter. “You and Helen deserve a break, even if you have to attend the banking conference for a day. It’s only couple of days’ drive out here. We’ve just about finished up lambing and have a new batch of kittens in the barn. The kids will have a great time.”

“I don’t know,” Peter replied. “Brian would have to miss a week of school. He’s ahead of his class in reading and math so I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. He’s always been grown up for his age. Since he’s been in second grade, he’s even become more responsible. Mart and Trixie, however, can be a handful.”

“Don’t worry about it. Mrs. Gorman will love having the kids here. It will be fine and it will only be for a few days.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Peter said hesitantly. “We’ll leave Sleepyside after work on Friday so we can get a head start. We should be at Happy Valley Farm by noon on Monday. That will give us a day to get the kids settled before the conference on Wednesday.”

Just as planned, Peter and his family arrived on Monday just in time for lunch. Peter looked calm and cool but Helen looked like she was ready to run off to the circus. Brian climbed out of the car and immediately turned to help his sister out. Just as she was about to step down from the car, Mart pushed his way out and shoved Trixie to the ground. A fight ensued. Brian tried, to no avail, to break the two up.

Peter, oblivious to it all, greeted his younger brother. “Andrew, it’s been too long.” He shook his hand and they started to exchange pleasantries.

Helen, meanwhile, tried to break up her two youngest children for about the tenth time that day as Mrs. Gorman came out of the house carrying a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies.

“Anyone hungry?” she asked. “Lunch will be ready in about a half an hour. I hope this won’t spoil anyone’s appetite.”

Immediately, Mart stopped fighting with his sister and ran to the housekeeper. “Who are you?” he demanded as he started to grab for a cookie with each hand.

“Martin Belden,” his mother said sternly, “where are your manners? Don’t even think about grabbing one of those cookies until you are properly introduced and you’ve gone inside to wash your hands.”

“Aw, Moms,” he replied, but stopped in mid-grab. Then he turned to Mrs. Gorman and introduced himself. “Hey, I’m Mart Belden, I’m four years old but pretty soon I’m going to be five. Over there is my sister, Trixie. She’s four, too, but we’re not twins on account that her birthday is May first and mine is June first. It’s not fair that we are the same age. I’m older than she is. And where’s the bathroom?”

Mrs. Gorman smiled brightly as she pointed into the house. “It’s right down the hall. You can’t miss it.” By this time Trixie had managed to climb the steps to the porch, Brian right at her side. She started to grab for a cookie just like Mart, but Brian gently pushed her inside to help her wash her hands.

Each child, along with their dad and uncle, enjoyed one cookie before Mrs. Gorman set out lunch on the dining room table. She had prepared a regular Sunday dinner even though it was Monday. There was leg of lamb with mint sauce, roasted potatoes, green salad, corn, homemade rolls, and for dessert, warm apple pie.

To Helen’s surprise, there was no fighting among the children and they all cleaned their plates. She wisely did not explain to them that they were eating lamb. Trixie was already talking about the bottle lamb Andrew had mentioned. She would no doubt make it her pet before they left.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the farm. Andrew showed his brother, nephews and niece the farm while Helen and Mrs. Gorman visited in the kitchen. There was so much to see.

It was a warm and sunny spring day. Mr. Gorman, the farm manager, along with their hired hand, Albert, were working the fields to get the new seeding of hay in before they started planting the many acres of corn that had to be in the ground before Memorial Day. Brian was fascinated by the large machinery. He had always been interested in any vehicle with four wheels.

Mr. Gorman stopped the large green-cabbed tractor that was hooked up to a four-bottom plow right in front of the group. He put the tractor in park but left it running like he always did. As Andrew introduced his family, Mart took off to explore the funny looking piece of equipment hooked up to the tractor. He had just started to climb over the plow when his father spotted him.

“Mart, get back here,” his father yelled. “That is not a toy.” For once, Mart stopped in his tracks and came back to stand next to his father buy he couldn’t contain his excitement about seeing such a big tractor. His dad had a small tractor that he used at home on occasion but nothing as large and shiny as the one his uncle had.

Mr. Gorman quickly climbed back onto the tractor and shut the large machine off. “I’m going to have to remember not to leave that running, even for a few seconds. Wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

The older men continued to talk for a few minutes. Brian, Mart and Trixie tried to stand patiently by, but even Brian’s curiosity started to get to him.

“Would you guys like to sit on the tractor?” Andrew asked. Three heads nodded excitedly in unison. “You have to be careful, and only one at a time. Like your father said, this isn’t a toy.”

Excitedly, the three kids lined up to take their turns. For once, they didn’t fight over who got to be first. Trixie was the first one to climb on board. She sat in the seat and just stared at all of the shiny buttons. Amazingly, her curiosity didn’t get the best of her.

Next, Mart pretended he was driving the tractor. He could barely reach the steering wheel when seated but he grabbed and made what he thought were tractor noises as he narrated about planting the fields.

Finally, Brian was all about what was on the tractor. He wanted to know what every button and lever was used for. He was excited to find out that the tractor had heat and a working radio.

“We just bought this tractor,” Andrew explained. “Didn’t think we really needed the heat and the radio but now that we have it, no one really minds going out when it’s below freezing out.”

After everyone had a chance to sit on the tractor, they headed to the barn where the last of the lambs and their ewes were housed. As they walked into the barn, several very young lambs were jumping around, looking like their legs were made out of springs. Trixie squealed in delight as they came over to the gate. She placed her hands on the gate and jumped back when one of the lambs reached up and tried to suck her fingers.

“Be careful,” Andrew said. “That’s Tom and Jerry, our twin bottle lambs. Their mom didn’t have enough milk so we decided to bottle them. They think just about anything is a bottle.”

Trixie was not deterred. She stuck her hand through the gate and giggled as one of the lambs started to suck her fingers. Uncharacteristically, she stood very still.

“Would you like to feed them?” Andrew asked. “It’s just about time for their bottle.”

Before Trixie could answer, Mart chimed in. “I wanna feed the baby lambs.” He pushed his way past Trixie and she started to push back.

Before an all-out fight ensued, Andrew said, “There are two lambs so you can both feed them.” He looked over at Brian, who was trying not to look disappointed. “And Brian, you can feed them next time.”

While Peter kept an eye on his three children, Andrew went in to the old milk house to mix up the milk replacer. He came back carrying two baby bottles.

“Now you have to hang on tight,” he explained. “They like to butt the bottle out of your hands.” He handed one bottle to Peter, who was standing next to Mart, then helped Trixie with the other bottle.

Both children were enthralled at being able to feed the lambs. It didn’t take any encouragement; the lambs knew exactly what to do. When the bottles were empty the lambs tried to butt at them trying to get more milk.

“That’s all,” Mart said to the lamb he was feeding. He pulled the bottle out of the lamb’s mouth and handed it to his uncle. Trixie reluctantly did the same thing. Then something caught her eye and she started to take off.

“Hold on there, Trixie,” Andrew said. “You don’t run in the barn. It startles the ewes.”

“Kitties,” Trixie yelled and pointed over at a haybale in the corner of the barn. There, on top of the bale, was a large grey cat with white socks on its feet. Snuggled up to her were about five kittens, all sound asleep. The mother cat was cleaning one of her babies.

“That’s White Socks,” Andrew explained. “She had those kittens about a month ago. You sit down here and I’ll bring one over to you.” He sat Trixie, Brian and Mart down on some hay bales and then brought each of them a kitten. “Now be gentle with them,” he continued. He placed a kitten in the lap of each of the kids. Very carefully, they petted them.

“Do they have names?” Brian asked.

“Not yet,” Andrew replied. “Would you like to name them?” Three sets of eyes lit up with excitement at the thought of naming the kittens.

While all of this was going on, White Socks sat with her other two kittens and kept an eye on the rest of her brood.

Mart was the first to name his kitten. It was grey like its mother but the only white it had was on the tip of its tail. “I’m going to name this one Harry,” he announced.

Andrew smiled. “That’s fine but I should tell you that is a girl.”

“I don’t care,” Mart replied. “Her name is Harry.”

Brian took a little longer to name the calico cat that sat on his lap. First, he asked, “Is this one a boy?”

“That one’s also a girl,” Andrew replied. “Only girl cats have three colors of hair. See she has some white, some grey and some orange hair.”

“I think I’ll name her Mary after ‘Mary had a little lamb’,” Brian decided.

Trixie was quiet for quite some time, looking at the jet-black kitten in her lap. Finally, she said, “It’s Ralph.”

“That’s a great name,” her father said.

“Is it a boy?” Brian asked.

“Yes, that one’s a boy. It’s the only male in the litter,” his uncle replied.

By now White Socks was getting a little nervous. Andrew gently took the kittens from the kids and placed them back with their mother.

Trixie started to yawn and Mart followed suit.

“I think it’s time we head back to the house,” their father said. “It’s a bit past nap time.”

Mart and Trixie both started to protest but more yawns won out. In the end, Peter carried Mart and Andrew carried Trixie back to the house. By the time they were to the kitchen door both kids were sound asleep. Brian helped open the door.

“Shh,” Peter whispered as he entered the kitchen. “They finally wore themselves out.”

Mrs. Gorman directed them upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms. The men gently placed each of the children on one side of the bed. Helen covered them up with their own blankets.

“Come on, Brian,” his mother said. “Let’s go and sit in the living room and you can read to me.”

Brian had been reading since before he had started kindergarten. Helen hadn’t pushed him but he seemed to pick it up on his own.

Brian found his book bag and started to reach into it. “Which one do you want me to read to you today?” he asked.

“I bet Mrs. Gorman would love to hear Hop on Pop,” Helen replied.

“That’s one of my favorites,” the housekeeper exclaimed.

Brian proudly read the book and Mrs. Gorman was surprised when he didn’t trip over the words Constantinople and Timbuktu.

When Mart and Trixie awoke from their naps, they were excited about exploring more of the farm. With Andrew, Mr. Gorman and Albert out in the fields planting, Peter took the children out to see the big tractors in the field.

Dinner that evening was a light meal. Mrs. Gorman fed the children early but the adults waited until everyone was in from the field after the sun had set. There weren’t any complaints from Trixie or Mart when their mother suggested it was time for bed. The excitement of the day and the fresh air had worn them all out.

The next day Trixie was up at the crack of dawn. She was never one to get up early, but something woke her up. Without waking her parents, she made her way down to the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Gorman, Andrew, and Albert were discussing the day’s activities.

“We should finish planting the last of the hay this morning,” Hank Gorman said. “It will take the rest of the day to get set up for planting corn and we’ll start planting the back forty tomorrow.”

“We need to start the second round of vaccinations for the lambs and dock the last of the tails,” Andrew said between bites of fried eggs and hash browns.

Mrs. Gorman looked up and said, “Who’s this coming down the stairs?”

Trixie stood in the doorway, not quite sure what she was supposed to do. Her fine yellow curls were in disarray and her pajama top had somehow gotten buttoned crooked. She clung to a ratty blue bunny with one arm and she struggled to keep the thumb of the other hand out of her mouth.

Andrew turned and said, “Good morning, Trixie. Are you ready for breakfast?”

Shyly, she nodded her head and walked over to the table.

Mrs. Gorman got up and pulled a chair out for her to sit on. She knelt on the chair and could just reach the table. “What would you like for breakfast?” she asked.

Trixie’s eyes brightened and with a big smile she said, “Cookies.”

Everyone else at the table laughed.

“I’m afraid not, little one,” Mrs. Gorman said. “I don’t think your mom would be too happy if I fed you cookies for breakfast. Do you like scrambled eggs and bacon?”

Trixie nodded her head up and down. In a few minutes, she was eating scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. After an accident with the milk glass at dinner the night before, Mrs. Gorman only filled it halfway with milk.

She had just about finished her breakfast when Mart came charging into the kitchen.

“Hey,” he said. “What are you eating? I want some.” He reached up to grab the last piece of toast off of Trixie’s plate. She started to push back and almost fell off her chair.

“Hey, there, big guy,” Albert said. “Why don’t you come and sit by me?” He pulled out a chair and helped Mart climb up. “Do you want scrambled eggs and bacon like Trixie had?”

Mart nodded his head, suddenly a little shy. In a few minutes, Mart was devouring his breakfast. It was identical to Trixie’s except Mrs. Gorman filled Mart’s glass all the way.

Peter, Helen and Brian made their way downstairs just as Mr. Gorman and Albert headed out the door.

“There you two are,” Helen said. “I hope they weren’t any trouble. I must have been pretty tired because I didn’t even hear them get up.”

As she poured two cups of coffee, Mrs. Gorman replied, “They were no trouble at all. They both just ate a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. And nothing fell on the floor.”

“That might just be a first,” Peter said.

After she placed the coffee in front of the two of them, she poured milk for Brian and then set breakfast in front of them.

“What are your plans for the day?” Andrew asked.

“We thought we’d spend the morning and early afternoon here on the farm,” Peter replied. “We have to leave here by two o’clock if we want to get settled into our hotel room and freshen up before the evening reception that starts at six-thirty. The conference is all day tomorrow and we’ll be back here by supper.”

Helen took a few bites of her eggs, all the while keeping an eye on her two younger children. They were being unusually quiet and not fighting with each other.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? Helen asked less than enthusiastically. “I can if you want me to.”

“No, Mrs. Gorman and I will be fine. You enjoy your time away,” Andrew said.

As they were finishing up breakfast, Trixie started to get antsy. “Kitties,” she insisted. “I want to see the kitties.”

“You go with Brian and he’ll read you a book,” her mother said. “I’m going to help Mrs. Gorman clean up.”

Mrs. Gorman shooed the whole bunch out of the kitchen. “You’re on vacation,” she said. “This isn’t anything. I’ve raised five sons. Now that was a lot of dirty dishes.”

Reluctantly, the group left the kitchen. Helen and Peter took the kids up to their rooms to change for the day. As soon as she had her clothes on Trixie started for the door. “Kitties,” she said again. “I want to see the kitties.”

“Hold on there, Trixie,” her father said. “We’ll go out and find the kitties in just a minute. You need to have your shoes tied and a coat on. It’s not that warm out this morning.”

Trixie went back to her dad and jumped from one foot to the other as he helped her get her coat on.

“Stand still now while I tie your shoes,” he said and she tried her hardest not to move around.

When her dad was done, she took off out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs. She was just about to the door when her mother caught up to her.

“You have to be careful, Trixie. It’s not like Crabapple Farm. There are lots of big tractors and animals and we don’t want you to get hurt,” she said.

Trixie stood by the door waiting impatiently for the rest of her family to come down the stairs. As soon as they were all at the door, Trixie started in again. “I want to see the kitties.”

All five of them trooped out to the barn. As they went, Brian gave his mother a running commentary of the farm. He pointed out the tractor and told her again about all of the knobs and buttons that were on it.

They spent most of the morning exploring the farm. Brian was thrilled when Andrew let him ride in the cabbed tractor with him. There were a few tears from Trixie and Mart when they were told that they were too young to ride in the tractor but their disappointment turned to excitement when Mr. Gorman drove up in a garden tractor with a small utility wagon attached to it. He offered to give the two younger kids a ride in it while Brian was in the big tractor.

Helen hesitated. “Is that safe?” she asked.

“We’ll just go down the driveway and come back. I’ll drive really slowly. As long as they sit down and don’t fight, they should be fine.”

“Did you hear that?” Helen asked her two younger children. “No fighting and you have to sit still.”

Both kids solemnly nodded their heads. “We’ll be really good, Moms,” said Mart. “I’ll even hold on to Trixie’s hand if you want me to.”

Much to Helen’s surprise, Trixie and Mart sat in the wagon and held hands the entire time the rode down the driveway and back.

“Look, Moms,” Trixie cried. “We’re being really good.”

“Yes, you are,” her mother replied. “Now remember that for when we are gone.”

When they were done with the ride, Trixie pouted. “I don’t want to get out. I’ll be good. I just wanna sit.”

Andrew and Brian came up from the barn where they had parked the tractor. Brian could hardly contain his excitement.

“Uncle Andrew let me drive!” he exclaimed. “It was so neat.”

Before Helen could protest, Andrew explained. “I pushed the seat out so we could both fit on in and he steered while I worked the pedals. We were in a level field. I can tell he’s going to have a knack for all things with four wheels.”

Brian beamed.

Trixie started to fidget and decided to stand up in the wagon. “Look at me,” she said.

“Beatrix Alicia Belden,” her mother yelled. “Sit down right now.”

Trixie plopped on her bottom and almost tipped the wagon over.

Peter walked over to the wagon and picked up his daughter. Before she could protest, he reminded her, “Didn’t you want to go and see those kitties?”

“Yes,” Andrew said. “And I think there are two that are feeling a little lonely since you haven’t named them yet.”

As they walked to the barn, the three kids offered suggestions for the two kittens.

“I think they should be Ernie and Bert,” said Mart.

“They can’t be,” replied Brian. “They’re girls.”

“Harry’s a girl,” Mart answered back.

“Yeah, well, you named her that. We need some girl names,” Brian insisted.

“How about Thing 1 and Thing 2?” Trixie asked. The Cat in the Hat Comes Back was her favorite book.

Surprisingly, the two boys agreed with her. With that settled the three took their places on the hay bales like they had the day before. Andrew placed Thing 1 and Thing 2 in Trixie’s lap, Ralph and Harry in Mart’s lap and left Mary with White Socks.

Brian looked a little surprised until he saw the baby bottles in Andrew’s hand. “I have two lambs that need to be fed.”

Trixie started to get up and almost dumped the kitties on the ground. “I want to feed the lambs,” she said.

“Hold tight there, Trixie,” her uncle said. “It’s Brian’s turn to feed the lambs. Remember, you and Mart fed them yesterday. Besides, those kitties want to be held.”

Trixie settled down and started playing with the kitties. They found the string to her sweatshirt hood and begin batting it around. She giggled as they played with it.

Leaving the children with Peter and Andrew, Helen headed back to the house to see if Mrs. Gorman needed any help. Mr. Gorman headed to the field to finish planting the hay while Albert made sure the sheep were fed and the water was running.

“I’m going to start getting the corn planter ready,” Andrew said. “Feel free to explore wherever you want. Just don’t go in the pens with the sheep.”

“Uncle Andrew, can I come with you?” Mart asked. “I promise to be good.”

Andrew looked at his brother to see what he thought.

“You have to listen to what Uncle Andrew says,” Peter replied. “He has a lot of work to get done.”

Mart jumped up and down with excitement. “I promise, Dad. I won’t touch anything and I will be very good.”

Before Brian and Trixie could protest, Andrew pointed out, “If you guys and your dad go over to the pasture behind the barn you can watch Tank and Tonk help Albert bring the sheep in from the field.”

“Who are Tank and Tonk?” Brian asked.

“They are our border collies. They are working dogs, but Albert trains them for herding competitions. It’s pretty fun to watch,” Andrew explained. “Just remember, they are doing a job so you can’t pet them until Albert tells you it’s okay.”

Brian’s and Trixie’s eyes lit up with excitement, but Mart couldn’t decide if he wanted to go with his uncle or check out the dogs.

“Come on, Mart,” Andrew said, before he could change his mind. “We’ve got work to do and I need someone to hold on to my tools while I get the planter ready.” Mart excitedly joined his uncle and headed off with him.

Brian, Trixie, and their dad headed over to the pasture where two black and white dogs were working the flock. Even at their young age, the two Belden children seemed to realize how well trained the two dogs were. Using only a series of signals from a whistle, Albert guided the dogs to herd the flock closer to the barns. Much to the dismay of the ewes, the dogs separated the lambs from the flock. When they had them in a pen, Albert began vaccinating them. Brian was enthralled with the process and was quick to volunteer to help. Albert created the job of holding the bottle of vaccine and the filled syringe until a lamb was caught to be vaccinated. He then assigned Trixie the job of naming all of the lambs to keep her occupied.

She started out by naming them after the seven dwarfs, then moved on to naming them after flowers. Pretty soon she ran out of ideas so her dad created a game to name some more of them.

“How about one that begins with the same letter as your name,” he suggested.

Trixie thought for a minute. “Turtle,” she yelled.

“You’re right. Trixie begins with T and turtle begins with T,” Peter said.

Brian said, “How about one that rhymes with Mart?”

“What does rhymes mean, Dad?” Trixie asked.

“Sounds the same as,” he answered.

“Okay, it can be named Mart,” Trixie reasoned.

Albert and her dad laughed.

“Not quite,” Peter said. “Rhymes are like dad and sad.”

Trixie thought for a few minutes. Then started to say, “I know, far…”

“No,” he quickly said. “That’s not a good name. How about heart? That rhymes with Mart.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “This one is Heart.”

Much to Albert’s and Peter’s surprise, the two kids were a big help. Things went much quicker when Albert didn’t have to keep reaching into a pocket for the syringe and vaccine. When Trixie got bored with naming the lambs, she was given the job of standing by the gate and unlatching it when Albert caught a lamb.

When they finished vaccinating the lambs, it was time for lunch. As the group headed to the house, Mart and Andrew were walking up from the field.

As they entered the house, the smell of fresh baked bread, fried chicken, and apple pie filled the air.

“Something smells good,” Andrew said as they entered the kitchen. He reached to sneak a piece of chicken off the platter but Mrs. Gorman slapped his hand.

“Not until you have all washed up,” she scolded.

Everyone, adults and kids, headed to different sinks to get washed up. When they were all seated and about to say grace, Peter spoke up. “Isn’t Mr. Gorman joining us?”

“No,” said Mrs. Gorman. “He wants to get that last hay field finished so that they can begin planting the corn this afternoon. That will be a big job. Albert will plow, Andrew will drag and Hank will plant.”

“Oh, my,” said Helen. “That means you’ll end up watching the kids.”

“I raised five sons; if I can’t handle three well-mannered kids, then I have no right to be called a mom,” Mrs. Gorman replied.

When dinner was finished, Helen took the three children upstairs to lie down and rest. Brian didn’t need a nap but he loved to read, and Helen had realized several months ago that if Brian “took a nap”, Mart would not make a fuss. Usually, Brian would read to Mart while Helen got Trixie settled down. Today, she explained that she would not be here when they got up from their naps but would return late the next day. They were given strict instructions to listen to Andrew and Mr. and Mrs. Gorman while they were gone.

“If you’re really good, we will bring each of you back a surprise,” Moms promised.

Trixie had a million questions to ask about where her parents were going, if she could play with the kittens, and who would help her if she woke up in the middle of the night. Patiently, her mother answered every question, knowing that if she didn’t, Trixie would worry the entire time she was gone or just get into a lot of mischief.

Finally, all three children were settled down in their beds. Helen tiptoed down the stairs trying not to make a sound.

“Trixie and Mart are asleep and Brian is reading a book,” she said to Mrs. Gorman who had just finished cleaning up the kitchen. “They should sleep for at least an hour and a half. You might want to check on them after an hour or so. The excitement of the farm may be too much for them to stay asleep long.”

“Don’t worry, Helen,” Mrs. Gorman said. “I can still hear the minute someone’s foot hits the floor overhead. We’ll have a great time. I thought I’d bake some oatmeal raisin cookies this afternoon. When the men come in from the field, there will be chores to do. I don’t think we can keep those kids away from all the baby animals.”

Peter came into the kitchen. “The car is all packed,” he said, handing some papers to Mrs. Gorman. “Here is all the information about the conference, as well as the phone number for the hotel we are staying in. The other paper gives Andrew permission to seek medical attention if needed. I had it notarized at the bank before we left Sleepyside.”

“Oh, we won’t need that,” Mrs. Gorman insisted.

“I don’t think so either, but if you don’t have it then you will definitely need it,” he replied.

Shortly after that, Helen and Peter left for the conference. “We should be back by six o’clock tomorrow,” Peter said through the rolled down car window as they pulled out of the driveway. Mrs. Gorman and Andrew waved as the car drove away.

“I hope Helen can relax and enjoy the time away from the kids,” Andrew said. “Those three are so well-behaved, they won’t be any problem.”

Behind Andrew’s back, Mrs. Gorman chuckled. She knew that it was going to be a very interesting night. No matter how hard those three kids tried to behave there was sure to be some sort of incident.

 

This website is © 2005-2025 Mal and WendyM. All rights reserved. Graphics copyright by MaryN, 2021; images from pixabay.com and used with permission.