What a Pair! Read Online Free PDF

and Ada’s still sleeping.”
    Mattie wrinkled her nose. “I hope you can find a home for all the kittens, ‘cause we don’t need any more
katze
around here.”
    “Since it’s Mark’s cat he’ll probably want to keep one of the kittens, but we’ll try to find homes for the rest of Lucky’s babies.”
    Mattie wished her dog, Twinkles, would have some puppies. As far as she was concerned, a puppy was a lot more fun to play with than a kitten. A pup could be trained to do tricks, too. Mattie had been working with Twinkles, and she could already do several good tricks, like roll over, sit, and play dead. The only thing Mark’s cat did was eat, sleep, purr, and scratch. Of course, she did catch some mice now and then.
    Mattie winced, thinking about the last time she’d been scratched by Lucky. She’d heard the way the cat purred whenever Mark stroked her belly, but when Mattie tried doing that a few weeks ago, Lucky hissed, stuck out her claws, and scratched Mattie’s hand. That was the last time Mattie went anywhere near Mark’s annoying cat!
    By the time Mattie finished setting the table, Mom had the pancake batter mixed. “If you’ll go wake Ada, I’ll start making the pancakes.”
    “Okay, Mom.” Mattie left the kitchen and tromped up the stairs to Ada’s room. She found her little sister curled up at the foot of the bed, with her sheet wrapped around her feet. Her flushed cheeks almost matched her flaming red hair.
    “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Mattie gently poked Ada’s arm.
    Ada opened her eyes, but they were just tiny slits. “
Is fattgange
, Mattie.”
    “I’m not going away.” Mattie bent down and tickled Ada’s feet. “Mom has breakfast almost ready. It’s time to get up.”
    Ada closed her eyes and pulled the sheet over her head.
    Mattie pulled the sheet aside and shook her sister’s arm. “Mom’s making pannekuche.”
    Ada’s eyes opened wide and she leaped out of bed. “Yum! Yum!”

    “You doin’ alright today?” Russell asked Mark as they left the barn and followed Dad, Ike, Calvin, and Perry toward the house.
    “Jah, sure. Why do you ask?”
    “Figured you might be feelin’ out of sorts,” Russell said, keeping his voice so low, only Mark could hear. “After getting in trouble with Dad last night I can sure understand, ‘cause I’ve been in your shoes a few times myself.”
    “I’m fine.” Mark didn’t want to talk about this again. He just wanted to forget he’d ever put that frog in the sugar bowl and been punished for it. It probably seemed to Mom and Dad that he’d been misbehaving a little too much lately. But really, all Mark wanted to do was have some fun.
    Russell thumped Mark’s back. “Say, how’d ya like to go fishin’ with me and Calvin later this morning? We’re going to the pond by our neighbor’s place.”
    Mark grinned at his brother. “Sure, that’d be great.”
    “All right then, after Dad and Ike leave for work, we’ll get our fishing poles and head for the pond.”
    Mark felt pretty good about going fishing, and when he entered the house and smelled hickory-smoked bacon and maple syrup, he felt even better.
    “Did Lucky have her busslin yet?” Mom asked.
    Mark shook his head. “She was in her box though, so I bet it’ll be soon.”
    Mom smiled. “Well, wash up now and take a seat,” she said, motioning to the table. “The pancakes are done, and we’re ready to eat.”
    After everyone was seated at the table, they bowed their heads for silent prayer. Mark asked God to bless the food and help him catch lots of fish today.
    When the prayers were finished, Mom passed the platters of pancakes and bacon around.
    Mark reached for the maple syrup and was getting ready to pour it on his pancakes when he bumped Mattie’s elbow as she was about to pick up her glass of milk.
Thunk!
The glass toppled over and milk spilled onto the table.
    “Oh no!” Mark and Mattie both groaned.
    “It’s okay. I’ll take care of it,” Mom said, rising