Just a few weeks ago was the spelling quiz. Now it's the start of summer, June. Me and even my sister, were so happy to finally get a break from school. And the best part of it is what we were about to hear in town.
Mrs. Oleson rang a bell over and over again in front of the mercantile to get everyone's attention. And as if her voice wasn't annoying enough, she also had a bullhorn with her.
As she spoke into it, much to Mr. Oleson's and everyone else who I thought was about to get a headache, this is what we sort of understood: "People of Walnut Grove! Come one, come all to this years' fun and eventful country party! Sponsored by yours truly, the Olesons'! Especially me, Harriet Oleson!"
Since we were all looking forward to the country party, we couldn't help but clap. There's always games, food, contests and all of us having a good time. None of us could wait until it came.
"Now-now as you all should know, The Olesons' mercantile has decided to help raise money for an animal shelter in Winoka. So each game will very from ten to fifteen cents to help take care of the poor creatures who are unfortunate enough to stay in such a place. We hope everybody comes and support the cause that we have generously taken up." Mrs. Oleson's voice was a mix of snobby and fake sickly sweet.
But even so, even I ended up clapping. Who doesn't want to help out kids without a home or animals stuck in a shelter?
"Boo!" Someone grabbed me from behind.
"Ahh!" I mildly screamed, but covered my mouth, so know one would hear. I turned around, and of course, there was Dren.
I pushed him to the ground. "What's the matter with you? Can't you just leave me alone for one day?"
He got up and patted himself down. "I could, but it'd be just too hard for me."
I silently growled as I turned away.
He put his arm around me, and started slightly pulling on my cheek. "Awww, is someone angry at me? Come on, Zoey, don't be like that." I swear, I thought he was putting on a baby voice.
"Uggghhhh!" This time, I'm sure everyone heard me, even over Mrs. Olesons' voice. I swatted his arm away and pushed him to the ground again. "Leave me alone!"
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Right now, I was in the barn tending to the horses with my sister. "Why can't he just stay away from me? Why does he only pick on me?"
Renee stabbed her pitch fork into the hay. "I think he's just a got a huge crush on you, Zoey. I mean, he's always around you, and it always looks like he flirts with ya."
I stabbed my pitch fork into the ground. "Yuck! No way! He only does it to bg me. And even if he did like me, I don't like him! He's just a big ol' jerk!"
Renee shrugged, then she tried to make her upset sister smile with a joke. "Hey, it's just too bad we can't call the police on him. Maybe then he couldn't get to you."
I smiled. "Yeah, or maybe get a guard dog, and sick him on Dren."
"Or-or get yourself a bodyguard and watch him make Dren suffer." Renee said, trying not to laugh.
Haha, yeah. If Pa or Ma heard what we were saying, we'd be in trouble, cause' they'd tell us that it's not good to wish that sort of stuff on people, cause' it's not Christian-like." I said, sort of sadly.
"Yeah, guess we better cut it out, before they do hear us." They were about finished and put away the pitch forks and headed into the house.
Before they wnet in, Renee said, "But you know, Pa doesn't know who dren is. If he saw what he was really like when he comes near you, Pa would whip him good."
"That's for sure." I opened the door.
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A week had passed, and now it was the day of the town party. All of us were wearing our best clothes, and we were now in the center of Walnut Grove.
We were all in a contest. Ma was going to enter her pie. Pa was going to arm wrestle for the winning cup. Renee was going to enter a sketch she had been working on for the past week into an art contest. I was going to double dutch and do the three legged race.
"All right, girls. Let's all meet back here at around noon to have lunch. Go have fun and do your very best in whatever you entered." Ma said.
"Yes, Ma." We both said.
We all went our separate ways, but before Renee could, I grabbed her sleeve, and she looked at me. "Do you think you could be my partner for the three legged race?"
"If they announce the winner for the art contest in time, then sure." Renee said.
"Ok, thanks Renee." I let her go and went to where the double dutch was. Once there, I saw Corina, so that must mean she entered too.
She saw me, and remarked, "If you're here, then don't expect to win. I'm the best when it comes to double dutch. There's no way you're going to beat me."
"Yeah, we'll see about that, Corina. You haven't won yet, so we won't know until it ends." I reminded her.
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"And the winner is….Zoey Ingalls!"
Corina, who had tripped, and was still on the ground, pounded her fist into the dirt. "No!"
I did several more jumps than Corina did, and while Corina was doing hers, her foot got snagged into one of the ropes, and she ended up falling on her stomach. Too bad for her.
The three legged race was going to start in half an hour. Since I've got some time to kill, I'll go see how everyone else is doing. The closest was Pa. When he was in view, he was arm wrestling with another opponent. Pa's arm then struck the other guy's arm down. "Yet again, Chalres Ingalls is the winner! Next!"
I smiled. 'My Pa is the strongest there is. I'm sure he'll get the trophy.'
I then went over to see Ma. And what do you know, Mrs. Oleson was right next to her with HER pie. As I got closer, I heard at least some of the conversation that was going on between them.
"Well, you know, Mrs. Ingalls. My pie is sure to win this year. The recipe I've used has been handed down for generations. It's like a valuable hand-me-down heirloom. The best pie in town!" Mrs. Oleson was yet again, being her annoying self.
Ma looked content on the outside, but on the inside, I bet she just wanted to rip her hair out of her skull. I could even tell she was agitated with me hearing it in her voice. "Yes, I'm sure it is Mrs. Oleson. But I think it's for the judge to decide. I hope for the both of us."
I hated to leave Ma alone with someone as annoying as Mrs. Oleson, but I had to go find Renee. It was only ten minutes until the race.
I ran over to the school/church house where the art contest was being held, and went inside to see if the judging was done.
Once inside, I saw Renee next to her sketch, along her, was a judge eyeing it. 'Hopefully, he thinks my sisters' is the best.'
I went over to her after the judge left. "Renee, it's almost time. E have to get going, or we'll miss the start-off."
"I'm really sorry Zoey, but I can't yet. The judge hasn't made a decision yet. I have to wait here until he does." Renee replied.
"But who am I going to find to be in the race?"
"What about me?"
I turned around and saw Dren.
My face turned sour. "What about you?"
"Aw, come on Zoey. For over three years, I've won the three leged race. Besides, it's not like you have any choice if you want to be in the race." Dren smirked.
I growled in frustration. 'This is so unfair! I know Ma told me that God has a sense of humor, but this is cruel!'
I looked at Renee. She kept shaking her head to not do it. I then turned back to Dren, and sighed in defeat. He was right. What choice did I have? I looked at him and grabbed his wrist. "Fine. Let's just hurry. Only a few minutes left before they start!"
We ran and ran until we got there. Once we stopped, I noticed that Dren looked a little paler than usual. I grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"
He gave me a reassuring smile. "Yeah, fine. Now let's just get win this already."
We were given a rope and Dren tied it around our ankles. We hobbled toward the starting line. "On your mark, get set…..GO!" There was a BANG!
Everyone was hobbling as fast as they could, including us. We kept picking up speed every few seconds. We got closer and closer to being the ones in front. I'm just glad that I could barely keep up without tripping over.
Now Dren was going a little too fast. "Hey wai-" I tripped, and so did he. But at least when we did, we had crossed the finish line.
"And the winners are Zoey Ingalls and Dren Lockhart!"
I pumped my fist in the air. "Yes! We did it! Thanks Dren."
I thought he was going to tackle me into a hug, but when I looked at him, he looked like he was going to lose his lunch. As if by instinct, I quickly untied the rope, and without hesitation, he went to the nearest trash can, and heaved.
I went by him, and patted his back. "I thought you said you were okay."
Once he stopped puking, he got his head out of the trash, and looked at me, the color almost returning to his face. He wiped his mouth. "Truth is before I agreed to be your partner, I just came back from a pie eating contest." He then pointed to himself. "And guess who the winner was!" He pulled out a blue ribbon from his pocket. "Ten cherry pies will do that to a person, I guess. And falling on my stomach at the end really didn't help my case."
"You dummy. Then why did you say you wanted to be in this thing?" I asked.
"One, because I've always wanted to be tied to you. Two, I knew you really wanted to be in it. And three, your sister couldn't do it." He pointed out.
I hit him on the head. "I could have done without the first reason."
He rubbed the top of his head and smiled at me. "Had to say it. Too good an opportunity not to."
I rolled my eyes and smiled back. Okay, okay, maybe he wasn't as bad as I thought he was.
