Patches and the Vegetables

Patches and the Vegetables

  by Dory Lee Maske

  Copyright ? 2009 by Dory Lee Maske

  All rights reserved

  Copyright ?-2009 by Robert Maske

  All rights reserved

  Cover design by Robert Maske

  Patches and the

  Vegetables

  Once upon a time there lived a young girl called Patches by her grandmother and grandfather. She and her grandparents lived and worked together. Grandfather took care of the apple orchard. Grandmother took care of the cow and the chickens. Patches took care of the vegetable garden.

  Patches loved her grandparents and her vegetables but she was not happy. She always thought about her father, who was a soldier. She wished she could ride beside him to foreign lands, see strange people and have great adventures. She lay in the shade of the asparagus ferns watching white clouds drift by overhead, dreaming.

  Patches awakened to a soft rustling sound. A large stalk of asparagus shook violently beside her. "What is this?" she asked aloud, "is there a gopher attacking your roots, Mr. Asparagus?" She began to dig around the bottom of the stalk to find the cause of the shaking but she found only the damp black earth. When she reached for the asparagus to steady it, the stalk broke off in her hand.

  Patches took the stalk of asparagus to her grandmother. "This asparagus has some magic power, Grandmother, it was shaking so much it broke off in my hand."

  "Of course it does, Patches, it will make you strong. You shall have it tonight for dinner." Grandmother thought to herself, Patches works very hard in the hot sun. I wonder if she is imagining things.

  That night at dinner Patches ate her asparagus and went to bed early because she had much work to do the next day. "Tomorrow I will take the asparagus in the cart and sell it at the market," she said to her grandparents.

  The next morning Patches woke up early. She cut the asparagus and had it bundled for sale before her grandfather awoke. The day was hot but the work seemed easy to her. "My back is not hurting," she said, "and the machete seems light as a feather." She put the bundles of asparagus in sacks and began to load the cart.

  Grandfather came by the garden on his way to the apple orchard.

  "You are finished already? Let me help you stack the cart."

  "Oh don't bother, Grandfather. I'm not even tired."

  Grandfather stayed to help anyway and Patches pretended that he was a big help even though she could have done it faster alone. When the cart was loaded she took the handle and began to pull it from the field. One wheel broke and the cart crashed to its side breaking several slats on the bottom.

  "This cart is as old as I am," Grandfather said, "I will try to build a new one before the asparagus spoils."

  "Don't worry, Grandfather, I have an idea."

  Patches went back to the garden shed and got an old fishing net. She put all the sacks of asparagus in it and pulled the net tight. Then she hoisted the huge bundle over her shoulder.

  "Child, how have you become so strong?" Grandfather asked.

  "I fancy it's the magic in the asparagus," Patches said.

  On the way to town Patches passed others on their way to market.

  "Look at that child with the huge bundle," they said, "it must be sacks of feathers."

  To Patches, the asparagus did seem as light as feathers. She arrived early at the market place and found a good spot to sell her vegetables. She liked the excitement of market day.

  A small group of soldiers rode up to the market and got off their horses.

  "Look," one of them said, "fresh asparagus."

  "What a luxury that would be in camp," said another.

  "I'll bet we could make a profit on that," said a third.

  They approached the stand and asked the price for the whole lot.

  "Since you are soldiers I'll give you a very good price," Patches said.

  "You have a fondness for soldiers?"

  "Of course. My father is a soldier."

  On hearing this, the soldiers insisted on paying more than she asked. Since she had no more to sell they invited her to the booth that sold lemonade. She told them about her father and they told her about some of their adventures.

  As Patches walked home that day with seeds and bread and little treats for her grandparents she thought about the soldiers. "What a grand life they lead. How I wish I were with my father."

  The next day Patches put out some of the seeds she had brought back from the market. She sang a little song as she tucked the pumpkin seeds in their earthen beds.

  Little seed, little seed

  Do you know what you'll be?

  Wake and grow, wake and grow

  Then we'll see what you'll be

  Through the earth to the sky

  Then you'll be what you'll be

  Soon the pumpkin seeds were planted and Patches wasn't a bit tired. She walked up and down the rows of vegetables to see which would be ready for the next market. The carrot tops looked tall and green. One of them seemed to be waving in the wind, but there was no wind.

  "Are there beetles on your top, Mr. Carrot?" She grasped the top of the carrot to look at it more closely and the carrot jumped up out of the ground.

  Patches showed the carrot to her grandmother and asked if it was another magic vegetable.

  "Of course," said her grandmother, "it will give you very good eyesight."

  Grandmother thought to herself, I must make a hat for Patches to protect her brain from the sun. That night Patches ate her carrot for dinner and went to bed early. Tomorrow she would plant the rest of her seeds.

  The next morning Patches went out to her vegetables wearing a new hat Grandmother had made for her. With her eyes shielded from the sun she looked far out to the horizon. She could make out every detail of the rolling plains. She could see a little dark cloud as it moved up over the distant horizon. She could see into the cloud. It was alive.

  "Grandpa," she shouted as she ran back to the house, "a cloud of aphids is coming."

  Grandpa came stumbling out of the house trying to put on his boots as he ran.

  "Where are they child?" Grandpa looked all around for the tiny insects.

  "There," she pointed, "that cloud on the horizon. We have to work fast."

  Grandpa looked in the direction she pointed but saw only a clear sky. They worked as quickly as they could. Grandma helped too. They dragged furniture, bags, tools, linen, everything that wasn't nailed down, out to the garden and painted it all bright yellow. Then they covered it with a thin layer of glue.

  By afternoon the cloud of aphids arrived. Attracted by the bright yellow objects, they were soon fastened to their sticky surfaces. By evening the cloud was gone. Patches took their yellow belongings down to the creek and washed off the glue and the aphids.

  When Patches returned home her grandparents looked at her with awe.

  "You saved the vegetables, not a single plant was damaged. But how were you able to see a cloud on the horizon and know it was a cloud of tiny aphids?" Grandpa asked.

  "I fancy it's the magic in the carrots," Patches said.

  That night Patches slept deeply and dreamed of her father. She saw him riding a beautiful white horse over a rocky hillside. He was at the front of a long column of soldiers. He searched the hills with his eyes as though he were waiting for someone to come into view.

  The next morning Patches was up early to finish planting her seeds. The carrots were almost ready for market. Patches worked happily all day. She sang to her vegetables as she planted. After she finished planting she checked the cabbage patch to see if any were ready for harvesting. A movement from one of the cabbages caught her eye
.

  Patches looked at the cabbage carefully. Her eyesight had never been better. She could see every vein. The leaves of the plant were opening and folding like a fan. It seemed almost as if the plant wanted to tell her something. She took the cabbage in her hands and it snapped free of its stem. She ran back home with the cabbage, holding it like a rare jewel.

  "Grandma! It's another magic vegetable. What will this one do for me?"

  By this time her grandmother had begun to believe the vegetables were magic.

  "I guess we'll just have to wait and see," she said.

  Patches ate the cabbage for dinner that night and wondered what miracle she would find in the morning. She was awakened early by the sound of her grandmother getting up to make breakfast. She could hear the knife as it sliced through the potatoes. She could hear the butter sizzling in the pan. She could hear a fly as it buzzed against a screen.

  Patches told her grandparents she would be going to market today. The new cart was ready now but she preferred to carry her vegetables in the fishing net to get there faster. As she pulled out the carrots and put them in bags she sang a song.

  There's magic in the growing

  When the seed seeks the sun

  There's magic in the knowing

  Of what you will become.

  When she was finished she sat in the shade. She heard a faint melody as if her song were coming back to her from the vegetables.

  "What miracles are all around me," she thought.

  She began to load the bags into the net when another sound caught her ear. It was the sound of horses hooves, far off but coming towards her. Patches dropped her bags and ran to the house.

  "Grandma, Grandpa, the soldiers are coming."

  It was several hours before the soldiers finally arrived. Patches kept insisting that they were getting closer but her grandfather could hear nothing, even when he put his ear to the ground to listen. He believed Patches though, and so did her grandmother. When the soldiers arrived there was food prepared for all.

  Patches' father rode at the head of the column. He had been promoted to the rank of Captain. Patches was so proud of him. She ran far out to meet him. He picked her up and let her ride with him back to the house.

  After the band of soldiers had eaten and rested the Captain sat back and talked to his father.

  "My scout was badly injured in a fall. We have taken him home to mend. Now I must find a new scout. I need a youth with keen eyes and ears, and strength to endure the hardships of long rides. Do you know of such a youth?"

  "I don't get out so much now but Patches has her trips to the market. Maybe she will know of someone."

  "Patches? She's just a child."

  "Oh you would be surprised. She is a wonder, that one."

  Patches could hear every word they spoke from her room. She knew the perfect person for the job of scout. If only she could convince her father. As the others slept she made her plans.

  The next morning Patches told her father she knew the perfect person to be his new scout.

  "If you saw him, you might think he was too small, but I'm sure he could beat any one of your soldiers in a scouting contest, if you gave him the chance."

  "Size doesn't matter for a scout," her father said. "In fact, it's easier for a small person to keep out of sight. Tell your friend to come out to the farm. We will give him a chance to prove himself."

  "I'm going to market today with the carrots. I'll send him out."

  "Don't you want to watch your friend prove himself?" her father asked.

  "No. I must sell the carrots before they go bad. I'll hear about it later."

  Patches put the carrots in the cart to avoid suspicion about her strength and walked slowly until she was out of sight. Then she raced to town and gave all the carrots to the blacksmith's wife in exchange for the use of a horse and leather clothes. She pushed her hair up under her hat and covered her face with a bandana. As she rode back to the farm she practiced speaking in a deep voice.

  When her father saw this young boy he was angry. 'This is a child,' he thought, 'I should have known better than to listen to Patches.'

  "Would your father allow you to be a scout for the army?" he asked the boy.

  "If you say yes, my father says yes," Patches said in her deep voice.

  "I see," her father said. He thought to himself, 'I will give him too difficult a task and be done with it.'

  "Well," he said, smiling at the boy, "we saw a swarm of bees circling this morning, looking for a place to start a hive. I suppose they could have gone for miles, but a good scout would be able to track them. Do you think you could do that?"

  "I could," Patches said.

  "Fine, I'll send one of my men out with you, just in case you get stung," her father said, winking to his Lieutenant. "Of course we don't have a lot of time. Suppose we give you two hours. Would that be enough?"

  "It would," Patches said.

  She tilted her head to the side as though she were listening. Very faintly, off to the east, she heard a soft buzzing sound. She listened for a minute more and then she was sure.

  "Let's go," she said to the Lieutenant, "there's no time to lose."

  They rode at full gallop for several miles. The Lieutenant was amazed at the youngster's endurance. Patches slowed down to hear again over the sound of the horses. The buzzing was much closer now. Far ahead she could make out the specks of circling bees.

  "We're almost there," she told the Lieutenant.

  The Lieutenant began to wonder if this young boy did know where he was going.

  "There they are," Patches said, pointing to a group of trees on the horizon.

  "Where?" the Lieutenant asked, straining to see.

  "That tree on the right," Patches said.

  The Lieutenant could make out the tree but nothing more. As they neared it the Lieutenant exclaimed, "Well I'll be a monkey's

  They stood under the new hive and the Lieutenant shook Patches' hand.

  "I don't know how you did it, but as far as I'm concerned, you're our new scout."

  Patches smiled to herself.

  "Let's see if there's any honey," the Lieutenant said.

  "I don't think that's a good idea, the bees haven't had time to settle down yet."

  The Lieutenant was impressed with this young scout and wanted to show off a bit himself.

  "Watch," he said, "if I move slow I can go right in there without getting stung."

  The Lieutenant moved his hand slowly into the hive. The bees made way for it. Then a stray caught under his sleeve and stung him. His hand jerked and the whole swarm erupted in a frenzy. The lieutenant, blinded by the bees, ran full force into a tree and knocked himself out.

  Patches covered her face completely with her bandana, covered her hands with her sleeves and carried the young Lieutenant to the safety of a nearby stream where she bathed his swollen face

  The soldier regained consciousness suddenly and flailed out around him, still battling imagined bees. As he struck out he dislodged the bandana from Patches' face.

  The Lieutenant sat up with a jerk. "Why you're the captain's daughter." His mind struggled to put things together.

  "Yes," Patches said, "but could you keep my secret for a little longer?"

  The Lieutenant looked around. "How did I get here?"

  "I carried you."

  The Lieutenant stared at her, too overwhelmed to ask more.

  As they rode back to the farm the Lieutenant allowed himself to be persuaded to help Patches.

  "I can't believe you found the hive and saved me when I was supposed to watch out for you," he said, "but seeing is believing and I don't know who I'd rather have for a scout."

  When they reached the farm the Lieutenant had to take a good deal of teasing but he reported honestly.

  "This youngster went straight to the hive and saved my skin as well. I don't think we could find a better scout."

>   The Captain paced up and down, considering what to do. Finally he said, "Well then, I say you're hired, as long as your father agrees."

  At this Patches pulled down her bandana and said, "He just did."

  The Captain looked at the girl and his mouth fell open.

  "Patches," was all he could say.

  All that afternoon the Captain fussed and fumed.

  "It's impossible, a young girl as a scout." He blew his nose vehemently.

  Patches sat silent, waiting for the storm to blow over. Finally her grandfather sat down with his son.

  "Son," he said, "I know you think we have been taking care of Patches since her mother died, but the truth is, the last few years she has been doing more than her share around here. She has uncommon abilities, that one, and you've seen it for yourself. She wants to be with you, to do what you do, and why not, if she's able. Take her with you, Son."

  The Captain walked around the yard kicking rocks, then came back to where Patches sat.

  "Well, it looks like we've got our new scout."

  Patches jumped straight up to hug her father, then her grandfather and her grandmother.

  The next morning she said goodbye and thank you to her vegetables and started out on her new life as a soldier.