Free The Tender Years by Janette Oke

to figure out who’s doing the meeting.”
    “She has a spyglass?”
    “’Course she does. How else do you think she sees everything?”
    Virginia shrugged. She had no idea how Mrs. Parker kept track of the goings-on of a whole town.
    “If she has a spyglass she will know it’s us,” Virginia argued. “We won’t be able to hide that from her. She knows both of us. Has known me since I was born. And you with that red hair. Nobody else in town has hair that color.”
    “We’re gonna be in disguise,” Jenny said smugly.
    “Disguise?”
    It was sounding more and more dangerous to Virginia. What would they be doing that they would need to disguise themselves?
    “I have to go right home from school,” she argued defensively. “I don’t want to get in trouble again.”
    “We aren’t going to do it after school. We’ll go on Saturday. Your folks let you out on Saturday, don’t they?”
    Virginia was angry. Jenny made it sound as though her folks kept her caged up or something. “Of course they let me out Saturday,” she exploded. “I can do whatever I want after I finish my chores.”
    “There,” said Jenny with satisfaction, making Virginia wish she hadn’t made the bold statement. “When are you finished with your chores?”
    Virginia hedged. She still had not heard the plan. After a bit of hesitation she asked, “What are you planning? I don’t want anyone to get hurt, and I sure don’t want to get in trouble, either.”
    “No one will get hurt. It’s just a harmless little gag, that’s all.”
    Then Jenny turned defensive and angry. “Boy, are you a soggy day. You can’t see the fun in anything. I’d hate to live in a family of woe-betiders. Is that what your ole church teaches—that no one never ever has any fun in life? First Jamison—now you. Are you all a bunch of ole cloud-hangers over there?”
    Virginia’s chin came up. “’Course not,” she responded hotly. “And how would you know a thing about our church? You’ve never been there. You likely wouldn’t know the way if one led you by the hand.”
    It was as close as they had ever come to open confrontation. Virginia had never challenged Jenny’s power so directly before. She didn’t really understand why she was bold enough to do so now, but bringing her family and her church into the argument made her upset and ready to stand up to Jenny.
    “Maybe I should get Ruthie,” Jenny said hotly.
    “Maybe you should,” responded Virginia with a toss of her own head. “Or maybe you should carry out your silly little scheme all by yourself instead of getting someone else in trouble.”
    “Nobody’s gonna get in trouble. I already told you. It’s just a little fun, that’s all.”
    “That’s what you always say. Just harmless fun. But you always end up getting someone in trouble. Freddie and George had to clean out Mr. Moss’ barns for three weeks after the bull teasing. Sam said he couldn’t sit comfortably for a week after you had him passing those notes in school about Mr. Henkel’s false hairpiece. And Ruthie got in awful trouble for painting those words on Mercer’s fence.”
    “This is different,” insisted Jenny. “This is just harmless fun. To teach Mrs. Parker a lesson. Your folks don’t got nothing against teaching people proper lessons, do they?”
    “Well … their idea of a lesson and your idea might be a fair bit different,” said Virginia. She couldn’t believe her own boldness now that her back was up.
    “Okay, if you don’t want to be friends …” Jenny began, slowly starting to turn away.
    The very words brought a chill to Virginia and took the last bit of rigidity from her spine.
    “Of course I—I want to be friends,” she stammered. “It’s just …”
    “Be there. One thirty, Saturday. Come in from the back way so that no one will see you. I’ll have the disguises.”
    And with those words, Jenny walked away before Virginia could even respond.

    Virginia was not in a good mood when