"I put some strawberries on your flakes, Honey," said Mama.  

"Thanks, Mama," Emmy said between bites. "What are you and Mrs. Zimmerman doing today?"  

"She has a quilt that's almost done.   She wants me to help her sew on the edging.   Her big sewing machine isn't working, so I'm going to take my portable machine to sew it on."  

Emmy carried her empty bowl over to the sink and rinsed it out.  

"I'm ready, Mama."  

"I've got to clean up and finish making these sandwiches's for Papa and Davey's lunch.   Go out and gather the eggs and bring them in, please?"  

"Sure, Mama. Can we take Jimmy with us?"  

"I guess that would be all right. It would be nice for him to see his mother, Tootz."  

Emmy went out the back door, grabbed the egg pail off the porch and whistled for Jimmy.  

He came limping up to her. Jimmy only had three legs.   He had to have his right front leg cut off by the vet because he got it tangled up in a rusty fence and it got infected. He was still a great dog.  

Emmy patted him on the head. "Come on, Jimmy. I gotta get the eggs and then we are going to go play with Freddy and Tootz. You wanna go see your mama, Tootz? Huh? You wanna for for a ride in the car?"  

Jimmy wiggled his whole body and wagged his tail.  

"I guess that means, yes?"  

Emmy walked toward the hen house and stopped at the tool shed.   She looked down into a big metal tub by the door.  

In the spring, Dvey had found a mud turtle in the creek and brought it up to the farm.   He put it in the tub.  

"Hi. Mossy. Want some flies for breakfast?"  

Davey kept a glass jar inside the tool shed.   He had pounded nail holes in the cap and every few days, he caught flies and kept them in the jar to feed the turtle.  

Emmy opened the jar, grabbed a fly and lightly pinched it between her thumb and finger.   She tossed the stunned fly into the water and Mossy slid off the rock he was lying on and ate the fly.  

Emmy got two more flies, pinched them and put them in the water.   Mossy ate them both quickly and then slowly turned his head to look at Emmy.  

"Nah, that's enough for now," she said.  

Jimmy walked beside Emmy to the building next to the tool shed.   It was the dusty, stinky hen house.  

No matter how slowly or quietly Emmy opened the door; the hens got scared and squawked and flew all over the house.  

Their flapping wings stirred up the dust and the stink.  

Emmy put her hand over her mouth and nose so she could breathe easier and walked over to the nesting box where the hens laid their eggs.  

"I really hate this chore," she said. "But it has to be done; everyday."  

Emmy got most of the eggs in the pail.   Then she noticed a hen sitting on a nest at the end of the box.   The hen sat quietly, but never took her eyes off Emmy's movements.  

Emmy slowly slid her hand under the hen to get her eggs.   Just as she touched one of the warm eggs, the hen quickly darted her head forward and pecked Emmy on her hand.  

"Yeouch! Stupid chicken! You do that again and you're Sunday dinner!"  

Emmy walked over to the door and grabbed a stick that leaned against the wall.   She poked the hen with the stick and it flew off the nest and onto the roost with the other chickens.  

Emmy grabbed her two eggs and headed out the hen house door.