She looked back once to see if anyone was following her.   No one was.  

Papa and Davey were carrying the long boards back to the sheep barn and Mama was standing by the muddy pond, watching them.  

The ground was cold and damp under Emmy's feet.   By the time she got to the house, her feet were numb.  

She turned on the water for the garden hose and rinsed off her jeans and feet.  

Emmy went through the back door of the kitchen and stood, shivering, on the rug.   When her mother came into the house, she handed Emmy an old towel to dry off with.  

"Now, get up to your room." said her mother.  

Emmy ran up the stairs on her numb feet.   She pulled off her cold wet jeans and grabbed a pair of clean wool socks out of her drawer and pulled them onto her feet.  

She climbed under the covers on her bed and rubbed her feet until they started to get warm.  

"Mama is so angry with me," she thought. "She is probably going to ground me and not let me play with any of my friends."  

Emmy started to cry again.  

She heard Mama walking up the stairs.   Emmy felt her heart beating fast.   She tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry.  

Mama walked into the room and sat down on the foot of Emmy's bed.  

"Emmy, you know it is very important for us to sell the eggs.   I needed that money to buy you and Davey new clothes for summer.   Because you didn't do as you were told, we lost almost ten dollars today... that is a lot of money.   I am very disappointed in you."  

"I'm so sorry, Mama," sobbed Emmy.

She hated to make her mother sad.   It felt as if she had a pain in her heart.  

"Well, you need to be disciplined," said Mama.   "What kind of punishment do you think you deserve?"  

"I guess I need to be grounded," said Emmy in a small voice.  

"I think that sounds about right," said Mama.   "You won't be allowed to play with Ellen or Danny.   You won't be allowed to ride your bike for.....two weeks."  

"Two weeks?" asked Emmy.  

"Yes," said Mama.   "For two weeks...starting tomorrow."  

"Okay," said Emmy, with a sob catching in her throat.  

"Now," said Mama."   "Get dressed in some clean jeans and come down to lunch."  

Mama reached out to hug Emmy.  

"I'm just so glad you are all right, Honey.   I was worried about you.   I love you, Emmy."