Little Joe by Sandra Neil Wallace

Author:Sandra Neil Wallace [Wallace, Sandra Neil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-89707-8
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2010-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

All three of them were covered in sawdust when Pa came into the barn. Eli stumbled to his feet and shook off the bits of wood.

“What are you doin’ here, son?”

Eli rushed to get the feed bucket outside the pen. “The calf keeps growin’, Pa,” he murmured. “Thought I’d feed him. In case there was a flood or something. On account of all that rain.”

Pa craned his neck, looked up at the pen’s ceiling, then kicked up some sawdust. “Looks dry to me,” he said. “Listen. He’s gotta learn to be on his own, Eli.”

“But he’s barely a teenager.”

“Who told you that?”

“Grandpa.”

Pa took his cap off, then put it back on. “Sounds like you’re spending a whole lot of time talking and not enough on chores.” Pa walked to the tack room and got out the spade, the one with the sharpest point. Eli knew what that meant. “Just ’cause you got a bull calf don’t mean you can quit on your chores.” Pa handed him the shovel. “It’s time you dug up thistles.”

“But I got school.” The hair on Eli’s arms bristled. He hated digging up thistles. And he was certain Pa knew it. Last year he got at least one bubbly blister from the wooden handle, and his eyes stung whenever a pricker whittled its way into the work gloves.

“Start with the pine fields, Eli. There’s at least an hour before school.”

Eli snatched the shovel away from Pa.

“Remember, slice the roots at least two inches below the soil to make it worthwhile. And don’t go moving them. That’ll just make the seeds spread.”

“I’ve done it before,” Eli hissed.

Pa swung around and stared hard at him.

“You showed me, Pa.”

A sudden movement in the barn caught Pa’s eye. He looked in the direction of the pen. Little Joe was peeking over the wall and blinking at him.

“You’re gonna need a fan for that show stall,” Pa said. “To keep him cool so his hair don’t shed.” Pa brushed some sawdust from Little Joe’s neck with his hand. “We’ll hang one up after school. Once you got the thistles done.”

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