Hannah's Rainbow: Every Color Beautiful

Chapter Nine

When Hannah woke in the morning, both of her sisters' beds were empty and stripped. Realizing it was laundry day, she removed the sheets from her own bed and took them downstairs.

Hannah entered the kitchen to find her brothers shoveling breakfast into their mouths. Continuing the rest of the way down the basement steps, she dumped the load in front of their electric wringer washer.

She returned upstairs, pulled up a chair, and joined her brothers.

"You just missed Amy," Harry said in between bites of oatmeal. "She was in a wonderful mood this morning."

Hannah rolled her eyes and was tempted to smack Harry's hand across the table, but Ma entered, Irma in tow, at that moment.

"What did she say?" Hannah asked.

"Not two words," Erik said seriously. "No 'good morning.' Nothing."

"Amy went to work like she's supposed to," Ma said with disapproval. "The rest of you would do well to finish up in here and be about your business. Your father has plenty of work for you boys outside with harvest time upon us and won't be too pleased if he comes home and it's not done. Hannah, you're going to help with the laundry."

After a morning of washing, hanging, and ironing, Hannah was free to do as she liked. Soon after, her friends and she gathered under their favorite willow tree near the park pond.

"Ninth grade," Elizabeth was saying with amazement. "Next year, I'll be at the high school." Running her hand through her freshly cut bobbed hair, the girl gazed at Louisa. "You still wear your hair in braids like a little girl. When are you going to grow up, Louisa? You're the only one here who hasn't gotten into the trend of the times."

Hannah tried not to scowl at Elizabeth. Her friend had been dependable and trusty, but now she was caught up in boys and fashion.

"We can't all a beauty queen like you, Elizabeth," Louisa replied tartly.

"Leave off," Hannah told Elizabeth.

Rosemary shrugged. "Some of us are just creatures of habit, and that's fine," she said.

"I was thinking of letting mine grow out," Abigail said.

Abigail was the same height as Hannah, with a pretty face and light brown hair. She was going into eighth grade like Hannah and Louisa.

"Can we talk about something else?" Louisa asked, annoyed.

"Fine, what do you want to talk about?" asked Elizabeth pointedly.

"How about boys?" Louisa giggled.

Elizabeth smiled. "I'm sure Jimmy Martin has grown at least six inches over the summer. I saw him the other day-"

Hannah groaned, trying to tune out her friends.

Rosemary listened as Abigail was in the middle of telling a drawn-out tale of Ernie Sherman from Market Street, an incredibly handsome high school boy, about a loose dog and a pack of geese, when Hannah interrupted.

"Not all boys are so great. My brothers, for instance-"

"Erik is hotsy-totsy," Elizabeth said with doe eyes.

"Ugh, please," Hannah grumbled. "He's my brother."

"I know he's your brother, and of course you're not attracted to him, Hannah," Elizabeth said, "but you can't blame a girl for looking. Don't be such a cancelled stamp."