My RA Ch. 05

"Hi Molly, I am sorry I was late. Miss Penny wanted to talk to me."

"It is OK Daisy, I was running late also. I just started."

Being with Molly was the best part of Daisy's day. By now, Daisy knew all the words to most of the songs, most of them were Christian songs, but Molly would throw in some campfire or Disney songs from time to time.

Daisy said, "Molly, could you do me a favor? Could you please finish up every night with 'You Have a Friend in Me'?"

"That is a great idea Daisy, we can do that!"

Daisy was not one to sing quietly; everyone knew what song they were singing, unless it was a new song.

"B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and BINGO was his name-O!" Laughter filled the air.

"He's got the whole world in his hands,

"He's got the whole world in his hand,

"He's got the whole wide world in his hands.

"He's got you and me sister in His hands.

"He's got you and me sister in His hands,

"He's got the whole wide world in His hands."

Penny broke down crying when she heard those words. Sarah tried to comfort her, but all Penny could do was cry and babble for ten minutes.

Penny said through sniffles, "Daisy is so right Sarah, she said, 'God did not want me to die'. That was the perfect song for me to hear."

Sarah said, "Molly has a way to pick out the right song for people to hear. When everyone went down to Orlando, Molly had just met Daisy so she was not her best friend yet. She had two other best friends with her; when they had a Disney ho down she dedicated the song to her THREE best friends. The song was 'You got a friend in me'. Now you can't tear them apart, several have tried and failed.

Even I tried once. Boy, did that snowball out of control. The whole mess almost split the whole town, some even moved. It was that bad."

Daisy told Miss Sarah, "Miss Sarah, Miss Penny wants me to teach her how to do things here before she can tell you if she wants to stay."

Penny and Daisy just 'clicked' right away. Everything was fun and they were getting extra jobs done. After the third day after their main jobs were done, Penny took Daisy inside and got a white board.

"OK Daisy, I heard math was really hard for you and you were one level ahead in your reading." Daisy nodded, "OK I will tell you a math problem and you will write it on the board like this:

" 1

"+ 1

And then write the answer.

After fifteen minutes of this, Miss Sarah and Miss Zoe peeked around the corner.

Zoe whispered to Sarah, "Oh, she is sneaky. She is doing math and writing at the same time. And making it fun. She knows words are hard for Daisy, so she is having her write things that are easier for her to do. Daisy has no choice, but to succeed."

One night at dinner Penny said, "I think Daisy is really smart. If she can get one grade higher in reading then she can get two grades higher in math. What will the boys think when a girl gets much better grades than they do?"

Everyone laughed and Daisy got an ear to ear grin.

Miss Sarah said, "Daisy, do you realize what would happen if you got two grades higher in reading and math and your writing gets better?"

Daisy shook her head.

"Well, if we ever get to that point, you will be a half a year behind Molly, then we would have to fill in all the gaps for you to catch up with her."

Knowing Daisy was behind in math, Penny decided to do a full court press for Daisy. As they worked, Penny would give her a math problem, but she was not allowed to write the problem in the dirt, she had to do it in her head.

Penny said, "Daisy, if you think the problem is too hard, try closing your eyes and see if you can see the problem on the white board we use."

Daisy was just getting frustrated.

Penny said, "OK Daisy, that is enough for today. It is hard trying to think like that, especially on the first day. Don't worry about being in class with the eleven-year-olds, let's just stick with being a nine-year-old kid."

"You are a bright kid, just look at all you do for Miss Sarah; not many in town can do what you can do. Your problem was not having any friends for so long, it really set you back. You are making great strides; Miss Sarah can see that. Ask God to help you catch up with your school work, it won't happen in one day, but it will happen."

"I doubt that you would be a leader, but that is OK. God has a job lined up for you. He has known since forever if you will be a Christian or not."

"He is leading you on your path, you have to trust Him. When you get to the point where he wants you, then you can say 'yes', 'no' or 'not yet'. He just knocks on the door, you have to open it and your heart."

"Remember, this is God we are talking about. You can't do it because someone tells you should, your heart has to be softened, you have to be ultra-sincere in confessing your sins. That will take time, you are on His time table, not ours. Our time table sucks, we ask when we want it, not when we need it, or if we should even have it."

"Look at your prayer book and see what God is doing in you. Notice how your prayers have changed since you started it. I bet they are harder prayers and God still answers them."

When Molly came up that day, she brought a large map with her. When Daisy opened it up she said, "France?" somewhat confused.

Molly said, "This is where Miss Joy and Mr. David went on their honeymoon. Molly pointed to the town of Paris, that is also where Miss Mari lives.

"We just started learning about it in school. Miss Joy said, 'When you are ten you could start learning about it'. That's why we liked it so much at Epcot."

Daisy looked back at her recent life in the town; she had only been in town a year or so. Much of what Molly was saying was before her time here. However, people were saying things like "More responsible, more mature, becoming more social, being a very smart girl." She would mark in her prayer book in big red letters, triple underlined, about God helping her with her school work. She knew He would be faithful."

She was glad Miss Penny reminded her of how important confessing sins was. She had to ask the things she had to ask and pray for the things she must pray for. She was taking a different path than Molly was, but she would hurt when Molly hurt. She would know, no matter how far apart they were.

Miss Sarah said, "That Miss Joy and Miss Noel would be there for her whenever she needed them. Daisy hoped that would be true of Molly."

Daisy was unaware that Molly had already made that commitment to herself about Daisy. She still played with and prayed for, and sometimes rode, with her other two best friends, but for some reason Daisy rose to the top. It was odd, Daisy came into her life by stumbling into Miss Joy's party. Several times they were banned from seeing each other. Now she has status in one of Molly's most cherished prayer books.

Anne was looking through Daisy's bird book; she always saw new ones while riding. Then she was caught off guard.

"Zoe, can you come here please?"

Zoe came rushing in as she thought there was a problem.

Anne said, "Zoe, check out the new birds Daisy has seen."

"Anne, I do not see anything special, just a list of common birds around here."

"Now read the last five entries and the date seen, and read between the lines." Daisy had seen one new bird in each of the last five days.

"Anne, there is no way that could happen in five days. We are seeing things. "

At supper time Miss Anne brought the subject up. "Daisy, Miss Zoe and I were looking at your bird list book today. We were especially interested in your last five entries."

"Did I get them wrong Miss Anne?"

"I doubt it. They are common and they nest near here."

"I am going to give you a pop quiz Daisy. I want you to copy a short verse from the Bible."

Miss Anne passed around Daisy's bird book along with the verse Daisy just copied. Each person had an ear to ear smile.

Daisy said, "Miss Sarah, what is the matter?"

"Daisy, remember when you told me you read from your Bible stories book because the Bible was so hard to read? I just saw you read from just one of the verses in the Bible and you wrote it down much better than when you started your bird book. I am very pleased, you have made my day."

"Really Miss Sarah?"

"You are getting better and you don't even know it."

Daisy called Molly to tell her the news, "That's great Daisy, I am proud of you."

"Molly, if my bird book is helping me write better, you know what that means don't you?"

Molly said, "Let me guess, a war on Meadowbrooke."

"That's right, we can't let them see more birds than us. We need to find different kinds of places around here so we don't see the same birds all the time. Maybe Miss Dawn can take us to a park or something to see more."

"I bet they are planning the same thing, it only makes sense!"

Molly mulled the problem over, "Well, we did challenge them, and they accepted. No one wants to lose a challenge. Let's see if we can get a current map; the flood and the dam changed a lot of things. We can find out what they like to eat in the wild."

"We just have to remember what Miss Sarah said about going into the mountains, 'Don't go off the trails when you go up into the mountains', we don't need 'Angel' to get snake bit, do we."

"Molly, sometime Bald Eagles fly with the hawks; it would become my favorite bird all time."

"Me too Daisy, that would an awesome sight."

"Maybe we can ask Miss Dawn to take us on real hard trails. 'Spirit', 'Angel' and 'Apache' can handle it. We just need to bring a first aid kit and some other things just to make sure we stay safe."

The girls were having a grand time. They found a beach area where they saw a 'Great Blue Heron' and sandpipers; Daisy was amazed how small they were. They would see several every time they went to the beach, woods, and parks. Even the birds were coming back to the town. The people at the ranch were getting excited for them.

Dawn took them on a special trip. It was a hard trip so they made lots of preparations including maps for Miss Sarah, if they got in trouble.

They were having a wonderful day. They saw many new birds, including a 'Bald Eagle'. He looked so majestic flying high in the air. As they were leaving to go home, some ground gave way underneath 'Apache'. He recovered his balance, but Miss Dawn went over the side of the mountain; she dropped about fifty feet. Molly knew she had a broken ankle and leg but didn't know what else.

"Daisy, I need to go down and help Miss Dawn, you aren't strong enough. We need to tie that rope around that tree and probably the bridle of 'Spirit' and 'Apache'. They divided up the things each needed into the saddle bags. Molly had 'Spirit's' saddlebag on one shoulder and 'Apache's' on the other. Molly gave Daisy two phones, Miss Dawn had another one.

Daisy took 'Spirit' and 'Apache' near where some bushes were so they could eat leaves and they lowered Molly safely down to Miss Dawn. Daisy never felt so scared in her life.

Daisy said to 'Angel', "'Angel', Miss Dawn is hurt really bad and Molly is with her and it will be real cold soon. It is up to us to get help. You need to run faster than you have ever run before."

Daisy was glad that Miss Sarah insisted all of them wear their equestrian helmets. It may have saved Miss Dawn's life.

Molly was worried. Miss Dawn landed on an outcropping and Molly could not see the bottom. Molly moved Miss Dawn and herself to make a windbreak for a fire; she succeeded in making a small one. Molly decided not to check where Miss Dawn was hurt, the fire was more important. She wished Miss Dawn was awake, Molly knew she was still alive.

Daisy was riding quickly down when she noticed Molly's cell got a signal. "MISS SARAH! MISS SARAH! Call the ranger station. Miss Dawn is hurt bad. She fell off the cliff. Molly is with her. They are on the purple trail. 'Angel' and I are near the bottom of the blue trail. Get help!"

A few minutes after Daisy got to the clearing, she saw three rangers riding toward her. "There are two horses up top to help us. We just need to get her on 'Apache' or behind him. Miss Dawn is a championship rider. 'Apache' will know what to do."

Daisy said to 'Angel', "I know you are real tired 'Angel', but this is Miss Dawn we need to help."

'Angel' somehow summoned the energy and cantered as fast as she could up the mountain.

When Daisy got up top she shouted, "MOLLY WHERE ARE YOU, SHINE YOUR LIGHT!"

A ranger saw the light, "Oh My God! Two feet either way and she would have landed in the river."

They tied a stronger and longer rope to the tree and pulled Molly up first so they could work on Dawn.

Two rangers belied down to Dawn. They tied her to a backboard to drag her up the cliff. 'Apache' came over and gave Miss Dawn a sound scolding. At that moment, Dawn opened her eyes like she heard something familiar.

Daisy said, "Can she ride down? 'Apache' will protect her."

They tested her spine and arms.

Dawn said, "I just use my thighs to ride. I can do it if you get me up there."

Except for her leg and a rib or two, Dawn was fit. She would have the same pain on the backboard. Daisy decided to walk, as 'Angel' was exhausted.

When they got to the bottom, there was an ambulance, Moe's truck and Miss Sarah with the big horse trailer.

Daisy just couldn't hold it in anymore, "Miss Sarah! I was so afraid, she was not awake." Red circles could still be seen on her tear stained face. Daisy hopped into the truck after the horses were loaded.

Mr. Moe went to town to drop off Molly, the ambulance went to Saint Luke's and Sarah went back to the Image of God.

Daisy took loving care of 'Angel' as she worked so hard, and then took care of 'Spirit' and 'Apache'.

"Miss Sarah, why didn't we go to the hospital to be with Miss Dawn?"

"Daisy, Miss Dawn needs a lot of care now, the doctors need to do a lot of things for her. I will call later and see when the doctors will let us see her. Daisy, Miss Dawn will tire fast talking to people, we will only stay a few minutes then have lunch and maybe do something and go back later. She needs a lot of rest."

Sarah had to keep Daisy's mind occupied. Miss Sarah took the mini-van down to town and all her friends piled in, Daisy was delighted. All went into St. Luke's to see Miss Dawn. The doctor was there. "She started to get hypothermia, tell that person the fire may have saved her life."

Sarah proudly boasted, "That would be this one here, and Daisy over there, is the one who got help."

Miss Dawn was pretty beaten up, casts and bandages everywhere. It was hard for her to breathe because she had two broken ribs. She could come home in two days.

Because it was one story, the bunk house was the best place to be. The ramps they used for the shut-in would be set up outside the house. They really didn't want to do it, but a wheelchair has big wheels that would make it easier for her to get around on. They would use ply wood sheeting to go from bunkhouse to house.

Daisy claimed the front seat, she didn't even notice Miss Sarah was not going back to the ranch. Daisy had her eyes glued to scenery, her bird book folded in her lap.

Daisy saw a yellow and olive bird fly across the road. "Miss Sarah what kind of birds are those?"

"Those are goldfinches Daisy, a Daddy and a Mommy."

Sarah had to admonish the girls in the back for making too much noise, they had been on the road before. Finally, Miss Sarah pulled into the parking lot of the furniture store. Miss Sarah was taken aback, the whole inventory had changed. Again, every box and cupboard was opened.

"Miss Sarah, so nice to see you again. Are you just looking?"

"Just looking for now, wow this place has changed."

"We are craftsmen, so we don't like to make the same thing all the time. We like to change it up. It makes them keep coming back."

Miss Sarah walked up to the showcase. Ok Daisy, all the other girls got their pick of a jewelry box, now it is your turn. Even the boxes had changed, the ones Molly and the girls got had designs on them; these had wildlife. Everyone knew which one Daisy would pick.

"I want that one." As predicted, she picked a bald eagle in flight.

Sarah said to the man, "I seem to be having a problem with my watch." She mouthed the words 'charm bracelets'. "Are there any jewelers at the mall?"

The man made a telephone call to confirm they had many charm bracelets and charms. "Thank you, Max, I am sending you some customers."

"No ma'am, but go down the road four more miles on the right and you will see my good friend Max's shop. He is the best in the state. He will fix your 'watch'."

"Thanks Mister," all the girls said.

Soon they were at the jeweler's shop. Sarah whispered to the jeweler, "I know there is nothing wrong with my watch, but I told the children there was. I want to get them some charm bracelets. Can you put a new battery in and maybe I will get a new strap?"

Sarah started to wander the store. Max's wife was standing right behind the charm bracelets. "Look Molly, wedding bands. Did you find a hot boyfriend yet? You aren't eight anymore."

"Miss Sarah, you know all boys are 'yucky'." Her two friends nodded and Daisy crossed her arms across her chest, and nodded with a grunt, as if to say, "How could you even think that boys aren't 'yucky'?"

Molly's eyes lit up when she saw the charm bracelets. "What are those? They look so pretty."

"Those are charm bracelets; would you like to see our charms?"

Girls, don't you think Molly and Daisy should get an extra charm because they heroically saved Miss Dawn's life?" Both nodded in agreement.

Molly quickly picked out a cross and a guitar; the girls picked out a horse. Daisy picked out a pretty bird and started searching through the boxes for her other one. "Ma'am, do you have one of Princess Anna, she is my favorite; we taught her to ride horses.

Daisy pulled out her phone and showed picture after picture of Anna doing her testing and some selfies. "Her horse's name is 'Orlando'. Here is a picture of 'Orlando' and 'Apache', don't the look like twins?"

So, the hunt was on. Max's wife knew they had many Disney charms, she did not know about Anna. At the bottom of the second and last box, there was Anna and Elsa. Daisy squealed in delight.

Sarah said, "Come on girls, it is getting late." Sarah got to the bird sanctuary and gift shop just in time. "Girls go look at the stuffed birds while I talk to this lady; Daisy you can't count them on your list."

"Miss the children where I live are in a bird identification competition with the children of Meadowbrook, as you can imagine it is getting rather intense. Two of them saved my best friend's life on top of Sandy Gorge. I want to buy them some good bird watching binoculars."

"Sandy Gorge! That in a 250 foot drop into class four rapids."

The ranger asked a few more questions and Sarah settled on some nice binoculars. The ranger gave Sarah some freebies.

Sarah said, "Daisy, how many birds have you seen?"

"Forty-four, no, forty-five Miss Sarah. I forgot about the goldfinches."

Sarah said to the ranger, "Is there some nice place to eat round here; it has been a long day and we'll get home late."

Soon, everyone was sliding into a booth; the girls had never been in such a nice place, usually they went to burger and shake places.

At first, they were just get a large pizza. Sarah then realized not everyone wanted pizza. Miss Sarah said, "How about those who want pizza get the induvial pizzas, then you can put the toppings each wants."

The girls both got small pizzas, one with pepperoni and green pepper and the other onions and green, pepper, both with milks. Molly drooled, spaghetti with meatballs and a milk, please. Daisy went for it all, Mac and cheese with a large strawberry milkshake. Sarah was starving, but realized she had to get kid's food, she compromised. "Can I have a 'Supreme burger', and a large chocolate shake with two tap waters, please?"