A Simple Song by Melody Carlson Page B

chickens aren’t even up yet,” Bekka pointed out.
    â€œWhy don’t you curl up here and take a nap,” Katrina suggested. “I’ll ride in front with Cooper.”
    Bekka didn’t argue, and Katrina, relieved at the idea of having Cooper to herself for a while, happily sat beside him. “Thank you so much for taking us,” she said quietly.
    â€œI was going that way anyway.”
    â€œJa . . .”
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said more gently. “I don’t know why I’m acting so grumpy lately.”
    â€œI’ve wondered if something was wrong.”
    He let out a long sigh. “There’s a lot to think about.”
    â€œI know . . .”
    â€œDecisions to make.”
    She just nodded.
    â€œLife decisions . . . you know?” His voice sounded husky. Maybe it was just the cool night air.
    â€œI do know.”
    He glanced at her and the buggy lanterns illuminated his face, but she couldn’t really see what was in his eyes as he pushed his straw hat more firmly on his brow.
    â€œI feel confused a lot,” she admitted. “I never really intended to do this . . . I mean, to go and sing and try to win a prize. Sometimes I feel like I grabbed ahold of the bull’s tail, you know, and he’s pulling me around the pasture, jerking me around, but I’m too scared to let go because he’ll kick the stuffing out of me.”
    Cooper chuckled. “You have a way with words, Katrina.”
    â€œCan I tell you a secret?”
    â€œA secret?” His voice lilted ever so slightly. “ Ja , sure.”
    As they drove into the gray dawn, she told him the whole story of her grandmother. At least as much as she knew.
    â€œI knew there was some mystery there,” he admitted. “Now it makes more sense.”
    â€œSo . . . maybe I feel like Mammi is directing this whole thing. Is that silly?”
    â€œNot at all.”
    â€œI wish I knew the rest of her story,” Katrina said. “That might help me.”
    â€œWell, I can ask Aunt Martha to tell me what she knows.”
    â€œWill you?” Katrina looked at him.
    â€œSure.”
    She continued looking at him, admiring his strong profile in the light of the golden sunrays that were just coming over the eastern horizon, loving his straight nose, how his hair curled around his ears, and the way his lower lip jutted out ever so slightly as he clutched the reins in both hands. Suddenly everything inside of her seemed to want to grab on to him, to hold on to him, to kiss him . . . and to never let go. She’d never known such a strong yearning in her life. Truly, she wanted to hold on to this boy more than anything. Even more than she wanted to sing. And that shocked her.
    â€œGood morning!” Bekka called cheerfully. “It looks as if the sun finally decided to get up after all.”
    The three of them conversed back and forth and ate their bagged breakfasts as the buggy rumbled along the road. They were all excited, happily looking forward to whatever it was that lay before them today. But Katrina knew that if Cooper simply asked her, she would change her plans and give it all up for him. She truly believed that.
    When they reached the bus station, though, he simply wished her good luck and told her he’d pick them up here at midday on Monday. Then he drove away.

9
    Katrina didn’t know what she would have done without Bekka. Everything seemed so busy and crowded and confusing. Yet Bekka managed to get them bus tickets, and after a couple hours of waiting in the station, where they ate their lunch and used the restroom and endured the curious looks of numerous English travelers, they were finally on the bus to Cleveland. Katrina sighed. She had never seen so many strangers before, never been out in the English world like this, not without her parents anyway. It was overwhelming.
    â€œIt’s about eighty