Read Online Summer In Iron Springs by Margie Broschinsky - Free Book Online Page B

as a house, he sure did have a lot of energy. It was all Phoebe could do to keep up with him.
    “You see these pipes? Those are sprinklers for irrigating the trees. I need you to move all these pipes right here, to that row of trees over there.” Norm pointed to the row just south of where they were standing. He leaned over and picked up a pipe. “Here’s how you do it.” He dragged the pipe to the next row, showed her how to set it up and then moved on to the next pipe. “That’s all there is to it. Easy peasy.” Norm wiped his muddy hands on his jeans. “Call me on this if you need anything.” He handed Phoebe a two-way radio. “I’ll be around to check on you in a couple hours.”
    “Wait a sec.” Phoebe looked around at the thousands of feet of pipe that lie in a row. “You think I’m going to be able to move all these sprinklers today?”
    “Don’t think it, know it,” Norm said before leaving Phoebe to face the daunting task before her.
    The first sprinkler she moved turned out to be an easier task than she thought it would be. She got completely soaked and was freezing cold. But other than that, it went pretty smooth and she decided the job might not be that hard after all. But the next sprinkler she picked up had a snake hiding beneath it. When it slithered toward her, she ran away as fast as she could, squealing loudly. When she got to the dirt road, she stopped and took a look around. There was no sign of the snake so she figured he must have given up on having her for lunch. She let out a sigh.
    Billy must have heard her screaming because he came running out of the trees and hurried toward her. He put a hand on each of her shoulders. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes inspecting her from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”
    Phoebe took a minute to calm her breathing before speaking. “There was a snake over there. It ran after me.”
    Billy started to chuckle but stopped himself when Phoebe narrowed her eyes at him. “What the heck is so funny? It might have been poisonous.”
    Billy reached up and removed a piece of debris from Phoebe’s hair and tossed it to the ground. Then, lowering his voice, he spoke calmly. “Snakes don’t run. They slither,” he said with a smile. “And those snakes aren’t poisonous, Feebs. And, believe me; they’re more scared of you than you are of them.”
    “I really doubt that,” Phoebe said, wiping a smudge of mud off her arm. “Are you sure they’re not poisonous?”
    “Positive,” Billy said, smiling. “So, Norm put you to work?”
    “All part of the plan to teach me a lesson, I guess.” Phoebe rolled her eyes.
    “Well, that’ll teach you to stop painting your boyfriend’s face on the school wall, now won’t it?” Billy said and they both laughed.
    Billy followed her to the area where Norm had assigned her to work.
    “I have to move all those sprinklers today.” She pointed to the sprinkler pipes that extended further than her eyes could see.
    “Do you want me to help you until you get the hang of it?” Billy asked.
    Phoebe shook her head. There wasn’t much to get the hang of. Pick up a dirty, wet, heavy pipe and move it from one spot to another. “Thanks for offering. But, I got it.”
    “Okay. But if you need me just squeal and I’ll come running.”
    “Very funny.”
    The work was hard—the hardest work Phoebe had ever done. Actually, it was the only work she’d ever done. After three hours of moving sprinklers, her hands were blistered, her back ached, and she was covered with dirt and sweat. While she worked, she thought about the previous day. Anna had gotten up early and gone to church. She’d invited Phoebe to come along and when she found out that Billy was also going, she was tempted. But, when she thought about it, she was sure it would be terribly uncomfortable and boring so she declined the invitation.
    Instead, she had taken advantage of having the house to herself by checking email and Facebook. She hadn’t