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A Big SurpriseRose jumped to her feet so fast, her stool toppled over. The book she was reading slid off her lap. Before she could grab it, it hit the floor with a loud thud.
Grandma Ingalls' head jerked up in surprise, and she laid down her sewing. "Gracious, child! You startled me."
"It's Mama!" Rose shouted. "I can hear her whistling!"
Grandma leaned forward to hear better. "So it is," she said. "Where did the time get to? Run and wake Aunt Mary from her nap while I put the kettle up for tea."
It had been hard for Rose to be good that day. Mama had promised a surprise when she and Papa came from work. Rose had tried to guess what it might be.
"Is it a dog?" she had asked Grandma. Ever since Nero, the big black Saint Bernard, had gotten sick and died, Rose had wanted another dog more than anything. But Grandma wouldn't tell.
Rose was so distracted by her curiosity that she had stitched her quilt pieces backward. She had spilled her milk, even though she was seven and a half years old. She had read the same page in The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe over and over and promptly forgotten every word!
She rapped on the closed bedroom door. "Aunt Mary, get up. Grandma is making tea,'-' she called out. Rose ran back across the dining room to the open parlor window. The sweet spring air poured into the room, tangling the thin white curtains.
Rose could hear birds singing their hearts out. But clearer than them all was the sound Of Mama's whistling. Grandma often teased Mama for being unladylike. "Whistling girls and crowing hens always come to some bad ends, Laura," Grandma would say.
But Rosedidn't care about Mama being unlady like. Mama whistled when she was happy, so hearing her always cheered Rose up. Not even a bird in spring could whistle like Mama. She whistled clear and sweet, trilling, chirping, or sometimes dropping the notes one by one, as a meadowlark drops them from the sky. Rose spotted Mama walking with Papa. She held her skirt up from the dusty street and her bonnet swung on her back.
Rose greeted them at the door and got a big hug from Papa.
"Grandma's in the kitchen," Rose said. "And Grandpa went to see Mr. Boast." She looked for a dog but didn't see one. The surprise must be in Papa's pocket. But Rose couldn't see any bulges.
"Grandma made something special," said Rose. She took Mama's hand and pulled her into the kitchen. On the table was a platter of golden-brown pastries.
"Oh, Ma," said Mama. "You made vanity cakes."
Aunt Mary came downstairs and they all sat down at the kitchen table. Grandma poured tea for the grown-ups, and then she poured Rose a glass of cold milk.
Rose had never eaten a vanity cake. It was still warm when she bit into it. It was crunchy on the outside, but it wasn't sweet like cake. And inside it was air; just a bubble that disappeared the minute she put the cake in her mouth. Rose thought it was very clever, and delicious.
"These are perfect," Mama said. "Just the way you made them when we were little."
Rose tried to be patient, and not speak until spoken to, as they finished the rest of the cakes. Finally she couldn't wait another moment.
"Mama," she said, "what about the surprise?"
Mama's violet-blue eyes sparkled mischievously. "Well, it's a very big surprise," she said, glancing at Grandma. "Papa and I thought we should wait until after supper."
"Oh, no!" Rose begged. "Tell me now. Please?"
"I suppose now is as good a time as any," Papa said. "How would you like to go on a trip, Rose?"
"The surprise is a trip?" Rose looked at Mama in astonishment.
"Yes," said Mama. "A long trip. To Missouri."
"Missouri?" Rose had heard of Missouri one Sunday, when she played with Paul Cooley and his brother George. The railroad company was selling land in Missouri. It had given their papa a free ride to go see it. Mr. Cooley had brought back pictures of mountains and forests printed on shiny smooth paper. He had brought a huge apple from an orchard there. Mr. Cooley said those mountains and forests were called The Land of the Big Red Apple.
"Papa and I have decided to take you to Missouri," Mama said. "We will drive there, just as I traveled with Grandma and Grandpa when I was a little girl-in a wagon with the mares and colts."
Mama smiled and Papa twisted an end of his mustache. They looked at Rose, waiting for her to speak. But she didn't know what to say.
"Is it far?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yes, a long way from Dakota--er, South Dakota," Papa said. "I keep forgetting it is a state now. It will take us most of the summer to get there."
"Most of the summer?" Rose was shocked. What about Sunday dinners at Grandma and Grandpa's? How could she fetch ice cream from Barker's for Mrs. Sherwood and her sister? They always let her share. Then Rose shot a glance at Aunt Mary, Mama's blind sister, who now sat quietly, her hands folded inher lap. Aunt Mary had promised to teach Rose how to read Braille.
So many questions crowded into Rose's head, she wanted to ask them all at once. "Why are we going to Missouri? Are Grandma and Grandpa going with us? Are we going for long?"
Grandma's chair scraped on the floor as she got up to stir the coals in the cookstove.
"We're going to Missouri to live," Mama said gently. "We're going to make a new home there. But Grandma and Grandpa will stay here."
