Andi Meets a Friend

by,
Caleigh

 Once, not so long ago, there was a little girl named Hayley Mirabel Taylor. She lived in a small cottage with her mom and dad. Her dad owned the forest behind their cottage. When Hayley was five years old, her mother gave her a rose. This rose had no thorns and never wilted or died. It always smelled and looked beautiful.

Hayley had never seen a rose, so she was fascinated by it. What she did not know was that this rose was magical. It could take you anywhere you wanted! It could take you into the future or into the past if you wished for it while the rose was in your hand. Her mother knew these things, but, of course, little Hayley did not.

Once Mrs. Taylor, when she was a little girl, went back to George Washington’s time! The reason Mrs. Taylor did not tell her daughter these things was because she wanted her daughter to find out for herself. Well, now, Hayley was fourteen years old and becoming a beautiful young lady.

As for the rose, it was far from being forgotten. It stood on a high shelf in a glass case. She loved history and wished she could live in the 1800’s because she thought that time period was full of excitement. When Hayley was feeling glum, she would take the rose down and run through the forest with it.

Today, Hayley was feeing extra glum because she felt as if she were destined to live in the 1800s. Of course, deep in her heart she knew she was not, so she pushed the feeling away. She carefully reached up and opened the glass case. She slid the rose out and ran freely out of the house and into the woods. Once she got to her favorite spot in the woods, she sighed.

“I wish I lived in the 1800s,” she said aloud.

Now, her mother was watching out of a window in the house and, since it was winter and the trees were bare, she was able to see her daughter leaning against a tree. Suddenly poor Hayley got enveloped in a leaf tornado. It started whirling around and around!

When Mrs. Taylor saw this, she smiled. She knew exactly what this was and was not worried.

Chapter 2

 Andrea Carter ran around screaming at Henry the 8^th.  Henry the 8^th was only the most obnoxious rooster that ever lived on the planet earth. “Come back here, you evil fowl! Get back here, you little devil!” He had just pecked her on the hand and she was not happy.

Suddenly, she stopped. What was that sound? Then she saw it. She saw a tornado of leaves. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream, but for some reason her legs stood stone still, and her tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of her mouth!

All of a sudden everything stopped. Andi stopped running; Henry the 8^th stopped cockle – doodle – doing; the dogs stopped barking; and the birds stopped cawing. It was because Hayley had stepped out of the fog that had seized her.

Andi’s mouth dropped open.

Hayley blinked. “Hey,” she cried. “this is my favorite tree, but it’s not nearly as big as the tree at my house. It’s most certainly mine, though. I can tell because of the big knot in the middle of the trunk that looks like a nose. What’s it doing here?”

 “Well this is my favorite tree and this,” Andi said pointing to the big white farm house, “is my house. So the question is, who are you and what are you doing at my farm? Also, why are you dressed so funny?”

 “I’m Hayley Mirabel Taylor. This is my land that you’re on. I’m not dressed funny. You are. Wait, what year is this?”

 “It’s 1882,” Andi smirked. “Don’t know what year it is?”

Hayley’s face turned pale. “W-wh- what? It can’t be 1882. It’s 2016.”

“It’s 1882. Melinda, isn’t it 1882?” A blonde headed girl, around age sixteen, stepped from around the corner of a big red barn.

“Yes, Andi, it’s 1882.” The girl gave a look of bewilderment and went back into the barn.

Suddenly Hayley gasped, “I’m in the past!”

 “What?” Andi’s eyes bugged out. “You live in the future?”

 “Apparently!” cried Hayley

 “How did you get here?”

 “I think it was the rose!” Hayley nodded her head down to the rose she was still gripping. She smiled sheepishly and loosened her grip. “I guess I got a little scared during that trip!” she laughed. “What’s your name?” Hayley asked.

 “Andrea Carter. You can call me Andi. I’m fifteen. How old are you?”

 “Fourteen,” said Hayley.

Just then a voice yelled through the still silent farm. “Andi, I went into the chicken coop and the eggs are still laying under the hens tail feathers. You should be in the house by now sweeping the kitchen!”

A young man, apparently the yeller, about twenty years old, came from around the big, white, farmhouse. He had an angry red face and was shaking his fist. He looked like the type Hayley would not like to run into. Then, he noticed Hayley standing there with a shocked face.

Quickly he lowered his fist. “Sorry if I scared you, Miss. I get a little riled sometimes.”

 “I can see that,” thought Hayley. Then the boy grabbed Andi by the arm and pulled her around the house, but Andi just grinned.



This was a good time to examine the farm. There was a large red barn on the right side of the big white farmhouse. She could see the stalls from the outside. The first stall had a tall white horse inside.

Hayley read the nameplate. “Snowflake”, it read. The next stall had a golden palomino in it. The nameplate read “taffy”. The next stall read “coco”. It had a pretty, small pony that was colored a reddish brown.

“I wonder who rides this guy? Everyone that I’ve seen so far seems so tall!” Hayley thought.

The last stall had a black stallion in it. The nameplate read “midnight”.

Just then, Andi came back around the corner with the young man right behind her. “Chad,” she was saying, “I’ll get my chores done. I promise.” Then, before Chad could say anything, Andi ran over to Hayley.

Chad tipped his hat at Hayley, gave a stern look to Andi, and left.

Andi rolled her eyes. “That’s my brother Chad. He’s always mad at me. I saw you looking at our horses. Did you read the nameplates?”

Hayley nodded.

“Taffy’s mine. Coco’s the pony I used to ride but my cousin Betsy rides him when she visits. Midnight is Riley’s horse. Riley Weaver is Sid’s nephew. Sid is our ranch hand. Snowflake is Taffy’s mom. Sometimes Chad rides her.”

 “So what about your family? Do you have any brothers or sisters?” asked Hayley.

“Yep,” said Andi. Justin is the oldest. He’s a lawyer. You’ve already met Chad; then there’s Mitch. Finally, there’s my sister Melinda. She’s the girl who confirmed it was 1882.”

Hayley blushed.

“That’s alright. You’re from the future. How should you know it’s 1882, not 2016? Anyways, there are also the dogs, Duke, King, and Prince. Finally, there is Henry the 8^th. He’s our mean rooster. Stay away from him.”

Hayley nodded as she thought, “I most certainly don’t want to meet up with a mean rooster!”

“Mother is the head over the entire household. Well, technically, Justin is the head over the house. He still has to run everything through with Mother to make sure it’s alright, though,” said Andi.

“Andi! Andrea Carter! Andi, please!” that last call sounded like a call of despair. “Mother wants you!”

 “I’m coming, Melinda, just hold on!”

 “Mother says now!” Melinda pleaded.

 “Fine, fine, I’m coming just please hold your horses. Come on, Hayley. I want you to meet my sister and mother.”

 “Where’s your father?” Hayley asked.

 “Oh, Papa, well he died in a horse accident.”

 “Oh I’m so sorry!” Hayley said, thinking she shouldn’t ask so many questions.

 “It’s alright. To me it’s a thing of the past.”

 “Good way to think!” thought Hayley.

  Together the girls ran inside. To Hayley’s surprise, Elizabeth Carter was not a small stern lady with tight lips. Instead, she was a tall, beautiful older lady that smiled when she saw Andi. She had on a lovely purple dress that came tight around her waist and then opened up into a full skirt. She had white high heels on and pearls. Her hair was in a tight bun that had streaks of gray in it.

“Never can stay out of overalls can you, Andrea,” her mother said, smiling at Andi’s red checkered shirt, blue jean overalls that were smeared with dirt and her tight brown braids swinging below her shoulders. “Who is your friend, Andi?” she asked.

 “Hayley Mirabel Taylor. She lives in….” Andi glanced at Hayley, who was shaking her head vigorously, “Who is travelling to Oregon.”

 “Will you be staying a while?” asked Ms. Carter. Hayley looked at Andi, unsure. Andi smiled and nodded.

“Uh, yes. I will…..uh….find a place to stay the night.”

“That is not necessary. You can stay here for as long as you need. If that’s okay with your parents that is.”

 “Ummm…. Yes, I’m sure they’ll be fine with it.”

Mrs. Carter nodded her head knowingly. “That is good. You’ll need to change into one of Andi’s dresses as we are going to a meeting.”

Andi groaned. She hated wearing a dress and, even more so, going to a boring old meeting so she could sit there listening to Mr. Peters ramble on and on about politics. She wanted to complain but knew better. She was now considered a lady and had to stay silent even when she didn’t want to. “Andrea, what would your Aunt Rebecca say?”, was always her scolding. “She would say I’m not a lady, that’s what,” Andi would think. Her Aunt Rebecca was always hounding her about how she should become a lady.

The girls ran up the stairs.

“Do we get to dress up like a princess?” said Hayley with a sparkle in her eye.

 “You like getting dressed up?”

 “Of course! Don’t you?”

 “No,” Andi said flatly.

 “Oh come on, Andi, it’ll be fun!” cried Hayley.

Chapter 3

Soon both girls were dressed in gorgeous dresses; Hayley’s was turquoise with sleeves that were puffy at the top and loose at the end. Andi’s dress was pink with a short sleeved top and a full skirt. Both had bonnets and umbrellas that matched their dresses.

“I……. can’t……. move!” cried Hayley in desperation as she tried to waddle around the room.

Andi sighed. “This is why I don’t like dresses. You can barely move, and they’re itchy.” She nodded her head at Hayley who was now trying to scratch an itchy spot on her back she couldn’t quite reach. Hayley also sighed and plopped down in a nearby chair where her dress promptly flew up and popped her in the face.

 “Ouch! That really hurt!” cried Hayley, rubbing her chin.

 “Oh, I forgot one!” said Andi sarcastically. “There’s another reason I don’t like dresses. They pop you in the face.” She rolled her eyes.

Hayley looked at her desperately, trying to push down her skirt. “Come on, help me out here!”

 “Don’t look at me, Hayley, I can’t help you.” She turned towards the door. “Mother!” Ten seconds later, Elizabeth came in looking flushed.

 “I just found out that after the meeting everyone is coming to our house. That was Justin’s idea. What can I help you with Miss Hayley?”

Hayley dramatically told her everything.

 “I simply can’t go to the meeting waddling around like a duck.” Andi looked at her strangely. “Well, I can’t,” said Hayley, pouting.

    ***        

Soon Hayley was walking around gracefully like a true little lady.

“There,” said Elizabeth wiping her hands on her apron. She turned towards the door. “Remember, stay out of Luisa’s way. She has a lot of last minute cooking to do.”

 “Yes, Mother,” said Andi. Elizabeth nodded and walked out of the door.

 “Who’s Luisa?” asked Hayley.

 “Oh, only the best cook in the world!” said Andi, rubbing her stomach.

Chapter 4

Hayley spent a week with Andi, riding Taffy, going gold rushing, and doing chores. At home, Hayley despised taking the trash out, but cleaning a stall was much harder than taking the trash out. Even though she loved the West, she missed her parents, and hated getting up with the sun.

Finally, she decided she wanted to go home. “Uhh, Andi, it’s time for me to go home. Don’t worry, I’ll come visit again.” She said goodbye to the Carter family. “Onward to ah, er, Oregon!”

 “I’ll just walk her to the edge of the woods,” said Andi. When they got to the edge of the woods, Hayley took out the rose.

 “Goodbye Andrea Carter.” With that, she wished to go home. Andi watched in awe as a storm of leaves and wind seized Hayley and whisked her away.

Andi didn’t know what to say, so all she said was, “Bye, Hayley! Come back soon!” then she slowly walked back to the house in wonder.

***

“Have fun?” Hayley’s mom asked as she walked in the door. “In the past?” Her mom leaned against the counter, crossed her arms and grinned.

 “How did you….. wait, you’ve gone to the past too?”

 “Guilty as charged,” replied Hayley’s mom.

And so Hayley and her mother exchanged stories from their time travel adventures.

The End