"His other name is Mr. Sheep," said Richard, handing her half a dozen long black wiry hairs. "And he's old and cross and has been known to butt people. I don't think he'd hurt you, but he might frighten you."
"I wouldn't be afraid," boasted Sarah, stuffing her horse hairs carefully into the pocket of her middy blouse. "Shirley might, but I wouldn't. Shall I bring you a sweet apple, Rich?"
"If you find any," he said, swinging the cultivator back into place and clucking to Solomon to go ahead. "I can't eat green rocks, you know, and you shouldn't."
Sarah, in spite of warnings and orders, insisted on trying to eat everything in the shape of an apple that tumbled to the ground under the orchard trees. No fruit was too green for her palate, no round, bullet-like sphere too hard for her small white teeth.
She crawled through the fence now, waved a farewell to Richard, who was well on his way to the corner of the cornfield, and trotted off to search the orchard for spoils.
Sarah amused herself without much trouble—"though as much can't be said for the rest of us," Winnie had once remarked when Sarah's efforts to entertain herself had involved the entire family in explanations with nervous neighbors who objected to tame white mice—and the life at Rainbow Hill suited her exactly. She not only visited the horses and cows and pigs regularly, made friends with the flock of sheep and claimed to know every fowl in the poultry yard by name and sight, but she had a tender word for every bug, spider and grasshopper she met. Little water snakes were Sarah's delight and not even the ants and worms were beneath her notice and affection. Truly, as Doctor Hugh said, Sarah was certainly intended to live in the country.
"I'd like to see a ram," she said to herself as she scrambled up the bank to the orchard. "I never saw one. It wouldn't do any harm to go around the upper pasture and look in."
But she had a number of things to do in the orchard first. Sarah was noted for her thoroughness in whatever she undertook and now her heart was set on finding an apple soft enough for Richard Gilbert to eat—and just a plain apple for Miss Sarah Willis. Alas, Mrs. Hildreth had been out earlier in the day and had carefully picked up every windfall. She and Winnie were adepts at making delicious apple sauce and the first summer apples were scarce enough to be carefully hunted for.
So, though Sarah went the rounds of every tree and even shook one or two cautiously (Mr. Hildreth had intimated that he would "shake" anyone detected trying to knock down green apples or pears and Sarah had a wholesome respect for his mandates, so far) but she was forced to go appleless.
"I think I'd better go look at my apple seed I planted," said Sarah aloud.