Gran’s Letter and the Goat Called Buttons

If a letter said “Brush your teeth,” Otto brushed every tooth, one at a time, and counted them as he went. Otto did exactly what a letter said. Every single word of it.

One morning there was a letter on the kitchen table, propped against the picnic basket. It was from Gran. Gran was busy in the barn all day with the new lambs.

The letter was written on the back of Gran’s pancake recipe. Gran always wrote on whatever was nearest. She also underlined things. Lots of things.

Gran’s letter said: “Dear Otto, Uncle Bram is up the hill mending the windmill, and he has forgotten his lunch AGAIN. Please take him this picnic. Get there before his tummy rumbles three times. After three rumbles he gets grumpy, and he starts looking at the windmill as if it were toast.”

Otto went to the window. There was the very green hill. There was the windmill at the top, with one sail hanging down like a tired arm. Uncle Bram was a small dot on a ladder.

Then a sound came all the way down the hill.

Grrrumble.

That was one.

Otto put the basket in the cart. Buttons stood ready at the front. Buttons was a white goat with a little beard and a very firm opinion about humming.

Gran’s letter said: “Buttons will only walk forwards if somebody hums. Do NOT stop humming.” Gran had underlined NOT twice.

So Otto hummed, and Buttons walked, and up the hill they went.

He hummed the tooth-brushing song. He hummed the song Gran sang to the hens. He hummed the one about the duck with no boots. Then he hummed them all again, and again, more slowly.

After that, Otto had only one tune left.

So he hummed Happy Birthday. It was not his birthday. It was not Gran’s birthday. It was certainly not Buttons’s birthday. Then Otto got to the part that goes “Happy birthday, dear Buttons.” It came out as “Hmm hm-hmm, hmm Hmm-mm.” Buttons put up one ear and walked a little faster.

Halfway up, they came to the stream. It was a wobbly stream that wiggled right across their path.

Gran’s letter said: “Cross the stream on the FLAT stones. Then you may stop humming and have a rest.” Gran had underlined FLAT three times.

There were round stones and pointy stones and slippery green stones. Otto stepped only on the flat ones, humming the whole way. Buttons splashed through the water, and the cart went bump, bump, bump behind.

On the far side, Otto stopped humming and had a rest. Buttons stopped too, and chewed. Buttons gave the letter a sniff, and it flipped right over. Otto did not notice at all.

Gran’s letter said: “Add two eggs and stir.”

Otto looked in the basket. There were two egg sandwiches.

He took them out and held one in each hand.

“Stir what?” said Otto.

He read the next line. “Pour into a hot pan.”

Otto did not have a hot pan. He had a goat, a stream and two egg sandwiches. He looked at Buttons. Buttons chewed.

Then a sound came down the hill. It was so loud that the wobbly stream went even wobblier.

GRRRUMBLE.

That was two.

“Uncle Bram doesn’t want pancakes,” said Otto. “He wants his lunch!”

He turned the letter over. There was FLAT, with its three lines under it. He had been reading the pancakes. Otto put the sandwiches back and found his place.

Gran’s letter said: “The last bit is the steepest bit. Hum your loudest.”

So Otto hummed Happy Birthday as loudly as he could, and Buttons pulled and pulled, all the way to the very top.

Gran’s letter said: “It is VERY windy at the top. Put the jam jar on the napkins. Then hold on to your hat.”

Otto put the jam jar on the napkins. Then he held on to his hat with both hands.

Whoosh went the wind. The napkins flapped like little white flags, but the jam jar kept them down. Otto’s hat stayed right where it was, because Otto was holding it.

Uncle Bram came down the ladder. He was big and tall, with sawdust in his beard.

“Otto!” said Uncle Bram. “Is that my lunch?”

“Yes,” said Otto. He did not let go of his hat.

Then Uncle Bram’s tummy began again. “Grrrr—”

Uncle Bram grabbed an egg sandwich and took an enormous bite.

“—mmf.”

The third rumble stopped right in the middle.

“Just in time,” said Uncle Bram, with his mouth full. “I was starting to look at the windmill as if it were toast.”

“Is it mended?” said Otto.

Uncle Bram pointed. The tired sail was back up, and all four sails were going round and round.

“Could you read the last bit of the letter?” said Otto. “My hands are busy.”

So Uncle Bram read it out. “Then sit with Bram and eat the biggest sandwich yourself. You have earned it. Love, Gran.”

Uncle Bram found the biggest sandwich, right at the bottom of the basket. It was cheese and pickle, and very tall. Then he put his own big hand on top of Otto’s hat.

“I’ll hold your hat,” said Uncle Bram. “You hold the sandwich.”

So they sat on the hilltop and ate the picnic, while the mended windmill turned above them. Buttons had the crusts.

“I’m glad you came,” said Uncle Bram.

“Me too,” said Otto.

* * *

They went home when the sun was low and orange. The basket was empty, so Otto rode in the cart. He took his hat back and held on to it again, with both hands.

“Which tune does Buttons like best?” said Uncle Bram.

“Happy Birthday,” said Otto.

So Uncle Bram hummed Happy Birthday, low and slow, and Buttons walked. Uncle Bram crossed the stream on the flat stones, because Gran had underlined FLAT three times, and everybody did what Gran said.

Otto was asleep before they reached the bottom of the hill. He was still holding on to his hat, because nobody had told him he could stop. Uncle Bram hummed him the rest of the way home, very softly, so as not to wake him.

Gran was waiting at the gate. She looked at the empty basket, and the windmill turning on the hill, and Otto fast asleep in the cart.

“Every single word,” said Gran, and she smiled.

Then she tucked Otto into bed, hat and all, and turned out the lamp.