03 Raggedy Ann and the Washing

Dinah was the housekeeper for Marcella's family.

One day, Marcella's Mamma looked out of the window and saw Mar-cella run up to Dinah and take something out of Dinah's hand.

“Oh, Dinah! I can't believe you did that! ” Mamma heard Marcella say to Dinah.

Then Marcella sat on the ground and put her head in her arm. She started crying.

So Mamma went outside and sat down next to Marcella. “What's wrong, my love? ” Mamma asked.

Marcella held up Raggedy Ann to show her mamma. Raggedy Ann looked so funny! Mamma had to smile when she looked at the doll.

Dinah could not understand why Marcella cried. She loved Marcella and did not want to make Marcella sad.

But Raggedy Ann was not sad at all. She knew that she looked funny, but she continued to smile. Her smile was wider than ever.

This is because Raggedy Ann knew what happened.

She remembered that morning when Marcella came to take off the pajamas from the dolls and dress them for the day. Marcella was already upset. She was not happy as she dressed each of the dolls.

Raggedy Ann thought at the time, “Perhaps she got up on the wrong side of the bed! ”

And when it was Raggedy Ann's time to be dressed, Marcella was not careful. She was upset because she had hurt her finger when dressing Lisa.

Then Marcella heard her friend calling her name from outside. She threw Raggedy Ann on the floor and she ran quickly out of the room.

She didn't know that Raggedy had landed in the laundry basket.

A few minutes later, Dinah came into the room with some dirty clothes to be washed. She put them all on top of Raggedy Ann.

Then Dinah carried the basket out to the back of the house and washed them.

Dinah put all the clothes into a big pot and poured water on them.

Then she put the pot on the stove.

When the water began to get warm, Raggedy Ann climbed on top of the clothes and looked out of the pot. There was so much steam that she couldn't see anything. Dinah could not see Raggedy Ann, either.

Dinah used a big stick to move the clothes around in the big pot. The clothes and Raggedy Ann moved around while the water boiled.

Then Dinah took the clothes out of the big pot one at a time and washed them. She finally got to Raggedy Ann.

Of course Dinah did not know that Marcella had thrown Raggedy into the laundry basket by mistake. She thought Marcella really wanted Raggedy Ann to be washed. So she put soap on Raggedy and washed her on the washboard.

Two buttons from the back of Raggedy's dress and one of Raggedy Ann's button eyes fell off. After washing Raggedy and all the clothes, Dinah tried to dry Raggedy Ann.

It was just then that Marcella came back and saw Raggedy.

“Oh, Dinah! I can't believe you did that! ” Marcella cried and quickly took the wet Raggedy Ann from Dinah's hand.

That was when Mamma heard Marcella and saw her cry. Mamma held Marcella's hand and talked to her softly. Soon, Marcella stopped crying.

Dinah told everyone that she didn't know that Raggedy was in the wash until she took Raggedy from the big pot. When Marcella heard that, she began crying again.

“It was all my fault, Mamma! ” she cried. “I remember now. I threw Raggedy Ann as I ran out the door. She fell in the laundry basket! Oh! Oh! ” and she hugged Raggedy Ann tight. Mamma was not angry with Marcella.

Mamma knew Marcella already felt very sorry. So Mamma just put her arms around Marcella and said, “But just look at Raggedy Ann. She doesn't seem to be unhappy! ”

Marcella wiped her tears away and looked at Raggedy Ann. Raggedy was all wet, but she had a funny smile on her face. Marcella laughed. And Mamma and Dinah had to laugh, too, because Raggedy Ann's smile was bigger than it had been before.

“Let me hang Raggedy Ann on the line in the bright sunshine for half an hour, ” said Dinah, “and she'll be fine again! ”

So Raggedy Ann was put on the clothesline, out in the bright sunshine. There, she enjoyed the breeze and listened to the birds in a nearby tree.

Every once in a while, Dinah went out to turn and pat Raggedy. Finally, Raggedy became soft and dry.

Then Dinah took Raggedy Ann into the house. She showed Marcella and Mamma how clean and sweet she was.

Marcella took Raggedy Ann up to her room. She told all the dolls what had happened to Raggedy. She also said that she was very sorry about being upset in the morning when she dressed them. Of course the dolls couldn't say anything, so they only looked at Marcella with love in their eyes. Marcella sat in her little red chair and hugged Raggedy Ann tightly in her arms.

Raggedy Ann looked up at Marcella sweetly with her one button eye. On her face was the same old smile of happiness and love.

Word List

housekeeper: n. a person who does housework for pay

upset:adj. unhappy,angry

to get up on the wrong side of the bed:idiom an expression to explain why some mornings someone wakes up and is upset for no clear reason

hurt: v. make something or someone feel pain

laundry basket: n. a basket that holds clothes that are dirty and need to be washed

pot: n. a container for cooking ＊(In the story, Dinah used a pot for washing clothes, but most people no longer wash their clothes this way. Nowadays, most people use a washing machine or wash their clothes by hand.)

stove: n. a thing in the kitchen that uses wood, coal, gas, or electricity to heat up food or water

steam: n. what water becomes when it is heated

boil: v. to cook in water

washboard: n. a board for washing clothes

fault: n. something one did that caused an accident to happen

tear: n. a drop of water that comes out of the eye when someone cries (the verb to tear has a different meaning)

breeze: n. light, pleasant wind

pat: v. to touch a person or animal quickly and gently with the flat of the hand to show kindness