1 Up the Mountain

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CHAPTER 1 Up the Mountain "Heidi, keep up!" The words stung the ears of the overdressed five-year-old. She nodded to her aunt and hurried her step. The three dresses she had on—one on top of the other—and the thick wool shawl wound about her made her step slow on such a hot June day. "Are you tired?" Aunt Dete asked. "No," answered the child. "I am hot." "We shall soon get to the top. You must walk bravely on a little longer and take good

long steps. We will be there in another hour," the woman said in a cheerful voice. It seemed like hours since they had left Dorfli and begun their way up the footpath. But in truth, it had only been one hour. Just enough time had passed to take them to a small village built into the side of the mountain. People usually stopped here to rest and visit with friends on their way to the top. But today the young woman and the child did not stop to rest. The trip they were on was too important to interrupt with friendly visits. "If you're going farther up the mountain, I will walk with you, Dete!" a woman called out. Dete waved and nodded to the woman. She slowed her steps a little so the older lady could join her. "I suppose this is the child your sister left?" the woman asked when she saw Heidi.

"Yes," answered Dete. "I am taking her to live with her grandfather." "You're going to leave that child with him? You must be crazy! How can you do such a thing? The old man won't take her in, anyway. He will throw both of you out the minute you arrive!" "He can't very well do that," Dete answered. "He is her grandfather. I have taken care of her since her mother died when the poor babe was only one. But now I have some great chances coming my way. I am finally going to have a nice place to live and work. It's about time that her grandfather does his duty." "So you are just going to leave the child with the old man and move away?" the old woman asked in surprise. "It's hard for me to believe that you could do such a thing." "What do you mean?" asked Dete. "I have done my duty with Heidi! What do you

think I should do with her? I can't take her with me!" The old woman never gave her an answer. The house she was stopping to visit appeared before them. Dete remembered this hut. A younger woman lived there with her mother and her son, Peter. Almost everyone knew the eleven-year-old boy. Each morning he would go down to the valley to fetch the goats. Then he would drive them up the mountain and take care of them until it was time to go home for the night. "Good luck to you!" the old woman called as she went inside to see Grandmother. Dete waved her hand and watched as the lady walked toward the small brown hut. She didn't want to admit that her friend could be right. She took a minute to straighten her hat and then turned around to look for Heidi. She needed to get on with her trip.