2 Meeting Grandfather

CHAPTER 2 Meeting Grandfather Heidi was enjoying watching the goats and the boy who led them. She struggled to keep up with him as he sprang from one rock to another. The layers of clothing she had on prevented her from getting close enough to speak to him. All at once Heidi sat herself down on the ground. She began pulling off her shoes and stockings as fast as her little fingers could move. When this was done, she unwound the hot red shawl and threw it off. Then she took

off her coat, too. There was still another one underneath to unfasten. Her aunt had put her Sunday coat on atop her everyday one to save her from carrying it. Quick as lightning, this one went, too. Heidi stood up. She was now wearing only the little slip that she had started out with this morning. She put all her clothes together in a tidy little heap and then went jumping and climbing after Peter and the goats. Peter had barely noticed the girl. When he suddenly saw her appear in her undergarments, his face broke into a grin. Heidi questioned him on everything from the goats' homes to how many there were. She had lost herself in her talking when she arrived at the spot where Dete stood. "Heidi, what have you been doing? What a sight you have made of yourself! And where are your two coats and the red shawl? And the new shoes I bought and the new

stockings I knitted for you—everything is gone! Not a thing left! What were you thinking, Heidi? Where are all your clothes?" The child quietly pointed to a spot on the mountainside below and answered, "Down there." Dete followed the direction of her finger. She could just make out something lying on the ground. The pile had a spot of red on top of it, which she knew had to be the shawl. "You rotten little thing!" exclaimed Dete angrily. "What could have made you do something like that? What made you undress yourself? What do you mean by it?" "I don't want any clothes," said the child. "You selfish child! Don't you have any sense at all?" Her aunt was red with anger. "Who is going all that way down to get them? It will take a half hour to walk down there! Peter, you go off and fetch them for me as quickly as you can. Get going! Now!"

Peter followed the order, completing the run in a shorter amount of time than Dete thought possible. She gave him a coin for his quickness. Peter's face beamed with delight as he put it into his pocket. The young boy followed Dete and Heidi on the final part of their climb. After almost an hour, they reached the top of the mountain. Grandfather's hut stood on a cliff where every ray of sun could rest upon it. It also had a full view of the valley below. It was a beautiful place. An old man was sitting outside the hut, watching the three people come toward him. He waited patiently for them to speak first. "Good evening, Grandfather," Heidi said. The young girl was not shy with her words. "What is the meaning of this?" her grandfather asked gruffly. He gave the child an abrupt shake of the hand and looked at her from under his bushy eyebrows.

Heidi stared back at him. She couldn't take her eyes off his face! The grandfather before her had a long beard and thick gray eyebrows that grew together over his nose. They looked just like a bush. "I wish you good day," said Dete when she and Peter finally reached the old man. "I have brought you Tobias and Adelheid's child. You probably don't recognize her. You haven't seen her since she was a baby." "What has she got to do with me?" the old man asked. "And you, boy," he continued, "be off with your goats! And take mine with you!" One look at the old man made Peter obey at once. It was easy to see that Heidi's grandfather wanted him gone. "The child is here to stay with you," Dete said. "I have done my duty by taking care of her over the last four years. Now it is time for you to do yours."

"That's it?" said the old man. He looked at her with a flash in his eye. "And when the child begins to cry and whine after you leave —as they do when they miss homes and mothers—what am I supposed to do with her then?" "That's your problem," snarled Dete. "I put up with her as a crying baby when her real mother died. It was hard enough to take care of my mother and myself! Now I have the chance to go out and be on my own. I cannot pass this up. You are her nearest relative. You are in charge. And keep in mind that you will have to answer for it if anything happens to the girl." Heidi's grandfather did not like the way Dete spoke to him. And Dete knew that leaving such a small child with this old man was a horrible thing to do. She felt shame and embarrassment as he kicked her out of his house.