15 Kids

Chapter One

         It was a beautiful fall day in Cumming, Georgia. Brown leaves skittered across the grass. Three children played in front of their house. But this wasn’t any house. These weren’t any children. This was the Brandts’ house, and these were the Brandts.
         Well, it wasn’t the whole Brandt family. The Brandts had fifteen children altogether--seven girls and eight boys--and Laura Brandt, their mother, was almost five months pregnant with another child. They didn’t know whether it was a boy or a girl, but they were about to find out.
         “Where are they?” Abigail Brandt, age eight, said impatiently. She pushed her hair out of her face and stared down the gravel driveway.
         Her brother Gideon, who was five, nodded in agreement. “I want to know if Mommy’s baby will be a girl or a boy!”
         Rebekah, their eleven-year-old sister, smiled. “Mom and Dad will be here soon,” she assured them. Gideon and Abigail didn't respond.
         “I hope it’s a girl,” Rebekah added quietly.
         “I hope it’s a boy.”
         Rebekah jumped. Stephen, her ten-year-old brother, had snuck up behind her.
         “What do you think they’ll name the baby?” he asked. Rebekah lifted her shoulders.
         “Maybe David? Or Joshua? I can’t think of any more girl names that come from the Bible. Well, there’s Eve, and Mary, I guess. Oh, and Leah.”
         “I like Mary,” Abigail put in from her post a few feet away. “When will Mom and Dad get here?!”
         Just then, a black SUV turned in the driveway and began coming towards the house, bouncing along the road that was pitted with tiny craters.
         “They’re here!” Abigail shrieked. She began to run down the driveway. Gideon and Stephen followed her, shouting excitedly.
         “Don’t go in front of the car!” Rebekah called over her shoulder as she hurried to the porch and went inside the house.
         “Mom and Dad are back!” she cried. Her sixteen-year-old sister Rachel was passing by at that moment, carrying Daniel, who at three was currently the youngest member of the family.
         “Really?” Rachel asked. She used one hand to pick up her long skirt while she ran outside. Hannah, four, ran after her.
         Soon the whole family had assembled in the front yard. Dad stopped the car and climbed out. Mom got out of the passenger side, leaning over to give Gideon a hug. The younger children hopped excitedly around the car, while the older children stood quietly and waited.
         “Can I hold Daniel?” Rebekah asked Rachel. Rachel handed her the toddler as everyone trooped inside.
         “We have two announcements,” Mom said when everyone was settled in the living room. “First, do you want to know what the baby is going to be?”
         “Yeah!” everyone cried. Even Josiah and Joseph, who were eighteen and seventeen, joined in.
         Mom smiled. “In February, when our baby is born, it will be… a girl.”
         “Yes!” Rebekah cheered. “I knew it!”
         Hannah, who was sitting next to her, tugged on Rebekah's skirt. “Will we have sixteen kids in our family?” she wanted to know. Rebekah nodded. “Yes, when the baby is born, we will have sixteen kids. We’ll have eight girls and eight boys.”
         “What’s the other announcement?” Elizabeth, who was thir-teen, asked Mom.
         “The other announcement,” Mom began, “is that we are going to have a photographer come to our house on Thursday and take a family picture.”
         “Do we have to dress alike?” Jason, seven, complained. “I don't like those photo shoots. My clothes always itch.”
         Rebekah stifled a giggle as Mom answered.
         “Jason, we are going to dress alike, but I wasn’t done talking!”
         “Oops!” Jason grinned as Mom continued.
         “Now, I know this is an exciting day, but we still have work to do! If you haven’t finished your schoolwork or your chores, you need to go do that. Rebekah and Abraham, I think you still have some chores left. Dad is going to catch up on some paperwork, and Abigail, you’re going to help Rachel and me make dinner.”
         Rebekah went to the huge whiteboard mounted on the wall in the Brandt family’s industrial kitchen. The kitchen, a recent addition, was huge. That was good, because at each meal, there were seventeen people to feed!
         Abraham, Rebekah’s nine-year-old brother, came up next to her and peered at the whiteboard. Mom used the whiteboard to write down each child’s chores for the day. Whenever they had done their chores, they could erase the writing. The whiteboard was also used as a sort of message board. Rebekah noticed that someone had already written “IT’S A GIRL!” across the top of the board. She smiled and hurried upstairs to do her chores.
         That night at dinner, Elizabeth asked Mom, “Have you decided what you’re going to name the baby?”
         Mom looked at Dad. “Should we tell them?”
         “Yes, tell us!” Jason urged. Dad nodded.
         “I think we should let them know.”
         Mom turned to the children. “Well, we’re still thinking about it, but our choices are Deborah, Naomi, or Anna.”
         “I like those,” Rebekah decided. “But is Deborah a Bible name?”
         “Yes,” Mom answered. “In the book of Judges, in chapter four, Deborah freed her people.”
         “You know,” Dad said thoughtfully, “that would be a good thing to read about during our family Bible time.”
         So that night, when everyone gathered in the boys’ room for devotions, Dad read the story of Deborah.
         “‘Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.’ Who knows what a prophetess is?”
         The family discussed Judges 4:4-24 for over half an hour.
When Bible and prayer time were over, Rebekah went to the girls’ room and climbed into bed.
         “Will the new baby sleep in our room?” she wondered. Her fifteen-year-old sister Sarah, who slept in the bed next to hers, answered.
         “At first, she’ll be in a crib in Mom and Dad's room. But she will probably sleep in our room after a few months.”
         All of the boys shared one large room, and all of the girls shared another large room. In the girls’ room were Rachel, Sarah, Abigail, Hannah, Rebekah, Elizabeth, and Ruth. Ruth was six. All of the children enjoyed being together and sharing their rooms. Usually, the girls would read in bed for a while before going to sleep, and the boys would have pillow fights. Sometimes Mom and Dad had to come upstairs to quiet them down.
         Friday, Saturday, and Sunday passed in a flurry of activity as the family prepared for the week ahead. At last, it was Monday morning.
         Sarah woke Rebekah up around seven o’clock. After reading a chapter in her Bible, Rebekah picked out her clothes and got dressed. She brushed her hair, made up her bed, and went downstairs for breakfast. Her usual breakfast was two pieces of toast with grape jelly. Sometimes she had a little bit of cereal, too.
         After breakfast, Rebekah started school. She did some of her school in the computer room. Other subjects included a pencil and paper. The computer room was a small room upstairs with four computers, each with its own set of headphones. None of the computers had Internet. Rebekah used three computer programs for her schoolwork--Sum It Up, for math; All Over the World, to look up subjects for reports and other papers; and a typing program. Mom wanted all of her children to learn to type the correct way.
         Rachel or Mom usually did spelling with Rebekah. Rebekah used a workbook for grammar and also had a science book with activities and information. She had one or two books to read each week, and she sometimes had papers to write on different subjects. The week before, she had done one on mammals.
         Rebekah had completed her math lesson and had just started on her grammar when someone touched her on the shoulder. She turned to see Mom.
         “Rebekah, will you please help Ruth with her math page? I'm going to change out the laundry, and then I’ll be available to help her again.”
         “Okay,” Rebekah agreed. She found Ruth sitting on the kitchen floor with her math paper. Ruth looked up as Rebekah approached and said in a plaintive voice, “I need help. I can’t figure it out.”
         Rebekah bit back a giggle as she sat down next to Ruth. She glanced quickly at the math page. “This is just doubles, see? What’s six plus six?”
         “Twelve.”
         “Good! See, you can do it.”
         By lunchtime, Rebekah was done with her school. She turned off the computer she’d been working on and stretched, satisfied. Just then, Mom poked her head into the room.
         “It’s time for lunch!” she announced.
         Rebekah went downstairs, noticing Dad in the kitchen. Dad worked from home and came downstairs every day for lunch.
         “Everyone come over here, and let’s ask the blessing,” he called now. After he had finished praying, Rebekah went into the kitchen and picked up a plate. Mom had discovered long ago that the easiest way to get everyone fed was to make a buffet line. Today, there were grilled cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks, pretzels, and apple slices set out. Rebekah got what she wanted, poured herself a drink, and slid into her chair in between Jason and Abigail.
         After lunch, some of the children went outside. The Brandts had a trampoline and a basketball court in their backyard. The kids also enjoyed riding bikes, scooters, and skateboards.
         Today, Rebekah, Stephen, Isaac, and Josiah were playing a game that Isaac had made up long ago. They were playing basketball, with the regular rules, but riding on skateboards instead of running on their feet.
         “Score!” Stephen cheered as Josiah dunked the basketball in the net. Even though he was eighteen, he liked playing basketball with his siblings.
         It was the beginning of October. The weather was pleasant, but after a while Rebekah put up her skateboard. Playing basketball with the sun streaming down on her had taken its toll.
         Tuesday and Wednesday passed slowly. The Brandts did school and played outside. On Wednesday afternoon, they did a fun experiment to learn about the sun.
         All of the Brandt children were doing astronomy for science. The older children read a science book by themselves, and Mom was working with the younger children, adapting the curriculum for them. It was easier to combine as many of the children’s subjects as possible.
         “I need everyone to go in the front yard! We’re going to do our science experiment!” Mom called. Rebekah was upstairs in the computer lab with Sarah, who had been helping her with math. She looked at her sister.
         “Can I finish this later?”
         Sarah nodded. “Just remember that when you’re dividing, zero can’t go into any number.”
         The girls hurried downstairs and outside into the front yard. Instantly, Rebekah’s hair was blown every which way. She had forgotten to pull it back that morning, and the wind was strong.
         “Come on!”
         Abraham waved them over to where the family was gathered, kneeling or sitting on the rocky driveway. Even Josiah and Joseph were there. Mom was in the middle of the group, holding a paper plate, a chocolate bar, and a magnifying glass.
         “I need two people--one to unwrap the chocolate bar and break it into three equal sections, and one to hold the magnifying glass,” she began. Immediately, the younger boys started clamoring for attention.
         “I can do it!” Jason cried.
         “No--pick me!”  Abraham urged.
         Mom appeared to be in deep thought. Jason and Abraham waited impatiently.
         “Let’s have Jason unwrap and break up the chocolate bar and Rebekah hold the magnifying glass,” Mom decided at last. Jason, proud with his job, unwrapped the bar. He broke it into three equal pieces and set two of them on the plate. He licked the corner of the third one and then set it quickly on the plate alongside the others, wiping his hands on his jeans. Mom gave him a reproachful look, but she was smiling and didn’t say anything.
         “Now,” she said, “Rebekah, you’re going to hold the magnifying glass over one of the pieces of chocolate. Tilt it so that there is only a small spot of light on the chocolate.”
         Rebekah did so.
         “Do I just hold it here?” she asked.
         “Yes. In a few minutes, we’ll do the same thing to the other pieces of chocolate, except you’ll make it to where there is a large spot of light on the chocolate instead of a small one.”
         “My arm is getting tired,” Rebekah said after a moment. “Elizabeth, will you hold this?”
         Elizabeth took the magnifying glass from Rebekah. She knelt down, smoothing her brown skirt over her legs, and used the magnifying glass to concentrate the light on the chocolate. Everyone waited. At last, Elizabeth said, “Now what?”
         Mom frowned. “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem to be melting.”
         Jason put his finger on the chocolate. “It’s gooey!” he announced, pulling his finger out and licking it.
         Stephen placed his finger on one of the other chocolate pieces. “This one is gooey, too!” he announced. He tried the last one. “And this one!”
         “I know what happened,” Rachel said. “The sun is hot enough so that all the chocolate melted. The one with the light from the magnifying glass on it might have melted a little more, though.”
         Mom laughed. “Yes, I think that’s what happened! So much for our experiment.”
         “Can we eat the chocolate?” Jason asked eagerly. At Mom’s nod, he jumped up.
         “I’ll get spoons!” he yelled as he ran towards the house.
         “They’re not going to wait for spoons,” Elizabeth predicted. Rebekah laughed; it was true. Already Stephen, Abraham, Gideon, and even Isaac were sticking their fingers into the gooey mess.
         “Choc-it?” Daniel asked Rachel, who was holding him.
         “No, Daniel, no chocolate. Let’s go back inside.”
         As Rachel began walking towards the house, Jason came out of it, holding several spoons in his fist.
         “I got the spoons!” he shouted. He ran up to the assembled group and stopped, panting.
         “The chocolate is almost gone?!” he yelped. Rebekah giggled as she watched her brothers vie for the remaining bit of chocolate.
         That night after devotions, Mom and Dad told everyone what would happen the next day.
         “The photographer will be here at nine o’clock tomorrow,” Dad said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get the picture taken fairly quickly. Now, after you--after Jason sits down…”
         Jason, who had been climbing around on his bunk bed, sat down. Dad continued.
         “After you get dressed in the morning, go to Mom. She’ll make sure your outfit is okay. Boys, you’ll need to wear khaki dress pants and navy shirts--not just T-shirts, but collared shirts. Girls, you’ll also need navy shirts, and you’ll wear khaki skirts with them. You each will have a little bit of school, which you can do whenever you have time.”
         After a few minutes more, Dad and Mom got the children in bed. It seemed like Rebekah had just closed her eyes when they opened again. Sarah was shaking her gently.
         “It’s seven o’clock. We need to get up.”
         Rebekah sat up. She had no trouble getting up and about in the morning, but some of the children, especially the younger ones, were very hard to wake up.
         Rebekah thought about the clothes she would need and where they were. The girls shared one large closet. Each had a section of the closet to herself. Each girl also had the drawers in her nightstand and a drawer in the large dresser they shared. Rebekah kept her shirts in her nightstand, her out-of-season clothes in her dresser drawer, and her skirts, dresses, and shoes in the closet.
         She found her navy shirt in the drawer and took a khaki skirt out of her closet. After dressing, she brushed out her hair. Next to her, Elizabeth had put her long, brown hair in a French braid and was smoothing back the loose strands.
         “Will you do my hair in a French braid, too?” Rebekah asked. Elizabeth agreed.
         “Do you want two braids, or just one?”
         “Just one.”
         Elizabeth deftly braided Rebekah’s hair. When she was through, Rebekah twisted around, trying to look at the braid in the mirror.
         “That looks good!” she exclaimed. Rebekah could not do a French braid, but she was able to do a regular braid. However, it was hard for her to do it on herself.
         After one last glance at her braid, Rebekah read her Bible, made up her bed, and went downstairs. If she hurried, she could get some of her schoolwork done before the photographer arrived. After breakfast, she sat at the kitchen table and started on her grammar. She was puzzling over an especially tough question about indirect objects when she noticed Jason, creeping along the wall.
         “I see you, Jason,” she called. “Why are you wearing a camouflage shirt? You were supposed to wear a navy one.”
         “I’ll change later,” Jason answered. “Stephen and I are playing Indians.”
         Rebekah loved playing Indians with her siblings. They would sneak around the house or yard, using whistles and bird calls to communicate, and spy on the white people--any family members who weren’t playing the game. The game worked best outside, but they enjoyed playing it inside, too.
         “Wait for me!” Rebekah called. She quickly finished her grammar, math, and science and then sought permission from Mom to play with her brothers until the camera crew arrived. Once Mom had given her approval, Rebekah hurried upstairs, looking for her brothers.
         “Stephen! Jason!” she called. At last, she found her brothers on Stephen’s bed in the boys’ room.
         “I want to play,” she said. Stephen nodded.
         “Ruth, Abigail, Jason and I are playing,” he told her. “Everyone else is a white person. Ruth and Abigail are spying on Rachel and Isaac in the computer lab. Do you have your same Indian name?”
         Rebekah nodded. “My name is always Sierra. I like that name; it means ‘nature’s beauty.’”
         After a few minutes, Ruth and Abigail still had not returned.
         “Maybe the white people captured them!” Stephen whispered urgently. “Come on!”
         Rebekah and Jason followed Stephen out of the boys’ room and down the hall to the computer lab. Rachel and Isaac were inside the room, using two of the computers, but Ruth and Abigail were nowhere to be seen.
         “Come on!” Stephen whispered again. This time, he led Rebekah and Jacob towards the stairs. When they reached the open hallway, he held up his hand, signaling that Rebekah and Jason should stay where they were. Stephen dropped to all fours and crawled forward a few steps. Then he stopped and made a call that sounded eerily bird-like.
         “Hoo-oo!”
         Since some of the children couldn’t whistle, they also used bird calls to communicate. The calls worked best outside, where sometimes you couldn’t tell a real bird from one of the fake Indians! One call meant “everything is fine.” Two meant “danger!”
         After a moment, another bird call came. Rebekah listened carefully. It sounded like Abigail.
         “Hoo-oo! Hoo-oo!”
         Stephen peered through the railing. Rebekah leaned forward, wanting to see. She noticed Abigail near the front door, trying in vain to hide behind a baby swing. Stephen held up his hands in a “what’s-the-matter?” motion. Abigail pointed towards the dining room table and made wild gestures with her hands. Stephen shook his head.
         “I can’t understand what you’re saying!” he hissed, turning to Rebekah. “Sierra, go to Swan Circling!”
         Rebekah darted along the open hallway, noting uncomfortably how visible she was as she reached the stairway and started down. When she reached the bottom, she ducked behind a nearby couch and gestured for Abigail to join her.
         “Where’s Strong Branch?” she asked softly when Abigail arrived. Abigail frowned.
         “Strong Branch? Oh, you mean Ruth. Well, Elizabeth is helping Gideon with worksheets at the table. Abraham is there, too. Ruth went under the table. See her?”
         Rebekah squinted at the table. She noticed her younger sister amongst a tangle of chairs.
         “Oh, no!” she groaned. “How did she get in there without being seen?”
         “She just ran there--and there--and then behind there--” Abigail traced several lines in the air with her finger and then shrugged. “She can’t get out until Elizabeth, Gideon, and Abraham all leave.”
         Rebekah heard two whistles from above. She knew it was Stephen, signaling her to return upstairs. But just then, their game was cut short by the ringing of the doorbell. Abigail jumped up and bounded towards the doorway.
         “It’s the photographer! She’s here!”