and Leander Bentley that was the day they confirmed what they always suspected magic was real The morning of April 10 1845 began in its usual way As the sun rose over Pennsylvania Eliza and Leander were busy with their morning chores Eliza gathered the eggs from the hen house milked Abigail the family’s sweet old cow and then got down to her least favorite task churning cream into butter To keep from going mad during the repetitive and boring work Eliza would create her own songs Instead of singing the typical churning songs that were common in her region Eliza’s lyrics were always much more personal and occasionally if her mother was not in earshot a bit mischievous Poor Eliza poor Eliza Stuck with the silly butter churn Leander is out in the world When will it be Eliza’s turn she sang with 7
the up and down rhythm of the churning tub Many of her churning songs centered on how unfair it was that her twin had superior chores As a boy Leander’s work took place outside and was much more varied than her own Leander had to do physical jobs like chopping wood harvesting plants and hunting Eliza would have happily traded with him if it meant never having to cook another meal or darn another sock When the churning was done Eliza figured there was time for a quick escape before she had to help prepare lunch She wiped her hands on her apron and ran toward her favorite tree near the creek Leander was already there when she arrived making shapes in the dirt with a stick As usual the twins seemed to have read each other’s minds something they were so used to doing they barely noticed it anymore New or old Leander asked without 8
looking up Eliza knew what he meant without further explanation Leander made up the best games but he would always let others choose if they should play something new or stick to a classic New Eliza said I have had more than enough of the same today with all that churning Did you know that one in twelve girls die of churn-related boredom each day They both laughed at the made-up fact Their father was always saying Did you know and following it up with some new and fascinating piece of information He'd done this for as long as the twins could remember filling their heads with facts legends and stories No one knew as much as their father a man who loved learning so much he would go without eating or sleeping when he got 9
lost in a book When the twins were four years old Eliza climbed on top of the bench at church when everyone had their heads bent in prayer and shouted Did you know that bunnies used to be BLUE To this day retelling that story delighted their father and made their mother flush with embarrassment Making up silly new facts was a sure way to make her brother and father laugh and making people laugh always made Eliza happy Before Leander could start shaping a new game they heard Lucy Abbott Eliza’s best friend shouting for her younger brothers NOW Lucy yelled Lucy was always running after one brother or another an unfortunate side effect of being the oldest of the six Abbott children She feared the day when her baby sister would learn to walk She especially feared the day James and Noah Abbott come out RIGHT 10
