Bubble Troubles Read online

  The twins nodded in agreement.

  “I know that red foxes are pretty fast on their feet, and if that one wanted your cats, he would have had them, just like that.” Grandpa snapped his fingers. “Why, I’ll bet those cats are having as much fun with that fox as he is with them.”

  “Knowing Boots and Lucky, they’re probably just out of reach, teasing the fox like they do Twinkles.” Mattie looked over at Mark. “Right?”

  “Maybe so,” Mark said with a nod.

  “See there, all that worry was for nothing.” Grandpa smiled. “Hey, how about letting me try blowing some of those bubbles?”

  Mark handed Grandpa the bottle of liquid, and Grandpa blew a large bubble. “See that?” he said, as the bubble floated above their heads.

  “Jah,” Mark and Mattie both said.

  “Well, my daed used to have an old saying about worry and bubbles.”

  “What was that, Grandpa?” Mark asked.

  “When someone in my family started to fret about something, Dad always said that worries were like bubbles—they’ll soon blow away.”

  Mark rubbed the bridge of his nose as he thought about what Grandpa had said. He’d never thought about worry being compared to a bubble before. He was about to ask Grandpa if he thought that was really true when he caught sight of his two cats leaping through the tall grass. As they neared the barn, they raced through the open door.

  “They’re safe!” Mark and Mattie hollered at the same time.

  Mark sighed with relief.

  CHAPTER 7

  Secret Gifts

  For the next several weeks, Mattie set her worries aside. With the holidays in full swing, her spirits were lifted. The air seemed like it was charged with excitement, and she could hardly stop smiling. Thanksgiving had been a wonderful time with her family around the table, sharing a tasty meal. Mattie’s favorite part had been the turkey and moist stuffing, but the pumpkin and apple pies were delicious, too. Now she looked forward to Christmas, which was just three weeks away. Every free moment, Mattie spent working on Christmas presents for everyone in the family, like she was doing today. Since it was Saturday and all of her chores were finished, she’d gone upstairs to her room to work on some of the gifts still needing to be done.

  Mattie didn’t have much money saved up, so she’d decided to make all the gifts she’d be giving to others this year. It was actually fun to create some neat things, and she hoped everyone would like the secret gifts she had made. So far, she’d created felt pouches for both Grandpa and Grandma Miller to keep their glasses in. For Grandpa Troyer she’d taken an old ring-binder notebook, decorated it with fabric squares cut into a patchwork pattern and then glued to the binder. When Grandpa Troyer’s arthritis wasn’t acting up, he liked to work in the garden, so Mattie had added a gift tag that read: GRANDPA’S GARDENING NOTES. She’d also made a three-ring binder for Grandma Troyer and decorated it with light blue material, pieces of lace, and some strips of white ribbon. On Grandma’s note tag Mattie had written the words: GRANDMA’S RECIPES. Since Grandma liked to cook a lot, Mattie thought she would enjoy having her own recipe book.

  Using a piece of pink-colored felt, Mattie had made a special little case where Mom could keep her needles and pins. She’d decorated it with a red heart on the outside and a matching piece of red felt on the inside to stick the needles in. Mattie’s gift for Dad was a small tin she’d gotten from Mom that used to have tea in it. Mattie had painted it and added the words: DAD’S KEYS. Since Dad often lost his keys, she thought this would be a good gift for him.

  Recently, Mattie had finished three bait containers that could be used for fishing. She’d made them from empty coffee cans she had secretly hidden in her closet. She thought Calvin, Russell, and Ike would like how she’d painted the cans, using a different color, with their names on each one.

  Using sheets of craft foam, Mattie had made several bath foam shapes for Ada and Perry. The ones for Ada she’d cut to look like flowers, and Perry’s were shaped like fish. She was sure they would enjoy playing with them whenever they took a bath.

  Mattie still had to finish gifts for Mark and her schoolteacher, Anna Ruth, but thankfully, she didn’t have to decide what to make for her best friend, Stella. During the early days of autumn, Mattie had collected some pods that had fallen from a sweet gum tree along the route to school. With those, she’d created a little mouse, and it had turned out really cute. When making the mouse, Mattie had used a small acorn for the head, gluing it to the pod, which was the body for the mouse. She’d then applied different seeds she had found, using them for the eyes and ears. Luckily, the pod had a stem attached, and that was perfect for the tail. She had used some pine needles for whiskers and finished it off by gluing the mouse to a small piece of wood. It wasn’t that hard to make and didn’t take her long at all. It was a good thing she’d gathered all the materials, even though at the time she’d had no idea what she would use them for.

  For her teacher, Mattie planned to make a felt and ribbon bookmark, using scraps of pink felt, red ribbon, and white buttons. She hoped everyone would like the gifts she’d made for them.

  Mattie had just taken a seat at her desk to begin working on Mark’s secret gift when someone knocked on her bedroom door.

  “Who is it?” Mattie called.

  “It’s me, Mark.”

  “You can’t come in right now,” Mattie said loudly. “I’m busy making Christmas gifts, and I don’t want you to see what I’m working on for you.”

  Mark rapped on the door again. “If I can’t come in, then would ya please come out in the hallway?”

  “I’ll be right there.” Mattie set aside the aluminum pie pan and pile of rocks she’d placed on her desk, which she was going to use for Mark’s garden plaque, and opened her bedroom door. When she stepped into the hallway, she was careful to block the door so her brother couldn’t see in.

  Mark held a small cellophane sack with a pine cone inside. “Take a whiff of this,” he said, lifting it up to Mattie’s nose. “I made this for Grandma Troyer. Do ya think she’ll like it?”

  Mattie sniffed deeply. “Umm … That smells appeditlich. What’s in there to make it smell so delicious?”

  “A pine cone, two cinnamon sticks, and a dried-out orange slice.” He grinned, looking quite pleased with himself. “I made one for Grandma Miller, too.”

  “I’m sure they’ll both like ’em to hang in the house, and it’ll make whatever room they put it in smell real nice,” Mattie said.

  “Sure hope so.” Mark put his hand on the knob of Mattie’s bedroom door. “What are you makin’ in there?”

  She wagged her finger back and forth. “You’ll have to wait till Christmas to find out.”

  “Aw, Mattie, can’t ya at least give me a hint?”

  She shook her head. “It’s supposed to be a surprise. Now please step away from my door. Don’t you want to be surprised on Christmas?”

  Mark’s only reply was a quick shrug.

  “It’s no fun knowing ahead of time if you see what I’m going to give you.”

  He frowned. “You’re no fun.”

  “I’m not tryin’ to be fun. I’m busy.”

  “Wanna play a game?” he asked.

  “Not right now.”

  “How about hide-and-seek?”

  “No!” Mattie stepped back into her room and quickly shut the door. She figured if she played the game and hid from Mark, he’d sneak into her room and see what she was making for him, and it would spoil the surprise. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. Mattie knew her twin brother well, so as soon as she finished making his gift, she would hide it in the back of her closet, along with all the other gifts she had made.

  Mark snickered as he made his way down the hall to his room. Mattie could sure get riled easily. He’d only been teasing when he’d threatened to go in her room to see what she was making for him. Of course, he was curious to know, but he could wait until Christmas. Besides, he didn’t want to spoil t
he surprise. In the meantime, he had some gifts he needed to finish for family members, too—including one for Mattie. He hoped she would like the surprise gift he was making, because he’d tried hard to come up with something different to give her.

  Mark stepped into his room, shut the door, and walked over to the window. He saw his two cats below in the yard, jumping at a flower stem gently blowing in the late autumn breeze. Mark was glad Lucky and Boots had returned after being chased into the field by that red fox. Grandpa Miller had been right about Boots and Lucky being able to take care of themselves. Mark wished he could have known what had actually happened, but later that evening, watching from the porch, he couldn’t help giggling when he saw his cats prancing around the yard, swishing their tails while holding their heads up high.

  Going over to his desk, Mark looked at the gifts he’d already completed. He was happy with the way the wind chimes had turned out that he planned to give Mom and both of his grandmas for Christmas. He’d thought about giving them each a box of chocolates but had decided on the chimes instead. It was a good thing he liked to collect small and unusual rocks, because for the top of the wind chimes, he’d stained a small, round-shaped piece of wood he’d gotten from Dad’s shop and then glued a few rocks to the top. After that, he’d attached to the wood some fishing line Grandpa Miller had given him. Mark had finished it off by hooking some of Mom’s old spoons to the line. Those would cause the chimes to jingle whenever there was a breeze.

  For Dad and both of his grandpas, Mark had thought about using some strips of craft foam to make soda pop can coolers. But since neither Dad nor his grandpas drank much soda pop, he’d changed his mind and painted some of the bigger stones in his collection to use as paperweights instead. He was glad most of the gifts were pretty much done, and now he was going to begin work on a pair of hand warmers for Calvin and Russell. They would be made from thick fabric sewed together in squares and filled with rice. To warm them, the boys would need to put them in the oven on low for a while, and if they stuck the hand warmers inside their jacket pockets when they went outside, their hands would be toasty warm.

  Mark felt pretty good about the gifts he’d made so far, and he was just getting ready to fill Russell’s hand warmer with rice when someone knocked on his door. Tap! Tap! Tap!

  “Who is it?” Mark called.

  “It’s me—Calvin.”

  “What do ya want?”

  “I want to ask you something.”

  Mark groaned. He figured Calvin would keep knocking if he didn’t open the door.

  “What do you want?” Mark asked when he stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him.

  “I was wondering if you’d like to go for a bike ride with me and Russell,” Calvin said.

  Mark shook his head. “No thanks. I’m busy working on some Christmas presents, and so is Mattie. Anyways, it’s too cold to go bike riding today.”

  “It’s not that cold.” Calvin peered around Mark toward the closed door. “What kind of gifts are you makin’ in there?”

  “I’m not tellin’,” Mark said. “You’ll have to wait till Christmas to find out.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Snow

  On Christmas Eve day it started to snow, and Mattie began to worry all over again.

  “What if the roads get bad and Grandpa and Grandma Troyer can’t make it for Christmas?” Mattie asked Mom as she stared out the living room window, watching the snowflakes increase by the minute.

  “Now don’t start fretting, because it won’t change a thing,” Mom said with a click of her tongue. “Why don’t you go find somethin’ to do? If you keep busy, it’ll take your mind off the weather.”

  “That’s right,” Dad spoke up from his chair across the room. “Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night.”

  “Maybe Dad’s right,” Mark said, joining Mattie at the window. “Why don’t we find somethin’ to do?”

  “Like what?” Mattie wanted to know.

  “We can play a game of checkers.”

  She shook her head. “You always win when we play that game. Let’s put a puzzle together instead.”

  “No way,” Mark said. “The last time we did that, you kept out one of the pieces so you’d be able to put it in last.”

  Mattie turned her hands upward. “What can we do then?”

  “Let’s go out and play in the schnee,” Mark suggested. “The way it’s comin’ down out there, I’ll bet we could have a snowman built in no time at all.”

  That sounded like a good idea to Mattie, so she smiled and said, “I’ll get my jacket, gloves, and scarf. Then we’ll meet in the yard.”

  “Don’t forget your rubber boots,” Mom called as Mattie started out of the room.

  “I won’t,” Mattie hollered over her shoulder, eager to do something other than worry.

  By the time Mattie came outside, Mark already had a pretty good-sized snowball made. “What took ya so long?” he asked when Mattie joined him in the yard, which was now a blanket of white, with several inches of snow on the ground. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind about helpin’ me build a snowman.”

  “I couldn’t find my rubber schtiffel,” Mattie explained. “They were way in the back of my closet, behind all the Christmas presents I made. Sure didn’t want to play in the snow without boots on my feet.” Mattie was also glad for the wool scarf she wore on her head. It helped to keep her ears nice and warm.

  Mark crunched through the snow until he was standing face-to-face with Mattie. “Wanna play hide-and-seek or tag or have a snowball fight?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “ ’Course not. I came out here to make a snowman, and so did you.”

  “I know, but we can build the snowman and then play a game.”

  Mattie shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?” Mark gave her arm a little poke.

  “ ’Cause I don’t want to. Besides, you know it’s more fun to play hide-and-seek in the summer when it’s warm outside.”

  “Dad said you should keep busy so you won’t worry about the weather,” Mark reminded Mattie.

  “Jah, I know.” She stood for a moment, watching Twinkles as she romped around in the snow. All dogs seemed to like the snow, and her dog especially did. Mark’s cats didn’t like the snow. They preferred to snuggle together on a bale of straw inside the barn, out of the cold.

  It was fun to watch Twinkles jump from one point to another and then bury her little nose deep in the snow. Each time the dog would look up, she’d sneeze, sending the soft crystal flakes, which were stuck on the end of her nose, flying in every direction.

  “Okay now, let’s get the snowman done, and then we can decide what we want to do after that,” Mark suggested.

  “Okay.” Mattie bent down and formed a snowball. She had the urge to throw it at her brother but knew if she did, he’d probably throw a bigger one at her, and then she’d have to throw another one at him. Pretty soon they’d have so much fun tossing snowballs that they’d never get the snowman done. So Mattie began rolling the snowball around the yard until it grew bigger and bigger. Mark did the same with the snowball he had started. Soon the twins had three good-sized snowballs finished and stacked on top of each other.

  “The snowman looks great! Isn’t this fun?” Mark asked, patting some snow on the middle section to make some arms and fill in the gaps where more snow was needed.

  Mattie nodded and glanced toward the road. “Shouldn’t Grandma and Grandpa Troyer be here by now?”

  Mark shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess that all depends on what time they left Burton.”

  “I sure hope the guy bringing them to our house drives safe.” Mattie sighed, putting her hands on top of her head. “I know Dad said not to, but I’m gonna worry till they get here. I haven’t forgotten the accident we saw on the trip we made to celebrate Grandma’s birthday. That accident was due to all the rain that had fallen, and snow is even wors
e.”

  “Worry if you must,” Mark said, “but I’m gonna enjoy playin’ in the snow.” He slipped and slid across the yard, laughing as he went. When he got to Mom’s garden, he bent down, pushed some snow aside, and found two small rocks. “I think these will work fine for the snowman’s eyes!” he hollered to Mattie.

  Losing interest in the snowman, Mattie stared at the driveway. She knew worrying would not bring Grandma and Grandpa here any sooner, but she just couldn’t seem to help herself.

  Mark and Mattie were getting ready to go back inside when a car pulled in, and Grandpa and Grandma Troyer got out.

  “Good, they’re here!” Mattie shouted. She tromped through the snow, and as soon as their grandparents got out of the vehicle, she gave them both a big hug. “I was getting worried and thought you’d never get here.”

  Grandma patted Mattie’s shoulder, and she and Grandpa waved good-bye to their driver as he pulled out of the driveway. “We got a late start because our driver had an errand to run before he picked us up. But we’re here now, safe and sound.”

  “What’s in there?” Mark asked, pointing to the cardboard box in Grandpa’s hands.

  “Well, let’s see now … There’s Christmas presents, a few jars of cinnamon applesauce, and some of your grandma’s delicious fudge.” Grandpa smiled and winked at the twins. “And there might even be a few fritters for us to heat up later on.”

  Mark smacked his lips. “Yum! Nobody makes corn fritters like Grandma Troyer.”

  As they walked past the snowman, Grandpa stopped and asked if the twins had made it.

  “We sure did,” Mark said with a nod.

  “You did a fine job, but I think the snowman needs a little something else.” Grandpa removed the scarf from around his neck and draped it on the snowman. “There, how’s that look?”

  “It completes the snowman,” Mark said, grinning up at Grandpa.