3 Trouble and More Trouble!

CHAPTER 3 Trouble and More Trouble! few weeks after Mamsie's birthday, Joel gazed unhappily at his bowl of oatmeal. "I wish we could have something else to eat," said Joel. "I'm tired of the same old breakfast." "Well, hand it over then," said Ben, who was always hungry. "Be grateful for what we've got, Joel," Mamsie gently scolded him as she kissed the top

of his head. "Polly, remember to visit the parson today. He's a little bit sick." Then Mamsie went into the next room to begin work on her sewing for the day. "Oh, dear," said Phronsie, pushing her bowl away. "I'm sick, too." "You are?" Polly asked with alarm. "I'm sick of oatmeal," Phronsie pouted. "Polly, will we ever have anything else to eat?" "Someday we will," Polly said. "Someday we'll have lots and lots of good things and treats." "Like what?" Phronsie asked. The Little Peppers didn't have money for sweets or fancy foods. They only had enough to pay for oatmeal, flour, and potatoes. Polly thought a moment. "Someday we'll have ice cream and little cakes with sugar frosting," Polly said as she filled a tub of soapy water and cleared the breakfast dishes.

"With pink on top?" Phronsie asked, getting down from her seat to help Polly wash up. "More pink icing than even you can eat, Phronsie Pepper," Polly laughed. "I'd like plum puddings," Joel said. "Like the one Mamsie made us for Thanksgiving that one time. Seventy-five of them," he added, patting his stomach. "I'd have roast beef and potatoes and pie!" Ben said, putting on his coat. "Come on, Joel. We'll be late to chop wood at Deacon Blodgett's." Joel slowly got up and went with Ben. "What would you choose, Davie?" Polly asked. Davie had been quietly eating his oatmeal. He thought for a moment, and then put down his spoon. "I think the most beautiful breakfast would be toasted white bread and candy!" Davie said. "Oh, I think so, too!" Phronsie said excitedly,

accidentally spilling Polly's washtub filled with soapy water. "Phronsie!" Polly cried. "You're wetter than a hen in the rain!" "Oh, help, it's running down my back!" Phronsie cried. Polly took a dry towel from a nearby laundry basket and wrapped Phronsie up tightly. She pulled off Phronsie's dripping stockings, shoes and dress, which were forming little puddles of dishwater at her feet. Then she helped Phronsie into a clean, dry dress and settled her into her bedroom. Mamsie came back into the kitchen just as Polly finished cleaning everything up. "I think I'll take Phronsie with me to visit the Hendersons," said Polly. She looked into the bedroom and saw Phronsie fast asleep in a heap on the floor, her face bright red. "No, I won't after all," said Polly, as she

pulled on her coat. "Ask if Parson Henderson still has a chill, if he has a fever, and how he slept last night. We wouldn't want anything to happen to the minister," Mamsie said in a worried voice. Then she added a whole list of new questions to be sure to ask the Hendersons. "Oh, I'll never remember all that," Polly said in dismay. "Yes you will," Mamsie said with a smile. Polly knocked on Parson Henderson's old- fashioned green door with the heavy brass knocker. It was the fanciest house in Badgertown, and Polly was always a little bit nervous when she went there. When the door opened, Polly's heart sank. Instead of gentle Mrs. Henderson, the parson's wife, there stood Miss Jerusha, the parson's very mean sister. Miss Jerusha was a big woman with sharp black eyes and tiny glasses, which she wore on

the tip of her nose. When she looked down her nose and over her glasses at Polly, all of Mamsie's questions flew out of Polly's head.