Beth asked Jo and Meg as well, and no one had seen him. The kitten, who was now pretty much a full-grown cat, was officially missing.
“But he’s never run away before!” Beth cried, wringing her hands with worry. “I just don’t get it! He’s not an outdoor cat!”
Secretly relieved to have something to do, all the sisters fanned out across the March property to look for the animal, peeking under the creaky front porch and under the rosebushes. Hours went by with no sight of him.
Beth was nearly inconsolable. “It’s all my fault,” she wailed, tears streaming down her face. “I forgot to feed him this morning!”
“It’s not your fault,” Jo said, nearly in tears herself. “I saw that his food dish was empty and I didn’t do anything about it either. He’s everyone’s responsibility, not just yours.”
“I’m sorry, Beth,” Meg said, feeling extremely guilty. She was the oldest and Mom had put her in charge. “We’ll find him. Let’s eat something and then go out again. And I’ll check the basement again too.” Amy nodded solemnly at Meg, determined to do whatever it took to find the cat. Everyone loved Snowball, and now he was gone.
After looking for several hours with no luck, the sisters, with Jo in charge, decided to make a special summer dinner themselves to try to cheer up Beth. Unfortunately, there were no groceries in the house or fresh veggies from the garden because no one had picked them.
“It’s okay! There are berries in the garden. I’ll get them!” Jo shouted.
“No, me!” Amy said. Jo let her take over that chore so she could whip up some cream as a topping. Next, she attempted to make a simple pasta salad with garlic, olive oil, and canned tomatoes. But Jo ended up overcooking the noodles and using a little too much garlic.
“Making dinner is harder than it looks,” she said when she taste-tested her creation. “Oh well, it’s better than nothing.”
When all the girls and Mom sat down to eat, they gamely managed to choke down the pasta but couldn’t stomach the berries and cream.
“Yuck!” Amy cried, never one for subtlety. “What is with this cream?”
“I’m not sure,” Mom said, trying not to laugh. “Let’s just have the berries without it, shall we?”
“The cream wasn’t spoiled; I double-checked . . . ,” Jo said, trailing off. Then she glanced back at the counter where she had added the sugar before using the handheld blender to whip it up. “Uh-oh. I know what happened. I added salt instead of sugar. Oops.”
That did it. Everyone giggled and Jo’s face turned bright red before she saw how funny it was and smiled weakly.
“It’s okay, Joey,” Meg said kindly. “Cooking takes practice.”
“I think everything is delicious,” Beth added, hugging Jo. “But I’m still so worried about Snowball. Where is he?”
Quiet settled over the table as each sister tried to think of a place they hadn’t yet checked for their beloved cat. Fortunately, this was the exact moment Snowball decided to come out of hiding. Everyone heard a small meow from above, and looked out the open window. He was perched high up in one of the trees, stretching deeply as if emerging from a long, deep nap.
“Snowball!” Beth yelled. “There you are!”
The cat meowed at them, louder. He appeared to be quite stuck.
“We have to call nine-one-one!” Amy shouted, eager for the excitement of a visit from the fire department. She stood up so fast her chair tipped back as she lunged for the phone on the counter.
“Definitely not,” Mom said, blocking her. “No one is calling anyone. Jo, help me get the ladder from the shed.”
Jo leapt up from the table, extremely happy to do something that required strength, not cooking skills. In minutes, she had the ladder positioned right under the tree and Snowball in her arms.
“My hero!” Beth said. Jo grinned and handed Beth the well-rested animal.
When everyone had settled down and eaten sandwiches made by Mom to supplement Jo’s culinary adventure, they talked honestly about their week.
“So, how was your forever-fun experience?” Mom asked the girls.
“Pretty good,” Jo began, feeling only a little sheepish.
“Not bad,” Amy added, not making eye contact with anyone. She hadn’t finished even one decent drawing all week. It didn’t make any sense to her. She’d had hours and hours and hours to make something great, and it just hadn’t happened.
“Oh, stop it,” Meg said. “I was bored, the garden looks horrible, and our bathroom is giving me nightmares. All play and no work is just as bad as all work and no play.”
“She’s right,” Beth said. “I don’t miss school, but I do kind of miss our regular life.”
Mom smiled. “I’m proud of you. Meg is right. Life only feels right when you have a good balance of work and play. And our household only runs well when everyone does a little bit each day to keep it going. I’m not saying this to lecture you or to make you feel bad. That’s why I wanted everyone to have a chance to truly relax and just see.”
The girls nodded.
“One thing I’ve noticed,” Mom continued, “is that when my days have a little structure to them, I’m happier and I get more accomplished. I sleep better too. So how about this: Each day of summer vacation, everyone starts the day at a reasonable hour. Do your chores, get some exercise, and THEN relax and work on your projects. Sound good?”
“What’s a reasonable hour?” Amy asked, sounding concerned.
“I think nine at the latest,” Mom replied. “But eight would be better. There’s no reason for you all to be up half the night. It’s not healthy for growing girls.”
Amy sighed but didn’t say anything. She was a night owl and believed two a.m. was a very artistic time of day.
“Okay, Mom. I think we can handle that,” Meg said. “Can we start by cleaning the bathroom? Or maybe we could just leave it and move into a different house?”
“I’ll start packing my stuff right now,” Amy said solemnly.
Everyone laughed.
“Let’s start the washing machine instead and get caught up,” Mom said. “We’ll begin with Amy’s gym socks.”
And with that, the experiment was over.
Everyone was glad.
Natural Air Freshener
1 cup of water
3 orange peels
3 lemon peels
2 drops of essential oil
Place the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the other ingredients and turn down to a low simmer until the house fills with a nice fragrance. Don’t leave the stove on longer than 1 hour! Thirty minutes should do the trick.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jo Masters Her Temper; Meg Meets a Boy
“Always be a little kinder than necessary.”
—J. M. Barrie
The Lawrences decided to throw a barbecue party for the Fourth of July. Jo was excited about it because Laurie promised some of his cousins from London were going to visit, and they were rumored to love Ultimate Frisbee, Jo’s latest obsession. She and Laurie helped Mr. Lawrence set up a big tent canopy in the yard and select fireworks for the nighttime portion of the party. Mr. Lawrence promised there’d be a bonfire as well. When the caterers began arriving with a giant smoker and all the fixings, Jo returned home to change her clothes and gather her sisters.
“Amy! You’re still in pajamas! It’s nearly four,” Jo said, exasperated. “Let’s go!”
“It’s too hot for barbecue,” whined the youngest March. “Besides, all of Laurie’s friends ignore me. And I don’t like Frisbee.”
“But you do like cake, and there’s going to be some. And fireworks! What’s wrong with you? Find Beth and let’s go!” Jo was losing patience. “Oh, and I know that Laurie’s family from London have a sister, Grace, who is exactly your age.”
“O-kay,” Amy said, and went to go get dressed. Meg, Beth, Mom, and Hannah were ready. Within minutes, the whole family was out the door. Jo wore jean shorts and a plain blue T-shirt with her Nik
es. Meg was her opposite in a pretty orange sundress, big sunglasses, and white sandals.
The party was already in full swing when the Marches arrived. The Moffats were there, as was Meg’s friend Sallie and Laurie’s math tutor, Brooks, who immediately noticed Meg. Laurie introduced everyone to his British cousins. Fred and Frank were his age, Kate was fifteen and looked bored, and Grace was ten. Frank had a cast on one of his wrists; he’d broken it several weeks earlier.
“I heard you like Ultimate Frisbee,” Fred said to Jo. The sentence sounded extracharming in his British lilt, but Jo detected a challenge in his words.
“Love it,” Jo said, sounding confident.
“What are we waiting for?” Fred returned. “I’ll take Brooks, Meg, and Kate. You can have Laurie, Ned, and Sallie. We’re going to crush you.”
“Let’s go,” Jo agreed with a grin.
The teams lined up. They were evenly matched and everyone had fun, pulling the disc so fast that Beth, Amy, and Grace, the cheerleaders, sometimes lost track of it. Jo and Fred were clearly the most competitive players on the field, and both nearly forgot their sportsmanship several times. When Jo fumbled a pass from Ned, she was particularly ruffled. Then she spied Fred running with the disc before his team scored, which was strictly forbidden by the rules.
“Foul!” Jo cried, pointing in Fred’s direction. Unfortunately, it seemed no one else on her team had seen it.
“It was not!” Fred protested. “The point stands.”
The blood in Jo’s veins pulsed with indignation. She could live with losing a game, but it made her furious to think her team might lose to a cheater. Jo took a deep breath and mumbled that they didn’t cheat in America. “Nature calls,” she announced to the field. “Take five.”
Jo jogged to the house and returned in a much cooler mood than she’d started with. Though the game stayed tied in the second half, Sallie made a brilliant underhanded pass to Jo and her team won. Laurie leapt up and down, cheering, before remembering he shouldn’t gloat in front of his guests. He calmed down and threw his arms around Jo, saying, “Fred is for sure a cheater; I’m glad we got ’em.”
Meg shook her sister’s hand with a congratulatory grin. A few minutes later, as they both filled their plates with brisket and slaw, she said, “I can’t believe you didn’t blow a gasket at Fred, Joey. I thought there was going to be trouble for a second there because I could see the smoke coming out of your ears. Way to keep it together.”
“Ugh, I know. He would’ve deserved it too,” Jo said grimly. She thought of everything she’d talked about with Mom the day Amy had fallen into the ice and felt glad she hadn’t let her temper get the better of her in front of Laurie’s guests. “That’s why I took the bathroom break.”
“Yeah. Smart.” Meg felt proud of her sister, but couldn’t figure out how to tell her so without sounding condescending. She forgot about it a second later, though, when Brooks caught her eye and gestured to a chair next to him that he appeared to be saving for her.
“What do you think of Brooks?” Meg asked Jo.
“Laurie’s tutor? I dunno. He seems pretty nice,” Jo said. It was clear she’d never given him a single thought. She was still triumphant about the game and replaying its best moments in her mind.
“I think he’s kind of cute,” Meg said, noticing his longish blond hair and nice tan.
“You think everyone is kind of cute,” Jo said dismissively.
“I do not! Anyway, I’m going to go sit by him.”
Jo rolled her eyes and found a place on a large picnic blanket by Beth and Laurie. Everyone ate the delicious food greedily, starving from running around. The scene was perfect: The sun was bright and the clouds were few. The Lawrence house looked cheerful, decorated as it was with patriotic bunting. The deck was strewn with tiki torches, and all the adults were in good moods.
“What should we do now?” Laurie asked his friends and cousins, when everyone set down their empty plates and looked in danger of napping.
“Let’s play Truth!” Sallie squealed. “It’s so fun.”
Kate, Meg, Ned, and Brooks decided to take the canoe out on the pond; Amy and Beth had disappeared with Grace to explore Mr. Lawrence’s garden. Fred, Sallie, Jo, and Laurie stayed behind to play Sallie’s game. Each got to take turns asking the others a question; the only rules were the questions couldn’t be boring and you had to answer truthfully. Laurie had to be the first answerer.
“Who are your heroes?” Jo asked first.
“Boring question!” Sallie said, but gave up when Jo glared at her.
“Grandpa and Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said, thinking of his favorite famous soccer player.
“Which girl here do you think is the prettiest?” Sallie asked.
“Meg,” Laurie said.
“Which girl do you like the best?” Fred asked.
“Jo, obviously,” Laurie said, without hesitation.
“What a stupid question!” Jo said, feeling herself beginning to blush. “Of course he likes me; we’re best friends,” she added, trying to dispel the flutter of anxiety in her stomach at the idea that Laurie might like her. She didn’t feel any better when Sallie announced it was Jo’s turn to answer questions next.
“Let Fred go. I have a question for him,” Jo insisted. Laurie shot a worried look in her direction, and she crossed her eyes back at him.
“Okay, fine,” Sallie said.
“Did you run with the disc on purpose?” she asked.
“Maybe a little,” Fred admitted.
“I knew it!” Jo yelled, satisfied.
“What do you want from me?” he protested, laughing. “You won! Americans are so competitive.”
Laurie snorted. “Yeah right, Freddie. Jo’s just very into honesty. And you’re even more competitive than she is. Which is saying something.”
Jo smiled at Laurie, pleased he understood her so well. The day was turning into evening and the setting sun made everything and everyone glow. Summer nights in New England contained magic, and Jo wished she could bottle it.
Sallie, the flirt, next asked Fred which girl he liked and he answered, truthfully, that he had a girlfriend at home. Jo was starting to get bored, so she decided to ditch the game and go find Meg, who was sitting on the Lawrences’ dock on their little river, talking to Brooks.
Jo swerved away from the pair when she saw the lovesick look on Brooks’s face and heard Meg’s sweet giggle as she soaked up his attention.
“Everyone is so annoying,” she said to herself, and decided to get more cake and ice cream.
Healthy Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Ingredients:
4 frozen bananas
4 tablespoons peanut butter
Directions:
Peel ripe bananas and put them in a Ziploc bag to freeze.
Freeze for 2–3 hours (if you leave them longer, let them defrost a little bit before starting)
Break bananas into large pieces and place them in a food processor or blender.
Turn on the blender on a slow speed and gradually increase. If your blender has an “ice pulse” function, use it.
Turn food processor/blender off to push bananas down with a wooden spoon as needed.
Blend bananas until smooth and texture resembles ice cream (this can take a few minutes and a few pushes down, but it will eventually become the right texture).
Add peanut butter and blend slightly until combined. Makes 6 small servings.
Enjoy. You will not believe how delicious this is!
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Summer Dreams
“If you look the right way, you can see that the
whole world is a garden.”
—Frances Hodgson Burnett
August drew to a close, and each of the March sisters was determined to squeeze as much fun and enjoyment out of the rest of summer vacation as possible. Laurie felt the same. He set himself a strict schedule of hammock swinging, swimming, and gaming with Jo. One afternoon he began kicking the
soccer ball around his yard and saw all four sisters headed for the hilly woods behind their houses, carrying a backpack, a huge blanket, and a picnic basket.
“Hey!” he yelled to them. “What’re you doing?”
“Picnic,” Jo shouted back. “Come with us!”
“Cool,” Laurie said, happy to tag along. He caught up with them and, after walking for about fifteen minutes deep into the woods, they found a beautiful spot to spread out their blanket. It was a shady nook tucked on one side of a hill overlooking the valley below with a wide river at its base, and the outskirts of their town beyond.
The sun flickered through the leaves, and a light breeze ensured no one felt too hot. In addition to a nice spread of snacks, the girls had brought lots of activities. Jo had her newest writing notebook, Amy her sketch pad and pastels, Beth her latest knitting project, and Meg a sudoku puzzle. “Are you sure I’m not bothering you?” Laurie asked. It seemed the girls had plenty to keep them busy.
“Of course not, weirdo,” Jo said affectionately. “We decided to do a picnic since it’s so nice. We totally plan to stay out here until dark because Mom and Hannah are on a decluttering kick.” She wrinkled her nose. “The only thing to do when they get like that is to escape.”
“I should’ve stayed to help,” Beth said, biting her lip. “You don’t think they’d get rid of any of my dollhouse accessories, would they?”
“Are you crazy?” Amy said. “Of course not. Besides, this is much nicer. And wouldn’t you rather finish those socks for Dad?” Amy gestured to the misshapen sock Beth was attempting to complete for the latest care package they’d be sending in a few days.
“I guess so,” Beth said, smiling a little. “They’re not coming out very well, but I’m sure Dad will like them anyway.”
“He’ll adore them, just like he adores you,” Meg assured her. “Amy, are my sunglasses in the picnic basket? I can’t find them anywhere.”
“No,” Amy said, taking the chip clip off of her big bag of SunChips and placing it directly onto her nose. “You’ll have to squint.”
“I haven’t seen them either, Meg. Sorry. Here, have some potato salad,” Jo said, handing the container to Laurie. “I hate potato salad.”
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