Logan Pryce Makes a Mess

by Grace Gilmore

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1: THE FIX-IT SHOP

  CHAPTER 2: NEWS

  CHAPTER 3: DREW’S PLAN

  CHAPTER 4: AT SCHOOL

  CHAPTER 5: PA’S NEW JOB

  CHAPTER 6: THE GENERAL STORE

  CHAPTER 7: THE BIG MIX-UP

  CHAPTER 8: MAKING IT RIGHT

  CHAPTER 9: THE MAPLE SYRUP PARTY

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  'THE LUCKY WHEEL' EXCERPT

  ABOUT GRACE GILMORE AND PETRA BROWN

  THE FIX-IT SHOP

  Logan Pryce picked up a hammer and pounded the tin cup.

  “The Fox-Away is going to be my best invention ever,” he told Skeeter. Skeeter barked and wagged his honey-colored tail. He always agreed with everything Logan said.

  Logan leaned closer to the oil lamp and continued hammering. Nearby, the horses munched on their oats and paid no attention. The cows did the same with their hay. The farm animals were well used to Logan and his Fix-It Shop.

  The Fix-It Shop was where Logan mended broken things. Sometimes, he even recycled them into new things, like the Fox-Away.

  The Fix-It Shop took up an entire stall in the corner of the barn. Logan’s worktable was a wooden board standing on two steady sawhorses. His chair was a blue wooden barrel with the words DICKINSON’S WITCH HAZEL stamped on it.

  Logan had lots of raw materials to tinker with. China cups without handles. Mismatched buttons. A cracked butter churn. A cuckoo clock that no longer told the time. The objects spilled out of crates and scattered across the floor.

  He had many tools, too. His favorite was a silver pocketknife engraved with a maple leaf design. His father had bought it for him at Mayberry’s General Store.

  The barn doors creaked open. A breeze whooshed in, smelling of earth and early spring. The oil lamp flickered for a moment and then grew still. A cat skittered out from behind one haystack and into another.

  “Logan!” His sister Tess stood in the deep shadow of the doorway. “Ma says you need to come in for supper!”

  Tess was nine, a year older than Logan. She had hazel eyes and two long brown braids that hung down her shoulders.

  “Be there in a minute,” said Logan as he reached for a messy ball of twine.

  “I think she and Pa want to talk to us.” Tess sounded worried.

  “About what?”

  “I don’t know. It sounded really important, so let’s get going!”

  “Okay, okay.”

  Logan scooped up the twine and the tin cup and stuffed them into a gunnysack. He added some other items and blew out the lamp.

  He wondered why Ma and Pa wanted to talk to them. Was it about school? Or their chores? Logan had knocked over a bucket of fresh milk this morning. But he’d had a good excuse. The bucket had been in the way as he chased a couple of hens that had escaped from the henhouse.

  Outside, the sky was big and pink with twilight, and the ground was soft and wet. Logan’s boots made squishy noises and splattered mud as he walked. Tess stepped more carefully. Skeeter dashed off to chase a hare into a bush.

  “That’s odd. Pa hasn’t plowed yet,” said Tess as they passed the fields.

  Logan glanced around. Tess was right. It was March, and the land should be ready for planting wheat. Instead, it was dotted with patches of snow. Crows pecked at mounds of dirt and weeds.

  Is there something wrong with Pa? Logan wondered.

  NEWS

  In the kitchen, Ma stirred a pot of stew at the cast-iron stove. The stove did everything from cooking their food to heating their house. Pa drew water from the indoor pump. The pitcher overflowed into the gray soapstone sink.

  “Shoes!” Ma called out as Logan and Tess came in. She frowned sternly at Logan’s mud-covered boots.

  Logan unlaced his boots and pulled them off. Tess did the same.

  Drew and Annie were sitting at the table. Drew, who was eleven, was adding sums in a notebook. Annie, who was four, was building a tower out of pickles.

  Logan sat down and pulled a doll out of his gunnysack. He brushed hay from its hair and handed it to Annie.

  “I fixed her leg,” he said.

  “Thank you, Lolo!” Annie hugged her doll, which Ma had sewn for her out of fabric scraps. “Are you hungry, Mrs. Wigglesworth? Would you like a pickle?”

  Pa and Ma sat down too. Pa poured water into glasses. Ma ladled stew into bowls and passed around a plate of warm biscuits. Skeeter’s eyes were alert for falling crumbs.

  “So! Your mother and I have some news to share,” Pa announced to the four children.

  Tess kicked Logan’s leg under the table. Logan kicked her back.

  “What is it, Pa?” Drew asked, glancing up from his sums.

  “I’ve decided to get a job,” Pa explained. Ma squeezed his hand.

  Logan was confused. What was Pa saying? He already had a job. He was a farmer!

  “We can’t make enough money growing crops,” Pa went on. “Times are tough. There are lots of families giving up on their farms. But I’m hopeful that I can find work in Sherman. In fact, I have already posted several letters.”

  Drew frowned and returned to adding numbers.

  “Oh, Pa,” said Tess. Her chin trembled.

  Logan took a bite of stew. It tasted different for some reason. He couldn’t imagine not being farmers anymore. The Pryces had farmed this land since before he, Drew, Tess, and Annie were born . . . since before Pa and Ma were born.

  Besides, what could Pa do in Sherman? It was nothing like Maple Ridge. It was a big city full of shops, offices, and factories. Pa couldn’t till soil or sow seeds there.

  Drew pointed to his notebook. “I just added up the numbers. If I worked at the paper mill in Sherman, I could make five dollars a week. That’s two hundred sixty dollars a year!”

  Pa shook his head. “You will do no such thing.”

  “But, Pa!” Drew protested.

  “No arguments,” said Pa. “It’s important that you stay in school.”

  “I could sell my Fox-Away,” Logan suggested. “I bet I could get a dollar for it!”

  “What’s a Fox-Away, Lolo?” asked Annie curiously.

  Logan stuck a biscuit into his mouth as he reached into his gunnysack. He pulled out the tin cup. “The Fox-Away is my latest and greatest invention. I’m almost finished with it. You hang it on the door of your henhouse to scare foxes away,” he said through a mouthful of biscuit.

  “No one’s going to pay a dollar for your junk,” Drew teased him.

  “Logan’s inventions are not junk!” Tess burst out.

  “I’m sure someone would gladly pay a dollar for Logan’s Fox-Away,” said Ma quickly. “Don’t you agree, Dale?”

  “Absolutely, Alice,” replied Pa.

  Annie clutched her doll to her chest. “Do I have to sell Mrs. Wigglesworth?”

  “No! No one is selling anything,” declared Pa. “Thank you all for offering to help. But we’re going to be fine.”

  Ma put her arms around Annie and Tess. “Yes. We’re going to be just fine,” she said brightly.

  Logan took another bite of stew. He finally realized why it tasted different. There was no meat in it—only potatoes and carrots.

  Logan furrowed his brow in thought. There had to be a way for him to make money for his family.

  But how?

  DREW’S PLAN

  The next morning, Logan, Tess, and Drew walked to school together. They always did so unless it was raining or snowing, in which case Pa took them in the buggy. The schoolhouse was exactly one mile from their farm. Skeeter always followed for the first quarter of a mile, until Logan convinced him to turn around.

  The walk took just about twenty minutes. School started at eigh
t o’clock sharp. Of course, the Pryce children had been up since five o’clock to do their usual chores. These included cleaning the barn, brushing the horses, and milking the cows. Even little Annie pitched in, collecting eggs from the henhouse and helping to churn the butter.

  This morning, Logan carried several logs. It was his turn to bring firewood to the school. He also carried his lunch pail and a new slingshot that he’d made.

  As he, Tess, and Drew made their way down the muddy country road, they passed many farms and orchards. Logan noticed that some of the other farmers’ fields seemed as dry and empty as their own.

  Drew seemed to notice too. “You see? Everyone’s giving up on their land. It’s a good thing Pa and I are applying for jobs in Sherman.”

  “Pa’s applying for jobs in Sherman. He said you have to stay in school,” Logan pointed out. One of his logs tumbled to the ground; he bent down to get it.

  “I don’t care what Pa says,” said Drew with a shrug. “Lots of kids quit school to work. Even Uncle Archie did that, and look at him now!”

  Logan mulled this over. Their uncle Archie was an important lawyer in Sherman. He, Aunt Violet, and cousins, Freddy and Clementine, lived in a fancy house. They even had maids to do their chores.

  “I already have a plan,” Drew went on. “I’m going to write a letter to the paper mill. I’m also going to write to Mr. Lambert. Maybe I can be an apprentice at his blacksmith shop.”

  “What’s an ap-pren-tice?” Logan asked.

  “It’s when you learn a trade from someone,” replied Drew.

  Tess hugged her lunch pail to her chest. “But, Drew! How are you going to travel to Sherman and back every day? We only have one buggy!”

  “I have a plan for that, too. I’m going to ask Uncle Archie and Aunt Violet if I can live with them,” Drew explained.

  Live with Uncle Archie and Aunt Violet? Logan’s jaw dropped. If Drew lived with them, he would have his own bedroom. He would have maids to do his chores for him. He would eat meat every day.

  Not fair! Logan thought, his fists clenching. This time, all the logs tumbled to the ground.

  AT SCHOOL

  The Maple Ridge School was a small red building that sat on a gentle, sloping hill. Behind it were grassy fields for playing, trees for climbing, and a garden for growing fruits and vegetables. Some days, the children picked turnips and carrots to add to their soup for lunch.

  Smoke curled out of the chimney as Logan, Tess, Drew, and the other students hurried into the one-room schoolhouse. Logan set his lunch pail on top of the stove to keep his stew warm for later and put his logs in a copper bin.

  He then took a seat at his desk. The boys sat on one side and the girls sat on the other. The youngest children sat up front and the oldest children sat in the back.

  “Good morning, class,” their teacher, Miss Ashley, said with a smile.

  “Good morning, Miss Ashley!” the students replied in unison.

  Miss Ashley was young and pretty. She had her blond hair in a bun and wore a blue shawl the color of cornflowers.

  As always, she started the day with roll call. She read the students’ names from a list to make sure that they were present. After roll call, she moved on to reading.

  “Tess, will you come up front and recite our poem for today?” Miss Ashley asked. “It is on page twenty-nine of your readers,” she added to the rest of the class.

  Tess rose from her desk and walked eagerly to the front of the room. She could be shy at times, but she was never shy about reciting.

  Tess opened her reader, which was a book full of poems, stories, and essays. She cleared her throat and began to speak in a fine, clear voice:

  After reading came writing and spelling. Miss Ashley wrote some words on the blackboard, and the students copied them on small slates. The room filled with the loud sound of stone pens scratching against stone tablets as everyone worked. The pale sun shone through the windows and provided the only light to see by.

  After writing and spelling came morning recess. Outside, Logan dug through his pockets for a twig that he’d carved into a whistle. He had just started to play the song “Polly Wolly Doodle” on it when his friend Anthony Bruna ran up to him.

  “Logan!” said Anthony, brushing a stray black curl out of his eyes. “Do you want to trade marbles?”

  “I didn’t bring mine today,” Logan replied. “We could play with my new slingshot, though. I made it out of rubber tubing and a maple branch.”

  “Swell!”

  As the two boys took turns pitching pebbles against a tree, Logan told Anthony about his family’s news.

  “So it looks like Pa’s not going to be a farmer anymore,” Logan finished.

  “Gosh, that’s too bad,” Anthony said, shaking his head. “You really are very lucky, though. At least your pa’s home. Mine has to go to Sherman every day for his job at the steel mill. He has to leave at five every morning and doesn’t come home until late. Most nights, he’s so tired that he goes straight to bed without his supper.”

  “Oh, sorry,” said Logan. “I didn’t know that.”

  And then Logan thought of something. It was something that made his stomach hurt.

  What if Pa got a job like Mr. Bruna’s? Logan and the rest of the family would never see him!

  PA’S NEW JOB

  “I got a job!” Pa announced when Logan, Tess, and Drew came home from school the following day.

  Ma glanced up from a tub of soapy water and smiled happily at the children. Tuesday was laundry day. Wet shirts and dresses hung on lines that stretched across the kitchen. Annie sat on the floor playing with clothespins. Skeeter rested in front of the stove.

  “Wow, Pa! You got a job so soon?” asked Drew, surprised. “Didn’t you just post your letters to Sherman?”

  “This job isn’t in Sherman. It’s right here in Maple Ridge. And it’s only for a few days,” Pa explained. “Mayberry’s General Store received a large shipment of goods from Chicago. Mrs. Mayberry needs my help unpacking the boxes. I start tomorrow morning. By this weekend, we’ll be five dollars richer!”

  “Hooray!” Tess shouted, hugging Pa.

  “Hooray!” Annie echoed, hugging Mrs. Wigglesworth.

  Suddenly, everyone was in a good mood.

  To celebrate, Ma baked a ginger cake. She served it with dollops of thick cream that she had skimmed from a pitcher of milk.

  As they ate, Pa spoke some more about the job.

  “Mrs. Mayberry told me that this is a very large shipment. In fact, she said she is even looking for a second person to help,” he explained.

  “I wish that could be me, Pa! But I already promised Miss Ashley I would do chores around the schoolhouse,” Drew said.

  Logan quickly sat up in his chair. “What about me?”

  Pa was confused. “What about you?”

  “I could help out with the shipment!” replied Logan.

  Pa rubbed his whiskers. Ma caught his eye and nodded.

  “Hmm. All right. I’ll speak to Mrs. Mayberry tomorrow morning,” Pa said to Logan. “Why don’t you come by the store after school? If Mrs. Mayberry says yes, you can stay and help me with the shipment. You can help me on Thursday and Friday, too. The pay is a dollar.”

  A dollar? Logan grinned at Tess, and she grinned back. A dollar was a lot of money!

  “You will have to work hard and do as I say,” Pa went on. “Nothing can go wrong. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Pa!” said Logan, nodding.

  Logan couldn’t stop grinning as he dug into his cake. He’d wanted to make money for his family, and now he had the chance. It wasn’t exactly a fancy job in Sherman, but it was a start!

  THE GENERAL STORE

  On Wednesday after school, Logan walked over to Mayberry’s. The sign in front read:

  Mayberry’s was on Main Street in downtown Maple Ridge. The other buildings on the street included a barbershop, a church, and the town hall. Horses hitched to posts grazed lazily on oats. Ot
her horses trotted along, making clip-clop sounds as they pulled carts behind them.

  Logan had always loved the general store. On Saturdays, Ma went there to trade her homemade butter and jam for tea, sugar, and other items she needed. Logan, Tess, and Annie liked to come along because Mrs. Mayberry sometimes gave them penny candies.

  Mayberry’s also sold other goods, like clothing, medicine, and books. In fact, even though Logan’s boots had been hand-me-downs from Drew, they were originally from there. Last year, Tess had used her Christmas money to buy The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mr. Mark Twain.

  A tiny bell jingled as Logan opened the front door. The air inside the store smelled like spices, coffee, and kerosene oil.

  “Well, hello there, young man!” Mrs. Mayberry stood behind the counter, weighing bags of flour. “Your father tells me you’d like to help out this week. I told him that was fine by me. Why don’t you get started? He’s in the back unpacking boxes.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Mayberry!” Logan said excitedly.

  As he made his way to the back of the store, Logan admired the glass cases filled with shiny pens and silverware. Mail peeked out of cubbyholes, waiting to be picked up. Just past the clothing section was a small office belonging to Mr. Mayberry. According to Pa, he was away on a trip to buy new goods for the store.