Green Fever Read Free Page A

all the colorful hyacinths and tulips on the stands outside the store’s entrance. The fragrance from the flowers smelled so wonderful, and their sweet scent even followed them inside the store. She hoped once more that the bulbs she had planted in her little garden would come up soon so she’d have some flowers of her own.
    Dad tapped Mom’s shoulder and said, “See over there? It looks like the store is giving away free ice cream cones in celebration of spring.” He pointed to a sign at the end of one aisle.
    “Ice cream! Ice cream!” Perry shouted.
    “Ice cream! Ice cream!” Ada repeated, clapping her hands and wiggling around. Ada often did that when she got excited.
    Mom put her finger to her lips. “Shh… Calm down, you two. We’ll have some ice cream first, and then we’ll get our shopping done.” She looked over at Dad. “Is that all right with you, Willard?”
    Dad gave a nod. “An ice cream cone—even a small one—sounds good to me. You know how I am,” he said, chuckling as he patted his stomach. “I like ice cream as much as our
kinner
do.”
    “I’d rather go to the bicycle department first,” Mark said. “Mattie and I have been saving up our money to buy something for our bike. We can get our free cones after we’re done.”
    “That’s right; I want a new bell,” Mattie said excitedly. Even though getting ice cream sounded really good, she knew she could wait awhile.
    “I want a new light for our bike,” Mark announced.
    “If you have enough money, maybe you can buy both,” Dad told the twins.
    “Let’s go there and look right now.” Mark grabbed Mattie’s hand and gave it a tug.
    “All right,” Mom agreed. “But come right back here when you’re done because we don’t want to hunt for you all over the store when we finish eating our ice cream.”
    “We’ll meet you right here,” Mark said before he and Mattie skipped off down the aisle.
    When they reached the bicycle department, Mattie, feeling even more excited, grabbed a bell off the shelf. “This is exactly what we need!” she proclaimed. “And look, it’s only ten dollars.”
    Mark wrinkled his nose. “But we just have twelve dollars between us, Mattie. If we buy the bell, we won’t have enough left to buy a light for our bike, and that’s more important than a bell.”
    Mattie shook her head determinedly. “No it’s not. We need a bell so people will know we’re coming.”
    “We need a light so we can see where we’re goin’ when it’s dark,” Mark insisted.
    “But we hardly ever ride our bike at night,” Mattie reminded her brother. “Mom and Dad don’t like us riding when it’s dark because it could be
gfarlich.”
    “But it wouldn’t be so dangerous if we had a light on our bike,” Mark argued.
    Mattie groaned. She didn’t think their folks would let them ride at night, even if they did have a light. At this rate, they’d never get anything bought for their bike. And if they didn’t hurry, they might miss getting some ice cream because she didn’t know how long the store would be giving away free cones today.
    Mark nudged Mattie’s arm. “Come on, Mattie. Please say we can buy the light for our bike. We can get the bell when we save up more money.”
    “Oh, all right,” Mattie said with a sigh. “But we’d better figure out a way to make some money because I don’t want to wait very long to buy a bell.”
    “We’ll work somethin’ out.” Mark grinned and plucked the light off the shelf; then he headed to the cashier to pay for it.
    A short time later, the twins returned to the front of the store, where they were supposed to meet their family.
    “What took you so long?” Dad asked, looking at Mark.
    “We had a little trouble deciding what to get,” Mark replied.
    “What did you get?” Russell wanted to know. “A light or a bell?”
    “We got this!” Mark opened the package and held up the light. “It’s a nice one, too, don’t ya think?”
    Russell nodded.