The Lopsided Christmas Cake Read Free Page A

the kitchen most of the morning, Thelma was tired. Too bad Elma wanted to work at the store right now. Thelma wanted to sit outside and work on the gloves she’d begun knitting for Mom’s Christmas gift.
    Maybe I’ll get my knitting out now and do a couple of rows,
she decided.
If I sit a few minutes, I’ll have more energy to help Elma clean the store.

    Elma swiped a trickle of sweat on her forehead and pushed a wayward hair under her scarf. If the store had been open for business today she would have worn her stiff white head covering. But with all the sweeping and dusting she’d been doing, her normal covering would have gotten dirty.
    Elma glanced at the battery-operated clocks near the door. She’d been in the store over an hour already. Where was Thelma?
    “She probably got distracted, like she often does,” Elma mumbled. “Guess I’d better find her.” She set her broom aside and hurried from the store, leaving the door open to air the place out. Glancing toward the chicken coop, she noticed the door was open. Surely, Thelma couldn’t still be gathering eggs.
    Elma stepped into the coop. No sign of her sister there—only a couple of hens on their nests.
Thelma must be in the house. Doing what, I can’t imagine.
    When Elma entered the house, she was surprised to see Thelma sitting in Grandma’s rocking chair, clicking away with her knitting needles.
    “What are you doing?” Elma stepped in front of Thelma.
    Thelma blinked rapidly, her cheeks turning pink. “I—I was tired and sat down with my knitting to relax a few minutes.”
    Elma’s hands went straight to her hips. “I thought you were coming out to the store to help me. If we don’t get the place cleaned and organized, we’ll never be ready to open for business.”
    “I know, and I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”
    “I don’t see how this is going to work if you get distracted so easily and leave me to manage things by myself.”
    “I’ll try to do better.” Thelma set her knitting aside. “Let’s head to the store.”
    Elma opened the door and squealed when Tiger brushed her ankles as he darted into the house. “Oh great, now we have a katz to catch.”
    “Let’s leave him here while we’re at the store,” Thelma suggested. “If there’s another maus, he might catch it and we won’t have to worry about setting any traps.”
    Elma shook her head. “We can’t leave the cat in the house unattended. After what he did earlier, who knows what kind of mess he could make. Besides, he’s shedding. I don’t want cat hair in the house.”
    “I could stay and catch the cat.”
    “Oh, sure, and leave me to do all the work? No way! We’ll both try to capture the cat.”
    Elma and Thelma went through the house, calling for Tiger, but he seemed to have disappeared.
    “Now what?” Elma frowned.
    Thelma shrugged. “Tiger’s bound to come out sometime. He can’t stay hidden forever. I suppose we could stay here and work in the store later.”
    “The longer we put that off, the longer it’ll be till we can hang the O PEN sign in the front window.” Elma released a frustrated sigh. “As much as I dislike the idea, I think we’d better leave the cat in the house. Hopefully, he’s found a place to sleep and won’t wake up for a while.”
    “If that’s what you want to do.” Thelma turned toward the door. “I promise, the first chance I get I’ll look for a brush and go over his coat real good. And don’t worry, I’ll do that outside.”
    Elma followed her, making sure to close the door. The last thing they needed was another cat getting in—or a bunch of chickens.
    As they neared the store, Elma halted. “Look, Thelma, there are two horse and buggies at the hitching rail.”
    “Oh, good, we have company!” Thelma grinned. “Maybe some of our neighbors have come to get acquainted.”
    Elma groaned. “More than likely we have customers who think the store is open. This is not what we needed today,