Shenanigans at Sugar Creek

and who was the best friend the Sugar Creek Gang ever had. He lived up in the hills above Sugar Creek, a

h our moms were always cooking for him, and also we had to be sure he didn't get sick 'cause there wouldn't b

Little Jim walking along behind us and with Little Tom Till and Circus and Dragonfly swishing on ahead of us. Once when Little red-haired Tom and Little Jim were beside each other behind Poet

oon and grey car. Little Jim's very pretty mom was the pianist at our church, and had to be always on time. Little Jim's words came out kinda jerkily like he was doing something that made him shor

meaning Tom Till would be ready early, and that when Little Jim's folks came driving up to their front gate tomorrow, Little Tom, with his best clothes on, would come runnin

showed what a grand little guy he was. "S'pose

ugar Creek beer taverns, and also drank whiskey which he bought in the liquor store-knowing that, I felt my teeth gritting hard and I took a fierce swing with the stick I was carrying, at a little maple tree beside

led back toward us, "What

y hand, then turned like a flash and whirled around and threw it as hard as I could straight toward another tr

all. I was so mad at Tom's pop

came to the big wooden door which opened into Old Man Paddler's cellar. As soon as we got there, Circus, who was always the leader of our gang when Big Jim wasn't with us, stopped us, and ma

hear his steps coming down his stairway and hear him lift the big wooden latch that held the door shut, and then when he'd see us, he'd say, "Well, well, well, well, the Sugar Cr

istened. There was always something kinda spooky about that knock, and being in a cave I always felt a little queer until I he

given me for Christmas, we didn't have any light, and we couldn't waste the battery by keeping it on all the time, so I turned it off, but it felt so spooky with it off and nobody answering Circus's knock that I turned it on again just as Dragonfly who was always hearing things first,

nother time when he'd fallen down his cellar steps in the winter-time and his fire had gone out, and we had started a fire for him with punk, using the thick lenses of his reading glasses for a magnifying glass-which any boy can do if he can get some real dry punk and a magnifying glass.... First you focus th

ing and half crying up there in his cabin,

d help him." Circus gave a shove on the door, turning

he heavy bar on the inside which the old man a

e Jim said, and we

idn't shine right straight on his face on account of it might blind him, I could see that his eyes had a very far away loo

ever had, letting me live all these long years, taking care of me, keeping me well and strong and happy most of the time. But I'm getting lonesome now, getting older every day, getting so I can't walk without a cane, and I can't stand the cold weather anymore, and I know it won't be long before I'll ha

would have let the gang know I was about to cry.... Like a flash I thought of something and I whirled around and grabbed Little Tom Till and shoved his ear down to the crack in the door and put my own ear just above his so I could hear too, and this is what the old man was saying up there in the cabin, "And also bless the new member of the gang, Tom Till, whose father is an inf

m Till was sniffling like he had tears in his eyes and in his voice, and then that little guy who was the grandest littl

I do when anybody cries, and I wanted to hel

y said, and Tom said

ircus said, "

quawked, but Little Jim was a smart little guy and he

into the cave, but I knew it was too dark for him to see, so

," Dragonfly said, "What's the use to

Little Tom was terribly embarrassed, and that he'd be like a lit

t minute I heard Old Man Paddler's voice up there calling

er's trap door in the floor of his house opening, and a shaft of light came in through the crack in the door right in front of us.... In a jiffy our door would open too, and we'd see that kind old long whiskered old man, with his twinkling grey eyes, and p

e me feel good all over, 'cause right that second one of Little Tom's arms reached out and gave me a very awkward half a hug real quick, like he was very bashful

r him to let it fall to his side again, but I knew

open, and real bright light came in and shone all over all of us, and the old man said

his cellar, and scrambling up hi