Shenanigans at Sugar Creek

le I didn't even know I was in church on account of I was far away in my thoughts. As you maybe know, our minister was Sylvia's father, and Sylvia was a very polite, kinda pretty gir

hurch, our parents not letting us all sit together if they could help it, on account of the minister got more attention himse

right straight to the Lord Himself and confess your sins right straight to Him, and He would make your heart clean.... "The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

gh they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." I had learned that verse by heart once in a summer Bible school. And all of a sudden, my thoughts were flying away, and I was remembering Poetry's pet

had a li

ce a dir

ace its woo

up on its

ad been pinned with a brown stick on the white stomach of a snow man.... That poem still didn't seem funny, and for some reason I

ke some of the churches in town did, and I saw somebody's barn just on the other side of the little cemetery, and there were a lot of pigeons flying a

s pops, and catch a lot of pigeons, and maybe they'd catch and kill the pretty brown and white pair of p

ple and climbed into our car and drove away. Pop and all of us were talking and listening as our car went purring down the road. We were just stopping at Shorty Long's house to let Mrs. Long out when Little Jim said to me in a half

s houses or barns. Sylvia's pop must have said that when I was thinking about snowy white

lready told us the doctor had been there, and Mrs.

eling a lot better. Pop also had told us that Bob had come home while Mom was taking care of Mrs. Till but he had gone away

m. "He put them in the pigeo

st up in the cupola of our barn, and whose big beautiful brown husband was so proud of her and always was cooing to her when they w

id, "Can I go and look, Tom?" and

tle Jim said, he liking to hold

their woodshed to look through the chicken-yar

he other different colored pigeons, was a beautiful albino one-the prettiest snow white one I ever saw with pretty pink e

Tom, and when he asked me which one a

rown spot just below the left pink eye. I'

very scared expression on his face, and s

id, and he said,

at?" I a

terrible temper, and

brother, and it'd be my fault. Just that minute, Pop and Mom came out of the side door of Tom's house, and it was time for us to go home. Mom was going to hurry with our own din

asked, and Mom said, as we all started down the road toward Little Jim's house, "A certain very fine gentleman named Little Jim Foote, of the Sugar Creek Gang,"-and was I ever glad? But as the car glided

ttle Jim Foote's house, Little Jim said, "Hey, Bill!

or Sugar Creek and in the direction of our house on the other side of the woods. All of a sudden I got a choked-up feeling in my throat, 'cause I just knew that was my very own Snow-white, and

derful for him and his sick mother. I just kept my eyes strained on the sky above Sugar Creek and the woods where I'd s

oked at me, and said surprised like, "'S

said, "I did

nds, and I remembered that before he had started coming to our Sunday Schoo

is, and doesn't want anybody to know it, so instead of using his handkerchief to wipe them out, he just gives his head a

e. "You'll probably want your sled. You and Bill'll want to coast on Bumb

my room and both of us put on some old clothes to play in, Little Jim's mother having mad

ill and Shorty Long had been there for sure, and also to see if Snow-white had come back and was on her nest up in the cupola, and also

may wash your hands and finish setting the table-put the bread on,

e she thought it made Little Jim sound bigger than he was, and Mom knew it would m

she said we could go out to the barn if we wanted to, but to be ready to come running as soon as she called us, which we probably would be

der which went up to our haymow. Little Jim stooped down to pet her, and she lifted her head without standing up and rubb

er that might have been made by somebody with boots or shoes on that had dirty snow on them, and I knew Bob Till and Shorty Long had been there. How many pigeons had they caught? I wondered, and felt an angry feeling insid

d one foot on the ladder ready to start up, I heard Pop's voice calling fro

op's voice had a worried sound in it, and also sounded like maybe I had done somethin

unded even more like I thought it had, when Pop said, "

'd used it to climb up to Snow-white's nest and had left it right there,

op, "Right there in the center of th

down to me, "and I've looke

hing herself and reaching up with her front claws and doing some kind of monkey-business with Little J

nough Pop was right! The pretty new ladder which Pop had bought a

ught about two boys whose names you already know and wondered if they had stolen it. There w

at the top of the ladder beside where I was standin

r," I said, "a brand new one

now, Little Jim always had a hard time believing anybody was bad, or would do anything wrong, on account of he hardly ever did anything wrong himself, and, also, 'c

the hay all around in different places in the haymow, and Pop looked in a tunnel under a long beam, and also we all looked down stairs and all around. Once I looked up into the cupola, and had a half-glad feeling in my hear

ime believing me, that I hadn't moved the ladder, on account of many a time Pop had missed something around the farm and

was absolutely sure that Bob Till and Shorty Long had hidden it somewhere. I told Mom and Po

red up with snow, and still we couldn't find it. Pop was pretty mad, also, on account of about six of our pigeons were missing, and it looked like there had been somebody jumping and running a

ould go over to Poetry's house if we wanted to,

ess in the world where it was, and most certainly you'd never guess in the world