6- Andi's Circle C Christmas

Andi loves Christmas! But her holiday is spoiled when a grumpy, bossy visitor arrives. No more running. No more spiders. No wearing overalls. "Andrea, sit up straight." "Andrea, act like a little lady." Can Andi do anything right? Then during an afternoon buggy ride, Andi finds out she can help this unwelcome guest in a way she never imagined. 

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Chapter 1

A Fly on a Leash

“Hold still, Andi,” Riley said. “Hold really, really still.”

Andi sat frozen. She stopped writing. She tried to stop breathing.

But that was hard to do.

“Do you see a rat?” she whispered.

A shiver went down her neck. Riley had seen a rat before. Right up here in the hayloft of the big barn.

Rats are disgusting, Andi thought.

“Shhh!” Riley said.

Then thump! Riley’s hand came down on Andi’s back.

“Gotcha!” he yelled.

Andi twisted around to see what her friend had.

Riley held up a fly.

“It’s for your lizard,” he said. “Pickles is probably tired of eating spiders.”

“Are you going to hold it until we go inside?” Andi asked. “You can’t write a Christmas list. Not with a fly in your hand.”

“I know,” Riley said. “Give me a piece of your hair.”

Andi wrinkled her eyebrows. What was Riley up to now?

Most of the time Andi liked Riley’s ideas. But he had never asked her for a piece of hair before.

“What for?” she asked slowly.

“Never mind what for,” Riley said. “Just give me one.”

Andi didn’t want to do what Riley told her. When Mother brushed Andi’s hair, she sometimes yanked too hard by accident. That hurt. Andi sure didn’t want to pull out any hair on purpose.

Not even one teensy piece of hair.

“Hurry up,” Riley said. “I have to help Cook get supper. He’ll skin me alive if I’m late.”

Riley was right about that.

The ranch cook acted grumpy whenever Riley showed up late to help. Or forgot to do his chores. Or made a mess in the cookhouse.

“Oh, all right,” Andi said at last.

She found a long hair that had come loose from her braids. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and yanked. “Ouch!”

Riley laughed. “Such a fuss over a tiny piece of hair. Now hold the fly and I’ll tie it up.”

Andi made a face and took the fly.

Riley worked fast. Soon the fly was tied to one end of Andi’s hair.

Just like a dog on a leash.

Andi’s eyes got big. She had never seen a fly on a leash before. It was buzzing around in circles, trying to get away.

But it could not get away. Andi’s hair was stronger than the fly.

“Hold out your finger,” Riley said. “I’ll tie up the fly. Then you won’t lose it.”

Quick as a wink, he tied the hair around Andi’s finger.

“When you feed Pickles, just break off the hair,” Riley said. “Then toss the fly in.”

“I bet nobody in my whole family has seen a fly tied up before,” Andi said. “Where did you get this idea?”

Riley reached for his Christmas list. He picked up a pencil.

“One of the soldiers at the fort showed me,” he said. “When I lived there before Mama got sick. Before I had to come here and live with Uncle Sid.”

Riley began writing on his paper.

Andi didn’t know what to say. Riley had been on the ranch a long time. Would his mother ever get well?

What if Mother got sick? Andi thought. What if I had to go to the city and live with Aunt Rebecca?

Andi shivered at that scary idea. She remembered seeing her aunt one time. It was right after Father died.

One time was enough.

Aunt Rebecca was old and grumpy. Andi did not want to live with her.

Not ever.

“Maybe you can visit your mother for Christmas,” Andi said. “You can tell her about Cook. And how you do tricks on Midnight. And how we lasso the dogs.”

She gave Riley a big smile. “That army fort is in San Francisco, right? It’s a long way. But maybe you could ride the train there.”

Riley smiled back. “You’re right, Andi. Uncle Sid is taking me to the fort for Christmas. He told me this morning.”

“Hooray for your Uncle Sid!” Andi shouted.

Then Andi stopped shouting. She stopped smiling. Her happy thoughts about Riley turned sad.

She didn’t want Riley to leave the ranch.

Not ever.

“Will you come back?” she asked in a small voice.

Riley was eight years old. Sometimes he acted too big for his britches. But Andi liked to play with him.

Riley gave Andi a friendly shove. “You goose! It’s just for a visit. I’ll be back.”

Andi fell backward into the sweet-smelling hay. Even in December, the hayloft smelled like summertime. On rainy days, it was Andi’s favorite place to play.

“Then hooray, hooray!” she hollered.

Chapter 2

Christmas Lists

“Don’t squish the fly!” Riley said. “Tying it up was a lot of work.”

Andi peeked at her finger. “The fly’s still here. It’s crawling around on the hay.”

Riley scooted closer to Andi.

“I don’t have much time,” he said. “I thought you wanted me to help you spell words on your Christmas list. Let me see it.”

Andi handed her list to Riley.

“Last year I got a gold coin in my stocking,” she said. “I never even spent it. On account of that gold piece is a special treasure.”

She grinned. “But this year I learned to write. So I made a real list.”

Riley laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Andi asked, scowling. She peeked at her list. “Did I spell the words right?”

 

“Sure, Andi,” Riley said. “The words are spelled right. But . . .”

He laughed again.

“But what?”

Riley shook his head. “Do you really think you’ll get a knife for Christmas? Or a slingshot? Or a harmonica?”

Andi snatched the list out of Riley’s hand. “I might.”

Riley snatched it back.

“Or The Outlaw Ranger dime novel?” He laughed harder. “You copied that off my list. You can’t read it.”

“But you can read it to me,” Andi said.

“Why don’t you write down girl things?” Riley asked. “Like a doll and buggy. Or a new dress.”

Andi jumped up and stomped her foot. It wasn’t a very good stomp. The hay was too soft.

“You sound just like Melinda!” she huffed. “Her Christmas list is full of girl things. Dancing slippers. Hair ribbons. A book called Little Women.”

Andi wrinkled her nose. “I think those things sound about as much fun as . . . as watching a tree grow!”

That was something Andi’s big brother Chad said a lot.

Just then Andi heard a loud clang, clang.

Riley stood up. He handed Andi her list. “That’s Cook. I have to go.”

Andi stuffed her Christmas list in her pocket. Then she followed Riley down the ladder and out of the barn.

It was a gray, wet day. Raindrops plopped in mud puddles all over the yard. Andi wanted to splash in those mud puddles.

But she didn’t have time to splash. The fly was buzzing around in her hand.

Andi stepped up on the back porch and went inside. She shut the door. Then she opened her hand.

Bzzzz! The fly flew in circles at the end of the hair.

“What on earth is that?”

Andi spun around.

Her big sister, Melinda, was standing in the kitchen, giggling.

“It’s a fly,” Andi told her. “Tied to my hair. I’m going to feed it to Pickles.”

Melinda stopped giggling. She made a face. “Disgusting.”

That’s what Melinda always said about Andi’s bugs and pets.

Then Melinda leaned close to Andi’s ear.

“I’m knitting Mother a scarf for Christmas,” she whispered. “Do you want to knit something for Mother too? Just from you?”

Andi’s heart thumped. A surprise for Mother!

“I can maybe knit a pot holder,” she said. “But I’m not very good at knitting.”

“I’ll help you,” Melinda said. “Come up to my room after supper.”

Andi nodded. Then she headed for the kitchen stove.

A wooden box sat behind the big, black cook stove. Pickles lived in that box.

It was too cold in the wintertime for Pickles to live in Andi’s room. But it was warm and cozy next to the stove.

Just right for a blue belly lizard.

Andi picked up her lizard’s box. It had a screen lid, so Pickles could have lots of air and light.

“I brought you a fly,” she said.

The fly was sitting on Andi’s finger. It looked tired from buzzing around so much.

Carefully, Andi set the box down. She held the fly and broke off the hair, just like Riley told her. She threw the fly into the box.

Then she closed the lid as fast as she could.

But Andi was not fast enough. The fly zipped away.

Uh-oh!

Mother did not like flies in her kitchen.

“Come on, Pickles,” Andi said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Andi picked up her lizard. She put him in the bib pocket of her overalls. Pickles liked to sit in Andi’s pocket and peek out. He was a well-behaved lizard.

Most of the time.

Andi hurried out of the kitchen.

Just then she heard a knock at the front door.

Andi stopped. Everybody on the ranch always went to the back door. Who would knock on the front door? 

The knock came again, louder.

Andi skipped across the hallway and opened the door.

An old lady was standing on the porch. She held a large carpetbag in one hand. An umbrella hung over her other arm. Her wrinkly face was scowling.

Andi’s stomach did a great big flip-flop. She didn’t say anything. She just stared at the woman.

“Well, Andrea,” a grumpy voice said, “aren’t you going to invite your Aunt Rebecca inside?”

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