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Kathryn (aka Chatty Kathy)

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A Neat Blog!

Hey everyone! How's your Monday been?

Do you like the 1940s and 50s? Do you stories with old cars and diners and cute hats? Do you like mysteries? Then check this out! It's a blog by Rachel with a continuing story! It's a mystery during the 1940s, and it is really neat. She does what I do, posts chapters or parts of a story at different times! Why don't you have a look over at her blog and follow her? She has two blogs:

The Story Blog

Stand Out, Don't Fit In

Later,

Kathryn (aka Chatty Kathy)

A Snowy Christmas, Part 5

After Mom paid for the groceries, we hopped into the car. We stopped in front of an old, white farmhouse, and waited for Dad to appear. The front door opened and Dad thanked the man. He walked across the snowy yard and opened the car door.

            “Well?” Mom asked, anxiously. “Will he plow the road?” We all knew the answer when we saw Dad’s face.

            “Nope, it’s broken,” he sighed. “There are only two people who have plows in the area, and his is broken.” Mom shifted gears and drove on down the road. We pulled into the parking lot of Stanley Motel and parked the station wagon. As quick as a flash, Robby and I were outta that car and racing over to the fort. I was just about to make a flying leap to the inside of the fort, when something caught my eye. I skidded to the pavement, pulling Robby down with me.

            “Hey!” he cried. “Why did you do that?” I stood up and brushed some snow of my coat.

            “Look!” Sure enough, solid boot prints were all around and inside the fort. They were small, and had a distinct print of a star.

            “These weren’t here when we left,” I said. Robby’s mouth dropped open. Just to double-check, we looked at the bottom of our boots to see the prints. Neither pairs matched.

            “There about the size of my foot,” Robby said, sizing his boot up with the mysterious prints.

            “Robby, I bet that boy was out here,” I said.

            “Oh, yah!” Robby exclaimed. “That explains it.”

            “No it doesn’t,” I said, sitting down. “It just makes everything more confusing. We figured the strange boy had been kidnapped. If that’s true, which I now doubt, why didn’t he just run away?”

            “Huh?”

            “Robby, if you had been kidnapped, and you managed to escape, would you stop to play in a snow fort?” Robby shook his head.

            “Duh! Then, who is he? And what is he hiding?”

            “You mean what are the Stanley’s hiding,” I said.

                                                                        ***

           

It had been 3 days since we had left for Clarksville. I was beginning to get a little uneasy. Would we reach Grandma and Grandpa’s house in time for Christmas? There was a mystery to solve and road to plow and I couldn’t do either one. I felt helpless.

            It was the next day, and Robby and I were in the living room discussing Christmas. Would we have to spend it here?

            “Some Christmas here,” Robby snorted. “Not tree, no food, no presents.”

            “At least we have each other,” I said, trying to sound like Mom.

            “But how will Grandma and Grandpa feel if they have to spend Christmas alone?” he asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

            “There’s still a chance,” I said. I got up from the couch, and walked out the front door. Robby followed. We walked up and down the sidewalk, enjoying the crisp, December wind. We reached the office door. I paused. If we were going to ever figure out what was going on, we needed to investigate. I smiled. There was no black sedan parked as usual. Perfect.

            I grabbed Robby’s hand and yanked open the office door.

            “Yoo-hoo, Mr. Stanley!” I called. Silence. I shut the door. The office was in its usual disarray; papers and files exploding from every drawer. I walked past the oak desk and rapped lightly on the apartment door. When there was no answer, I turned the golden doorknob and squeaked open the door. Robby cautiously followed me into the apartment. The living space was small and crowded. There was a couch and a small table behind it. There were two bedrooms off the living area. I walked past the floral couch and into the first bedroom. It was plain, with a small bed and dresser. Nothing strange here. I opened the closet door. Ah-hah! A few small shirts were hung in the closet. Proof. There was a little boy here. I was about to shut the closet door, when I noticed there was a small puddle of water on the floor of the closet. I knelt down. Sure enough, a stream of cold water flowed from a pair of small boots, just recently brought in from the snow.

            “Hey, Robby! Look at this,” I exclaimed. He knelt down beside me on the floor. I lifted one of the dark blue boots and turned it over. Chills went up my spine as I saw the same five-pointed star we had seen in the snow earlier. Questions whizzed through my head. Who is he and why is he hiding? Why did Floretta say there were no children around when there was one in her very apartment?

            Suddenly, I thought I heard a voice. I gripped Robby’s arm and listened. Sure enough, a man’s voice could barely be heard. I shot off of the floor and ran out of the room. To my horror, the knob on the front door was slowing turning. I looked frantically for a way to escape. But there was nowhere. Panicking, I opened the hallway closet door and dove into the darkness. Robby followed closely behind, shutting the door just in time. For a second, neither of us dared to breathe. I didn’t even bother to move the point of the umbrella that was embedding into the side of my head. We heard the front door open, and we could now here the voices clearly.

            “Make sure you take your boots off,” Floretta said. “I just mopped in here a few days ago. And here, give him his coat.” I looked at Robby, although it was too dark to see his face. The ‘him’ must be the boy! We listened carefully. But there was nothing. The place fell into an eerie silence and the only noise heard was Robby’s breathing.  I reached for the handle of the closet door. Turning it, I pushed open the door ever so slightly and peeked through the crack. Seeing nothing, I opened it farther. The bedroom door was shut, and I knew they were in the apartment. Robby and I dashed out of the closet and through the front door. It wasn’t until we had gone out of the office and reached apartment E that we finally relaxed. We burst through the front door.

Birthdays!

My sister Lauren and my brother Andrew celebrated their birthdays yesterday. Lauren's is actually today, the 3rd, and my brother's was February 28.

For supper, we had twice baked potatoes, vegetable soup, and a salad. 

Mary showing Papa her piano book

Sarah, Lady, and Lauren

Hard to believe my big sis is 18!

Lady always looks sad!

Sarah playing her competition piece for Mema and Papa

Lauren accompanying Sarah

Playing my piece

Present time!

Flip flops from Andrew to Lauren

Andrew got a remote control helicopter (he wrecked his other ones, LOL)

More flip flops

 

Andrew got basketball shoes

After all the presents were opened, we sang "Happy Birthday" and they blew out the candles!

Mmm!! Chocolate brownies and chocolate icecream! Perfect mixture... 

Have a lovely day,
~Kathryn (aka Chatty Kathy)

Lauren's Giveaway!

Here is an amazing giveaway for y'all. Check it out here!
Lauren over at A Corner Pillar is giving away 2 copies of her photography book. Amazing, right?!

A Snow Christmas, Part 4

Without a word to Robby, I shot around the corner of the motel and around front. He followed behind, spilling and sloshing the hot chocolates.

            “Kalin! Now where are you going?” he sighed. I gave a firm rap on the office door. Mrs. Stanley opened the door.

            “Well?” she asked, sharply.

            “You’re Mrs. Stanley, right?” She narrowed her eyes.

            “And what of it?”

            “I just thought you would know if they are any children around here. My brother and I get pretty bored, and we wondered if there was anyone to play with,” I replied.

            “There’s not kids except you ‘round here,” she said, slamming the door. I would have been offended, but I was getting used to the door slamming in my face.

            “Why would she say that when there’s a little boy in their apartment?” Robby broke my thoughts.

            “That’s what I’m wondering,” I said, sitting down a bench near the office door. Robby sat down next to me and handed me my lukewarm chocolate. I began to take a sip. The light steam rose from the liquid as I sipped it.

            Ahuhuhuhuh! I coughed. Robby looked at me.

            “Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded my head, trying to catch my breath. I wanted to tell him the reason I choked on my hot chocolate was because I had just thought of a terrible thing. I gasped for breath.

            “Robby! Do you think-“ I stopped.

            “What?”

            “Could it be-“

            “What?”

            “Surely not-“

            “You doing this on purpose.” I glared at him.

            “Robby, do you think the Stanley’s have kidnapped that little boy?” I asked, fear rising in me every second.

            “They wouldn’t…” Robby’s voice trailed off. “Would they?” The words echoed in our ears and pounded in our heads.

            “But why?” Robby asked.

            “For money, probably,” I replied. “Robby, what are we going to do?”

            “Help that boy,” Robby said, standing up. I stood up too.

            “You’re right. We’ve got to help him get away from these awful people.”

                                         ***

I just barely opened my eyes and lifted my head. Sure enough, Mom and Dad had stopped watching TV and under the crack of my door, I could see that their bedroom light was off. Perfect timing.

            I took off my PJ’s. I had slipped them on over my clothes. I strapped on my shoes, and grabbed my flashlight. I winced as I squeaked open the door. I looked both ways, and went into the living room. It was pitch black. I didn’t dare turn on my flashlight. I just knew if I wondered around the living room, I was bound to run into Robby, who was supposed to be waiting for me, and we’d scare each other half to death. So, I stood still, in the thick darkness. The clocked threatened to drive me crazy. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. Suddenly, I was blinded by a bright fluorescent gleam; otherwise known as the kitchen light. I watched in horror as Robby entered and sat down in a kitchen chair. I ran to the light switch and flipped it off.

            “What do you think you’re doing?” I half-whispered.

            “Turning on some light so I can put my socks on,” he replied, nonchalantly. Brothers.

            “Do you not understand that we’re trying to be quiet and not wake anyone up?” I couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but I was pretty sure what it looked like.

            “Huh?” he asked. I sighed. I turned my flashlight on dim so he could put on his socks. The clock stroked midnight when we finally headed quietly out the back door. We crunched through the snow as the bright stars and moon shined down.

            “Ok, so here’s the plan,” I whispered. “We tap on the boy’s window, and he’ll open it, and we can help him escape.”

            “If he could open the window, he would have escaped along time ago.” Leave it to a smart brother to ruin your perfect plan. I turned around.

            “You’re right,” I frowned. “ But let’s try anyway.”

            We passed all the other apartments, and finally came to the last window. Through the faint moonlight, we could see a blue curtain. I reached up towards the window, and tapped on the glass. Nothing happened. I tried again, a little louder. Finally, I tapped once more, but there was no sign of anyone.

            “Now what?” I asked Robby. “Why won’t he come to the window?”

            “Maybe he’s a heavy sleeper,” Robby yawned. “There’s nothing we can do now, so how ‘bout going back to bed?” Reluctantly, I followed Robby back to our apartment.

                                                           

                                        ***

            Bright and early the next morning, I hopped out of bed and threw open the shade. A blanket of fresh, white snow had covered the dirty layer that had lay there before. I smiled and raced into the living room just as Robby was heading out the front door.

            “Oh, no you don’t,” I exclaimed, seeing his heavy coat and boots. “Not without me, you don’t!”

            “Oh, but Kalin! It’s a brand-new layer of snow!” he whined. I laughed and sat down at the kitchen table. We loved a new layer of snow. But, I’m sure Dad didn’t like it. The roads still weren’t plowed, and he wasn’t too happy.

            “We may have to go out there with a shovel and scrape our way to Clarksville!” he would say.

            I poured a glass of milk as mom came into the room.

            “I’m going to go to the grocery store this morning,” she said. “But, your dad is going to talk to someone who owns a plow around here, so you two will have to come with me.” Robby shot me a glance.

            “But Mom, we were going to play in the snow fort,” he said.

            “It won’t take long,” she said. And so, we piled in the car after breakfast. We skidded by our snow fort on the way out of the parking lot. Not a single mark was on the newly fallen snow.

            We dropped Dad off at a nearby farmer’s house, to talk about the man’s snowplow. We continued down the slick road, to Mr. Haber’s General Store. Once inside, Mom did her shopping while Robby and I sat on a bench near the front door. We got quite used to the loud clang of the bell above the door whenever customers came in. Or the chi-ching! of the cash register on the counter. Robby and I decided to take a look around the store while Mom shopped. There was a small toy section, and we browsed the things on the shelves.

            “Hey, look here!” Robby let out a low whistle. He pointed to a large red box on the shelf. The box had bold letters that said,

           

    Giant Sled

        Fast speed and a cool red color

           

            “It’s neat,” I admitted. “But it’s nothing compared to Ol’ blue,” I said, referring to our beloved sled. Robby nodded his head.

            “I wouldn’t trade Blue for any newer sled,” he replied. I agreed. Ol’ Blue was the best sled ever. I could remember the happy days when we were younger, racing Ol’ Blue down the tiny hill in our backyard. Blue had memories attached to him, and we weren’t about to give it up for some new one.

            The cash register rang out again, and Mom’s voice called out.

            “You two ready?” I grinned at Robby. The fort was waiting. It wouldn’t be long now.  

P.S. I think I finally figured out my new template!! Do you guys like it? Have a great day!
~Kathryn :-)