The Lucky Wheel Read online

  While the glue cooked, Logan and Tess washed up the dinner dishes. They used a big pot of water that Ma had heated on the stove. The house was still and peaceful. Drew was in the boys’ room doing his homework. Skeeter lay on the kitchen floor and chomped on a bone. Annie was asleep, and so was Pa. Logan knew that Pa was tired from moving furniture for Mr. Dawson, the newspaperman, all day.

  When the glue was done, Logan and Tess poured it into a glass jar.

  “Why don’t we put the jar outside for the night?” Ma suggested. “The temperature is colder than it is in the house, so the glue will cool faster.”

  “Good idea!” said Logan.

  “I hope the glue will help you with your wheel project,” Ma added.

  “Thanks, Ma.”

  Logan wrapped a dishcloth around the hot jar. Tess opened the kitchen door for him. The sound of peepers drifted in with the night air as he stepped outside and gently set the jar on the ground.

  I have the best family, he thought.

  THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE

  Lightning’s hooves clip-clopped against cobblestones as the Pryces’ buggy turned onto Main Street. It was a warm Saturday afternoon, and many people were out and about doing their errands.

  Logan sat next to Pa and held on to his finished wheel. He had completed his repairs on schedule. He had even painted the whole thing blue, his favorite color. He had found an old dried-up tin of paint in his Fix-It Shop and mixed in some vinegar and milk to make it usable again.

  Now all he had to do was convince Mr. Mayberry to buy the wheel.

  “We’re almost there,” Pa told Logan as he steered the buggy. “I need to stop by the newspaper office so I can pick up my pay. We’ll go over to the general store right after.”

  “Yes, Pa.”

  “You did a nice job on your wheel, son.”

  “Thanks, Pa.”

  “Here we are!” Pa tugged on the reins, and Lightning slowed her pace.

  They stopped in front of a tall brick building. A sign in the window read THE MAPLE RIDGE MESSENGER.

  Pa tied Lightning’s reins to a hitching post and headed inside. Logan followed, carrying his wheel.

  A young woman sat behind a desk. “Good afternoon, Mr. Pryce. Mr. Dawson is working in the back. He’s expecting you,” she called out.

  “Thank you, Miss Mosely.”

  They found Mr. Dawson in a large room filled with boxes, crates, and paper. He was a tall man with gray hair and round spectacles.

  Mr. Dawson shook Pa’s hand and then Logan’s. Logan grinned and felt very grown-up.

  Mr. Dawson pointed to a big machine in the middle of the room. It had belts, levers, rollers, and a motor, too. “How do you like my new printing press, young man?” he asked Logan. “We had it delivered from Sherman, and your pa helped me set it up. It can print sixty sheets of paper per minute!”

  “That’s swell!” Logan gushed.

  Mr. Dawson eyed Logan’s wheel curiously. “What do you have there?”

  “It’s a buggy wheel, sir!” Logan said, standing up very straight. “I found it by the side of the road. I fixed it up and painted it. I’m hoping to sell it to Mr. Mayberry. Our school needs the money for repairs.”

  “Is that so? What kind of repairs?” asked Mr. Dawson.

  Logan told the whole story to Mr. Dawson. When he had finished, Mr. Dawson looked thoughtful. “Hmm. That would make an interesting article for my first issue of the Messenger. Would you mind if I quoted you, young man?”

  Logan’s jaw dropped. Mr. Dawson wanted to quote him, Logan Pryce, in a newspaper article?

  Logan turned to Pa. Pa smiled and nodded.

  This is my lucky day! Logan thought, hugging the wheel to his chest.

  A SURPRISING CUSTOMER

  After their visit with Mr. Dawson, Logan and Pa headed over to Mayberry’s General Store. Logan carried his wheel. Pa carried a basket filled with Ma’s homemade goods, for trading.

  A tiny bell jingled as Logan and Pa entered the store. Mrs. Mayberry was at the counter, cutting a bolt of white linen for a customer.

  “Why, hello there, Pryces!” Mrs. Mayberry said cheerfully. “Where’s your ma, Logan? She usually comes in on Saturdays with butter and jam for me.”

  “Alice and the girls took some soup over to Mrs. Gruen. Poor woman’s been feeling under the weather. I brought the butter and jam this time.” Pa held up his basket. “She wants to know if she can get some coffee, salt, and sugar in exchange.”

  “Happy to oblige,” said Mrs. Mayberry.

  “Is Mr. Mayberry here?” asked Logan.

  “He’s in his office going over his books. You can go on back,” Mrs. Mayberry told him.

  Logan started down the crowded aisle, being careful not to knock down anything with his wheel. He passed drawers full of spices, bins piled high with apples, and shelves stocked with pots and pans. He loved the store, which sold everything from groceries to tools. It was also a gathering place. People sat around and played checkers or caught up on one another’s news. They could get their mail there too, or use the telephone to call out of town.

  Mr. Mayberry was in his office, leafing through a fat brown ledger. “Why, hello there, Logan! Have you come to see me about something?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m here to sell you my wheel!” Logan announced grandly.

  “Oh?” Mr. Mayberry squinted at the wheel. “I’ve never seen a blue buggy wheel before. Are the other three blue as well?”

  “Actually, there is only this one wheel,” Logan admitted. “I found it by the side of the road and repaired it in my Fix-It Shop. I thought you could resell it to one of your customers for a profit.”

  “I see.” Mr. Mayberry stroked his moustache. “I wish I could help you, Logan. But I can’t use just one wheel. My customers want sets of four, you see.”

  Logan blinked. A sick feeling washed over him. He had counted on Mr. Mayberry to buy his wheel for forty cents. His plan was falling apart!

  “Excuse me.” A large man with a bushy beard stood in the doorway. His gray suit and gold-tipped cane looked fancy and expensive.

  Mr. Mayberry jumped up from his chair. “Why . . . Mr. Bird! I didn’t realize you were here. It’s a pleasure to see you, sir. Can I help you with something?”

  Mr. Bird? Logan remembered that name well. Pa had worked at Mayberry’s a few weeks back. Logan had come in to help, only to cause a big mix-up with Mr. Bird’s special order.

  Mr. Bird pointed to Logan’s wheel. “Did I hear you say that item is for sale?” he asked.

  “Y-yes, yes, sir,” Logan replied, confused.

  “Well, then, I would very much like to buy it for my wife,” Mr. Bird declared.

  Mr. Mayberry gasped in surprise. Logan broke into a huge smile.

  “Mrs. Bird likes to put ornaments in her flower garden. That wheel would make a fine ornament. Also, blue is her favorite color,” Mr. Bird explained.

  He reached into the pocket of his fancy gray suit. He handed a few coins to Logan. “Would seventy-five cents be enough? No, let’s make it an even dollar, shall we?”

  A dollar? Logan could give fifty cents to the school and still have fifty cents left over for his piggy bank. And he wouldn’t have to use Tess’s and Drew’s nickels, after all.

  Today was definitely Logan’s lucky day!

  THE FIX-IT PARTY

  Logan had never seen so many people in their schoolhouse.

  It seemed as though half of Maple Ridge had gathered to pitch in with the repairs. All the students and their families were there. Many of the Pryces’ neighbors were there. Even the mayor of Maple Ridge was there.

  Big swaths of cloth covered the desks and bookshelves. The steady din of saws and hammers filled the room. Drew helped Mr. Bruna put the new windowpane in place. Annie and Tess helped Ma sweep up the fallen plaster. Logan helped Pa replace one of the floorboards.

  Miss Ashley came up to Logan, carrying a bucket. Bits of plaster and paint clung to her blond hair. “This wonderful tu
rnout is all because of you, Logan,” she praised him.

  “Me? What did I do?” Logan asked, surprised.

  “Oh, my goodness! I guess you haven’t seen this yet,” replied Miss Ashley.

  She reached into her smock and handed Logan a newspaper. Logan glanced at the front page. It was the first edition of the Maple Ridge Messenger.

  A big headline read CHILDREN RAISE MONEY FOR SCHOOL REPAIRS.

  The article went on to explain that the school had needed repairs for a long time. It quoted Logan at the end: “I fixed up an old buggy wheel. I plan to sell it so I can give the money to my school.”

  “A lot of the folks in Maple Ridge read this article,” said Miss Ashley. “That’s why we have so many volunteers here today.”

  “I’m proud of you, son,” Pa told him.

  “Thanks, Pa. And thanks, Miss Ashley!” Logan said happily.

  As they got back to work, Logan wiped his brow and peered around the room. Even with the sawdust and plaster everywhere—and even with the repairs half finished—he could picture how fine the school was going to look. And he was glad that he was a part of it. This was surely his biggest and most important fix-it project ever!

  I want to thank my wonderful editor, Sonali Fry.

  I also want to thank the History Center in Tompkins County for their invaluable assistance in my research.

  — G. G.

  Check out the next

  TALES FROM MAPLE RIDGE

  adventure!

  * * *

  HERE’S A SNEAK PEEK!

  * * *

  Logan Pryce dipped his net into the pond and swished it through the water.

  “Got you!” he shouted.

  He reached into the net and pulled out a fat green frog. It wiggled out of his fist and hopped back into the pond with a loud splash!

  Next to Logan, his best friend, Anthony Bruna, laughed. “Gosh, that’s the sixth frog that’s gotten away from you today.”

  Logan grinned. “Oh, well! I’m bored of catching frogs anyway.”

  “Bored? But you love catching frogs.”

  “Maybe when I was seven. That was a long time ago.”

  “What do you want to do now?” asked Anthony. “Go fishing in the creek? Walk over to the general store? I think I have a penny to buy candy.” He dug through his dungaree pockets.

  “I should probably pack for my big trip,” said Logan.

  GRACE GILMORE is a city girl, but she has always been fascinated by farm life. Growing up, she spent many summers riding horses, chasing chickens, and swimming in the creek at her great-grandparents’ farm in the hollows of Kentucky. When she isn’t writing books, she can be found playing the piano, baking cookies, or wrangling various pets. Grace lives with her family in Ithaca, New York.

  PETRA BROWN lives at the foot of Mount Snowdon near the little Ffestiniog railway, in the beautiful country of North Wales, United Kingdom. When she was a child, she used to love to look through books and draw the pictures herself. Now she finds that illustrating children’s books is immensely satisfying. You can visit her at PetraB.co.uk.

  TalesfromMapleRidge.com

  LITTLE SIMON

  Simon & Schuster

  New York

  Meet the author and illustrator and get activities at

  KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Grace-Gilmore

  authors.simonandschuster.com/Petra-Brown

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

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  This Little Simon edition April 2015

  Copyright © 2015 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Illustrations by Petra Brown

  Designed by Chani Yammer

  Jacket design by Chani Yammer & Angela Navarra

  Jacket illustration by Petra Brown copyright 2015 © Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Gilmore, Grace. The lucky wheel / by Grace Gilmore ; illustrated by Petra Brown. — First Little Simon paperback edition. pages cm. — (Tales from Maple Ridge ; [2])

  Summary: Each student in Maple Ridge is asked to contribute fifty cents for much needed repairs to the school but Logan has no money, so he decides to sell the buggy wheel he found by the side of the road and carefully fixed, if only he can find a buyer for a single wheel. [1. Repairing—Fiction. 2. Fund raising—Fiction. 3. Family life—Fiction. 4. Farm life—Fiction.] I. Brown, Petra, illustrator. II. Title. PZ7.G4372Luc 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014010528

  ISBN 978-1-4814-2627-5 (pbk) ISBN 978-1-4814-2628-2 (hc) ISBN 978-1-4814-2629-9 (eBook)