Logan Pryce Makes a Mess Read online

  Logan found Pa crouching beside a large pile of boxes. Pa glanced up and wiped his brow with the back of his sleeve. “Hello, son! I’m glad you’re here.”

  “What can I do, Pa?” asked Logan.

  “First, we unload the items from these boxes. Then we check off each item on this list.” Pa held up a bundle of papers. “Once the item is checked off, we can put it on the shelves, where it will be ready for customers to buy.”

  “Got it!” said Logan.

  The two of them worked steadily for the next hour. Logan quickly learned where everything went in the store.

  At one point, Mrs. Mayberry called Pa up front to help a customer with a heavy crate. “Don’t do anything until I get back,” Pa told Logan.

  “I won’t,” Logan promised.

  While Pa helped the customer, Logan leaned against a crate and waited. After a while, he noticed a small box sitting by itself in the corner. M. BIRD was written across it. Maybe I could tackle that one on my own, he thought. Pa would probably be glad to have one less box to deal with.

  Logan opened the box and peered at the contents. Inside were three pairs of women’s gloves, a silk hat, and a dozen hairpins. He pulled out the items and placed them on the correct shelves throughout the store. The entire task took less than five minutes.

  Easy as pie, Logan thought with a smile. At this rate, he and Pa would be finished with the shipment in no time at all!

  THE BIG MIX-UP

  “Logan did a fine job today at Mayberry’s,” declared Pa when he and Logan got home.

  Tess and Drew sat at the table doing schoolwork. Ma heated water on the stove for Annie’s bath. Skeeter gnawed on an old beef bone.

  “I knew he would!” Ma said, drying her hands on her apron. “What exactly did you two men have to do?”

  “Lots!” Logan pushed back his shoulders and ran a hand through his scruffy blond hair. He liked that Ma had called him and Pa “men.” “I even unpacked a box all by myself,” he added proudly.

  Pa frowned. “What box are you talking about, son?”

  “While you were up front, I unpacked one of the boxes and put everything on the shelves,” Logan replied. “The box was in the corner. It had something to do with a bird.”

  Pa turned pale. “You mean . . . the box marked M. BIRD?”

  Logan nodded. “That’s the one!”

  “What’s wrong, Dale?” Ma asked worriedly.

  “That box was different from the others. We weren’t supposed to unpack it,” Pa explained. “It’s for Mr. Bird. He ordered some special items from Chicago for his wife’s birthday. He’s planning on picking up the box in person tomorrow.”

  “What?” Logan gasped.

  Pa peered at his pocket watch. “I’d better get down to the store right away. I need to find those items and return them to Mr. Bird’s box. Otherwise, someone might buy them by mistake!”

  Logan’s lip quivered. “I’m sorry, Pa. I was just . . .”

  . . . trying to help, he wanted to say. But before he could finish his sentence, Pa grabbed his overcoat and ran out the door.

  MAKING IT RIGHT

  Logan sat on his bed, turning his Fox-Away over and over on his lap. It was a dumb invention. He was a dumb inventor. He was dumb—plain and simple.

  How could he have messed things up so badly at the general store?

  In the other bed, Drew leafed through Popular Science magazine by lamplight. The two boys shared a small room in the back of the house. It was right above the kitchen, so it was warm and toasty even on chilly nights.

  Skeeter lay on the rug and whimpered. His brown eyes looked as gloomy as Logan felt inside.

  “I know, boy. My life is ruined,” Logan murmured.

  Drew set his magazine down with a sigh. “Your life isn’t ruined. You just made a mistake,” he said impatiently.

  “What if Pa can’t fix it, though? What if someone already bought Mrs. Bird’s birthday presents? What if Mrs. Mayberry finds out it was my fault? What if Pa doesn’t get paid because of me? What if Pa never finds work again?” Logan put his hands over his eyes.

  “Stop being so dramatic,” said Drew.

  “What’s dra-mat-ic?”

  “It’s when you make a big deal out of something that’s not a big deal.”

  Someone knocked quietly on the door. Tess poked her head into the room. “May we come in?”

  Before the boys could answer, Annie skipped inside, with Tess trailing behind. Both girls were dressed in flannel nightshirts. Dozens of cotton-rag ribbons covered Annie’s head.

  “Tessie is curling my hair!” Annie said happily. “And we brought you presents!” She thrust a shiny marble at Logan.

  Tess handed him a comb with missing teeth. “I thought you could use this in your Fix-It Shop.”

  “Thanks. But why are you guys giving me presents?” Logan asked, confused.

  “ ’Cause we wanted to cheer you up!” Annie explained.

  “Hey, I need some cheering up too,” Drew joked. “Where are my presents?”

  Footsteps sounded on the stairs. A moment later, Pa and Ma came into the boys’ room.

  Pa was still wearing his overcoat, and his cheeks were red from the cold night air.

  “Good news!” Pa announced. “I got to Mayberry’s in time.”

  Logan bolted up in his bed. “You did?”

  Pa nodded. “Mrs. Bird’s birthday presents were still on the shelves. I was able to return them to their box and seal everything up.”

  “Was Mrs. Mayberry mad?” Logan asked nervously.

  Pa shook his head. “She wasn’t mad at all. She knows it was an honest mistake.”

  “Next time, just do as your father says and don’t get any fancy ideas,” Ma told Logan.

  “Yes, Ma! And thank you, Pa!” said Logan.

  “You’re welcome, son.”

  Pa smiled at Logan. So did Ma and Tess. Annie climbed up on his bed and nestled her head on his shoulder. Drew gave him a thumbs-up sign and returned to his magazine. Skeeter wagged his tail.

  Logan felt all the worry whoosh out of his chest. Everything was right and normal again.

  And for the next few days at the general store, he would do exactly as Pa said. He could always save his fancy ideas for the Fix-It Shop!

  THE MAPLE SYRUP PARTY

  Sunday was bright and cool as everyone gathered at the Pryce farm for their annual sugaring off.

  Logan and Tess stood in the doorway of the sugarhouse, licking syrup from their fingers. They loved maple syrup parties. Inside, the Brunas, Mrs. Mayberry, and other friends and neighbors boiled sap that they had collected from maple trees. Platters of baked beans, ham, pancakes, and apple pie covered a long table.

  Outside, the woods glistened with melting snow. A cardinal landed on a branch and shook drops of water from its red wings. Children ran around or poured hot syrup on snow to make jack wax candy.

  Logan breathed in the delicious maple-scented air. “I wish we could have a sugaring off every day!” he said to Tess.

  “Do you think this will be our last one?” asked Tess with a sad smile.

  “No,” Logan replied. “Just because Pa’s not going to farm anymore doesn’t mean we’re going to stop making food. We’ll still need syrup and milk and butter and vegetables and eggs. . . .” His face lit up. “Eggs!”

  “Eggs? What about them?”

  “Come with me. I have to show you something!”

  Logan started running through the woods. Tess followed, and so did Skeeter. When they got to the henhouse, Logan stopped.

  “May I present . . . the Fox-Away!” He waved his hand at the henhouse. Dozens of flattened tin cups were strung across the door. Inside, the hens made soft clucking noises.

  “Logan, that’s wonderful!” Tess cried out. “When did you finish it?”

  “This morning. I put it up just after breakfast. The loud clanking from the Fox-Away will scare the foxes so that the hens can lay their eggs in peace,” Logan explained.


  “I think this could be your best invention yet,” Tess told him.

  Skeeter barked in agreement.

  As they stood there admiring the Fox-Away, Logan thought about his family’s farm. He wasn’t sure what would happen to it tomorrow . . . or in the next month . . . or in the next year.

  Would Pa ever go back to planting wheat? Would they have to move away some day?

  Logan was sure about a few things, though. No matter what happened, he would go on fixing and inventing things. Tess would go on reading books and being smart. Drew would go on making big plans for his future. Annie would go on being sweet, adorable Annie.

  And no matter what, their family would go on being a family. As far as Logan was concerned, that was the best thing of all!

  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!

  * * *

  The next morning, Logan woke up earlier than usual.

  It was pitch black outside as he headed to the barn. A sliver of moon lingered in the sky. The air was clear and cold, and he could see his breath.

  Skeeter trotted along beside him, alert for raccoons and opossums.

  In the barn, Logan raced through his usual chores. First, he milked the cows. Next, he brushed the horses, Lightning and Buttercup, and mucked their stalls, too.

  When his chores were done, he got to work in his Fix-It Shop. The shop took up one corner of the barn. A worktable, a chair, and some crates were its only furniture.

  The broken wheel sat in the middle of Logan’s worktable. He picked it up and studied it.

  He had a plan.

  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.

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

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  Designed by Chani Yammer

  Jacket design by Chani Yammer & Angela Navarra

  Jacket illustration by Petra Brown

  The illustrations for this book were rendered in pen and ink.

  The text of this book was set in Caecilia.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Gilmore, Grace. Logan Pryce makes a mess / by Grace Gilmore; illustrated by Petra Brown. —First edition. pages cm. — (Tales from Maple Ridge; 1) Summary: “When his father is hired for a temporary job at the general store, farm boy Logan can’t wait to lend a hand. But his eagerness may cause his dad to lose this job. Can Logan’s mistake be fixed in time?” — Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-4814-2624-4 (pbk : alk. paper) —

  ISBN 978-1-4814-2625-1 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4814-2626-8 (eBook)

  [1. Family life—Fiction. 2. Farm life—Fiction.] I. Brown, Petra, illustrator. II. Title. PZ7.G4372Lo 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014005957