Lawrence & Lenexa - Part 2

 Good morning!

It's in the 60ºs this morning. Or at least that's what my computer is saying. My sister and I walked yesterday and it was so nice. Don't know if we'll try to walk this morning or not. It might depend on what we need to get done before breakfast.

This week hasn't been much of a writing week. I finished writing the Christmas Play, or at least I hope I did. It hasn't been through my editor yet, so we'll see what she thinks of it. But that was on Monday and I haven't written anything since. There have just been a lot of other things going on. Little League ball games to watch here and there, books to move and rearrange, filling in nail holes on the trim in the hall, and yesterday I even put a small cube bookshelf together. I have been working more on blog posts and trying to catch up on this, that, and the other.

I did design a cover for this year's short Christmas story which was last year's Christmas card story. And no, I didn't post it last December. I posted the other version of the story that I had written.

I've been also playing around with a cover for Lawrence & Lenexa. Should I keep that title or find something else?

Hopefully I can get back into writing again soon. And reading as I realized that aside from a few of my own short stories I haven't read anything since I finished a story on Monday. I hope you enjoy today's part of Lawrence & Lenexa.

 

 Lawrence & Lenexa

Part 2

    “What if . . .” Lawrence looked out the window, then down at the table, before glancing up at his sister. “What if we went somewhere else.”
    Lenexa’s eyes widened. “Larry,” she whispered as though afraid someone else would hear, “what do you mean?”
    “Well, when I went on that bike ride last Saturday with Saundra’s brothers, you know they came over when she came to clean–”
    Lenexa nodded quickly but said nothing.
    “We stopped down at the creek to take a break and got to talking. They mentioned that they go to some camp called Mountain View something-or-other. I don’t remember it all, but they were saying how much fun they had and how great it was. They even invited me to go with them.”
    Lenexa’s face fell. “Is it just a boy’s camp?”
    “No. They said you could come too. It’s some kind of Bible camp or something.”
    Lenexa turned back to her paper. “Well, it’s no use thinking about that. You know Mom would never let us go to a Bible camp.”
    “Dad might.”
    Folding her arms on the table, Lenexa leaned forward. “But we don’t even know where it is, what it is, when it is, or how to get there.”
    “I have a paper they gave me about it. I haven’t read it yet. I finished my homework and can go get it. You?”
    “Let me finish these last few questions, then I’ll be finished.” Quickly Lenexa bent over her paper and scribbled answers to the remaining three questions while Lawrence hurried from the room.
    He returned a moment later. Pausing, he quickly locked the door behind him before rushing back to the table. There were certain people in the house that he didn’t want surprising them, or any plans of attending a different camp would be dashed.
    For several minute the two heads bent over the paper. Every line was read. Lawrence got out the large atlas and looked up the town closest to the camp. That’s where they would be picking up campers who came in on a bus.
    “Wouldn’t this be a great place to spend two weeks?” he asked.
    Lenexa nodded. “But how can we get the forms to fill out? If we had those we could fill them out and get Daddy to sign them. He wouldn’t care or even notice probably, if we went to a different camp this year.”
    “Why don’t we ask Saundra when she’s here on Saturday.”
    “She’s not coming Saturday,” Lenexa said. “I overheard her telling Mrs. Hamstead that she had to clean tomorrow because of something else that was going on. Mrs. Hamstead wasn’t very happy.” She twisted a strand of hair around her finger and frowned. “And we’ll be in school.”
    “Maybe one of us could pretend to be sick.”
    Lenexa just looked at him.
    “Then again, Mom would probably call up Dr. Hathaway and it would all be over. Could we leave her a note?”
    Lenexa’s face brightened. “Of course! She cleans our rooms, and I know the perfect place to put a note where she’ll be sure to find it and no one else will notice. Come on, let’s get it written right now.”
    It took some time to agree on just what the note should say, but at last it was written. The twins gathered their books, stuffed them into their backpacks for the next day, and then Lenexa hurried to her room to put the note in its hiding place.

    The rest of the day passed as it usually did. The twins ate a dull supper sitting alone in the large dining room. “We should just eat in the kitchen,” grumbled Lawrence.
    Lenexa nodded with her mouth full. Often they had tried to get Mrs. Hamstead to agree to letting them eat in the kitchen with the cook, the gardener, and one of the maids who lived in the house, but she never would agree to it.
    “Your mother would never approve,” she always said. And by the tone of her voice, it was obvious that she didn’t approve either.
    “I wish Mrs. Hamstead would take a vacation again,” Lawrence grumbled. “Mrs. Cook didn’t mind us eating in there with them.”
    The Johnson’s cook really bore the last name of Cook, which greatly amused and delighted the twins. She and Saundra were their favorite members of the staff and the closest things the children had for friends in the large mansion.

*

    When they came home from school the next. day, Lawrence didn’t suggest a race to change clothes. Instead he followed his sister into her room. “Is it gone?” he whispered even though no one else was around.
    Lenexa looked around. “No–yes! She left a note!” Snatching it quickly, she opened it and read, “I should be able to get those papers for you when I come on Tuesday. My brothers will be excited if you both can attend camp with them this year. Saundra.”
    “Now we just have to wait until Tuesday.”
    “It feels like ages to wait,” Lenexa agreed, sinking down onto her bed. “Maybe Mom and Dad will be free to do something with us this weekend.”
    Dropping his backpack onto the floor, Lawrence sat down cross-legged beside it. “Like what?”
    “I don’t know. Go to the park or have a picnic. You know, something other kids do with their parents.” She shrugged.
    “It’d be fun, but I wouldn’t count on it. Maybe we can get someone to take us to the library tomorrow, and we can get some new books to read.”
    With a sigh, Lenexa fell backwards on her bed. “I suppose. But I get tired of reading all weekend, every weekend. I’d like–”
    “Lawrence Johnson!” Their mother’s voice in the doorway interrupted their talk. “How many times have I told you not to sit on the floor with your school clothes on? You’ll ruin them. And Lenexa, honey, lounging like that is a good way to give you back troubles later on in life.” 

 

Have you done much reading this week?

Do you like rearranging your books?

Did you get any walking in this week?