Nine-year-old Bobby Belden sat in front of his bedroom window staring out at the snow-covered lawn, pouting.  Why did he have to come down with the chicken pox on the first day of Christmas vacation?  And right after the first big snowfall of the season.

Just last week, he and Larry and Terry Lynch had helped Dan and Mart get the winter sports equipment ready.  They had waxed the toboggan and cross country skis.  After dusting off all of the skates, they had gone into town to get them sharpened.  The cold evenings had made the Wheeler lake like glass, perfect for playing hockey. 

And now when the weather was perfect for winter sports he was stuck inside, like forever.  Life was so unfair. 

There was a knock on his door.  When he didn’t reply, the door opened anyway. 

“I thought you might like a chocolate shake,” his mother said as she entered the room.  Bobby didn’t turn from the window.  He placed his elbows on the sill and rested his head in the palms of his hands, ignoring her.

Moms set the drink on top of a napkin on the night stand.  She hesitated for a few minutes.  Then without another word she turned and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. 

Bobby sat there for a few more minutes, staring out into the pristine white landscape.  Finally, he stood up and walked over to his bed, picking up the shake and beginning to drink it. 

He wished that Larry and Terry could come over and keep him company. Unfortunately, neither one of them had ever had chicken pox. So here he sat.  Pouting.  With nothing to do.  He could read. Mart had given him a copy of Cosmo McNaught and the Milky Way Adventure.  It was the first in the series, and it was Mart’s favorite book series.  No, he didn’t want to read.  He thought of the model car that Tom and Celia Delanoy had brought over earlier in the day. He didn’t want to do that either.  He wanted to be outside playing in the snow.

Subconsciously, he began to scratch the boil that had popped up on his elbow the day before.  It was the first of his chicken pox and it still oozed.  Moms had said that he couldn’t have visitors until all of the boils had scabbed over.  That could take a bazillion years.

He stood up and began to pace, itching his arms, then his stomach and finally his legs as he walked.  He was going to go crazy up in his bedroom for the next few days.  There was another rap on the door.  Bobby turned away from it and plopped himself on the bed staring at the wall and ignoring the door.

Once again, after a pause, the door opened and this time it was Trixie.  She carried two Beatrix Potter books and a glass of juice with orange and purple straws in it. 

“I’ve come to read, read, read to you,” she announced. 

Bobby groaned. “I don’t want to be read, read, read to.” He gave his sister the evil eye.  “I want to be outside in the snow with Larry and Terry.”

Trixie smiled. “I was hoping you didn’t really want me to read.  If I never read Beatrix Potter again, I think it will be too soon.”

She sat down on the bed next to him.  “I remember when I had chicken pox.  I was in kindergarten and it was right before Halloween.  I didn’t get to go trick or treating that year.  Brian took an extra bag with him and explained that I wasn’t able to go out.”

Bobby tried to hide his smile.  “Good thing Mart wasn’t carrying the bag.  You would have ended up with nothing.”

“Mart did try to commandeer the bag, but Brian stood his ground,” Trixie said.  “It was a nice gesture but it still wasn’t the same.  Moms had made me the coolest cowgirl costume complete with a stick pony and I didn’t get to wear it.”

Bobby’s eyes widened. He had never heard this story before, and the thought of not being able to go trick or treating was almost as bad as not being able to go play out in the snow.

“It gets even better,” Trixie said with a gleam in her eye.  “Mart had the chicken pox over Thanksgiving that year. When Mart hadn’t come down with the chicken pox a week before Thanksgiving, she decided to go ahead with the Open House.  That morning, Mart came down the stairs itching his stomach and trying to hide if from Moms.  He managed to cover it up until about an hour before people began to arrive.  He ended up spending the entire afternoon in his bedroom.  Aunt Alicia was here that weekend and she insisted that all he could have was chicken broth and plain jell-o.”

Bobby started to laugh.  “So what about Brian? When did he come down with chicken pox?”

Trixie thought for a few minutes, then said, “I don’t remember.  Maybe he had them when he was younger.  I know everyone was healthy for Christmas that year.”

There was some commotion outside the window.  Bobby got up and went back over to it. 

“Look,” he said.  “Jim and Brian must be home for the holidays.” 

Trixie joined him, saying, “They got home about an hour ago.”

Jim and Brian were tromping through the snow outside his window.  They had a gunny sack and a snow shovel. They started rolling the snow.

“They’re making a snowman,” Bobby exclaimed, jumping up and down. 

Sure enough, Brian and Jim rolled three balls of snow and stacked them on top of one another.  When they had finished building the snowman they reached into the bag and pulled out what looked to be a ball of yellow yarn.  They draped the yarn over the head and then placed a light blue stocking cap on it and wrapped a light blue scarf around its neck. 

They then to roll some more snowballs. 

“What are they doing?” Bobby asked.

“I’m not quite sure,” Trixie replied.

When the two young men finished rolling three more balls they assembled another snowman.  This time the pulled out a dark haired wig and placed it and a purple hat on its head.  A matching purple scarf was placed around its neck.

And then for a third time they began rolling more snow balls. 

“I think I know what they are doing,” Trixie said as they placed some straw on the head of the next snow man, careful to make sure it was sticking up straight.

“Tell me,” begged Bobby.

Trixie grinned and said, “You have to figure it out yourself.”

They began assembling a fourth snow man.  On this one they used a flaxen colored wig.

“I wonder where they got the wigs,” Trixie commented.  They had placed a golden hat and scarf on that snowman.

Bobby jumped up and down, begging Trixie to tell him what his brother and Jim were doing.

“Think about it, Bobby,” encouraged Trixie.

When they began the fifth snowman, Bobby noticed that they were putting orangish red food coloring on the head of the snowman.  They pulled a green plaid scarf and brown hat out of the bag to put on its head.

Still stumped, Bobby struggled to open the window to yell down at the guys.  With the help of Trixie, he finally got it open.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked.

Before they could reply, Trixie yelled down, “Don’t tell him.  Let him figure it out.”

Brian and Jim waved up to the two of them but didn’t say a word as they completed the sixth snow man.  This one had black short yarn for hair, a red hat and red scarf and what looked like a makeshift stethoscope around its neck.

They then proceeded to make on final snowman.  On this one they place some dark brown yarn for hair, a green hat and matching scarf.  Then they pulled an axe out of the bag and placed it next to the snowman.

The guys then put the requisite carrot for nose and charcoal for eyes and mouth in each of the snowman.

Bobby could hardly contain himself.  He was so excited about the snowmen outside his window.  “I know what it is!” he exclaimed.  “It’s the Bob-Whites.”  He jumped up and down in excitement.

A few minutes later his mother came into his room again.

“Okay, I think it’s time for you to rest,” she said.  “Jim and Brian are home for Christmas break so you will have plenty of time to bother them.  If you rest well, you can come down to the kitchen for dinner tonight.  I might have another surprise for you.”

No amount of cajoling would get Moms to reveal what the surprise might be.  Even Trixie didn’t know what it was.

When the two women left the bedroom, Bobby plopped down on his bed and decided he could at least try to read he Cosmo McNaught book. Despite Mart’s recommendation, he really wasn’t sure if the book interested him.  It sounded kind of hokey.

Bobby opened the book and began to read.  “I can’t believe I have lost contact with the space headquarters,” Cosmo said. “I will have to look for a place to land so I can try to fix the communication system.”

It wasn’t the greatest but it was something.  He plugged on.  As he turned each page he was drawn more and more into the story.  He glanced at the clock and was surprised that an hour had passed.

There was yet another knock on the door.  This time it was Mart who was checking up on him.

“I see you’ve finally taken my advice and started reading Cosmo McNaught,” he said. “I told you they were good.”

Bobby was not quite ready to admit he had enjoyed the book.  “It’s kind of lame,” he replied.  “I mean really, a fifteen-year-old boy flying a space ship and doing repairs on the communication system.  How realistic is that?”

“Okay, so it might not seem realistic now but in the future it could be.  Think about it.  Who would have thought that Trixie would be asked by the police department to help solve a mystery or that Brian would be able to stitch up a wound as well as Dr. Ferris when he was sixteen?” Mart replied.

“The mystery is starting to get interesting,” Bobby finally admitted.

Mart started to turn to go, but stopped. “I forgot.  Moms said that dinner would be ready in five minutes and that you can come down and join us.”

Bobby jumped off the bed and tossed the book on his pillow before heading out the door.

“Be careful with that book,” Mart scolded.  “It’s valuable.”

“Yeah, right,” he said.  “I think I saw it on eBay for a dollar plus shipping.”

“That was the Ugly Ovals,” Mart explained.  “The one you’re reading is the Premier edition.  Those are hard to come by.  They usually sell for about fifty dollars on eBay if they are in decent condition.”

Bobby and Mart headed down stairs.  To Bobby’s surprise, Honey and Diana were sitting at the dinner table.  Moms had made Bobby’s favorite meal: hamburgers, homemade French fries, baked beans and for dessert, chocolate cake.

“My favorite,” Bobby said.

“You’re lucky Aunt Alicia isn’t here,” Mart said. “You’d be eating chicken noodle soup and jello.”

“How come you’re here?” Bobby asked Honey and Diana.

“Your mom invited us for dinner since we’ve both already had the chicken pox,” Diana explained.

With everyone seated at the table, the family and their friends said Grace and then started to pass the heaping plates of food around the table. 

As the food was being passed, Honey said, “Bobby, you’re lucky that you’re here at Crabapple Farm.  I got chicken pox when I was about your age.  Unfortunately, I was at boarding school at the time.  I was confined to the infirmary for two weeks.  They wouldn’t let me see anyone until all of my scabs had healed.”

“That’s awful,” Moms said. “You didn’t have anyone to come and visit you?  What about your parents?”

Honey looked a bit stricken. “My parents were in Europe.  They notified the staff at the town house in the city, but the butler didn’t think it was necessary to call my parents so they didn’t find out until they returned home three weeks later.  My dad was not happy and the butler was fired shortly after that.”

“I guess I shouldn’t complain then about staying in my room for a couple of days,” Bobby said sheepishly.

“Well, tonight you can help make Christmas cookies,” Moms said.  “You’ve been resting all day.  Honey and Diana have come over to help.”

“I’ll serve as official taster,” Mart volunteered. 

“No way,” Brian replied. “There won’t be any left for Santa if you’re in charge.  I’ll take one for the team and volunteer to be the taster.”

There was a knock on the door before it opened and Jim yelled, “Anybody home?”

“Of course we are,” giggled Bobby.  “We’re getting ready to make cookies.”

“Can I be the official taster?” asked Dan as he came through the door behind Jim.

Everyone in the room began to laugh.

“What’d I say?” he asked.

“Dan, my friend, you had to be there,” replied Mart. “Suffice it to say I think I just lost my taste tester job.”

Everyone got up from the table and started to clear the dinner.  Many hands made quick work of clearing the table and getting the dishes done.  Then the fun really began.

Moms had mixed up a double batch of sugar cookie dough.  She put Brian, Jim and Bobby to work rolling out the dough and cutting out the Christmas shapes. She assigned Dan and Mart the task of making the Christmas wreaths out of corn flakes, melted butter and marshmallows. Peter had started a fire in the fireplace and commandeered the popcorn popper.  His efforts would eventually become popcorn balls.  Diana and Honey began chopping nuts and mixing up dough for Mexican wedding cakes, while Moms started making fudge.

Trixie happily volunteered to help wherever needed as well as keep the dishes washed as baking progressed.

As they worked, everyone started reminiscing about Christmases past.

“One year when I was about six,” Dan started, “My dad was stationed overseas and told us he couldn’t make it home for Christmas.  Ma and I went to Midnight Mass and when we walked into the church, there he was sitting the pew we always sat in.  It was the best Christmas.  After church we went home.  I had a hard time sleeping that night.  On Christmas Day, there were presents everywhere for me and Ma.  To this day I don’t know how Dad did it.  The best present was a sled with glistening runners.  We spent just about every day of his leave outside.  There was a park near our apartment that had a small hill on it.  We must have gone up and down it a hundred times that week.”

Dan’s eyes turned sad.  “It was the last time I saw my dad.  He returned to his base and about six months later was killed.”

Tenderhearted Bobby went over to his friend and gave him a hug. 

“It’s okay,” Dan said. “I choose to remember the happy part of that week.”

“That must have been about the same year that Moms thought she was going to get a jump on wrapping presents.  She decided to use different wrapping paper to identify which presents were for who.  She thought if she didn’t put the tags on them then there would be less curiosity about what was in the box.  It kind of backfired. One Saturday afternoon, Moms thought that Trixie and Mart were taking much needed naps.  She came upstairs to check on them.  They had found the wrapped gifts in her closet, had unwrapped them and began playing with them.”

“I remember that,” Mart said.  “Moms was so mad she took all of the unwrapped gifts, put them back in their boxes and took them down to the Salvation Army to be distributed to needy families.  I think she and I ended up with socks, underwear and one toy that year.”

Everyone laughed as they pictured the almost-twins with their antics.

As they all continued to work on their cooking projects, Honey began to sing Christmas carols.  They sang classics songs, as well as all of Bobby’s favorites which included “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause” and “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”.  Honey drew the line and refused to sing Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

As the last batch of cookies was placed on the cooling rack, Bobby gave a huge yawn.

“Up to bed, young man,” Moms said. “It’s been a long day and you don’t want to have a relapse.”

Bobby said long goodbyes to everyone and told Diana to make sure she said hi to Larry and Terry for him.

“If the weather is nice tomorrow maybe they can come over and see the snowmen Brian and Jim made,” Bobby said, hardly able to contain his excitement.

The rest of the week did not seem to drag as much as that first day.  Bobby did not want to admit that the chicken pox had taken its toll on him.  With the help of calamine lotion and long-sleeved cotton shirts he managed not to scratch too much.

Two days before Christmas, Moms declared that the scabs had all crusted over and that Bobby was no longer contagious.  Within an hour Larry and Terry were at his house.  They spent the entire day playing out in the snow, only coming in to warm up.

On Christmas Eve, Bobby helped his mom arrange all the presents under the tree.  The Bob-Whites were having their annual Christmas gift exchange in the afternoon at the clubhouse.  Larry and Terry were going to come over with Diana and the three boys were going to put together cookies for Santa. Then they were going to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Larry and Terry had gotten the video.  Bobby had missed it when it was on TV earlier in the month and was anxious to see it.

Diana and the twins arrived at Crabapple Farm.  Mart had already headed over to the Clubhouse with a basketful of goodies Moms had packed for them.  Brian was going to drive Trixie and Diana over in the old jalopy. 

Trixie had been impatiently waiting for a few minutes before Diana arrived.  Uncharacteristically, Brian was no where to be seen.  She called up the stairs for him.

“Brian, come on,” she yelled.  “Diana’s here and Mart left a half an hour ago with the food.  If you don’t get a move on, there will be nothing left to eat except the crumbs.”

Finally, Brian slowly came down the stairs.  He was reaching behind his neck trying to itch a spot he couldn’t quite reach. Moms came through the kitchen doors as he stepped off the bottom step.

“You have something on your cheek, Brian,” she said as she reached up to try and brush it away.

Brian gently pushed her hands away.  “Don’t, Moms, you’ll make it worse.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Apparently, I never had the chicken pox before,” Brian replied.  “I don’t know how it happened but it looks like I’ve come down with them.”

Bobby started to circle around Brian staring at him. “It sure looks like it,” he began trying to imitate what he called Brian’s doctor voice. “I think you’d better go upstairs and rest.  You don’t want to be too sick for Christmas Day.”

Brian was at a loss for words.  He knew the rest of the Bob-Whites had already had the chicken pox so there wouldn’t be any issue, but was too soon since Bobby had been confined to his room because he had contracted the same thing.

“Leave Brian alone,” Moms scolded. “If he feels up to it, he can go to the party.  He’s an adult and can make his own decisions.”

Not wanting to disappoint Bobby, Brian looked him in the eye and said, “You’re right. I should take it easy.  I’ll go to the party for a little while but will be back early so I can get some rest.” Brian winked at Bobby and continued, “Maybe I can get someone to read, read, read, me Cosmo McNaught.”

Bobby beamed.  “It’s a deal.”

This website is © 2005-2025 Mal. All rights reserved. All graphics created by MaryN and may not be used without permission.