Blossoms and the Green Phantom by Betsy Byars Read Free Book Online

think your mom could call my mom?”
    “What for?”
    “To, you know, invite me?”
    Vern had never heard of such an invitation, but he said, “I’ll ask.”
    “Thanks.”
    When Michael had gone, Vicki Blossom called, “You kids come in the living room. I want to talk to you.”
    Vern came in from the kitchen, Maggie from the porch. Vicki Blossom was sitting on the blanket-covered sofa, with one hand resting on the telephone.
    She reached out both hands and put one on Maggie and one on Vern. She looked at them seriously. “I want this night to be a success for Junior.”
    “Mom, we do too,” Maggie said. Her mom was squeezing her and Vern together as if she were trying to make a tighter unit out of them. “Mom, I want it more than anything,” Maggie said. This was the truth. Until Junior started feeling like a success again, she couldn’t go back to her trick riding and enjoy her own success.
    “It worries me that I can’t be there to help, but I cannot leave the phone while Pap’s missing.”
    “We know that.”
    “So you are taking my place. You two are Junior’s mother for the night.”
    Their mom was holding them together so tightly now that when they answered, they did it in unison. One person spoke instead of two. “We will be.”
    She hugged them. “That’s my kids.” She looked down at her watch, then at the phone. “Where, where can Pap be? Vern, do you have any idea?”
    Vern shook his head.
    “Where do you usually go?”
    “All over the county, Mom.”
    Vicki Blossom sighed. “Then I guess he could be anywhere.”
    “Mom?” Vern asked.
    “Don’t bother me unless it’s important.”
    “It’s important to me.”
    “What?”
    “Would you call Michael’s mother and invite Michael to go with us tonight? His mom—”
    “I will not tie up the phone with foolishness, and that is final. Now, go see if you can help Junior.”

CHAPTER 12
Ralphie’s Theft
    “Where are you going, Ralphie?”
    Ralphie paused in the doorway with his bedroll under his arm. He looked surprised. “I told you, Mom, I’m camping out at the Blossom’s farm tonight.”
    “This is the first I’ve heard of any camp-out.”
    “Mom, we’ve been planning it for a week.”
    Ralphie was fairly sure he could get away with this lie. His mom had been upset all week. Another woman in town had started a rival balloon business, and the other woman was delivering her balloons while wearing a gorilla suit. Every time his mom saw a gorilla driving through town, with the backseat filled with balloons, it drove everything else out of her mind.
    “Ralphie, you go over to the Blossoms too much. They’re going to get tired of you.”
    “His mom invited me. His mom has excellent taste. She likes me.”
    The phone rang at that moment, saving him. “Oh, go on, go on,” she said.
    “Thanks.”
    Ralphie went into the garage, unrolled his mattress, and put the canister of helium inside. Fortunately this was his mother’s spare canister. He would not have dared steal her only source of helium, because if she got an order and couldn’t fill it and the gorilla lady could, she would never forgive him.
    “What are you doing with Mom’s helium?” a voice behind him asked. Ralphie turned, startled. It was Todd Lee, his youngest brother.
    “Todd Lee, you’ve got eyes. What does it look like I’m doing?”
    “Stealing Mom’s helium.”
    “This happens to be a defective can of helium, and it could explode at any minute. If it explodes while you are standing there making stupid remarks, you will end up splattered all over Mom’s car, and you know how particular she is about the Blazer.”
    “Mom!” Todd Lee yelled. He turned and flung open the door to the kitchen. “Ralphie’s stealing your—”
    He didn’t get to finish because his mother threw a dish towel at him. “Will you kids stop bugging me for five minutes? You know who that was on the phone? That was an order for thirty-five message balloons, and after I had