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

taken down the whole order, the man said, ‘Oh, by the way, you are the person who delivers in a gorilla suit, aren’t you?’ Now, get outside and stay there.”
    Under his brother’s suspicious gaze, Ralphie finished rolling his mattress around the helium and put it in the wagon. He secured the wagon behind his bike.
    To his brother he said, “If I were you, Todd Lee, I wouldn’t even mention helium.”
    Then he got on his bike and set out for the Blossoms’ farm.
    At seven-forty Ralphie pedaled up the Blossoms’ hill. He was feeling better. The initial shock of being caught stealing his mother’s helium had worn off. If his brother told on him, as he probably would, and if his mother demanded an explanation, Ralphie would do something so unusual, so refreshing, his mother would be stunned. Ralphie would tell the truth.
    “Mom, it was a situation where I could not refuse. Junior Blossom—he was the one that was in the hospital with me, remember? He was the one I almost ruined by taking him to the courthouse when he had two broken legs? Well, furnishing the helium was my one chance to make up for that. I thought you would want me to.”
    And then, “The reason I didn’t tell you was because you were upset by the gorilla woman and I did not want to add to your troubles.”
    Anyway, if stealing helium was what it took to make Maggie smile at him, it would be worth it.
    It was hard getting up the hill to the Blossoms with a can of helium behind his bike, but Ralphie tried not to let it show. Junior was the only one watching him, but Maggie might glance out the window at any moment.
    Junior was shading his eyes so he could see if what Ralphie was towing was helium. It was! Even though it was wrapped in a bedroll, Junior knew it was helium.
    “Mom! Mom! He got it. The helium’s here. Ralphie got the helium!”
    “What’d you expect?” Ralphie stopped coolly beside the porch steps. “Where do you want it, Junior?”
    Inside the house, Vicki Blossom was dialing the phone. “Hello, yes, officer, this is Vicki Blossom again. I called about an hour ago to ask if there had been any accidents reported in the county. … Nothing? Well, I guess that’s good, see, my father-in-law went off eight hours ago and he hasn’t come back and I am just worried to death.”
    Junior poked his head into the living room. “He got it, Mom!”
    His mom gave him an absentminded smile. Then she said into the phone, “But my father-in-law is in his seventies, he is not in good health, and something is always happening to him. What I’m afraid of is that he’s gone off the road in his truck and—”
    She listened to the policeman.
    “I know, well, officer, will you call me if you hear anything? It’s not like him not to come home. It’s not like him at all. You have my number?”
    Junior had been waiting because his mom’s absentminded smile had not been enough recognition for the arrival of helium. She put the phone down with a worried look, so Junior thought she had not heard him the first time.
    “It’s here, Mom. The helium! The helium’s here.” He flung his arms wide.
    Every time Junior said the word helium , he imagined it floating upward the way a bubble floats to the surface of water. He imagined the bubble popping somewhere in the stratosphere, and the word echoing throughout the universe. Helium … helium … helium …
    “That’s nice,” his mother said.
    The phone rang, and she snatched it from the receiver. “Hello … Who? Michael?”
    Vern heard the name and said quickly, “That’s probably for me, Mom.”
    She ignored his outstretched hand.
    “Michael, this is not the time for social calls. I am expecting a call from the police.”
    There was a pause in which Vern again extended his hand for the phone.
    “Well, I’m sorry you can’t come without a personal invitation. Good-bye.”
    “Mom!” It was a long cry of anguish from Vern.
    His mother stopped it by drawing her finger across her throat.