Special Delivery by Ann M. Martin Read Free Book Online

baskets ready to be filled. We can make an assembly line while we wait for Tobias.”
    â€œWhat’s an assembly line?”
    â€œLike in a factory. I’ll show you.”
    Nikki cleared the kitchen table. “We’ll put all the baskets on this end,” she said, “and then piles of the things that will go in the baskets. We’ll stack the dish towels here and the bags of cookies here, and then make a pile of the candy boxes here, and put the Pilgrim candles over here” (Nikki sincerely hoped that the mention of Pilgrims wouldn’t rekindle the question of the first Thanksgiving’s weather) “and the dried flowers here, and all the autumn leaves you found here. See? And then we’ll take something from each pile and put it in the basket.”
    The assembly line had just been or ga nized when the front door burst open and in walked Tobias.
    â€œYou’re here!” squawked Mae.
    â€œYou’re here early!” cried Nikki.
    â€œHappy Thanksgiving!” said Tobias, dropping a bulging bag of laundry on the floor.
    He hugged his sisters, and before he had even let them go, Mae was exclaiming, “You have to see our project! You can help us with it. We’ve been planning it forever, and today we get to give the baskets out. It’s a secret. It’s going to be so much fun!”
    â€œWhat?” said Tobias.
    Nikki explained the project to him in a more orderly fashion, and presently, she and Mae and Tobias began filling the baskets. They lined each one with an autumn dish towel, filled it with the treats, decorated it with the flowers and leaves, and tied an anonymous Happy Thanksgiving card to the handle.
    There were six baskets in all.
    â€œSo who are they for?” asked Tobias as they worked.
    â€œOne is for Mrs. DuVane,” said Nikki. “That was Mom’s idea. Because of everything she’s done for us. And one is for Mary Woolsey.”
    â€œThat’s nice,” commented Tobias.
    â€œOne is for Miss Drew,” said Mae blissfully.
    â€œHer teacher,” Nikki informed Tobias.
    â€œHe knows that,” Mae said and then added, “I love Miss Drew.”
    â€œOne is for a woman named Mrs. Bradley. You don’t know her, but I met her last year when Mr. Pennington took Flora and Olivia and Ruby and me on his Special Delivery route. We were handing out Christmas baskets, and Mrs. Bradley …” Nikki paused, thinking. “Well, it just seemed like there was no one else in her life at all. She needs a walker to get around and I don’t think she ever leaves her house. She was so grateful for our visit that she almost cried, and she told us we were her Christmas angels and gave us chocolates.”
    â€œChocolates?” said Mae with interest.
    â€œDo you remember where she lives?” asked Tobias.
    â€œYup,” said Nikki. “All right. Let me see.” She counted on her fingers. “Okay, that’s four baskets. The fifth one is for Willow Hamilton and her family. They
really
need cheering up. Mrs. Hamilton probably won’t be out of the hospital until February. Plus, they’ve only lived here for a few weeks and they don’t know many people.”
    â€œPaulie’s family really needs cheering up, too,” said Mae. “The last basket is for them.”
    â€œWho’s Paulie?” asked Tobias.
    â€œHe’s in my grade but in Mr. Hawthorne’s class. He has … what’s it called, Nikki?”
    â€œLeukemia,” she replied.
    â€œAnd his hair fell out and he’s always absent. He only went to four days of second grade and then he got sick. I mostly remember him from first grade.”
    â€œHe’s an only child,” added Nikki, glancing at her brother.
    â€œWow,” said Tobias softly.
    â€œI know.”
    â€œWell, it sounds like you guys chose people who will really like the baskets. All right. Let me think about how to get to