Dirty Faces- Book 1

Chapter 21: Sweet Things

Chapter 21: Sweet Things

"Ugh. I can't reach it," Ginny groaned.

"Well, stand up and try," said Jack. 

"You'll drop me!" 

"I will not....Kody, come stand over here and catch her if I drop her." 

Leslie and Kody exchanged unsure looks before he trudged over to stand beneath her neighbor's kitchen window. Those poor people would never leave a window open again after today. Her stomach in knots, Leslie watched as the little girl in boy's clothes crawled from a sitting to a standing position on Jack's big shoulders. Fortunately, it had stopped raining, but every time she looked down at the slippery mud in which Jack stood, she couldn't help but think of all the things that could possibly go wrong. J.D. had stayed in to see to it that their parents kept inside and away from the kitchen window; she was starting to wish she'd volunteered for that job. 

"You up now?" Jack asked, grasping Ginny's ankles. 

"Yeah." She leaned forward into the open window and stretched her arms as far as they would reach, but her fingertips stopped just short of the cake platter. 

"Got it?" 

"No. Still can't reach. This table's not right up against the window, ya know." 

"No, I didn't know that. Come on back down, then, I guess." 

It was only after Ginny was safely back on the ground and putting her socks and muddy shoes back on that Leslie felt any degree of relief. That sense of relief quickly dissipated when she heard a car coming. They all ran around behind her house before it passed, Ginny hopping on one foot, half-way through getting her second shoe back on.  

"Was that your neighbors?" Jack asked when they could no longer hear the engine. 

Leslie laughed. "Oh, no. You'd know if it was them. Woulda heard it coming from a mile away." 

"Good." 

She noticed Kody's head was down, his right hand covering his eyes. He knew what was about to happen. 

"Alright, Kody. You're up!" Jack said. 

"And who's gonna catch me when you drop me?" 

"These girls, of course. But I ain't gonna drop ya anyway." 

Kody shook his head as he walked along side Jack around the house. "You're gonna owe me for this." 

"Only if you get that cake." 

He slipped his boots and socks off and Jack squatted for him to climb up. Once on his shoulders, Jack stood to his full height, slipping in the mud but catching himself before he lost his footing. Leslie's heart was in her throat. She wondered if it wouldn't be a bad idea to just go ahead and call Dr. Riley.  

Kody grasped the windowsill and pulled himself up to stand.

"Dang, son," Jack whined, his face strained. "You made outta lead or something?" 

"He's stouter than he looks," Leslie informed him. Kody looked down at her with his little half smile. 

"Well, hurry and do what ya gotta do," Jack grunted.  

Kody leaned in the window, reached across the table, and took hold of the cake platter, then carefully pulled it toward him. "I got it!" 

"Give it to Leslie!" 

She stood on her tiptoes and reached as high as she could to retrieve the loot. Once the cake was safely in her capable hands, Kody lowered himself to sit on Jack's shoulders and Jack squatted to let him down.