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42 pages

English

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A Christmas Calamity Avoided! Can the Sisters raise enough money to buy Christmas gifts for children in need? Or will they be stuck with a lot of unwanted Christmas trees? Meet the Sisters of the Last Straw, a community of Sisters trying hard to overcome their bad habits. Join these lovable misfit nuns in their latest adventure as they learn to bring their problems to God in prayer...and try to catch a Christmas tree thief!

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Children's

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Publié par	TAN Books
Date de parution	08 octobre 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781505115895
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0600€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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SISTERS of the LAST STRAW
The Case of the Christmas Tree Capers
Karen Kelly Boyce
SISTERS of the LAST STRAW
The Case of the Christmas Tree Capers
TAN Books Charlotte, North Carolina
Copyright © 2019 Karen Kelly Boyce
All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts used in critical review, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Cover art copyright © by Sue Anderson Gioulis. Cover and interior illustrations copyright © by Sue Anderson Gioulis. Book design by Regina Doman
ISBN: 978-1-5051-1587-1
Published in the United States by TAN Books PO Box 410487 Charlotte, NC 28241 www.TANBooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
Dedicated to a beautiful girl and a great fan, Grace Gaudino
Contents
The Trees Arrive
Sister Spies
A Horse Called Backwards
A Mystery Unsolved
Money Made
To Catch a Thief
Gifts for All
Christmas Surprises

Chapter 1
The Trees Arrive
Mother Mercy fingered her rosary as she knelt in the chapel. Dear Lord, please help me to learn patience. Give me the grace…
“CHOMP…CHOMP…SMACK!”
Mother’s body straightened as she tried to resume her silent prayers…. the grace to remain calm. The strength to control my…
“SMACK…SLURP…GULP!”
Mother Mercy’s eyes flew open. Her face heated and her lips tightened. Turning abruptly, she saw Sister Lovely kneeling in the pew behind her. Sister Lovely’s eyes were closed and her hands were folded in prayer. She looked so saintly, as if she were about to rise to heaven itself. Then, suddenly her mouth moved.
“SMACK…SMACK…CHAM!”
She’s chewing gum! Mother Mercy realized as all the other Sisters turned to look at Lovely. However, deep in prayer, with her eyes closed, Sister Lovely continued chomping away at the gum in her mouth.
Mother Mercy’s fists tightened around her rosary. Sister Shiny’s mouth hung open. Sister Lacey snickered as the gum chewing sounds rose and fell in volume. None of the Sisters could concentrate on their prayers. That is, except for Lovely, who seemed lost in the mysteries of her rosary.
Mother stomped out of the chapel. The other Sisters followed. Sister Wanda had prepared breakfast, and morning prayers were over before they began.
Mercy tried to calm herself. After all, this was why she founded this young community of religious. Each of the Sisters had bad habits they were trying to overcome. Sister Wanda lost everything, including herself. Sister Shiny couldn’t stop cleaning and admiring herself in the mirror. Lacey fought a habit of bad language, while Mother Mercy struggled to control her anger. Sister Krumbles was prone to accidents. Poor Sister Lovely is giving up smoking, and the gum chewing seems to help , thought Mother.
A few minutes later, Sister Lovely entered the room and seemed unaware that anything was wrong. Joining the others for breakfast, Lovely took the gum out of her mouth and stuck the wad under the table top. No one noticed, and she fully intended to remove the gum after breakfast. However, by the time she had eaten all her eggs and the Sisters cleaned up the remnants of breakfast, Sister Lovely forgot about the gum.
SCREECH! the winding wheels sounded as a truck braked on the road outside the convent.
“The trees are here!” shouted Sister Krumbles. She jumped up and down, looking out the picture window. Turning, she ran toward the kitchen door. The truck’s backup alarms sounded as Krumbles hit the newly polished floor and started skidding.
“Ah…!” Sister Krumbles yelled.
The other Sisters watched in wonder. Krumbles twisted and twirled like a skateboarder. It was magical! That is, until she hit the kitchen counter.
“Whoa…aaa!” Krumbles yelled as she spun around in a tight circle. Spinning faster and faster, she became a blur and her form tightened. Like a top, Krumbles spun as if she would never stop. Finally, much to the relief of the others, she grabbed the doorknob of the back door. She didn’t fall. She didn’t crash. She slowed to a graceful stand at the kitchen door.
With a big grin, she turned to look at all the other Sisters, who stood frozen with fear. “Well, why are you waiting? Let’s get out and see the trees!”
“Guess we should get outside.” Sister Lovely laughed, and out they went.
“Son of a Jam-packed Jalopy!” shouted Sister Lacey. “I can’t believe how many we ordered!”
The heavy-set driver huffed and puffed as he handed his partner each tree. The tall, thin partner dragged each tree to a large pile that he was creating at the top of the driveway. In less than fifteen minutes, they closed the back of the truck, jumped in the cab, and pulled away.
All the Sisters stood in a circle around the mountainous heap of trees.
“Pile of Pines!” shouted Sister Lacey. “What now?”
Mother Mercy looked stumped.
Sister Lacey had seen an ad for shipments of pine trees in a gardening magazine. It had seemed like a wonderful way to raise money for Christmas gifts for all the poor children in town. However, with a large pile of trees from Canada sitting on the driveway, the Sisters were baffled.
“I’ll make a sign so everyone passing can see that we have trees for sale,” shouted Sister Shiny as she escaped into the house.
Looking around, Sister Lovely smiled. “Well, we’d better get these trees standing so people can see them from the street!”
The trees were bulky and awkward. Sister Krumbles and Mother Mercy struggled to lift the top tree. The branches scratched Krumble’s cheek as she pulled. The tree swayed back and forth as Mother tried to hold it still.
“How do we make it stay up?” Mother Mercy asked.
Krumbles pulled one large pine back and leaned it against the side of the house. It didn’t look very special.
Sisters Wanda and Lovely lifted another large tree and dragged it back to lean it against the garage. It looked so ordinary.
Sister Lovely, always trying to be cheerful, said, “Well, two down and just forty-eight more to go!”
After a lot of hard work, half of the trees lined both the side of the house and the garage. Unfortunately, the pile on the driveway didn’t look any smaller. The standing pines didn’t look like Christmas trees.
Sister Lovely rubbed her back. Mother Mercy wiped her brow. Their faces had been scratched by the branches. Pine needles covered their habits. Sister Krumbles hadn’t even noticed the large pine branch that was stuck in her veil as she tried to catch her breath.
Sister Shiny, spotlessly clean, came out of the back door carrying a large poster board that said in big black letters “CHRISTMAS TREES FOR SALE - $30.00 EACH!”
“What a wonderful sign! I’ll sit out front,” Sister Lovely offered as she took a lawn chair and positioned herself by the sidewalk.
“We’ll wait here!” said Sister Wanda. “The customers will need help tying the trees to their cars.”
Mother Mercy smiled. “This was a wonderful idea. Each tree cost us just ten dollars. If we sell all fifty trees for thirty dollars, we’ll make enough money to buy all the needy children great Christmas gifts.”
The Sisters sat in chairs by the remaining pile of trees and waited. People walked and drove by but didn’t seem to notice them. A few people passing stopped and read the sign that Sister Lovely held. Still, they kept going. No one bought a single tree.
The Sisters sat for two hours. When they got cold, Sister Wanda brought out a few blankets, but even with the blankets, the cold wind turned their fingers blue and their noses red. No one stopped to buy a Christmas tree.
“Sad Sack Sale! What could be wrong?” asked Sister Lacey. “I was sure that the trees would sell!”
Mother Mercy stamped her foot. “I KNEW IT! I knew we would get swindled. It was a harebrained scheme! We spent our Christmas money on these trees and no one is buying them.”
Lacey hung her head in shame. “Sorrowful Senseless Scheme! It’s my fault; it was my idea to order the trees.”
Sister Krumbles put her arm around Lacey. “It’s not your fault. We forgot to ask God to bless us and the trees.”
Mother Mercy smiled for the first time that morning. Looking around, she lifted her arms and took the hands of two other Sisters. The Sisters joined hands and formed a circle around the pile of Christmas trees.
“Let us pray,” said Mother Mercy. “Lord bless these trees. Let the evergreens remind people of the eternal life that awaits us all. May the lights on these trees remind them of the Light of Christ, who came to us as a baby more than two thousand years ago. AND PLEASE! Let people come and buy the trees so we may have enough money to buy gifts for all your children. Let us pray! Hail Mary, full of grace…”
After praying, a sense of peace filled the Sisters.
“We should never forget to pray,” Sister Lovely smiled. “God always answers prayer. I am sure He’ll send us the inspiration needed to sell our trees.”
“I know why people aren’t stopping to buy the trees,” Sister Wanda said. “Whenever my father took me to pick out our Christmas tree, the trees were all lit up. Music was playing and the lot was all decorated. These trees don’t look like Christmas trees.”
All the Sisters were silent. They looked around at the plain yard and the pile of trees.