THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP

by

CQB & Stephen

CHAPTER 1

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

“Hey! George!”

George Rossi smiled when he saw his classmate running after him.

“Hi Joe,” George greeted shyly.  He glanced nervously past his blond friend and saw two other boys close behind them.  Joe noticed the quick look and quickly put George at ease.

“That’s just my brother Frank and our friend Tony,” Joe explained. “They’re in Mrs. Miller’s second grade class.”

“Poor them!” George said sympathetically. It was rumored at Oat Street Elementary School that Mrs. Miller secretly hated children, especially boys.

“Frank says she’s not so bad,” Joe shrugged, “but Frank is weird sometimes.  I mean, he even likes school!”

George glanced back at Frank, surprised that the dark haired second grader looked pretty normal.

“That is weird,” George agreed. “The only thing good about school is lunch!”

“And recess,” countered Joe.

“And gym class,” George continued.

“And Christmas break!” Joe finished enthusiastically.  

George suddenly became very quiet.  He didn’t want Christmas break to come this year.  They only had one more day of school and then he would be home for two weeks.

“Did you get your gift for the exchange tomorrow?” Joe asked, breaking into George’s thoughts.

“Ah…yes,” George said glumly.

Joe, oblivious to his friend’s distress, happily described the gift he’d bought for the exchange.  “I hope I get my own gift back.  I bought a book about “Frankenstein” and a whole bag of Tootsie Pops®.”

“I, ah, gotta go,” George spoke up suddenly.

Joe stopped and looked up. They were in front of a big brown house with three mailboxes on the porch.

“I didn’t know you lived so close to us,” Joe said as George started up the walk.  “We live two more blocks down on High Street.”

George waved and went into the building.  Frank and Tony caught up to him and asked who his friend was.

“George sits by me in class,” Joe told them.  “He’s new here and he seemed like he needed a friend.”

“I wonder why he went in there,” Tony said as they walked past the old house.

“That’s where he lives,” Joe explained.

“But only old people live there,” Tony commented. “My dad had to turn the house into three apartments.  The apartments are rented out to three old people.”

“No families with kids?” Joe asked, surprised.

“Nope,” Tony shook his head.

Joe glanced back at the old house and then looked to Frank for an explanation.  “Why would he be there with some old people, Frank?”

Frank shook his head. “I’m not sure.  Seems pretty strange if you ask me.”

At the corner of High and Elm Streets, the Hardy brothers said good-bye to Tony and walked up the driveway to their house. Tony waved and continued walking toward his house, still three blocks away.

* * *

George walked quietly into the apartment he shared with his grandmother.  He loved Granny, but he didn’t like her dull, dark apartment.  Everything was old and musty smelling, even the small sofa he slept on at night.

“That you, George?”

“Yes Granny,” George replied and walked into the only bedroom.  Granny was sitting in a rocking chair near the window.  She turned and smiled at the child.

“Snow looks pretty, doesn’t it?” Granny asked.

“Yes,” George agreed.  “It was fun walking home with the snow coming down around me.”

“Go take a hot bath and I’ll make some soup for supper,” Granny said as she got up from the chair.  “You’re probably chilled to the bone.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

“Oh Fenton, how tragic! The child was only Joe’s age,” Laura Hardy was talking to her husband on the telephone when her two boys walked in through the back door in the kitchen. 

She hid a smile as they both loudly greeted her with excited “hellos”, only to realize that she was on the phone.  They knew the rule: Quiet voices when someone is using the telephone.

Eight year old Frank immediately stopped speaking and clamped his lips tight.  Joe, a year younger than his brother, covered his mouth with two mittened hands; his deep blue eyes peering guiltily at his mother.

She simply put a finger to her lips as a reminder, but then gave them a wink and a smile so they knew they were forgiven.

“Fenton, two very handsome young men just came home from school,” She said into the phone.  The boys stopped removing their coats to exchange an excited glance.  Daddy was on the phone!

Fenton Hardy was just a couple hours away in New York City.  The young private detective was working feverishly to finish up the case he was working on so he could be with Laura and the boys before Christmas.

The couple put aside their private conversation so the boys could speak with their father.  Frank held the phone so both he and Joe could hear. Fenton couldn’t help but smile as the boys both filled him in on all their holiday plans.

“You’ll be home soon, won’t you Dad?” Frank asked at last.

“I’m doing my very best to be there soon, Frank,” Fenton answered.  “I will absolutely be home for Christmas day, no matter what it takes.”

“I know,” Frank said with a tinge of sadness in his voice, “but I’m gonna keep hoping you get here before then.”

“Me too!” Joe chimed in with his usual exuberance.

“You do that my boys!” Fenton said with an overwhelming love for them flooding his heart.

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