Maybe it was the huge meal or the memory of a baby playing in a plastic round play car, but Betty had a delicious dream. She dreamt she was driving a special car made just for Betty.
The car was small and round, like a ball. It was brightly coloured and would fit into any parking space. She smiled in her sleep because she hated squeezing a large car into a tiny space. Betty’s dream car had no problem doing this for two good reasons. One, it was small, as I said before, and two, it was squidgy.
Betty jumped up from her nap and began to pace about the room. She wanted to start working on her car, but her stomach rumbled. First, she decided to make a pot of tea and something nice to eat.
Gingerbread Men, she smiled, licking her lips. “Yes, I’d like some Gingerbread.” She made a few dozen gingerbread men for herself, Sourpuss and the children.
Betty giggled as she moulded the dough with her tiny hands, ‘it’s a pity I couldn’t make my car from dough.’
Jonathon came around the corner of her house with his friend, Matt. They were blowing bubbles. Betty watched them with a smile on her face. They usually came to see her when they had done something wrong. Her house was a hiding place for her grandsons. The two boys went everywhere together.
As she watched them, two giant bubbles appeared. Betty asked, “Is it a bubble-blowing contest?”
Jonathon nodded, and they continued to blow their bubbles. There was a loud pop, and Matt was left with gum all over his face.
“Congratulations, Jonathon, you win. What are you chewing?”
Jonathon took his hands out of his pockets. He handed Betty a wrapper. She read the label; The most super duper gum, it said.
Jonathon said, “It’s the best for bubbles. It would stretch around a house.”
Peeping into the bowl beside her, she checked on her second batch of dough. It was nearly finished mixing.
“Try one,” he said pulling a piece of gum from his pocket. His hand got stuck and he yanked it out. The large pink blob of gum zipped through the air, landing in the bowl, where Betty’s food mixer chewed it up.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it, honest.”
Seeing Jonathon’s sad face, Betty said. “See how nice it’s making it. Giving the dough the Jonathon and Betty special touch. It is now gingerbread with pink stripes.” People survive when they swallow it so why not bake it and see what happens, she thought.
Tea that evening was a noisy event. The kitchen was full of bobbing, chattering heads. The children had come to see what Betty was inventing this week.
But Jonathon wasn’t listening to the many questions asked of Betty, for he had discovered something strange. “Betty, look.”
Betty looked. He had one of her gingerbread ducks in his hand. Every time he tried to break a piece. He couldn’t. It refused to break. It stretched. He prodded it, and the tip of his finger disappeared inside it.
“It’s soft like bubblegum. How did you do it? Why can’t I eat it?” Jonathon asked.
Betty handed him a gingerbread man. “Try him. I made these first before you came into the kitchen.” Betty’s mind was working very fast. She was doing her maths.
Dough plus bubble gum is equal to a strong, bendy material. Betty had been searching for a way to make a lasting, unbreakable car! And now, she had the perfect recipe.
Chapter 2
Jonathan gets a Job.
Next morning Betty said to Jonathon “I need a strong pair of hands, could you help?”
Jonathon smiled. “Yes.”
Betty then told him what she needed to do. Jonathon grinned. “I will meet you at the shop tomorrow morning. You can depend on me, Gran.”
Jonathon raced home to tell his parents he would be an inventor. He spent the evening hammering and singing in his Dad’s shed. When he was finished, he felt proud of his handiwork. Jonathon had converted his sister’s doll’s pram into a trailer. It was now attached to his bike. ‘Ready for action,’ he thought, smiling to himself.
June, his baby sister didn’t agree. “That’s mine, I put all my building blocks and dolls and teddies in there and bring them for a spin in the garden.”
“Rubbish you haven’t used it in years.”
“I’ll tell mum.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“It’s to help Betty. It’s a secret. I’ll ask Betty if you can be the first one to see her surprise when it’s ready.”
June considered this for a moment. “Promise?”
He promised. “You had better remember or I’ll tell mum” she warned as she flounced off to bed.
Chapter 3
A Shopping Trip.
Mr. Twitchet, the man who owned the corner shop, was excited. He hadn’t sold so much as a chocolate bar all morning. Then Betty arrived. She was his favourite customer because she always bought a lot of things. Rubbing his hands together, he waited for Betty to add something else to her shopping box. It was looking good. So far, she had bought fifteen packs of flour and fifteen packs of sugar. He thought this was a bit much, even for a cake sale.
“All the super duper bubble gums that you have, please.”
“All,” he stammered.
“Yes, please,” Betty said. As he raced to the backroom to collect the last box, Betty winked at Jonathon.
Mr Twitchet surveyed the boxful with a frown on his large forehead. “I will first drop this lot off at your house tomorrow morning.”
“We will take it now. The sooner we start, the better.”
“Something extra special is it?” He loved gossip.
“It might be, and then again, it might not.’ Betty winked at him. Mr Twitchet looked sad.
Jonathon smirked. The wheels were sagging when they loaded Betty’s cart and Jonathon’s cart with the groceries. Jonathon looked at his bicycle and the very full cart behind it.
“Do you think we will make it? It looks very heavy?”
“Course we will. Didn’t the best construction man build your cart?”
Jonathon beamed at this but wasn’t sure and kept looking over his shoulder. For Betty’s cart, she used a small wheelbarrow. It looked like it was in charge of Betty as it swayed this way. She didn’t notice. She was whistling as she cycled along.
When they arrived at Betty’s house, they had a tea break first. Jonathon kept staring out of the window, he was still waiting for a tyre to burst. When they finished their snack of orange juice and proper gingerbread men, they went to unload the trailers.
He saw that the gingerbread ducks were on the bird table. Jonathon felt sorry for the birds. Each time they pecked a piece, and pulled it, they ended up hitting their heads off the table. The birds gave up and flew to the fence, afraid to come near the gingerbread ducks.
Unloading the carts was a slow, tough job. By the time they finished Betty’s kitchen looked as though it would burst. Every worktop was stacked high. Flour, sugar, and eggs were fighting for space. Betty had collected the eggs from her hens earlier. They were still unhappy at being woken up so early.
“Should I have worn my old clothes, Betty?” Jonathon didn’t know what he would have to do but, no doubt, it would be more fun than weeding the garden. He asked, “Is this going to be messy?”
Betty gave him the answer he was hoping for, “Very.”
He gave her a quick grin before jumping over Sourpuss and racing home.
Chapter 4
Making Plans and Dough.
On his way back to Betty’s house Jonathon kept peeping over his shoulder in case his sister was following him. Jonathon had told his mum where he was going, June overheard them. She said ‘If Betty needs help, I’ll go with you too!’
Unfortunately mum agreed, “I think that is a very kind thought June. I’m sure Betty would love some help.”
“But it will be messy.” Jonathon didn’t want her helping them, because he knew she wouldn’t help, she would just be bossy.
“I’ll wear old clothes, like you.” June grinned at him.
He hoped Betty hadn’t started without him. But he shouldn’t have worried. She was sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by sheets of paper. “Great, you are back and you brought June.”
June grinned at Betty. “I came to help you, Gran.”
“Thank you, dear”, Betty said, ignoring Jonathon, who made a face at June.
Jonathon looked at the drawing on the table. He noticed that the bin was overflowing with pages. “Is this it? What is it?” He was twisting the page this way and that. It was very round, it had two doors and windows. He peered closer at it. It had four wheels. He grinned. “It’s a car.”
“Right but it will be a car with a difference.”
“What about the engine?”
Betty felt her face go red. “I hadn’t got round to that part.”
Jonathon looked at her thoughtfully. “It could be like our electric lawnmower.”
“But the whole village would be twisted and knotted up with the cord for the plug.” Betty was chuckling. She was standing at her kitchen sink looking out onto her garden. She smiled. “I think my lawnmower engine would be perfect. And I don’t mind not mowing the lawn. ”
Jonathon grinned. “I’ll go and look at it.”
A minute later he was back. “We need Matt.“ He raced off to get his friend, who spent a lot of time in his Dad’s garage. Matt was building his own Go Kart.
Betty left them happily pulling apart her lawnmower and went indoors to start mixing the very large amounts of dough.
Two hours later the kitchen smelt of bubble gum and ginger. A huge ball of dough sat on the table. It took Betty a while to walk around it.
“Where do I roll it out?” she wondered. In a corner of her yard, she saw a fat pigeon sitting on an old piece of plastic pipe.
Aha!“ Betty ran outside. It was a very big yard, big enough to roll out a giant piece of dough. The pipe would do nicely to roll it out. Or would it? There was only one way to find out, she decided.
She went inside. “June, we need to move it outside.”
June’s ringlets bobbed about as she jumped off the chair. “When you shout, – ready steady go! I‘ll push.”
Betty did and on “Go!” they pushed as hard as they could. It was no use. It didn’t even quiver.
Chapter 5
Problems.
Betty was sitting on a chair thinking.
June was getting hungry. She licked her lips. “Just a taste, ” she whispered to Sourpuss. She inserted her finger into the dough and pulled out a chunk. It stretched. June pulled some more. It stretched again. June’s bottom lip shook. “I don’t like this,” she said walking out of the room with a lump of dough stuck to her finger.
“If the four of us give it a push, then we might move it,” Betty said and stopped. She couldn’t see June, but she did see a long rope attached to the ball of dough. The rope was moving. She followed it out into her hallway and straight out her front door to see June was trapped by the rope which wrapped about her hand. June’s bottom lip wobbled. “I didn’t mean to do it; I just wanted a taste. It smelt lovely.” June cried, “It won’t let me go!”
Jonathon arrived to see what was happening. He chuckled. “Maybe next time you will do as you’re told.”
June scowled back at him. Betty decided this was a good time to interrupt and said, “I’ll have you out in a moment. “ She went back inside and appeared waving a scissors. “This will do it.”
With a loud snap the gingerbread rope flew straight back into the kitchen. There was a terrified yowl. Racing inside, they found Sourpuss tangled up in the dough. Betty shook her head. The cat began to shiver as she began to cut him free with a loud snip, snap. Dough and hair flew around the kitchen.
Jonathon turned his attention to the dough. Anywhere was better then looking at a cat with big chunks of fur missing. “It’s really huge, what we need is extra strong help.” He smiled. “I’ll be back” he told them as he ran out the door.
June shrugged her shoulders. “He’s always doing that,” she said.
Chapter 6
Solutions.
Betty heard a sound like thunder, rolling about in the sky. The small house was shaking. “It’s Dad” June said, running out the back door.
Betty followed her. June’s Dad stood beside his truck. There was a small crane on the back of the truck. Jonathon was explaining the problem.
“It’s really big, so big the table will burst at any moment.” He said.
“Goodness!” said Jonathon’s Dad.
“Oh my,” said Betty because she hadn’t thought of this.
“No, it won’t!” said Matt. “Sourpuss is underneath it! He’ll hold it up.”
The table was getting very bendy in the middle. “I don’t think it’s supposed to do that,” said a worried Betty.
“No problem!” said Jonathon’s Dad. “We’ll get it out.”
Betty and June sat on the wall watching. First straps were put around the dough. Then a rope was attached to the straps. Next Jonathon’s Dad walked to the front of the truck and hit a lever. Like magic the crane pulled the dough up. The table gave a creak of relief as the dough was lifted.
Betty held her breath, until the dough was safely placed in the middle of her yard.
“Thank you” she said, standing on tip-toe to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Jonathon’s Dad said, “My pleasure!” He left quickly.
Betty got out her chainsaw and cut the dough in four pieces. June wondered why they couldn’t have done that in the house but decided to keep quiet.
Chapter 7
Putting The Jig Saw Together.
Next morning, the whole road smelt of bubblegum gingerbread. Betty’s three helpers arrived early. Giant pieces of gingerbread were stacked everywhere.
“Interesting !” said Jonathon. “But where is Betty?” They found Betty curled up on the settee fast asleep with Sourpuss sleeping at her feet. Both of them were snoring loudly. June giggled. “They’re making music!”
Betty woke up. She gave a big stretch. “Breakfast, I think.”
It was eaten on the back doorstep. The table looked bumpy and unsafe. No one minded sitting in the sunshine eating bacon sandwiches while three blackbirds provided some music. After breakfast, it was time to start putting the jig saw together. The first two pieces slotted together with a soft click. When all of the pieces were joined together everyone cheered. Betty hopped about, saying. “Yes this will do very nicely.”
Betty handed each of them a couple of super duper whoppers. “Chew them well then do this.” They watched as she pulled her piece from her mouth and placed it at one of the corners of the car and stretched it as far as she could along the join. Then she patted it into the join. “That should hold when it dries and then I can tack it together properly.”
Later Betty and June watched Jonathon and Matt put the engine under the bonnet. June was bored and was looking for something to do. “Can I paint it?” She asked.
“No thank you. I like it as it is,” Betty said.
Chapter 8
The Test Drive.
It had taken the rest of the evening to finish the car. When her helpers went home, Betty decided to test her car in the middle of the night. But she had a problem. The car had an engine, a steering wheel and brakes, but no lights!
She searched for an answer to this tricky problem. All she found was loads of candles sitting in a row on a shelf. (They were part of her design for a plate warmer.)
“Bother,” she muttered as she walked about her workshop. She kicked a bin over, and it clanked loudly. Betty peered inside. There was an old miner’s helmet with a light. ”Great, ” she said, walking about her car. “But where to put it?”
A soft “Woof” made her smile. It was Harry’s dog Ruffio. He often called to visit Betty. She was teaching him tricks. He was good at ”Sit” and “Stay”.
She stared at him. An idea landed. She tied a torch to Ruffio’s collar. Next, she placed the helmet on his head and waited to see what he would do. Ruffio liked it. He was nosing about in corners, which until now had been dark and boring.
Betty put him on the roof of her car. “Stay” she commanded. Ruffio stared blankly back at her. He thought the world looked much more interesting from his high seat on the roof.
Chapter 9
Success and Disaster.
Betty drove out of her driveway. It was very late, and no one was about. “So far, so good,” she muttered.
She drove to the main street. A space was between the grocer’s van and the butcher’s car. This was her important test.
After some time and with the occasional ‘Woof’ of encouragement from Ruffio – Betty was parked. She jumped out to see how well she did. The car and the van had a liberal sprinkling of pink and brown crumbs on them, but no damage was done to either.
“Fantastic!” Betty leaned up and hugged Ruffio. They returned home. Feeling tired after her midnight adventure, she decided to leave Ruffio where he was, curled up and fast asleep on the roof of her car.
Betty was woken by an unusual sound—the barking of many dogs. She dressed quickly. The door of her shed was open. ‘Funny, I don’t remember leaving it open,’ she said and peered inside.
At once, she wished she were back in bed because Betty’s bubble car was shrinking fast. It was oddly shaped and surrounded by a pile of happy-looking dogs and cats. The cold air had softened the gingerbread mixture, so everyone was having breakfast. They were eating her car.
“Oh no’ she groaned “’ah, well we will have to start again.”
Just then Jonathon and Matt arrived. ‘All that hard work for nothing!’ said Matt.
Betty smiled and said, ‘Breakfast first. Afterwards, we will make the improved version with lights and no dogs.’
As they walked back up the path, many bouncing cats and dogs passed them.
Copyright 2015 Maria Matthews