Chapter 18 – A Balsam Tree for Katie
Chapter 18 – A Balsam Tree for Katie Papa promised to get our Christmas tree this morning. I want a balsam because their needles don’t pick as much as a spruce tree, and they smell better.
“I always liked balsams, Katie,” Grandpa says. “If I was younger, I’d go with you. I’d drive the tractor as fast as the wind.” Grandpa’s in a good mood. I guess he found the last of Granny’s dandelion wine.
I put on my jacket and step outside. Blew, Flint, and Johnny are helping Papa throw a ladder, shovels, and a saw in the cart. Papa starts the tractor and hitches the cart behind it. We hop in and Lard joins us. We start singing “Jingle Bells” as Flint snaps an invisible whip at the invisible reindeer.
The road’s slippery and the tractor’s chains dig into the
