MAG AND ALICE ON A TREASURE HUNT WRITTEN BY LOIS NEWBEGIN VALENTIN

MAG AND ALICE ON A TREASURE HUNT
WRITTEN BY LOIS NEWBEGIN  VALENTIN

One day  when Mag and Alice  had nothing to do, they met in their clubhouse.  The clubhouse was actually a refrigerator box with windows and a door cut into it. It was partially hidden by an old oak tree. A path in front led to Mag’s house.

   Deep in thought in the clubhouse, Alice came up with  the idea to have a treasure hunt . Of course, they didn’t really have any treasure, so they decided to look for something good enough to be their treasure.

   They looked everywhere- up the  tree, under the porch, in the house, and under the bushes. At last they came to the shed. And their it was- their treasure.  BLACK PAINT! At least to them , it was black paint. In reality, it was black tire sealer , the tar-like substance used to patch holes in car tires.  It was perfect for what they had in mind. They were going to paint their old tricycles.  The sealer belonged to Mag’s father and they hadn’t asked permission to use it, but they did anyway.

   They put the tricycles, the bucket of  ‘paint’, a long stick for stirring, and two paint brushes in Mag’s driveway. It took  half an hour to paint. They had a great time painting. When they were finished  everything was a mess. The tar was stuck to everything., in their hair, on their clothes, on the tricycles, brushes, bucket, and especially on the driveway where Mag’s father would be parking his car after work.

   Mag’s mother noticed they were too quiet. She knew something was up. When she found them ,. She screamed aloud., “ OH NO! OH NO! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?”

   She sent Alice home, called her mother to explain, put Mag in the tub  to soak and  set about cleaning the driveway. Mrs. Tonk came to help. They used Lestoil, scrub brushes, and the garden hose. They scrubbed and scrubbed for two hours. Finally it was clean enough . They went home to check on their daughters. They yelled , scolded, spanked them and sent them to their rooms.

   When Mag’s father came home he was told what had happened. All he said was that they had done a good job.  He hadn’t seen  what a mess everything was.

   Mag and Alice had to stay in their rooms only coming out for supper and to use the bathroom.  Even though they had been punished, each was planning something exciting and different to do.