The Haunted Bakery Part 2
The following couple of days were busy ones, for sure. Mom went for a couple of job interviews, the boys had to register at the library for some summer reading program, and unpacking the balance of their things seemed to take forever. The boys were sharing a room now and there were a few disagreements about whose stuff had to go where. Jamie usually won, being the oldest and strongest of the two. Grandma also needed help with things around the house and yard. The chore that took longest and that was detested the most was weeding the garden. Grandma mentioned that the boys would love what came out of the soil later on, so there was no need to complain.
As things quietened down, the boys became adventurous. They asked Mom if they could take the bikes Grandma had found out for a ride to town. It was agreed that they could, but had to report back within three hours. With a wave of their hand, they were off like a couple of horses breaking through the gate.
Jamie and Louie laughed, raced each other, stopped for a barking dog, swerved to miss a cat and a kid on his bike. They were enjoying their freedom. Before realizing it, they had stopped in front of the bakery. They dropped their bikes on the sidewalk and walked to the storefront. They rubbed their fists on the glass to clean a spot. There was no way to see inside of that building through the papers that still hung on the glass.
“Whatcha think Louie, should we try the door?” Jamie asked already walking towards the door. His hand reached for the knob and was surprised when it yielded to his pressure. He glanced over his shoulder at Louie and shrugged. “Whatcha think?” he repeated.
“Sure! I ain’t afraid! Right Jamie?” Louie stated, putting on a brave front.
The door opened quietly and they slipped inside, hoping that no one noticed them enter. It didn’t look scary, just a bit dusty. The racks and display cabinets were all in place. The wood floors showed footprints in the dust of recent activity. They wondered who was walking about here.
“What do you boys want? Why are you in here?” A thickly accented voice boomed from behind them.
Jamie and Louie jumped and turned to run out the door only to find it shut and blocked by a person standing with arms crossed in froont of a white apron. Louie felt sick suddenly, and fainting seemed likely. Jamie grabbed his arm and swallowed hard.
“Sit down Louie. A…sir, we were just looking around. M…my, my Grandma said that the store was c..c…closed a…and I j..just wanted to to see what was in here. Sorry to have barged in. We’ll go now, OK?” Jamie was usually brave and self-assured, but the figure looming over them was intimidating.
“No, you can not go anywhere. Not yet.” the man said. His accent was thick and hard to understand, but his actions made up for any confusion that may be had. “You must sit. I make something for you. What you like?”
Louie clung to Jamies’ arm and that made it difficult for them to manouver themselves into the wooden chairs beside them. Still, they took the postions requested rather quickly. Louie whispered into Jamies’ ear that he was not hungry and wanted to go. Jamie annoyedly brushed Louies’ clinging hand away and harshly whispered his reply to b quiet.
The man continued to speak, taking a few steps closer to the young men. “When was last time you had big chewy cinnamon bun, hey, hey? I have some for you. You like them warm? With butter? Da? I get for you.” he said as he turned toward the kitchen. He stopped and added, ” Oh, don’t worry, the door is not open now. You must eat now.”
It was curiosity that got them in the jam they were in, and curiosity that sent Jamie running to the door to open it. Just as they were told, it would not budge! What was the next plan going to be? Maybe there was some way to escape from the kitchen. Maybe he could pretend to help and look around. His mind wandered quickly to the punishment that he was going to get from Grandma and Mom. He should have listened!
Jamie waved quickly to Louie to follow him towards the kitchen. Louie was frightened, to say the least, and shook his head no. Once again Jamie, waved at him to come to his side, with a bit more urgency. Louie shook his head again – no! Jamie rolled his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip, as he always did when he was angry. Slowly he advanced towards the kitchen, cautiously stretching his neck to see where the man was. He noticed him working at the counter, placing the cinnamon buns on plates. He brushed his hands off on his apron and smiled at the creation. As he looked up he saw Jamie peeking in at him.
“Here, for you, das good!” the man said as he picked up the two plates, turning towards Jamie.
Jamie backed away, keeping pace with the man, refusing to reach for the plates. He stumbled and fell backwards onto his brother. “Umphh!” Louie exclaimed as his brother squished him against the chair.
“Boys, boys, no need to worry yourselves, here eat, we talk!” the man said.
Slowly they moved towards the table, uncertain what would happen if they refused. The man introduced himself as Mr. K, because everyone had trouble saying his last name. It did not take long to warm the boys up to his humour. They asked questions about his home country and the kids that lived there, schools and what games they played. Before long they had eaten the cinnamon buns and drank a glass of water that he offered to wash it down with.
“Now what else would you like the fabulous Mr. K. to bake for you?” he asked in a voice that hinted something was not quite right. The boys may have been too naive to catch the implication. If they had been a little older or wiser perhaps they would not have asked for the next dish.
“Creampuffs!” both boys answered almost simultanously.
“Ha, creampuffs it is then!” Mr. K. disappeared to the kitchen once again.
The boys were relaxed enough and chatted about the stories that Mr. K. told. They started the next list of questions for him while they waited for the requested dessert. One thing they totally forgot about was the check in time they had promised their Mom when they left home earlier.
Both Mom and Grandma were silently eyeing up the clock, thinking that at any moment the boys would be cycling up the road. Neither one spoke to the other, but the concern was felt in the air. Their Mom was thinking that she would give them another half hour before jumping into her truck and looking for them. Grandma was giving them forty-five minutes.
Back at the bakery, the boys were feasting on the best cream puffs ever! They didn’t notice that Mr. K. was standing just behind them with a grin on his face, one might say an evil grin, at that.
“Well boys, now that you have started eating this wonderful food, I have a surprise for you!” he said. “You cannot leave until you order some more! Ha-ha, isn’t that wonderful!” he exclaimed, as he clapped his hands together.
“Oh, I have no problem with that Mr. K.! This is scrump-did-i-licious! What do you have for cake?” Louie spoke between swallows.
“I have cake. Lots of cake! It be up right away, he-he!” he replied, walking away once again.
Before they knew it there were pices of pastry flying around the room, swirling above their heads. They were both awestruck as they watched the stream of food float and swirl. They grabbed a piece here and there, but it seemed as soon as they grabbed one, another two would appear. Before long the room seemed almost totally filled with cakes, cookies, cupcakes, long johns, tarts and so much more.
“MR. K.! Please, no more food! We have had enough! We have to go home!” Jamie shouted past the food.
“NO!” Mr. K. thundered his reply, “You MUST not leave until all the food is gone!”
The boys tried hard to stuff more morsels into their mouths, but they could not eat any more. They were so scared. They ran to the front door, but found it was still locked. How could they escape! Quickly they ran through the tornado of pastry into the kitchen. The food followed, much to their chagrin.
It took three seconds to find the back door, run to it and fling it open. Jamie was in as much shock for finding the door unlocked as he was that they were actually running up the street. Where was everyone, he wondered, can’t anyone hear me yelling for help? The food still followed them. Their bellies were so full it made running hard. He wasn’t sure if he should run to the front and get their bikes or what. If only someone would help!
He turned towards the main street once they rounded the alley in back of the bakery. Their bikes were not there! Oh no! Now what? Just as Louie caught up to Jamie, he noticed that there was a truck that looked like his Mom’s slowly driving down Maiin St., with their bikes in the back! He glanced hard into the side mirror and recognized the face, it was his Mom! Thank goodness.
“Mom! Mom! Help!” Jamie screeched out. Louie joined in too. They stilll had the food swirling about them. It seemed to be growing still, and they weren’t even eating anything.
The dogs! The dogs were moving in about them and biting at and eating what ever they could grab-THEY were making the food grow. The birds were next, swooping and diving at the conglomerate of food. If the animals didn’t stop eating the food the whole town would be engulfed and suffocate!
“HELP! MOM! PLEASE HELP!” they screamed. The brake lights lit up on the truck. Mom had heard them.
She could not believe what she saw as she looked out the window! “Mom,” she exclaimed to the boys Grandma,”what has happened? Look! Baking everywhere! What in the world?”
“I warned them to stay away from the bakery! I told them! Now look what has happened! Grab the boys, we need to get to the house and grab my book.” Grandma said firmly.
“Really Mom, this is not the time to grab a dang book!”
“Don’t argue with me! Do it! Boys get up here!” she yelled.
It took no time for the boys to hop in the back of the truck and head to the old house. “Stay here!” she said, as she jumped out of the truck.
The boys clamoured in to the front of the truck to avoid the flying food. They tried to explain to their Mom what had happened and how sorry they were for the trouble they were causing.
“I think your Grandma will deal with that after she gets her book. Here she comes now, make room for her, now.” Mom said.
“Get us down to the creek, girl! It must be near the town park. I hope you boys are willing to jump into the water, ’cause that’s the only way to fix this!” Grandma said.
At this point the boys were willing to do what ever was necessary to rid the town of this mess. They had so many questions they wanted to ask Grandma, but they could tell by her face, it was not the time. Louie looked at the book Grandma was holding. There were kind of scary pictures on the cover, like pictures of snakes and fire pits and people wearing wierd clothes. He reached out to touch the cover of it, but Grandma quickly tucked it deeper under her arm. Mom arrived back in town and stopped at the park.
