Marvel Mansion is an old house in the rural country. Not really a mansion but to the brothers, sisters, and neighborhood friends, it looks pretty big. The story takes place during school's summer vacation and how they became a gang to help protect their friend, Nelda Lou from harm's way. The book will take you into the lives of friends forever and how they managed to stay busy and have fun at the same time. You will meet an Ole Oak Tree who loves the gang and how his friends are tree frogs, believe it or not. You will meet a mystery man who the gang tries desperately to find out who or what he is. Read the book and let you mind wander with the characters. Is Nelda Lee in harm's way? And will they find the answers to their questions?
MARVEL Mansion Gang
By Connie EllenTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Connie Ellen
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4269-5968-4Chapter One
Marvel Mansion Gang
Randall Ray came out the front door at a run. The girls were already up in the tree waiting for him. It was easy to tell why he was late—he had "put-away duty." All the kids had to help with certain chores and doing the dishes was one of them. His job this week was to put away the dishes, which meant getting done last. He had to wait until all the drying and washing was over.
After the screened door slammed, Randall Ray turned and jumped off the porch and over the bushes. Now these were not ordinary bushes. They were majestic. Each stem had a little bouquet of small white flowers, and when you touched them they would scatter in the breeze causing a white cloud of flower pedals. Corrie Ellen thought they were the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen and she spent her time, when she was not swinging in the old porch swing, gathering the little bouquets. The majestic bushes surrounded the house on three sides and there was a jumping-over place at each end of the porch. The bushes had been jumped over so many times they had grooves on their tops.
"I hate putting away," yelled Randall Ray. "Next week its your turn Corrie Ellen." Corrie looked down at him as he started to climb the massive oak tree that stood in the front yard. She was sitting in her usual spot near the top.
"Its not my fault. I washed as fast as I could. Bernice Betty is too slow drying," exclaimed Corrie Ellen. Randall Ray took his seat, and they looked in the direction of Nelda Lous house. This house had been the subject of their meetings for about a week.
Donna Belle said, "Do you think "It" will be out tonight?"
Randall Ray shuttered, "Probably, we have to keep watch." They agreed and would all try to be back. Down they climbed. Each went their separate ways, except Corrie Ellen and Randall Ray.
Corrie Ellen wondered, "Do you think Donna Belle will get to come back tonight? She has to be very careful sneaking out. Last night her brother Donald kept watch for her, but he cant do that every night."
Randall Ray explained. If she couldn't come all the time, he would have to keep her informed about "It." "We will need everyone to help," he reasoned.
School vacation was hard enough on farm kids. They knew they would not be able to see their friends for three months. So what do they do? Play, work, and make—believe. Some of their make-believe will come true as their adventure unfolds.
Farm kids had to make up something to make the summer go faster. This was not the case with the gang that lived within the south boundary. From an ole tree to an old man, this gang was surrounded by magic. They did not realize it, but it was there. Read on and imagine yourself as one of "The Marvel Mansion Gang."
Chapter Two
Responsibility
School was out for the summer, and already the gang at Marvel Mansion was up to something. Marvel Mansion was not really a mansion. It was just a big, old farmhouse with three bedrooms upstairs and one bedroom downstairs. It did have a bathroom in it, but it was pretty crowded with eight kids and their parents.
Marvel Mansion came about its name by accident. Down the road, Nelda Lou lived with her family. They owned the Marvel farm. Their house was very modern and nice, but it just had Nelda Lou in it. Nelda Lou liked our house better. She called it her Marvel Mansion, meaning to her it was a special place to play. So we became the Marvel Mansion Gang—just to ourselves though; we didnt want anyone knowing our business.
Randall Ray started thinking. He was the oldest of the gang, and he had a big responsibility keeping everyone safe. He was the only boy so far this summer. He thought about his little brother, Allen Robert. Maybe he could bring him into the gang. Allen Robert was smaller and younger than the rest, but he had grown this past school year.
Randall Ray looked down the road where Donna Belle was walking back home. She lived about a quarter of a mile away in an old, rented farmhouse. Her family didn't have much, and Donna Belle was not too healthy. She was born with a crooked back, but she was a good climber. She was not afraid of anything.
Bernice Betty was one of Randall Ray's sisters. She had long legs and could run very fast. Corrie Ellen was Randall Ray's sister too. With her good eyes, they really needed her. Nelda Lou was not like them at all. She could not run, couldn't climb very good, and she complained a lot; but she still was one of the gang. They had all grown up together about seven miles from the nearest town. With all the jobs they had to do, it was going to be a busy summer.
Chapter Three
The Bull in the Barn
The sun had already made its appearance in the eastern sky. It had spread sunrays of red, gold, and yellow. The birds had taken up flight and were singing their morning songs. Indeed, farm country is an exception to the ordinary. It has lots of open spaces where the span of sky is so big you cannot look at the whole thing at once.
A cool, spring breeze floated through the white, sheer curtains as Corrie Ellen turned to look at the clock on the nightstand next to her bed. Seven oclock. She could hear her brother moving around in the room next to hers. They had their own rooms. The younger brothers and sisters had to share. Through the floor vent in her room, she could hear her father talking. "He is too old to have this happen to him. That old shack he lives in could fall down any day now. The only possessions he has are his silver dollars." Corrie Ellen knew he was talking about the hermit at the end of the bean field.
Corrie Ellen got out of bed knowing it was going to be a fun day. No school for three months. She had some catching up to do. She put on her play clothes and went down the narrow stairs to the kitchen. Her father was at the table drinking coffee and talking to her mother. When he saw Randall Ray and her coming around the corner, he included them in the conversation. He was explaining why the neighbors bull was in the barn. He warned their mother not to let them go near the barn. The old bull might be ornery right now. When he left for the fields, he reminded them again—don't go near the barn.
With downcast faces, their lower lips so low they could have touched the ground, Randall Ray and Corrie Ellen walked slowly out of the kitchen. They took their favorite spot on the porch eating the bacon and gravy their mother had made. It was their favorite breakfast. Sitting on the steps, Corrie Ellen remembered how the old bull had looked yesterday as he was lead out of their dad's old, red truck.
Randall Ray said the old bull was an Angus. He explained this type of cattle were generally all black and could become very mean. The neighbors bull was black, and he was very nasty looking. He was very big and had a large head with two, white spots where Randall Ray said his horns had been. He had a big, round, metal ring in his nose with a rope tied to it. He didn't like the rope and tried to get away by tossing his head and stomping the ground with his feet. When that didn't get rid of the rope, he kicked his hind legs high in the air and tried butting their father with his big head. His eyes were huge and he looked all around for ways to get loose.
Corrie Ellen was scared as she watched the old bull, but her father just twisted that ring in his nose to make him settle down.
They had a big, tall, red barn with a second story that was called...
