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Grandma’s in a bad mood. That would ruin their afternoon together.
    “Good-bye,” Jacob said as they approached the driveway leading to Grandma and Grandpa Yoder’s house. “I’ll see you at supper.”
    Rachel turned up the driveway, calling over her shoulder, “Have fun in the
felder
[fields]!”
    “Have fun baking
kichlin
[cookies],” Jacob called in return. “Oh, and one more thing:
Geb acht, schunscht geht’s letz
[Watch out, or else things will go wrong]!”
    Rachel gritted her teeth and hurried along. As she approached Grandma and Grandpa’s house, she noticed her three-year-old cousin Gerald sitting on the front porch of his house with a jar of bubbles. Gerald and his parents, Aunt Karen and Uncle Amos, had moved into the house next door to Grandma and Grandpa soon after Mary and her family moved to Indiana.
    Rachel decided to visit with Gerald a few minutes. Maybe she could blow some bubbles.
    “
Blos
[Bubble],” Gerald said when Rachel took a seat on the step next to him. He lifted the jar of bubbles.
    She smiled. “Can I blow some?”
    He nodded and handed her the plastic wand.
    Rachel dipped it into the jar and waved it around. A stream of colorful bubbles blew into the yard.
    Gerald squealed and clapped his hands. “Blos! Blos!
Geh
[Go]!”
    Rachel dipped the wand into the jar again. Only this time, instead of waving the wand, she blew on it. More bubbles floated into the yard.
    “Blos! Blos!” Gerald hollered. He snatched the wand from Rachel and dipped it into the jar. Holding the wand in front of Rachel’s face, he blew. A big bubble formed, but before the wind could catch it, Gerald poked it with his finger, and—
pop
!—it burst in Rachel’s face!
    “Ach, that stings!” she cried as she rubbed her eyes. Rachel blinked several times, trying to clear her vision. “I should have expected something like this to happen,” she mumbled. The last time she’d visited Gerald, she’d given him a horsey ride, and he’d smacked her in the eye.
    When the stinging stopped, she handed Gerald the jar of bubbles and stood. “I have to go. Grandma’s expecting me, and I don’t have any more time to play.”
    Gerald didn’t seem to notice as she walked away. He was too busy blowing more bubbles.
    Thump! Thump! Thump!
Rachel knocked on Grandma’s door.
    “Come in,” Grandma called.
    Rachel entered the house and sniffed the delicious odor of cinnamon and molasses. “Did you bake the cookies without me?” she asked when she stepped into the kitchen and found Grandma sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
    Grandma looked up and smiled. “Of course not. I promised that we would bake the cookies together.”
    Rachel sniffed the air again. “Then why do I smell cinnamon and molasses?”
    “That’s from the gingerbread I baked earlier today.” Grandma pushed the newspaper aside and stood. “Would you like a piece?”
    Rachel shook her head. “No thanks. I’ll wait until the cookies are done and have some of those.”
    “All right. Are you ready to begin?” Grandma asked.
    Rachel nodded eagerly. “What kind of cookies are we gonna make?”
    “How about some maple syrup cookies?” Grandma wiggled her eyebrows. “Those are some of your daed’s favorites.”
    Rachel leaned on the counter. “I didn’t know that. No wonder Mom bakes them so often.”
    Grandma bobbed her head. “I used to make maple syrup cookies at least once a week when your daed was a buwe. I gave your mamm the recipe as soon as they got married.”
    “I like maple syrup cookies real well, too.” Rachel patted her stomach and grinned. “Guess I take after my daed.”
    “I guess you do.” Grandma opened a cupboard door and took down her recipe box. She opened it, pulled out a recipe, and handed it to Rachel. “Why don’t you read the recipe and then get out the ingredients while I preheat the oven?”
    “I can do that.” Rachel placed the card on the counter and opened the cupboard where Grandma kept her