“How cold will it be in Minnesota?” Belinda asked Miss Gordon.
“So cold you may turn into a big icicle,” laughed the teacher. “But if you do, Grandmother Gordon will know how to thaw you out at the kitchen woodstove.”
Belinda never before had made a train trip longer than twenty miles. She was excited and a little worried. Another matter troubled her too.
“Are you sure we’ll get our presents and see our parents on Christmas Day?” she asked the Brownie leader.
“According to the plan, your parents expect to arrive at Grandfather Gordon’s farm no later than the twenty-fourth,” replied the teacher. “Of course, something could go wrong.”
All the Brownies were so thrilled at the thought of going to Snow Valley, they could talk of little else. They were kept busy too, preparing for the journey.
Buttons needed to be sewed on and suitcases brought down from attics. Nearly every day after school Connie went downtown with her mother to buy little things she would need on the trip.
So busy were all the Brownie Scouts that they scarcely had time to talk to Veve. However, Connie noticed that her playmate looked very unhappy.
And then, on the final day before school was to be dismissed for the holidays, she came upon Veve sobbing in the cloakroom.
“Why, Veve!” she said in surprise. “Is anything wrong?” She thought perhaps the teacher had sent the little girl to the cloakroom as a punishment.