The Christmas Scene - Chapter 5 ( A Beginner's Guidebook: Maxine)

I am so terrified right now! I have nearly been arrested twice! Rachel is really good at saving people from attacks. I mean, Tamara will probably kill her for ruining half her makeup, but still, she saved me from arrestment (I’m not sure if that’s a word, I just made it up). I also learned another vital thing: I’ll never take mum’s rice pudding for granted. I’ll never take mum for granted, for that matter. Because she’s gone. Not dead of drastic or anything. She just had to stop. She twisted her ankle and had to stop at an inn. As fate would have it, Alexandra and Leo picked up Millie’s stomach flu. Of course, mom had an entire first aid kit. She divided everything into half, gave it to me in case Tyson’s cold worsened, or we got sick. So now there were four in our little company: Rachel, Tyson Mr. Smith, and me. I wonder why both mum and Mrs. Smith have a first aid kit. It’s a mom thing, I guess. Beyond little me’s understanding. It requires full enlightenment. Ok, I’ve stalled enough. Time to get back to the story.

 As we were walking, we noticed yet another army heading towards Mary and Joseph. I wonder what was Herod’s feud against Jesus. Nonetheless, we found some more weapons, (read totally random stuff lying around us) and prepared for war. Rachel loaded ten powder puffs with the previous concoction. And there were a lot of powder puffs left in the bag. Does Tamara run a shop of cosmetics? I took some berries and stones, made a catapult using twine and an odd-shaped branch, and attacked with that. Mr. Smith used a stick and Tyson just sneezed at them when they came too close to him. Together we looked like… a group of idiots! A lot of guards got makeovers once Rachel was through with them. She clapped one's face with two puffs, loaded him with lipstick, and sprayed him in the eyes with perfume. As Tamara would say, “What a waste!” One guard got Tyson. “Uh-oh,” is all Tyson could say. Now if you’re a true Mr. Percy fan, you’ll know what that uh-oh means. Yep, the sound of one of the triplets soiling their diaper. But there were no diapers in the biblical period. So Tyson just soiled. The guard's HAND. He went running around like crazy. Mr. Smith just waved his stick around like it was a helicopter blade. Stop spinning and you’re gone. 

We held them off for long enough. Before we all wore ourselves out. Man, what do those guards eat? Do they know of coffee? Because they have unlimited energy. We had held them off, and made enough noise, to get the attention of Joseph, who was in a huge hurry to leave after that. 

 We had to keep up with them and worry about our time machine. Also coupled with worries of the others. Little did we know, they were already ahead of us. Mum had rented a cart and gotten herself to a little inn just before Bethlehem, and the others were getting a room in the very same inn. It was the biggest, so I guess they hoped to run into us there. Millie and Rebecca were completely cured of stomach flu, Tyson got a fever, and Alexandra was still throwing up a little. Leo was still completely sick. So there you go. They have a bigger group, but we are the ones doing all the work. That’s so unfair! Rachel and I helped Mr. Smith fix our cart so we could move with ease. That’s an hour we’ll never get back. We just rented a cart and carried on. Finally, a nap! I’m just hoping we can go on without having any major disasters, and maybe our team doesn’t undergo more fission. Because I’d hate to have to reach Bethlehem alone! 

Rachel made Tyson a teddy bear out of a cloak yesterday. He named it “Bearie”. Cute. Well, now Tyson has all his living requirements. A teddy, and a person to bug. Ha! I wish the same applied to us. 

Lunch was uneventful. By now we had gotten used to Mr. Smith burning a wooden boiling pan, or showering in milk or cheesing himself. So the only new thing was, Tyson found my catapult and catapulted his sandwich into my face. Why does everyone toss things into my face? At least the sandwich tasted good. Could use some butter though. I need my century back, and fast!

Mum, after reaching the inn, and running into the others, had fixed up Mrs. Smith’s cottage cheese recipe and given them some of the food we gave her. The rooms were decent, and the fee was a loaf of bread. Insane, right? They were so hyped up about running into us, that they took three extra rooms. The last three, I might add. So the inn was full. One of them was hovering around the entrance at all times. Wow. They were desperate to start working again. I’d love to switch places with you, mum!! 

Mr. Smith picked up a bit of Tyson’s fever. So Rachel and I took turns driving the cart and looking after Mr. Smith and Tyson. Rachel is miraculously fine. She’s not getting sick or tired or even cold. Her nose doesn’t turn red, and her tunics are inspired by Tamara! So she’s living in the summer. I feel like an oddball right now. Out of the four of us, I’m the only one who isn’t from the Smith family. 

Tyson is totally unaware that he’s sick. He’s running around the cart, yelling out ‘uh-oh’ occasionally, and is catapulting his food around. He is afraid of the makeup but managed to cream a guard with it when he came too close to us. He’s a really good fighter. He should do karate. We’re struggling in the cold here, but all we can think of is the future professions of our teammates. I wish we used the time machine while we had a chance. Now we’re separate, and it would be unfair to use it without them. I hope we reunite fast!