An icy wind blew as Joy stapled the chicken wire back to the fence post. "Finished!" she said happily. She locked the henhouse door and headed toward the house.
Something cold and wet landed on her face. Snow!
"Mom! Katie! It's snowing!" Joy cried, running into the kitchen.
"Finally," said Katie. She and Olivia were at the table drinking another cup of cocoa.
"I love snow," Olivia said.
Joy put an arm around her friend. "Thanks for coming over. I'm really glad you helped me."
"That's what friends are for," Olivia said with a smile.
"I helped too, by the way," Katie said, poking her sister. "Now hurry up and finish your project. We need to play in the snow tomorrow!"
Joy laughed. "Don't worry. I'll get it done, I promise!"
Olivia was looking out the window, her eyes growing big. "I should call my mom to pick me up. It's snowing hard!"
After Olivia left, the twins sat in the living room. Joy worked on her project while Katie flipped through a magazine. Outside, everything was covered in white.
Soon Katie sighed. "I'm so bored."
Suddenly the phone rang.
"I'll get it!" Katie ran to the phone.
In the kitchen Mom looked at the clock. "It's probably Dad and Grandpa," she said. "They should be home soon."
"Hi, Dad!" Katie said into the phone. "It's snowing really hard here too . . . Oh." Katie's voice dropped. "Oh no. Okay . . ." She held out the phone to Mom. "Dad needs to talk to you."
As Mom took the phone, Katie hurried back to Joy.
"Dad and Grandpa are stuck. The highway is closed because of snow!" Katie said.
"Oh no. What will they do?" Joy asked.
"They'll go to a hotel in the next town," Mom said, joining the girls on the couch. "Don't worry. The road will be plowed by morning," she added. "This means we have another night by ourselves."
"Just us girls!" Joy said, smiling at her mom.
"We should watch a movie and eat popcorn!" Katie said.
"That sounds fun!" said Joy.
"That does sound fun," said Mom. "But you girls have work to do, don't you?"
"Not me," Katie said. "I'm done with my project!"
Joy hesitated. "I still have work to do, but . . ."
"What do you think Harriet Tubman would do right now?" Mom asked.
Joy thought of a story she had read about Harriet Tubman. When Harriet escaped to freedom, she walked all the way from Maryland to Pennsylvania. That was about two hundred kilometers. And Harriet never complained. She never gave up. She just kept going.
Joy sighed. "I'm going to keep working, Mom."
"Katie, how about we bake brownies in the kitchen instead?" Mom asked.
Katie nodded and followed her mom out of the living room.
"We need to leave Joy alone," Mom whispered. "So she can finish her project."
"Okay," Katie whispered back. She could try to be quiet.
"Let's see if we can find Grandpa's brownie recipe," Mom whispered.
An hour later Joy was still working in the living room. Soon she smelled something burning.
"Ta-da!" Katie cried, marching in with a plate full of brownies.
"Katie, shh!" Mom reminded her.
"Oops." Katie grinned. "Ta-da," she whispered. "Burnt brownies to help you concentrate!"
Joy giggled. She couldn't remember the last time Katie had baked something. Or baked something for her. "Thanks," she said. "That was really nice of you."
Katie gave Joy the sign for "twin" again, and Mom patted Joy on the shoulder. "Good night, honey. Don't stay up too late."
"All right, Mom," Joy said. She turned back to her report, determined to finish.