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Granny Ada awoke in the softest spot of all in Cat Tails Cottage—her big, fluffy bed with the pink flowers on the blankets. Jo Jo, Pumpkin, Baby Buttons and Spice, her four cats, each chose their own places to sleep, and they all snuggled against Granny Ada. Sky, the medium-sized fuzzy dog, slept on his own pillow on the floor at the foot of the bed.
This day, Granny Ada awoke with a start. She sat up in bed, while the cats stretched their backs. "Today, I'll make my famous mulberry jelly," said Granny Ada. She wiggled into her yellow dress and slipped a white apron over her neck—the one with ruffles around the edges—and tied a neat bow in the back. Granny Ada was shaped like a sweet, ripe pear with curly grey hair on the top. She climbed down the steps to the kitchen with all the animals trailing behind her.
Soon Granny Ada's famous mulberry jelly bubbled on the stove in a big kettle. Granny Ada kept watch on the purple jelly for the secret of her recipe was to turn off the fire under the kettle at just the right moment.
"Almost time now," she said, and Jo Jo, Pumpkin, Baby Buttons and Spice gathered around her feet. They knew when Granny Ada was making something special. Sky lay in his spot by the stove and sniffed the air as the jelly smell filled the kitchen. Peepers, the little yellow bird who lives in Granny Ada's kitchen, stopped singing and peered through the bars of his cage. He jumped from perch to perch.
But even as the jelly cooked, trouble was brewing. Granny Ada picked up a wooden spoon and plop! She dropped it. Granny Ada laughed, stooped over and picked up the spoon, but she dropped it again. "Well," said Granny Ada. "How curious."
Jeremy, the grocery delivery boy, knocked on the back door just then and came into the kitchen carrying Granny Ada's groceries in a big cardboard box.
"Howdy-do, Jeremy! Can you pick up that spoon for me?" asked Granny Ada.
Jeremy grabbed the spoon, but it flipped out of his hand. He caught it, but the spoon danced in the air like a slippery fish right out of Jeremy's hands every time he thought he had it.
Granny Ada looked at Jeremy. "Oh, no!" she said. "I believe we have fumble fingers today."
By now, the jelly on the stove bubbled wildly. Time to turn off the jelly! But Granny Ada's fingers could not twist the knob on the stove. She could not turn off the fire under the kettle. Jeremy tried but he could not turn off the fire either. The fumble fingers had gotten all the fingers at Cat Tails Cottage. Who would save the jelly?
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Granny Ada stuck her head out the back door. She could see the top of Mrs. Salt's green, floppy, garden hat just over the top of the fence. Mrs. Salt trimmed the bushes in her garden with a big clippers. Snap! Snap!
"Help!" cried Granny Ada. "Mrs. Salt, help!"
Mrs. Salt peered over the fence. "Help, eh? Whatever is the matter?"
"The fumble fingers have come to Cat Tails Cottage today," said Granny Ada. "I cannot turn the fire off under my famous mulberry jelly."
"Oh, dear . . .emergency!" yelled Mrs. Salt and with a little hop, she ran into her house to select the right hat for the occasion. Mrs. Salt always wore the right hat for what she was going to do.
Granny Ada stood watching the jelly bubbling closer and closer to the top of the kettle. Jo Jo, Pumpkin, Baby Buttons and Spice could not help. Sky and Peepers could not help. None of them had fingers to turn the fire off. Besides, they were all too little to be allowed to touch the knobs on the stove. No! No! Jeremy shook his head sadly and sat at the kitchen table. He wondered how the jelly could be saved.
Mrs. Salt threw open the back door and rushed into the kitchen. "Stand back, everyone!" she yelled. Mrs. Salt wore a big red fireman's hat with the legs of her bib overalls tucked into a pair of red galoshes. Over each hand, she wore an oven mitt. (The ones with the roosters painted on them.) The fumble fingers were not going to get her! She walked slowly to the kettle, hands raised in front protected by the oven mitts, but she did not see the spoon that still lay on the floor and stepped right on it. That spoon was as slippery as a banana peel. Down she went. The oven mitts flew off her hands, but when Mrs. Salt tried to pick up them up, it was no use. They slipped out of her hands. The fumble fingers had gotten Mrs. Salt, too.
"Oh, no!" cried Granny Ada. "My famous mulberry jelly is lost!"
Sky, the medium sized fuzzy dog, looked at Granny Ada. He looked at Mrs. Salt and Jeremy. Down deep inside, a low growl began in his throat. He got mad at the fumble fingers. Sky barked at Granny Ada. He barked at Mrs. Salt and Jeremy. Jo Jo, Pumpkin, Baby Buttons and Spice ran to the basement and hid. Peepers ducked under the newspapers on the bottom of his cage. All around the kitchen, Sky barked and barked. Those fumble fingers were not going to stay at Cat Tails Cottage if Sky had anything to say about it. He barked so loud that Boo, the backyard bunny, hopped to the door and peeked in. Sky ran through the cottage, into every room. He raced up the steps and barked around Granny Ada's fluffy bed, too.
Granny Ada reached down and tried picking up the spoon. She wrapped her fingers one at a time around the handle and squeezed. Her fingers held tight, and she carried it carefully to the sink. Mrs. Salt reached up from the floor and tried turning the knob on the stove. It worked! The fire went out. The jelly stopped bubbling.
Sky, the medium-sized fuzzy dog, had saved Granny Ada's famous mulberry jelly!
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