Billie Bradley at Twin Lakes

After not reading any Billie Bradley books since May, I resumed reading the fifth book, Billie Bradley at Twin Lakes. On page two, Billie's age is given as fifteen. I always appreciate it when specific ages are given.

In this book, Billie and her friends spend their summer vacation in a cabin at Twin Lakes, accompanied by their old grammar school teacher, Miss Martha Beggs, as chaperone. Miss Beggs is quite a good sport to agree to spend several months away from her home with the girls on short notice. The boys also journey to Twin Lakes and share a second cabin.

Near the beginning of the story, the young people meet an eccentric artist, Myra Bossenet, who has red hair and is missing some of her work. The boys find the pictures for her and receive a reward of two hundred dollars. Billie feels sorry for Myra Bossenet and wishes she could help her.

The young people reach Twin Lakes where they meet a girl named Huldah who is abused by her guardian, a man named Jerry. What kind of a name is Huldah? Anyway, Huldah is very unhappy, likes to draw, and has red hair. Hmm... I'm not anywhere near finished with the book yet, but I have this idea that there just might be a connection between Myra Bossenet and Huldah.

The book has this interesting description on page 57:

One immense big living room with a great open fireplace, rough-hewed, picturesque and almost comfortable furniture, consisting of a settee, three low, broad-seating chairs, and one quaint little table, whose three legs sprawled out in such a comfortable manner that one was reminded of a sleek well-fed Persian kitten.

A table described as being like a Persian kitten? Interesting.

The food in the kitchen is described as follows on page 59:

And there was milk too, two big delicious quarts of it, fresh dairy butter, eggs, and, wonder of wonders, a fresh-killed chicken all plucked and ready for roasting!

I am by no means a vegetarian, but descriptions like that make me want to become one. Seriously, the author could have described the chicken as "fresh-plucked" rather than as "fresh-killed" and plucked. Let's leave killing out of it. We don't need to be graphic about how the food was obtained. Thanks.

On page 63, we get another graphic description of the chicken:

Dinner was over—the bones of the poor fowl had been stripped till not a shred of meat clung to them.

Thanks for reminding me.

Fortunately, Teddy has not been called "Uncle Teddy" in a while, so I am liking him just a tiny bit more. Billie does call him "Granddad" on page 115, unfortunately, but she can be forgiven since she is mocking him for giving out too much advice. However, I wish both she and Teddy would refrain from making Teddy sound like he is Billie's daddy. Both Billie and Teddy might need some therapy.

So far this book has been an enjoyable read.