“Right. Did you find enough big spoons or do we have to stop at CostMart?” Hannah asked.
“I found three red ones. I thought they’d look good on television.”
“Great! All I have to do is make a couple of pans of bar cookies and we’re ready for the bake sale.”
“What kind are you baking?”
“Multiple Choice Bar Cookies. Everybody loves those. I think they’ll sell really well, especially since I talked to Edna Ferguson and she said we could use the school coffee pot. She’s bringing it up from the school kitchen for us.”
Michelle smiled. “That’s not all Edna’s doing. She’s making the coffee and selling it for us. She says she loves the fact that Lake Eden has a theater group and she wants to help support us.”
“Edna’s always a big help at things like this. And she’s a great school cook. Jordan High would be lost without her.”
“I know. I used to love her chili.”
“It’s a shortcut recipe,” Hannah told her. “Edna gave it to me and I’ll copy it for you. It’s one of the reasons I call her the queen of shortcuts.” Hannah glanced up at the clock. “I’ll get those bar cookies in the oven and then I’ll start packing up the cookie truck.”
“Okay. I’ll just finish this cookie dough and tell Aunt Nancy that it’s in the cooler. If they need it before the end of the day, one of them can come back here and bake it.”
It didn’t take long to accomplish everything, and Hannah and Michelle arrived at Jordan High at noon. They’d expected to be the first ones there, but when they opened the lobby door, they saw that Edna was there and she’d set up all the tables for the bake sale. She’d chosen the table on the far wall for herself and she’d brought the large thirty-cup coffee pot the school used for social events.
“You’re early, Edna,” Hannah told her. “No one else is due to arrive for an hour.”
“And you set up the tables,” Michelle commented. “I thought we’d have to do that.”
“I didn’t do it, Freddy Sawyer did. He dropped by my place last night and told me he wanted to do something to help.”
“Well, please thank him for us,” Michelle told her.
“I will,” Edna replied, plugging an extension cord into the wall outlet in back of the table she’d chosen. “I still have to run up to the teacher’s lounge to get their coffee pot.”
“Do you really think we’ll need two?” Michelle asked her.
Edna nodded, setting her tight gray curls bouncing. “We’ll need two,” she said emphatically. “It’s cold out today and everyone’ll want coffee when they come in.”
“You could be right,” Hannah agreed.
“Of course I am. And after I get that pot hooked up, I’m going to Mrs. Baxter’s Home-Ec room to get her coffee pot. I’ll heat hot water in that for those who want tea.”
“I’d better run and get some tea,” Michelle said.
“I’ve got it. I stopped by the Red Owl on my way here and Florence donated a whole bunch of herbal tea bags along with the coffee she promised me yesterday.”
Hannah and Michelle exchanged glances. Edna had everything under control. “I suppose you got sugar, creamer, and spoons, too?” Hannah asked her.
“Of course I did. And disposable coffee cups and napkins.”
“You’re a real wonder, Edna!” Michelle complimented the older woman.
“I’m not a wonder. I’m just a pro. I’ve been doing this sort of thing for years.”
Michelle and Hannah went back to the cookie truck to carry things in and within the space of twenty minutes or so, the tables were set up and filled with the baked goods they’d brought.
“Here you are, girls,” Edna brought over two cups of coffee. “You both take it black, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Michelle answered for both of them. “Did you make a whole pot of coffee?”
Edna nodded. “I figured the Lake Eden Players might want some when they came in with their baked goods.”
“Where is the closest refrigerator?” Hannah asked Edna. “I really should chill the pies.”
“We’ve got a big one in there.” Edna pointed to a door set into one of the walls. “That’s where they chill the sodas for the basketball games. I’ve got the key. I’ll unlock it for you. We’ll just move a couple cases of sodas. They won’t need them until next Friday night anyway. I can put the sodas back after everyone leaves.”
*
All three of them were surprised when the first Lake Eden Players arrived at one o’clock sharp and ten minutes later, the whole cast and crew were there. Everyone had brought something, even the young man playing Tricia’s husband, who told them that his mother had baked eight loaves of her special blueberry tea bread.
While Michelle talked to her Lake Eden Players, Hannah and Edna went up on the stage to prepare for the pie eating contest.
“It’s perfect!” Hannah said when she saw that the contestant table and the judging table were exactly where she would have placed them.
“Thank you,” Edna said. “I told Freddy where to put them. And he’ll be here ten minutes before the contest starts to open the curtains. I used a plastic tablecloth on the contestant table because I thought it might get messy.”
“Good thinking.”
“And the judging table has a real tablecloth. It’s three chairs behind each table, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. And you even have the podium for the announcer.”
“I didn’t think we needed name tags since everyone in town knows everyone else. Was I right?”
“You were right.”
“I thought I’d put a full water glass in front of each contestant. They might need to wash the pie down.”
“Good.”
“How long is the contest going to last, Hannah? The paper said it was timed, but it didn’t say how long.”
“Michelle and I think ninety seconds is long enough. What do you think, Edna?”
“Ninety seconds should do it. After that they might start to slow down and it wouldn’t be as funny. The paper didn’t say who was going to announce the contest. Someone is, aren’t they?”