A Surprise in the Oven
A Surprise in the Oven Illustrated By: Jesse Einhorn-Johnson
Once upon a time an old woman name Tante Adela lived in French Canada. She lived alone with her big grey cat and the cows in her barn.
One morning she got up very early as it was baking day and there was much to do. She took a load of wood outside to her oven.
“Now why would the oven door be open?” she said. She poked a stick inside to see that no leaves or twigs had blown in. But the stick would not go far – something was in there!
The old woman bent over to look in. When she saw what she saw, Tante Adela slammed the oven door shut.
She ran out of her yard and down the road as fast as she could.
At Felix Bell’s farm, she saw her neighbor drawing a bucket of water from the well.
“Felix, Felix!” she called out. “Come quick! There's a skunk in my oven!”
“Are you sure?” said Felix. “Maybe it's your cat.”
“Of course I'm sure!” said Tante Adela. “Does my cat have a white stripe down his back?”
“I will come as soon as I draw this bucket of water,” said Felix.
Tante Adela turned and dashed back to the road. She headed for the next farm, the farm of Louis Ross. After all, three heads are better than two.
“Louis, Louis!” she cried, out of breath. “Come right away! There's a skunk in my oven.”
“A skunk?” said Louis. “Are you sure it is not a scrap of old fur coat you may have thrown away by mistake?”
“Why would I throw away a fur coat?” said Tante Adela. “Am I the kind of person who would do that?”
“You have a point,” said Louis Ross. “I'll come over as soon as I finish feeding the chickens.”
The old woman turned to the road and limped to the farm of Samuel Roy.
“Samuel, Samuel!” she cried out. “You must come to my farm. There's a skunk in my oven!”
"Are you sure?” said Samuel. “Maybe you saw a shadow inside as you opened the door.”
“Does a shadow have a bushy tail?” said Tante Adela. “Does a shadow grit its teeth at me and snarl? I don’t think so!”
“I'll come right over,” said Samuel. “Just as soon as I finish weeding the garden.”
So Tante Adela went from farm to farm looking for help. By the time she made it back home, Felix and Louis were already there. Soon after, Samuel came too, and others who had heard about the skunk in Tante Adela’s oven.
By the time she made it back home, Felix and Louis were already there.
“Yep, there’s a skunk in there all right,” said Madame Ross, who had opened and closed the door.
“I know that!” said Tante Adela. “The question is, what to do about it?”
“I will run home and get my gun,” said Felix. “That will take care of that!”
"No, NO!" cried Tante Adela. "Think of the smell!"
"You got that right!" thought the snake in the oven.
“She wouldn't be able to bake bread in her oven for a month!” said Madame Roy, outside the oven, and everyone agreed.
“Besides, it would spoil the pelt,” said Samuel. He trapped for furs and knew what he was talking about..
“Besides, it would spoil the pelt," said Samuel.
"Let's not talk about my pelt!" thought the snake in the oven, nuzzling its coat with its nose.
“What if we got a dog?” said Alice, the daughter of Samuel and Madame Ross. “A dog will bark, and maybe that will scare the skunk out of the oven.”
“If the skunk gets scared,” said Tante Adela, “think of what it would do!”
“What if we get a piece of meat and tie it to a string?” suggested someone else. “The skunk will come out on its own when it smells it.”
"Now you're talking!" thought the skunk in the oven, its ears perking up.
“I have no meat,” snapped Tante Adela. “And if I did, I would surely not waste it on a skunk!”
And so this plan was dropped. The skunk sighed.
“I have no meat," snapped Tante Adela. "And if I did, I would surely not waste it on a skunk!"
No one else cared to use their own meat to lure the skunk out of the oven, if Tante Adela wasn’t going to use hers. "Oh, woe is me!" wailed Tante Adela.
By then, everyone was getting bored with the question of the skunk. And it did not look as if Tante Adela was going to serve any food or drink for everyone who had come. Soon Felix Bell and his wife remembered they had to milk the cows. Louis Ross said he must get back to clean the barn. And one by one, most of the villagers who had gathered found a reason to head home.
At this time, Tante Adela saw Jules Martel come into the yard. The young man may be simple-minded, she thought. Still, who else could she turn to for help?
At this time, Tante Adela saw Jules Martel come into the yard.
“Jules!” she said. “Jules Martel. There's a skunk in my oven. Can you get him out without scaring him?”
Jules nodded his head. He walked over to the oven. He opened the door and leaned inside. He spoke in a low voice. No one could tell what he was saying.
At last he stepped back. Then the sharp face of the skunk stuck out of the oven doorway. Everyone stepped back a few feet. The skunk wiggled its way over the edge, and dropped to the ground. Slowly the skunk made its way through the yard, holding its head high. And it headed into the woods, where it disappeared.
Tante Adela was thrilled. All the others were amazed. "How did you get him to come out?” said Tante Odette to Jules.
“What did you say to it?” said Samuel.
“I just said," said Jules, swinging his arms back and forth, "'Would you be so kind to come out of Tante Odette's oven?' The skunk said to me, 'That suits me fine! Who needs the commotion the lot of you make?" I thanked the skunk for his trouble, and then he came out."
“Who would have guessed?” Samuel Roy shook his head. “He just asked the skunk.”
“He just asked the skunk."
"Well, this is a fine turn of events, isn't it?" said Tante Adela, much relieved. "This calls for a celebration! Tonight at sunset, all of you are invited to come here for some of my fresh baked sweetbread. And Jules, since you're the only one who thought to ask the skunk, I'm baking for you my famous blueberry muffins!"
Very interesting!