The kids mostly hid behind benches, which Ash thought was very smart. They whispered and formed snowballs here and there, but mostly they watched and giggled as the bigger kids and teens walloped each other with hunks of snow.
Cash and a teen boy and girl who must have been Cody and Annika were actually doing really well. Cody seemed to be an expert at making snowballs, Annika had terrific aim, and Cash was a natural distraction.
Maya and Eloise yelling from the direction of the fountain caught Ash’s attention, and he turned just in time to see little Timmy get hit on the shoulder on his way over to join them.
The expression of disappointment on his little face was so awful that even the older boy who hit him clearly felt terrible. The bigger boy stood by the fountain without defending himself, apparently ready to sacrifice his own chances as Maya and Eloise came out to get revenge for their friend.
But the girls didn’t look unhappy at all.
“Watch this, Timmy,” Eloise yelled, her eyes sparkling.
Maya threw a snowball at Eloise and Eloise threw one at Maya at the same time.
As the snowballs landed on their close-range targets, both girls fell to the ground, pretending to have been hit really hard.
For a moment, Timmy just looked at them. Then suddenly he was laughing and falling to the ground too.
“Wow,” Allie said softly.
The big boy who had hit Timmy was so busy watching the three smaller kids that he didn’t even notice Annika approaching.
She hit him right in the middle of the back with a good-sized snowball and ran giggling away to hide behind the town Christmas tree.
He grinned and fell to the ground dramatically too, much to the delight of the smaller children.
“This town,” Ash said softly.
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” Maya yelled as she and her friends ran back to him. “Daddy, we’reout. Can we have ice cream now?”
“Did you all have fun?” he asked, glancing between the kids.
“Yes,” Eloise said.
“But it’scold,” Timmy added.
“Oh, then maybe no ice cream,” Ash teased. “Maybe you guys need a big bowl of sauerkraut soup.”
“No,” Maya and Eloise yelled, laughing.
Timmy laughed too when he realized his friends were laughing.
“What about a nice hot cup of coffee?” Ash offered.
“No, no,” the kids yelled,laughing harder.
“I might have an old can of peas in my truck we could heat up?” he teased.
“Noooo,” the three kids howled, cracking up completely.
“Well, I don’t know what else to offer you,” Ash said. “I know you’re cold, but it’s going to have to be ice cream.”
“Yay,”they all sang out.
“But first let’s find Eloise and Timmy’s parents,” Ash said.
“My mom is already at the ice cream shop,” Eloise said. “She’s watching out the window.”
“Hi there,” a familiar voice called out.
