- Mrs. Rogers went to the kitchen.
“I’ll cook the dinner. Where is the rice I asked you to measure?”
“I put it back to the container. But I remember—it measured four and a half inches,” said Amelia Bedelia.
“Was the meat delivered?” asked Mrs. Rogers.
“Yes,” said Amelia Bedelia. “I trimmed the fat just like you said. It does look nice.”
Mrs. Rogers rushed to the icebox. She opened it.
“Lace! Ribbons! Oh, dear!” said Mrs. Rogers.
“The chicken—you dressed the chicken?” asked Mrs. Rogers.
“Yes, and I found the nicest box to put him in,” said Amelia Bedelia.
“Box!” exclaimed Mrs. Rogers.
Mrs. Rogers hurried over to the box. She lifted the lid. There lay the chicken. And he was just as dressed as he could be.
Mrs. Rogers was angry. She was very angry. She opened her mouth. Mrs. Rogers meant to tell Amelia Bedelia she was fired. But before she could get the words out, Mr. Rogers put something in her mouth. It was so good Mrs. Rogers forgot about being angry. “Lemon-meringue pie!” she exclaimed.
“I made it to surprise you,” said Amelia Bedelia happily.
So right then and there Mr. and Mrs. Rogers decided that Amelia Bedelia must stay. And so she did.
Mrs. Rogers learned to say undust the furniture, unlight the lights, close the drapes, and things like that.
Mr. Rogers didn’t care if Amelia Bedelia trimmed all of his steaks with lace.
All he cared about was having her there to make lemon-meringue pie.