Marvin & James Save the Day and Elaine Helps! Read online

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  For my wonderful nieces and goddaughters,

  Julia Elise Broach and Jane Solan Urheim,

  in honor of our many conversations about love

  —E. B.

  For Tammie, with love and thanks

  —K. M.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Big News

  Marvin is so excited that he runs in circles on James’s desk. Karl and Christina are coming to visit! Karl is James’s father, an artist just like Marvin, except that he doesn’t draw tiny pictures. He paints giant ones, full of color. Christina is Karl’s girlfriend and James’s friend, and Marvin likes her very much. She works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Marvin thinks the Met is the best museum in the whole world.

  Karl and Christina see James often, but today, they are coming because they have big news. What could it be?

  “Maybe they’re getting a dog!” James says.

  James would love a dog. But he lives with his mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. Pompaday, and no dogs are allowed in their apartment.

  Marvin races across the desk to a picture he once made for James, a drawing of the beach. He taps it with two of his legs.

  “Oh!” James says. “Do you think they’ll take me to the beach?”

  Marvin does not want James to go away, but it’s fun to think about a trip to the beach.

  “I have an idea,” says James. “Maybe my dad is getting a new car.”

  He takes a little toy car from his shelf and zooms it across the desk.

  Marvin watches it fly past.

  “Hey,” James says. “Want a ride?”

  Before Marvin has time to think, James picks him up and puts him in the front seat of the tiny car.

  Marvin is in the driver’s seat! He puts his front legs on the steering wheel.

  James taps the car with his finger.

  Whoosh!

  It speeds across the desk.

  Marvin is driving!

  James laughs. “Now you’re a race-car driver.”

  Why didn’t they ever do this before? Marvin loves riding in the car. It is so fast, much faster than crawling.

  “Let’s put it on the floor,” James says. James and Marvin race the car across the bedroom rug over and over again, with Marvin driving.

  Once, it bangs into the leg of the chair.

  Bump!

  Marvin almost falls out.

  But the rest of the time, the car goes very fast in a straight line. Marvin thinks he is an excellent driver. He wishes his cousin, Elaine, could see how fast he’s going.

  “Wouldn’t it be cool if my dad got a new car?” James says.

  They are just thinking how great this would be when they hear a knock on James’s door.

  Karl and Christina are standing there, smiling.

  Marvin sees their happy faces and has a sudden feeling that the big news is not a dog or a trip to the beach or a race car.

  “James,” Karl says, bending down with his arms out. “We have something to tell you.”

  Christina hugs James too, as they say in one loud, excited voice: “We’re getting married!”

  James looks at them with wide eyes. “Wow,” he says.

  Marvin slips out of the tiny car and crawls behind it so nobody will see him.

  “Isn’t it fantastic?” Karl asks.

  “We’re so happy,” Christina says. “Are you happy?”

  “Yes,” James says quickly. “That’s great.”

  Marvin is watching James. He thinks that James does not look very happy. He certainly doesn’t look as happy as Karl and Christina.

  But why not? James loves Christina. Marvin knows that.

  “The wedding is going to be at the Cloisters,” Christina tells James. “Have you ever been to the Cloisters?”

  James shakes his head.

  “It’s a very old church that was moved here, stone by stone, from France.”

  “Really?” James says. “Across the ocean?”

  This sounds strange to Marvin. But he has learned that humans sometimes do the strangest things.

  “Yes,” Christina tells him. “It’s part of the museum, even though it’s a few miles away. The Cloisters has some of the Met’s art from the Middle Ages.”

  “And it will be a nice place for a wedding,” Karl says. “It’s high on a cliff above the Hudson River.”

  “Cool,” James says.

  Marvin thinks James seems especially quiet.

  “I know this is a lot to take in, buddy,” Karl says. “But I have one more thing to tell you … or ask you, really.”

  “What?” James looks up at Karl.

  Marvin peeks over the top of the shiny little car. What more could they possibly say? Isn’t this wedding news enough?

  Karl takes a deep breath. “I was wondering if you would be my best man?”

  “You mean…” James begins.

  “Yes!” Karl says. “You’ll stand beside me at the wedding and pass the ring to me when it’s time.”

  Marvin thinks James looks worried.

  “It’s the most important job at the wedding,” Karl says.

  Christina nods. “And we want you to do it because you’re the most important person in the world to both of us.”

  Their faces are so full of joy, Marvin can only hope James will say yes.

  “What do you think, buddy? Can you do that?” Karl asks.

  “Okay,” James says.

  “Terrific!” Karl hugs him hard.

  Christina kisses his cheek. “Oh, thank you, James. It means so much to us.”

  “We have to go,” Karl says. “We’ll come back later and take you shopping for a suit.”

  “There’s a lot to do,” Christina adds. “The wedding is two weeks from Saturday.”

  Two weeks! Marvin thinks that is very soon.

  They hurry off, leaving Marvin and James alone in the quiet bedroom.

  CHAPTER TWO

  So Many Questions

  James lies down on the floor. Marvin can tell they are finished racing cars.

  He crawls close to James’s face.

  “It’s okay,” James says.

  Marvin waits.

  After a minute, James says, “Christina is the best. If my dad has to marry anyone, I’m glad it’s her.”

  Marvin completely agrees. So why does James look sad?

  James sighs.

  He gently picks up Marvin.

  “Let’s draw something,” he says.

  Marvin always loves drawing. But he’s surprised that James wants to draw right now.

  James puts Marvin on his desk and takes out some paper. Then he opens the bottle of ink and pours a little into the cap, next to Marvin.

  Marvin dips his front legs in the ink and makes a swirl at the t
op of the paper, like this:

  James draws at the bottom of the paper.

  “I just like things the way they are,” he says.

  Marvin can certainly understand that. Mama and Papa recently got rid of his bottle-cap swimming pool because it started leaking. They have promised to find Marvin a new swimming pool, but he liked the old one, and he misses it.

  James stops drawing. “Is Christina going to move in with my dad?”

  Marvin hadn’t thought about this. Of course Karl and Christina will live together after they get married.

  “Or is my dad going to move in with her?” James asks.

  Now Marvin stops drawing too. He can see the worried look on James’s face.

  “Her place isn’t very big. Do you think there will be room for me?” James asks.

  So many questions! Marvin wants to tell James that everything will be okay. But there is no way to know that it will be.

  James sighs again. He looks at Marvin’s inky swirls.

  “Hey,” he says, pointing to one. “That looks like the top of a tree.”

  Carefully, James draws the trunk of the tree, and then more trunks, making a forest.

  “My dad seems really happy,” James says. He draws two people holding hands. “So does Christina.” Marvin draws more swirls. James draws a square. At first, Marvin thinks it is a house. But then James puts a cross on it, like this:

  So Marvin knows it’s a church.

  Marvin dips his front legs in the ink again. Above the heads of the two people, he draws a heart.

  James smiles at Marvin. “Look,” he says. “They’re getting married. Wait, I have an idea.” He folds the paper in half and writes on it before showing it to Marvin.

  “We made a card for them,” he says.

  Marvin beams up at him. James is so kind. Even when he is worried about his whole life changing, he can’t help being nice.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Wedding Plans

  Marvin crawls back to his home under the kitchen sink, eager to share the news.

  “Mama! Papa!” he cries. “Where are you?”

  They race into the living room, looking alarmed.

  “What is it?” Mama asks. “Did you hurt yourself?”

  “No, but guess what?” Marvin says. “Karl and Christina are getting married!”

  Mama claps her front legs together. “How wonderful!”

  Elaine rushes in. “What’s going on? What’s wonderful?”

  So Marvin tells her, and Elaine jumps up and down. “Oh! They’re in LOVE!” She covers her heart. “A wedding! Marvin—we have to go.”

  “Certainly not,” Mama says briskly. “Beetles do not belong at a human wedding.”

  “Karl and Christina don’t even know about us,” Papa adds. “It’s too risky.”

  “We’ll stay out of sight,” Elaine says. “Nobody will know. Just think, a real wedding!”

  “Now, Elaine,” Mama says. “Don’t start making plans.”

  Elaine dances in circles. “We’re going to a wedding! James must be so excited. Is he, Marvin? Is he?”

  Mama, Papa, and Elaine all look at Marvin, waiting for his answer.

  “Well, not really,” he says slowly.

  “What? Why not?” Elaine demands.

  “I thought James liked Christina,” Papa says.

  “He does,” Marvin says. “I think he’s just … worried.”

  “Worried?” Elaine looks shocked.

  But Mama understands. “Of course he is,” she says. “It’s a big change, for everyone.”

  Marvin sighs. Poor James.

  “But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a change for the better,” Mama says. “James just needs time to get used to it.”

  The wedding is only two weeks away, Marvin thinks. That isn’t a lot of time.

  “I know!” Elaine says. “Let’s pick out a present for him, from the treasure box. That will cheer him up.”

  Marvin has to admit this is a good idea. The beetles keep a little box of things they have found in the Pompadays’ apartment that are special or pretty but not useful in the beetles’ world. This is where Marvin got the buffalo nickel he gave James as a gift, months ago, on his birthday.

  Elaine races to the treasure box, with Marvin close behind her.

  “Let’s see,” Elaine says. “What do we have here?”

  There’s a pearl earring, shiny and white.

  There’s a bobby pin.

  There’s a tiny plastic bottle of perfume.

  None of these seem like good presents for James.

  Marvin and Elaine dig through the pile of stuff.

  “What about this?” Elaine asks. “Isn’t it pretty?”

  She points to a marble. It’s made of glass, pink like a sunset.

  But Marvin does not think James needs a marble.

  Then Marvin spots a rubber ball. A super ball!

  “This is perfect for James,” he tells Elaine.

  “Yay! That will be easy to roll to his room,” she says.

  Marvin and Elaine wait until there is nobody in the kitchen. Then they roll the super ball out of the kitchen cupboard. It bounces and speeds across the floor.

  The ball is easy to roll, but hard to control.

  Marvin jumps on top of it and tries to steer it.

  It rolls over and over with Marvin holding on tight. Thank goodness for his hard shell.

  “Marvin, watch out!” Elaine cries. “Or that ball will squash you like a bug.”

  Finally, they reach James’s room. It’s empty.

  They are trying to decide where to put his present when they hear noises in the hallway. James runs in. His arms are full of shopping bags.

  Elaine hides behind the leg of the chair. Marvin gives the super ball a push. It rolls across the rug.

  “Hey!” James cries. “My old super ball! I thought I lost it.”

  Ha! This ball must have belonged to James before James and Marvin were even friends.

  James bounces it high in the air, catching it. “Cool!”

  He spots Marvin and picks him up. “Did you find this? Thanks, little guy,” he says.

  That makes Marvin happy.

  “Want to see my new suit?” James asks.

  He opens one of the shopping bags and pulls out a fancy blue suit. It looks like something Mr. Pompaday would wear, not James. But it is small, James’s size.

  “And here’s the best part,” James says. “The tie.”

  He pulls out a striped tie, then holds up something little and shiny for Marvin to see.

  It is silver and shaped like a …

  BEETLE!

  “It’s called a tie clasp,” James says. “My dad let me pick it out. I’m going to wear it on my tie at the wedding.”

  That makes Marvin very happy.

  “I really hope you can come with me,” James says. “It will make me feel better if you’re there.”

  Marvin hopes he can go to the wedding too … and he knows there is someone else who is counting on it.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  A Wedding Emergency

  Finally, it is the morning of the wedding! The weather is warm and sunny. It will be a beautiful day at the Cloisters. James is busy putting on his new suit. Marvin and Elaine are busy begging their parents to let them go to the wedding.

  At first, Mama, Papa, Uncle Albert, and Aunt Edith do not like this idea at all. The wedding is in a strange place, far away.

  But Marvin and Elaine remind them that not so long ago, James saved Uncle Albert’s life. And now he needs them.

  “Without James, my dear father would be gone,” Elaine says sadly.

  “Besides,” Marvin adds, “we’re always safe with James.”

  When the grown-ups still can’t decide, Elaine sheds a few tears. “I’ve never seen the world,” she cries. “This might be my only chance before I DIE.”

  “All right, all right, that’s enough,” Uncle Albert says.

  The grown-ups look at each other. �
��You can go,” Papa says finally. “But stay together, and stay out of sight.”

  “And be back before dinner,” Mama adds.

  Elaine and Marvin grab each other’s front legs and spin in a circle.

  “The wedding!” Elaine shouts. “We’re going to the wedding!”

  When they reach James’s room, he is sitting on his bed in his new suit, fixing his tie with the silver beetle tie clasp. Marvin and Elaine race across the rug to the desk. As soon as they get to the top, James spots them.

  “Hey, little guy! You’re here! And you brought a friend. Does this mean you’re coming to the wedding?”

  In answer, Marvin and Elaine climb onto his finger.

  They hear Karl’s voice in the hallway. “James! It’s time.”

  James smiles and quickly puts them both in his coat pocket, hidden behind a handkerchief.

  “Ready,” he calls back.

  And off they go to the wedding.

  So many sights and sounds! Marvin and Elaine huddle close in James’s pocket, peeking out. They whisper excitedly during the elevator ride downstairs, and on the walk along the street. In the cab to the Cloisters, they sneak out for a better view but then quickly return to their hiding spot.

  The city whizzes past.

  Inside the cab, Karl is wearing a black tuxedo. Marvin thinks he looks very handsome.

  “I’ve got the ring,” Karl tells James, hugging him and smiling. “I’ll give it to you right before the wedding starts.”