Is it as bad as one of Aunt Winnie's Views John Henry asked smirking Aunt Winnie's paintings are beautiful Tim cried It's not a fair comparison said Mrs Tuttle Winifred doesn't pretend to be a real painter But she is a real painter Tim said I'm very fond of her Views said Dr Tuttle For Christmas and his birthday Dr Tuttle always received one of his aunt's small oil paintings of the view of the Green Mountains from her house Winifred wasn't his real aunt only his aunt by mar riage Long ago during World War II she'd married his uncle but soon afterward his uncle had been shot down in the Pacific leaving her a widow Mrs Tuttle considered her paintings amateurish so Dr Tuttle always took them to hang in his lab at the university Don't you like the chop Trev Mrs Tuttle asked Very flavorful Dr Tuttle said preparing for a second assault But John Henry rescued him by slipping an enve lope from his back pocket and sliding it toward him
Tim felt the opposite of rescued as he watched his father set down his knife and fork and pull out John Henry's report card Uh oh Dr Tuttle said What is it dear said Mrs Tuttle Somebody we know got an A minus in arith metic He spoke gravely What do you suppose could have happened I missed a quiz the week you took us to Balti more for your conference John Henry cried It still counts as straight As doesn't it Of course it does lambie Mrs Tuttle said Your father's just pulling your leg Where's yours Tim You always say bringing reading material to the dinner table isn't polite Tim said Report cards are an exception dear I dropped it on the bus and somebody stepped on it I think it got smudged Well we'll do our best to decipher it To tell you the truth Mom I'm not sure where I left it I think you went straight up to your room when
we got home John Henry said helpfully Shall I come up and help you look Mrs Tuttle offered Um no that's okay Tim said pushing his chair back slowly from the dinner table He trudged upstairs to his room and groped under his mattress where he'd stashed his report card in hopes that one of his great aunt Winifred's sayings Out of sight out of mind would hold true In his opinion it was a nasty trick to hand out report cards right before Christmas which was supposed to be the season of joy and glad tidings and ho ho hos He walked back downstairs in slow motion hop ing his peas might at least get cold enough for him to use that as an excuse for not eating them Let's see it sweetie Mrs Tuttle said as he shuffled into the dining room He was nearer his father's end of the table how ever and handed the report card to him Dr Tuttle was in charge of a team of scientists who did genetic research at the University of Vermont Medical Center He believed that grades were the result of genes
Unfortunately he soon passed the report card on to Mrs Tuttle who believed grades had more to do with studying Really Tim she said with a sigh If you spent half as much time on your homework as you do eat ing Winifred's chocolate chip cookies you wouldn't have all these Cs Or that gut John Henry murmured loud enough for only Tim to hear Now Alison Dr Tuttle said gently trying to get down another bite of leathery pork He'd ac tually been wishing Mrs Tuttle spent her time in a different way though he would never have dared say so When she wasn't volunteering at the art museum she was putting in time at the Women's Shelter or working for the local chapter of the Campaign for Women's Rights Aunt Winnie's a good old soul he said I'm sure she's not a bad influence She's fat and weird John Henry said She is not Tim said Living up on that hill all by herself She's so out of touch she's _ Now John Henry said Mrs Tuttle it's not
