“What are we going to do today?” Benny asked when they were finished eating. “How about the candlemaker’s?” Linda suggested. “That sounds fun,” Jessie said. Minutes later the children were entering a small building that smelled of melted wax. “Hello, I’m Martha. Would you like to learn how to make candles?” asked a pretty woman in a long flowered dress. Her soft brown hair was pulled back in a thick braid down her back. “We sure would,” said Benny, always eager to learn something new. “Great! Here’s what you do. Take a wick,” Martha said, handing each of the children a short stick with a piece of string tied in the center. “Hold your stick and dip the wick into this pot of melted wax. Be careful — the wax is very hot.” One by one, the Aldens did as Martha said. When the wicks were pulled out of the hot wax, each one was coated in a thin layer of wax. “This doesn’t look like a candle,” Benny complained. “Wait a couple of seconds for the wax to cool and harden a bit.
