Driving Team by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online

a great idea! I know we’ve got all this research to do, but it doesn’t mean we have to do it together, all the time. Why don’t we take turns? One of us can work on the history of driving while the other reads
Misty
to Cynthia.”
    “Okay,” agreed Lisa. “That way she won’t feel like such an outcast, and at least one of us will be getting some work done.”
    Carole frowned. “Pretty soon we’ll have to come up with a way to get her mother to quit doing this altogether, but for now I can’t think of a better thing to do than to make this little girl feel special.”
    “I think you’re right. Let’s start this minute,” said Lisa. “Do you want to read first or do research?”
    “You read first,” replied Carole. “I’ll get started on this.”
    “Great,” Lisa said. “Let’s go tell Cynthia.”
    “Wait.” Carole scooted back in the chair. “Don’t let her know how upset we are about her mother. That’ll only make her feel worse than she already does.”
    “Okay.”
    Lisa and Carole walked back to where Cynthia was still tracing over the pony illustrations.
    “Hi, Cynthia,” Lisa said as she and Carole sat down at the tiny table. “Want to read some more of
Misty
?”
    Cynthia looked up at them, her blue eyes wide.“Sure I do. But aren’t you two working on some school project?”
    “Well, we decided to take turns,” explained Carole. “We had such a good time reading to you yesterday that we thought we could at least read a little bit more today.”
    Cynthia beamed. “But we won’t read anywhere near Mrs. Davidson, will we? She almost saw me this morning when she was getting a huge stack of books from behind the counter. I had to run to the back of the children’s section as fast as I could.”
    Carole and Lisa shared a guilty look. The only reserve books Mrs. Davidson had doled out that morning had been their own stack. “Oh, no,” Carole reassured Cynthia. “We’ll stay far away from Mrs. Davidson.”
    “Okay,” Cynthia agreed excitedly.
    “Let’s go find a quiet corner,” Lisa said. “I’ll read the next couple of chapters, then Carole and I will switch off and she can read.”
    “That sounds like fun!” said Cynthia.
    They got up from the table and walked toward a little nook in the wall, close to the reserved book counter.
    “What’s your mother like, Cynthia?” Lisa asked as they squeezed between two tall bookcases.
    “She’s real pretty and sweet,” Cynthia said, smiling.“She let me adopt a kitten from the animal shelter, and she pops me popcorn and reads lots of books to me when we’re at home.”
    Carole was curious. “What does she like to buy at the mall?”
    “Red pocketbooks,” Cynthia giggled. “She has a whole collection of them. They’re all great big and she carries them over her shoulder. People tease her about them all the time.”
    They reached the little nook, which was empty. Lisa and Cynthia sat down together on the floor. Carole smiled. “Well, I guess I’ll go back to our work. Come and get me when it’s my turn, Lisa.”
    “Right.” Lisa opened the book to where they’d stopped the day before. “See you in a little while.”
    Carole turned and had begun to retrace her steps toward their table when she saw Mrs. Davidson heading for the reserved books. An elderly woman followed close behind. For an instant Carole panicked. If they kept going straight, they would certainly see Lisa and Cynthia. Carole hurried toward them.
    “Hi, Mrs. Davidson,” she called loudly. “Anything I can help you with?”
    “No, dear, I was just going to get Mrs. Lovejoy her books on mushrooms.”
    “Mushrooms?” Carole cried. “Really? I love to readabout mushrooms! Why don’t you let me get Mrs. Love joy’s books? That way I can have a peek at them before I get back to my own work.”
    Mrs. Lovejoy smiled while Mrs. Davidson just looked confused. “Well, uh, I guess that would be all right. If you don’t mind, that is.”
    “No, no,”