Jackie's Jokes by Lauren Baratz-Logsted Read Free Book Online Page B

train ride."
    But much as we had looked forward to it, we couldn't relax. We were too worried about Jackie.
    "I know you must be worried about Jackie," Pete said, reading our minds. "You Eights—or should I be calling you Sevens right now, since Jackie's not here?—have to relax. Jackie is a smart girl. She'll be fine."
    Still, we worried. Yes, Jackie was smart. We knew that. But we also knew that she was back there all alone at the train station. She was miles from 888 Middle Way, with no money. How would she get home? Would she wait for us? It would be hours before we got back. We hoped she knew better than to accept a ride from strangers.
    "She'll be fine," Pete said again.
    Nonetheless, when we looked at him closely, we could tell that even he was a bit worried. He reached into the inside pocket of his Armani and pulled something out.
    "Breath mint?" He offered the roll around.
    So that's what we did for the next hour, we temporary Sevens: knocked back a few breath mints while the world whizzed by our windows, and tried not to worry about the CPA ahead of us and the Jackie behind us.
    ***

    The train pulled into the station at the Big City and we all debarked, only to find...
    Jackie waiting outside the door, leaning against a post in her pretty blue dress as she casually studied her fingernails.
    "What took you all so long?" she asked with a bored yawn.
    " Jackie? "Poor Pete. He looked like he was about to have a heart attack. "But what...? How did you...? That is to say..."
    "I think," Annie said in the calm voice of one who knows about such things, "that Jackie just found her power."
    "Yes," Jackie said, looking incredibly pleased with herself. "Apparently, my power is that I'm faster than a speeding train."
    "That was you that zipped past our windows?" Pete asked.
    Jackie nodded.
    "I'd never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," Pete said. Then he shook his head. "In truth, I didn't see it. All I saw, all any of us saw, was a tiny blue dot whizzing by our windows." He thought some more about this, studied us. "Does it always happen like this, when one of you gets her power? One minute you're normal, and then— boom! bang! lickety-split!— there it is?"
    Durinda shrugged. "Pretty much."
    "It truly is amazing," he said, awed.
    Eight heads bowed humbly.
    Zinnia was the first to recover from our humble moment. "Oh, Jackie!" she said. "What an awesome power!"
    "No one will ever beat you again on Field Day!" Petal said.
    "I knew when she cut her hair that things were going to change," Rebecca said.
    "Well." Pete clapped his hands. "We're all together again. Shall we go see your CPA now?"
    ***
    Bright lights! Big City!
    We liked to think that the place we lived was pretty special, but it was nothing like this.
    Everywhere we looked, there were people walking and taxis speeding. Horns blared, and on every corner there was a little metal hot-dog cart.
    "Do you think we have time to go see a musical?" Petal wondered. "I think a musical show might be just what I need to calm my nerves."
    '"Fraid not," Annie said, not unkindly.
    So instead of seeing dancing girls and listening to show tunes, we made our way to the offices of Alan Watts, CPA.
    If his secretary was surprised to see nine of us show up for the appointment, she didn't let on.
    Alan Watts, on the other hand, couldn't hide his surprise at the sight of Pete. He stood up from behind his desk and came over to us.
    "And who might you be?" he demanded, as if Pete were some stranger who'd followed us in off the streets.
    Alan Watts had a body like one long comma, and he had a horseshoe of black hair around an otherwise bald head. His eyes were big and green, the color of money, and they were behind incredibly thick, dark-rimmed glasses. Although he wore a suit, we will say this about Alan Watts: his suit had nothing on Pete's Armani.
    "Pete Huit," Pete said, extending his hand for a shake. "Robert's brother. I didn't like the idea of the girls coming into