Jennifer Murdley's Toad (Magic Shop Books) by Bruce Coville Read Free Book Online

wonderful laugh. "Is anything more magical than beauty?"
    Probably not, thought Jennifer bitterly. But aloud she said, "No, it was a little shop where you could buy magic stuff. I want to find it again."
    "Tell me a little more about it," said the woman. Her voice was light, but it was forced lightness.
    Jennifer shrugged, starting to feel uneasy. "It was a neat place," she said, falling back on vagueness. "I liked it, sort of."
    "Did you buy anything there?" asked the woman.
    This time not even the lightness of her tone could mask the hunger beneath her words. The green-gold eyes had changed again. Now they were gray, the color of cold steel.
    Jennifer's skin grew cold, too. She suddenly knew that she was in big trouble, though exactly what kind she couldn't tell.
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    SIX
    Skippy Gets Hoppy
    "Jennifer, I think we should go," said Ellen, plucking at her arm.
    Jennifer agreed, but she wasn't sure she could get her feet to move. They felt as if they had been embedded in cement. The woman's eyes, shifting now to an icy blue, seemed to be burrowing into her soul. Smiling, a summer sun beneath the arctic ice of her glare, the woman said, "I asked if you bought anything." Glancing significantly at the box, she raised one elegant eyebrow and added, "Anything ... interesting?"
    Jennifer knew she shouldn't speak of Bufo-- and not only because Mr. Elives had specifically forbidden it. Something deeper, instinctual, told her not to mention him to this woman. But the woman's gaze was so compelling, the silk and steel of her voice so frightening and comforting all at once, that Jennifer could feel her control over her tongue beginning to loosen.
    "I ... I bought a toad," she murmured, her
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    face burning with shame at the weakness that let the words be pulled from her lips.
    The woman's eyes glowed with triumph, making her at once more beautiful and more frightening. "And where is that toad now?" she asked, the tip of her tongue gliding across the top of her lip in a way that made it clear she already knew the answer.
    Suddenly Ellen grabbed Jennifer by the elbow and spun her around. "Run!" she cried.
    Free of the woman's gaze, it took no more than a heartbeat for Jennifer to recover her senses. Racing toward the door, she burst out of the beauty parlor and into the afternoon sunlight. From behind them she heard a chilling cry of rage and anger. But the moment the door swung shut, the cry was cut off, almost as if the door formed some barrier between the inside of the shop and the rest of the world.
    "Murdley!" cried Sharra. "What's going on out there?"
    "Jennifer!" shouted Bufo. "Get us out of here!" She didn't need to be told twice. Grabbing Ellen by the hand, she ran for her life.
    Five minutes later Ellen collapsed beneath a tree. "Enough!" she gasped. "I can't run anymore!"
    "I think it's okay," said Jennifer, between deep rasping breaths. "I don't see her anywhere."
    "Jennifer," said Bufo, using Mrs. Hopwell's voice, "what is going on?"
    Jennifer was so startled at hearing her teacher's
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    voice that she almost answered. Then she realized what Bufo was doing. "Wait till we get back to the house," she said, pressing her hand against her side. "I'll tell you all about it then."
    "Tell us now!" said Sharra from inside Jennifer's sweatshirt.
    "At the house!" said Jennifer firmly, her resolve strengthened by the fact that it pleased her to defy Sharra.
    But when they reached the house, explanations were delayed by the fact that the children had to deal with Mrs. Murdley. Jennifer hadn't been expecting that; even when she was late, she usually beat her mother home from work.
    Today was one of those rare days when Mrs. Murdley had arrived home first. Even worse, she was cooking, which meant that she had probably had a bad day. Mrs. Murdley hated to cook and only did it when she wanted to let off steam by slicing up some vegetables.
    "Where have you girls been?" she asked now, as Jennifer and Ellen came through the back door into the