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

Sharra.
    "Don't worry," said Ellen in a soothing voice. "It was a very natural thing to do."
    "Aahhh!" cried Sharra. "Call the doctor! I ate a fly!"
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    "Do you really want us to call a doctor?" asked Jennifer.
    "Yes! NO! Just do something!" Suddenly Sharra stopped moving. "If you ever tell anyone about this, I'll kill you," she said, her voice trembling with passion.
    Jennifer had just been thinking how much fun it would be to tell the rest of the fifth grade about Sharra Moncrieffe eating flies.
    "Promise you won't tell," demanded Sharra.
    Jennifer sighed. "My lips are sealed," she said, raising one hand in a sign of pledge.
    "Mine, too," said Ellen.
    "Sheesh," said Bufo. "You'd think there was something wrong with eating a fly."
    "Shut up!" snarled Sharra. Then she hopped across the bed, crawling halfway under the pillow, and squatted there glaring at the rest of them.
    "We do have to let your parents know where you are," said Ellen, after an uncomfortable silence.
    "I don't want them to know."
    "If we don't say something, they're going to call the police," said Jennifer reasonably. Inside she was wondering who the Moncrieffes would call once they found out their daughter was a toad.
    "So what?" said Sharra, who was clearly in no mood to be cooperative.
    "Well, sooner or later the police will come over here and start asking questions."
    "So? You're not going to tell them what happened."
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    "Of course not," said Jennifer. "But Ellen probably will. She can't keep a secret to save her life."
    "Hey!" cried Ellen. "I can too keep a secret."
    "Name one," snapped Jennifer.
    Ellen glowered at Jennifer.
    "All right," said Sharra. "You've made your point. Go ahead, call my parents."
    "You'll have to talk to them," said Jennifer.
    Though Sharra resisted, Jennifer finally convinced her. Which is how the three of them, Jennifer, Sharra, and Ellen, wound up out in the hall, Jennifer dialing the number, Sharra squatting next to the receiver, and Ellen keeping watch for Skippy or Jennifer's parents.
    Jennifer had to admit that Sharra handled the moment well, chatting with her mother as if nothing at all was wrong. But as soon as the call was over, she lapsed into a stunned silence. Jennifer immediately began to feel guilty again. She recalled how Sharra had wept all the way home, muttering about dreams. When they returned to Jennifer's room, Sharra sat in silent gloom on Jennifer's pillow, her bulging eyes glazed over.
    "At least this happened on a Friday," said Ellen, trying to sound cheerful.
    Jennifer knew what she meant. They never would have gotten Sharra's parents to let her stay over on a school night.
    "All right," said Bufo, "you've done your duty to little Miss Perfect's parents.
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    Now I want to know the details of what happened in that beauty parlor." He sounded nervous, which made Jennifer a little nervous, too.
    "Well, you heard it all from inside the box, didn't you?" she asked.
    "Of course I heard it," said Bufo. "I just couldn't see anything. That's why I want more details."
    But before Jennifer could answer, her father's deep voice came booming up the stairs. "Jennifer, Ellen, come to supper!"
    "We'll have to tell you later," said Jennifer.
    "Now!" demanded Bufo.
    "Don't leave me here with him!" cried Sharra. "Later," said Jennifer again, scooping up Sharra and returning her to the sweatshirt pouch.
    Between Jennifer's nervousness and her mother's bad mood, supper was a tense affair, enlivened only by the moment when Skippy stuffed a pair of string beans into his nostrils and cried, "Look! Super boogies!"
    "I want boogies, too!" cried Brandon, who until that point had been refusing to even look at his beans.
    Mr. and Mrs. Murdley were not amused. After supper Mr. Murdley announced that Mrs. Murdley needed a break, and he was taking her out to a film.
    "Which means that the four of you are going to be very, very good for the next few hours, doesn't it?" he asked in a voice that could only