Now You See Me ... by Jane B. Mason Read Free Book Online Page A

today.” She shot Lena a look.
    Lena felt a twinge of guilt. Her best friend had spent most of the day trying to help her unravel the Impulse mystery. She vowed that tonight would be different. Tonight she was going to have fun.
    She trained the camera’s eye on her father and one of his beauties. “Smile, Dad,” she directed. Shifting the camera to the left, she fit as many jars into the shot as she could and pushed the button. The camera whirred.
    â€œNext time, Mr. G.,” Abby vowed. “Next time we are going to have a stellar jam session.” She smiled and ran her finger along the gleaming line of jars.
    Mr. Giff handed the jar he was holding to Abby. “This one’s for you. As for our lesson, I wish I had time tomorrow. There’s a whole flat of peaches on the porch I didn’t even get to.” He shook his head dramatically. “But I have a meeting, so this lot will have to get us through.”
    Lena looked at the rows and rows of jars. It was definitely enough to get them through the winter, plus extras to give away to friends. Not to mention the two cases of strawberry jam in the pantry. But according to her dad, you couldn’t have too much jam.
    â€œWhat a waste,” Mr. Giff murmured. “And I’m a little short this year, too.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Dad,” Lena said, patting her father on the back. “I’ve heard of this crazy thing you can do with peaches. It’s called
eating
them.”
    â€œSmart aleck,” Mr. Giff harrumphed. He checked his watch and called out to Lena’s mother.
    â€œWhat time did you say the movie started?” Mrs. Giff appeared in the kitchen in the nick of time. She looked at the girls and lifted her eyebrows. “Is he still whining about the jam?” she asked.
    They didn’t have to answer.
    â€œDon’t worry, I’ll get him out of here,” Mrs. Giff joked, and tried to tug her husband toward the door. “The man needs distraction.”
    POP!
A small explosion echoed in the kitchen.
    â€œWhat the —” Lena turned and her mouth dropped open. One of the upside-down jars had popped its lid and was oozing sticky peach goo all over the counter.
POP!
Another one opened up.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Mrs. Giff asked.
    â€œI don’t know! I don’t know!” Mr. Giff wailed. “I was just going to flip them over. Everything seemed fine, and now …”
    A third jar popped, and peach jam flowed out the bottom like lava.
    â€œHoney, we have to go,” Mrs. Giff called her husband from the hallway. “We’ll miss the movie.”
    â€œBut …” Mr. Giff looked from the door to the jam and back.
    â€œDon’t worry, Dad. We’ll clean it up.” Lena wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her father so distraught.
    â€œI made sure everything was boiling hot. I used the same pectin. I …” Mr. Giff walked slowly out of the kitchen talking to himself, going over each step and wondering what had gone wrong. “I suppose the lids might be defective….”
    Or something else
, Lena thought.
    â€œMan. Your dad was a mess,” Abby said after the door was closed and locked behind Lena’s parents.
    â€œYeah. So’s the counter,” Lena pointed out. The sticky peach ooze was spreading out under the jars, sealing them to the granite. Suddenly, Lena was regretting her offer to clean up.
    â€œOkay. You wash, I’ll dry,” Abby said, taking charge.
    Lena turned on the hot water, added soap, andbegan to carefully wash the bottoms of the still-sealed jars. The Impulse clunked awkwardly against the counter every time she reached for another jar.
    â€œWhy don’t you take that thing off?” Abby asked.
    Lena felt a flash of annoyance. One minute she wanted her to enter the photo contest, and the next she was telling her to ditch the camera….
    The Impulse thunked against the lip of