The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker by E. D. Baker Read Free Book Online Page A

want to leave and not come back,but neither the traps nor the bait do the job. Every day I have more spiders than the day before and I’m getting quite desperate. It bothered me so much that I put my house up for sale, but no one is interested. To tell the truth, I hate killing anything, but lately I’ve resorted to stomping on them. Unfortunately, I have tiny feet and it doesn’t do anything except make them mad. That’s why I need someone with large feet.”
    â€œHow big are these spiders?” asked Cory. She had already glanced down at Marjorie’s feet, which were indeed very tiny, but then Marjorie was so petite that the top of her head barely reached Cory’s shoulder. Cory suddenly recalled that Marjorie had been called Little Miss Muffet when they were younger. Ordinary spiders might seem huge to someone so small.
    â€œCome inside and I’ll show you,” Marjorie said, standing up. She set the book on the bench, but changed her mind and picked it up again. “This is a very useful book. I refer to it often.”
    Cory glanced at the cover as they walked toward the house. The title,
What Mother Goose Didn’t Want You to Know
, sounded intriguing. She nearly bumped into Marjorie when the girl opened the front door and stopped to peek inside.
    â€œI don’t see any yet,” Marjorie said, tiptoeing acrossthe threshold. “It won’t be long before they show up, though. Look! There’s one now!”
    A spider as big as Cory’s hand with her fingers spread wide was sauntering across the woven sea-grass carpet in the main room. Cory shuddered. She’d never liked spiders, but had never been particularly afraid of them—until now. Taking a step back, she wondered how anyone would think of stomping on something so big when suddenly the spider jumped, landing on the wall beside her. In a heartbeat, Miss Muffet swung her book, smacking the spider so that it fell to the floor, stunned.
    â€œWow! That was impressive!” exclaimed Cory.
    â€œI told you this was a useful book,” Marjorie said with a grin. Pulling a pair of cooking tongs from the pocket of her apron, she plucked the spider off the floor and carried it out the door. With the tongs held at arm’s length, she marched to the middle of her yard and set the spider down. Returning to Cory’s side, she pointed at the spider and said, “Now watch.”
    The words had scarcely left her lips when a crow landed on the ground beside the spider, tilted its head to one side to get a better look, then snapped up the spider and swallowed it in one gulp.
    â€œThey must be tasty,” Marjorie explained. “The birds really seem to like them.”
    â€œI have one question,” Cory said as the crow flew off. “Why do you want to hire someone to stomp the spiders? It looks as if you’re handling it well yourself.”
    â€œI usually do, except I’m tired of them jumping on me in the middle of the night or landing on the table when I’m eating. I’ve given up eating curds and whey, although they used to be my favorite food. I haven’t been able to stomach them ever since a spider landed in a bowl while I was eating. At first I found the spiders intimidating, but now they’re just an annoyance. I want them to be gone, even if I have to pay someone to take care of them for me. Are you interested in the job?”
    â€œI’m sorry,” said Cory. “But I don’t think I’d make a good spider stomper. My feet are much too small to stomp one of your spiders.”
    â€œI didn’t think you’d want the job. But at least we got to see each other again,” said Marjorie.
    Cory nodded. “Now that I’m no longer working at night and don’t have to sleep during the day, I’ll actually be able to see my friends.”
    Marjorie smiled. “I’d like that! And maybe we can go somewhere that doesn’t have