The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall Read Free Book Online Page B

happening that very evening.
    “Wow, Mr. Pen on a date,” he said when she’d finished. “Poor Rosalind.”
    “Poor all of us.” Jane felt herself getting tart again.
    Tommy didn’t seem to notice her tone. The rough-terrain drills were calling, and with a casual good-bye, he was gone.
    Now the glade was once again empty except for Jane. She considered going back to summoning magical creatures but, after all, she thought, ten is quite grown-up, whatever some people might think, and therefore too old to believe in such things. So instead she ate her apple, then picked up her notebook and pen, intending to start on her next essay for Miss Bunda. Twenty minutes later, she was still just sitting there on the rock, staring off into the trees. The problem was that the topic was How Science Has Changed Our Lives, which had to be even more tedious than Famous Women in Massachusetts History. If she had to write about science, why couldn’t she write about Sabrina Starr inventing a device that could neutralize nuclear warheads from afar? Now,
that
would be fascinating. But unfortunately, dopey old Miss Bunda would give her another
C,
or worse.
    Jane stretched out on the rock and closed her eyes. Maybe if she just lay here on her Enchanted Rock, the perfect idea for an essay would come to her. But the sun was so warm and comforting, and she was a little worn-out from the soccer game—being Mick Hart always took extra energy—that soon she was drowsily drifting away to a marvelous world where people looked for her instead of her older sisters. The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake by Skye.
    “Jane! What the heck are you doing on top of this rock?”
    She retrieved her pen, which had rolled away while she slept. “Working on my essay.”
    “Yeah, right. Daddy’s getting ready for his date, and he won’t leave until I manage to produce you. Thank goodness Tommy said he’d seen you here, because I was getting tired of looking.” Skye slid off the big rock to one of the small rocks, then leapt to the ground.
    “What else did Tommy say?” asked Jane, following her.
    “I don’t know. Who cares? Hurry!”
    They sped through Quigley Woods, burst out onto the cul-de-sac, and finished up with a race down Gardam Street. When they reached their own front steps, Skye issued a warning.
    “Listen to me,” she said. “Daddy’s a wreck and Aunt Claire wants us to be helpful.”
    “I’m always helpful,” protested Jane, but when she and Skye walked into the living room, she understood. Her father hadn’t looked this anxious since he’d gone to the dentist to have two teeth pulled. It didn’t seem to be helping that Aunt Claire and Batty were attacking him with lint brushes, trying to remove all traces of Hound.
    “Jane, thank goodness,” he said. “I thought I’d lost one of you. It did, however, occur to me that if you stayed lost for too long, I would have the perfect excuse to cancel this blasted date.”
    “Sorry, Daddy,” she said. “Is there another lint brush I can use?”
    “No, we’re done with the brushing.” He flapped his hands at Aunt Claire and Batty. “Now, can anyone locate my glasses?”
    “I can,” said Rosalind, who’d been hovering on the outskirts. She took them off the mantelpiece and set them gently on her father’s nose. Jane thought Rosalind looked even more anxious than he did.
    “Now at least I’ll be able to see the dinner menu,” he said, reaching up to adjust them.
    Aunt Claire came back at him with her brush. “There’s at least another pound of dog hair on your sweater.”
    “Too bad. If Ms. Muntz cares about dog hair, she’s clearly not the woman for me.”
    “And you’re sure you won’t wear a suit?”
    “He hates suits,” said Skye.
    “Thank you, Skye Blue, and I’m not fond of blind dates, either.”
    The red clock on the mantelpiece chimed five. Mr. Penderwick was due to pick up his date at quarter after. It was time to go. He kissed each of his