Jaclyn Hyde by Annabeth Bondor-Stone

Author:Annabeth Bondor-Stone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-02-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Fog Brain

Jaclyn, Paige, and Fatima rushed down the stairs two at a time.

“Dad!” Jaclyn shouted, skidding to a halt in front of him. “Were you in my room?”

Dad swiveled his chair around to face her. “No. I’ve been down here all afternoon making this.” He showed her a T-shirt that said Proud Dad of the World’s Best Understudy. “I can’t wait for the show tonight.”

Jaclyn’s face flushed. “Dad, you don’t have to come. I’m just the understudy.”

“The world’s best understudy!” he corrected her. “I’m going to get a seat all the way to the side, so I can try to see you backstage. And Paige, I hear you’re great as the tree!”

“I’m still working on my line,” said Paige. “What is it again?”

“‘It sure is foggy out,’” Fatima told her for the hundredth time.

“It sure is,” Jaclyn’s mom said, walking through the front door. She hung her coat up on the hook. “Girls, shouldn’t you be getting ready for the musical?”

“Mom, did you go in my room?” Jaclyn asked.

“No, and frankly there’s still an odd smell coming from in there. I think you should give Charles’s cage another scrub. Now, are you all set for the big show tonight?”

“Yes, Mom, but listen—”

“You know all your lines, right? And all the dance steps? And every note to every song? Just in case.”

Finally, Jaclyn couldn’t take it anymore. “So nobody was in my room?!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Jaclyn’s dad blinked at her a few times. “Well, your science fair partner. What’s his name? Shawn?”

Fatima’s scowled. “Shane?”

“That’s right. Shane. He was just here. He said he had to pick up something for the project. He’s a very polite young man.”

“I didn’t know you had another science fair partner,” said Mom.

“We don’t,” said Paige.

A look of panic crossed Jaclyn’s face. “We’ve got to go!”

As they ran out the door, Dad called after them, “See you at the show!”

The girls took off on their bikes as fast as they could go. Shane lived at the end of Paige’s street in a house with a big tree in the front yard. It was a cherry tree, a fact that Jaclyn knew all too well because when she went over to Paige’s house, she’d often have to ride by while Shane hid in the branches and pelted her with sour cherries. It was as good a reason as any to wear a helmet while biking.

“Let’s take the shortcut,” Paige called out, turning into the Fog Island Orchard.

“I hope we can find him,” Jaclyn said, trying to keep her tires steady on the dirt path.

“Oh, we’ll find him,” Fatima snarled, “and when we do, his brace-face better brace for my fist!”

“How did he know about the potion?” said Jaclyn.

“He must have been snooping on us during lunch. The little weasel!” Fatima said, weaving through a row of apple trees. “Scratch that. That’s an insult to weasels!”

Paige was already biking out of the other side of the orchard. As Jaclyn tried to keep up, she looked over her shoulder toward the fenced-off area where she had picked the rotten apples.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.