The Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew

Author:Ruth Chew
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2015-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

The girls raced across the shining sand and splashed up to their ankles in the cold sea. Their toes sank in the wet sand as a wave drew back. Another wave rolled in and wet them to their knees. Leaning over they dipped their arms in the water. Pebbles and shells of many colors were at the bottom. Marian fished up a piece of dark seaweed, which was covered with strange pods like little green bubbles.

After a while they sat at the water’s edge and let the waves splash over them. The sea no longer seemed cold. Marian built a castle in the wet sand. Mary Jane helped by cleaning the sand out of the moat as it fell in.

Their stomachs told them when it was time for lunch. When they unpacked the shopping bag in the shade of a bush, Cinders was found in a plastic sandwich bag. She had eaten a surprising amount of the sandwich filling. Marian looked at the sandwich and made a face. “You can have this one, Mary Jane.”

Mary Jane uncorked the thermos. Little pieces of ice tinkled in the lemonade. The paper cups were mashed but still usable. It was a delightful picnic. Only Cinders complained. She didn’t like lemonade. “It’s not as bad as witch’s brew,” she said politely, “but I’d rather have cream, or even milk, if you’re out of cream.”

After lunch Cinders went to sleep in the shopping bag. Mary Jane and Marian took turns burying each other in the sand. The afternoon sun made them drowsy, and soon they too curled up on the beach and fell asleep.

Marian woke when a wave crept to her feet. The tide was coming in. She was stiff from sleeping on the ground, and her mouth was dry and salty. The vacuum cleaner was already deep in the water. At any minute it might be washed away. Marian got to her feet and shook Mary Jane.

For a moment Mary Jane did not know where she was. Remembering, she jumped up and dragged the vacuum cleaner to a place the tide had not yet reached. Their clothes and the shopping bag were wet through. Mary Jane looked frantically for Cinders. At last she saw her, crawling through the sand. The tiny cat had left the shopping bag when the water had begun to seep in.

The shopping bag was a wreck. They put their clothes on over their bathing suits. Wet socks and shoes were nasty to put on, and it took a while to get dressed. The wet clothes felt good on their sunburned shoulders.

When they were ready, Cinders clung to Mary Jane’s soggy shoulder. “I almost miss the witch. She never did things like this.”

Seated on the vacuum cleaner, Mary Jane waited until Marian had a firm grip on the hose and then pointed the wand skyward. “Home, James!”

The map had fallen apart in the sea water, but Mary Jane was sure she remembered the way home. They flew inland until they saw

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.