How Tía Lola Saved the Summer Read Online Free PDF

seen this old Pirates of the Caribbean movie, not that he ever minds seeing a good film a second time.
    Just as the van turns out of the driveway and vanishes, the phone rings. “I’m really sorry, Captain,” Rudy tells him. “But I think we better call today a washout. Let’s hope for better luck mañana. ”
    Miguel really hopes that the rain’ll let up by tomorrow. The team desperately needs to practice playing together. The only piece of good news Miguel can offer is that their uniforms are ready. The team can try them on after practice tomorrow. That way, Tía Lola can fix any that don’t fit right.
    “You’re being a great sport,” Rudy compliments him. No doubt, the coach can tell that Miguel is just barely slogging his way through the swamp of disappointment.
    When Mami and Víctor and Cari return home, Miguel meets them with such a grim look, they don’t have to ask if practice has been canceled.
    Soon Mami and Víctor are occupied preparing the living room for tonight’s campfire. They laugh and joke as they move furniture around and get a fire ready in the fireplace. Even though it’s summer, the rainy day is cool, and what’s a campfire without a fire? Miguel and Valentino get displaced so many times, they finally climb up the two flights of stairs to Miguel’s room.
    As he is going over his baseball cards, Miguel hears asoft rapping. At first he thinks it’s just the rain, but Valentino has gotten up and is standing by the door, his tail wagging. Great! Now Miguel has to deal with a visitor invading his privacy. “Yeah?” he calls out uninvitingly. “Who is it?”
    The knob turns. The door slowly opens. Standing there, her left shoulder shyly up to her ear, her sword trailing from her hand, is Cari. “Hi,” she says. Her voice is a whisper. “What’re you doing?”
    Miguel would like to tell her to scram, but she looks so small and scared. “Just going over my baseball cards,” he tells her. “Come in if you want.”
    Cari skips into the room, delighted to be invited. She plops herself down on the bed, lays her sword beside her, then looks all around. “The treasure’s all gone.”
    Miguel doesn’t know if he should tell her it was all pretend. Maybe it’d be like telling a little kid there is no Santa Claus. “After we took our share, the pirates came for the rest.”
    Cari’s eyes widen. She reaches for her sword, then decides maybe she doesn’t need it. Still, she keeps her hand on it. “The pirates came back to the attic?”
    Miguel nods. He’s good at solving clues, not thinking up stories and stuff. That’s why he was so impressed by Tía Lola’s clues last night, especially since they were in rhymes and in English. But Tía Lola confessed that el Rudy had helped her write them.
    “Aren’t you scared to sleep up here?” Cari asks in an awed voice. “What if the pirates get angry that we took their candy and try to hurt you?”
    Miguel shrugs. “They don’t bother me.”
    “That’s because you can work magic like Tía Lola, right?” Cari nods, answering her own question. “Essie told me and Victoria. So when the pirates come, you can just turn them into bully frogs like the ones last night.”
    Miguel can’t help smiling. “Bullfrogs,” he corrects her. No wonder Cari was so scared, if she thought the frogs were bullies. “They live down in the pond. And when they make that bull sound, that’s just them singing lullabies to their wives and baby tadpoles.” He says this last part to reassure her, so she won’t be scared of the loud croaking at night. Maybe Miguel’s not so bad at making up stuff after all.
    “They have wives and babies?” Cari is incredulous. “And they aren’t bullies?”
    Miguel shakes his head. “They’re more scared of you than you are of them.”
    “They are?”
    “Yep! Come on, I’ll prove it.” Why not? He doesn’t have anything better to do than sit around moping about the weather. And it might be fun to splash around at