Jennifer Murdley's Toad (Magic Shop Books) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her desk a sharp rap with her pencil. "Bufo!" she whispered, "Knock it off!"
    For a moment the room was quiet. Mrs. Hop-well glanced over her shoulder once more, looking for any sign of trouble. Nothing. She returned to the math lesson.
    "MRS. HOPWELL!" roared Sharra's voice.
    The class burst into laughter. Mrs. Hopwell slammed down her chalk and whirled to face the room. Her cheeks were red, her eyes angry.
    "It was Jennifer Murdley!" cried Sharra, leaping to her feet. "I heard her. Jennifer's the one who did it!"
    Jennifer jumped to her feet as well. "I did not!" she cried. "I didn't say a thing!"
    "You did, too!" shrieked Sharra. "I know all about it. You're learning ventriloquism and ..."
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    Jennifer didn't hear the rest of what Sharra had to say. She turned to look at Ellen.
    Ellen was looking at her desk.
    "Big mouth!" hissed Jennifer.
    "So it was you, Jennifer," said Mrs. Hopwell. "Well, that's a highly unusual talent you're developing. But I would suggest that you find something more constructive to do with it than torment your friends and disrupt my classroom."
    "Sharra's not my friend," said Jennifer sullenly.
    Sharra fluffed her hair and looked away.
    "We're all friends in this classroom," said Mrs. Hopwell. "Now, I want you to apologize to Sharra, Jennifer. And I'll see you after school."
    "Sorry, Sharra," muttered Jennifer.
    "Oh, that's all right," said Sharra sweetly.
    Jennifer wanted to throw up.
    Jennifer found Ellen waiting for her when she left the school building after receiving her lecture from Mrs. Hopwell.
    "Traitor," she hissed.
    "I'm sorry!" cried Ellen. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble. It's just that I was so proud of you I had to tell someone!"
    Jennifer wanted to stay mad, and she didn't like the fact that Ellen's explanation made her feel better.
    "So you told Annette," she said, trying to maintain her anger. "Annette told Maya. And Maya told Sharra. It's an old story. Haven't you figured it out yet?"
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    "I promise I'll never let out a secret again. Ever!"
    Jennifer could feel herself beginning to relent.
    "Besides," said Ellen, "if you hadn't been trying to get Sharra in trouble, it never would have happened."
    "Me!" exclaimed Jennifer. "I wasn't trying--"
    A warning thump sounded from inside the box.
    "Oh, forget it," said Jennifer. "It wasn't your fault, anyway." She gave the shoe box a shake and listened with satisfaction to the squawk that came from inside. "Come on, let's go home."
    The two girls walked in silence until they came to the Moncrieffe house, where they found Sharra sitting on the front porch. She was holding Ponko, stroking his long white fur.
    "I hate that cat," whispered Jennifer, when she noticed Ponko glaring at her.
    Sharra put the cat down. "Hey, Murdley," she said. "Where'd you learn that ventriloquism thing?"
    "From a friend," said Jennifer, barely slowing down.
    "Wait a minute!" said Sharra, getting up from the porch. "I'm talking to you." She walked toward Jennifer and Ellen. "Gimme the box. I want to take another look at that toad."
    "He's sleeping," said Jennifer nervously.
    "So what? Beauty rest isn't going to do a toad any good."
    THUMP.
    "See?" said Sharra. "He's awake. Let me see him."
    She grabbed for the box. Jennifer clung to it
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    for a moment, but Sharra was tugging at it, and Jennifer was afraid it was going to break and spill Bufo onto the ground. "All right," she said grudgingly. "Take a look. But be careful."
    "Oh, it's only a toad," said Sharra. "You can get another one anytime you want." Lifting the lid, she looked inside. "Just what I thought," she said triumphantly. "He looks just like you. A toad for a toad. You make a good pair."
    Before Jennifer could recover from the sting of Sharra's words, Bufo leapt from the box and planted a great, warty kiss on Sharra's lips.
    "Yuck!" cried Sharra. Dropping the box, she began to rub at her mouth, gagging and spitting. At the same time the sky went dark. A great bang shook the air,