The Girls Take Over Read Online Free PDF
Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
boots? What are you talking about?”
“I couldn't find the boots, but I looked out the window, and Eddie's coming across the bridge. She's got a tail!”
The three boys ran to the window in the twins' bedroom. There, coming across the swinging bridge, were Beth and Eddie, walking side by side, and sticking out behind Eddie, just as Wally had said, was a tail. A long straight tail, like a pointer.
“Didn't I tell you she was a devil?” Jake joked, still mystified.
“Yeah, but one of the girls has an extra pair of feet,” said Josh, leaning closer to the window and staring hard. “That's not a tail, Wally, it's a pole. Somebody's walking behind them, carrying a pole!”
“Caroline!” said Jake and Wally together.
As the boys watched, they saw the girls glance hurriedly up toward their house as they reached the edge of the bridge and then go slipping and sliding down the bank, as though trying to keep Caroline and what she was carrying hidden from view.
“What are they up to?” asked Josh.
“Guess!” said Jake. “Look again! I'll bet anything that's a butterfly net Caroline's got in her hands. Why, those double-crossing cheats! They're going to fish our bottles out of the river!”
“And those red caps we put on our bottles make it easy for them!” said Josh. “Our bottles are sitting ducks!”
“Yeah, but we were going to pull out their bottles!” said Wally, trying to make sense of the war that had suddenly heated up a notch.
The three boys started to bolt from the room, but Jake abruptly stopped and put one finger to his lips. “Where's Peter? Don't let Peter come along. He'd blab like anything.”
“He's in the kitchen with Mom; I can hear them,” said Josh.
“Where's Dad? Shouldn't he be home by now?”
“I think he's on duty this evening,” said Josh. Besides being a mail carrier, Mr. Hatford was an assistant deputy sheriff in Buckman, and three times a week he manned the telephone in the small sheriff's office.
The boys crept downstairs and put their jackets on, avoiding the second step from the bottom, which creaked if you stepped on it. They slowly opened the front door, closed it again behind them, and started to run across the road.
This time Josh stopped them. “Don't let them see us. What we want to do is catch them red-handed. Ifwe accuse them before they get any of our bottles, we won't be able to prove a thing.”
They crept behind a clump of serviceberry bushes and slowly, slowly raised their heads until just their eyes were showing above the tops of the branches.
What they saw made even Wally lose his faith in human honesty, for there were Beth and Eddie, running along the bank upstream, their eyes on the water, their fingers pointing toward the river, where not one, not two, but three of the boys' red-capped bottles were bobbing along on the current. And there was Caroline, teetering on a large rock that jutted out into the water. She was holding a pole with a net on the end of it.
“That's a butterfly net, all right!” said Josh. “Man oh man! They are cheats through and through.”
“Give me the pole, Caroline,” they heard Beth say.
“I'll get it! I'll get it!” Caroline kept saying, maneuvering around on the rock.
“Ouch!” said Eddie as the end of the pole hit her on the head. “Be careful, Caroline! Give the net to Beth. Her arms are longer.”
“No, I'll get it! I'll get it!” Caroline cried, leaning out as far as she could.
And then it happened so fast that Wally could hardly believe what he saw, what he heard.
A little shriek, a grunt, and just as Beth and Eddie lunged forward to grab their sister, a splash.
The three boys shot up like rockets, their mouths hanging open, as Beth and Eddie scrambled up on the rock. But Caroline was already in the river, her puffynylon jacket scrunched up around her neck, her arms rigid—and she was moving steadily downstream.
“The pole! Hand us the end of the pole!” Eddie yelled. But Caroline's eyes
“I couldn't find the boots, but I looked out the window, and Eddie's coming across the bridge. She's got a tail!”
The three boys ran to the window in the twins' bedroom. There, coming across the swinging bridge, were Beth and Eddie, walking side by side, and sticking out behind Eddie, just as Wally had said, was a tail. A long straight tail, like a pointer.
“Didn't I tell you she was a devil?” Jake joked, still mystified.
“Yeah, but one of the girls has an extra pair of feet,” said Josh, leaning closer to the window and staring hard. “That's not a tail, Wally, it's a pole. Somebody's walking behind them, carrying a pole!”
“Caroline!” said Jake and Wally together.
As the boys watched, they saw the girls glance hurriedly up toward their house as they reached the edge of the bridge and then go slipping and sliding down the bank, as though trying to keep Caroline and what she was carrying hidden from view.
“What are they up to?” asked Josh.
“Guess!” said Jake. “Look again! I'll bet anything that's a butterfly net Caroline's got in her hands. Why, those double-crossing cheats! They're going to fish our bottles out of the river!”
“And those red caps we put on our bottles make it easy for them!” said Josh. “Our bottles are sitting ducks!”
“Yeah, but we were going to pull out their bottles!” said Wally, trying to make sense of the war that had suddenly heated up a notch.
The three boys started to bolt from the room, but Jake abruptly stopped and put one finger to his lips. “Where's Peter? Don't let Peter come along. He'd blab like anything.”
“He's in the kitchen with Mom; I can hear them,” said Josh.
“Where's Dad? Shouldn't he be home by now?”
“I think he's on duty this evening,” said Josh. Besides being a mail carrier, Mr. Hatford was an assistant deputy sheriff in Buckman, and three times a week he manned the telephone in the small sheriff's office.
The boys crept downstairs and put their jackets on, avoiding the second step from the bottom, which creaked if you stepped on it. They slowly opened the front door, closed it again behind them, and started to run across the road.
This time Josh stopped them. “Don't let them see us. What we want to do is catch them red-handed. Ifwe accuse them before they get any of our bottles, we won't be able to prove a thing.”
They crept behind a clump of serviceberry bushes and slowly, slowly raised their heads until just their eyes were showing above the tops of the branches.
What they saw made even Wally lose his faith in human honesty, for there were Beth and Eddie, running along the bank upstream, their eyes on the water, their fingers pointing toward the river, where not one, not two, but three of the boys' red-capped bottles were bobbing along on the current. And there was Caroline, teetering on a large rock that jutted out into the water. She was holding a pole with a net on the end of it.
“That's a butterfly net, all right!” said Josh. “Man oh man! They are cheats through and through.”
“Give me the pole, Caroline,” they heard Beth say.
“I'll get it! I'll get it!” Caroline kept saying, maneuvering around on the rock.
“Ouch!” said Eddie as the end of the pole hit her on the head. “Be careful, Caroline! Give the net to Beth. Her arms are longer.”
“No, I'll get it! I'll get it!” Caroline cried, leaning out as far as she could.
And then it happened so fast that Wally could hardly believe what he saw, what he heard.
A little shriek, a grunt, and just as Beth and Eddie lunged forward to grab their sister, a splash.
The three boys shot up like rockets, their mouths hanging open, as Beth and Eddie scrambled up on the rock. But Caroline was already in the river, her puffynylon jacket scrunched up around her neck, her arms rigid—and she was moving steadily downstream.
“The pole! Hand us the end of the pole!” Eddie yelled. But Caroline's eyes