The Magician's Bird Read Online Free PDF Page B

leaning against the chair. She looked at the plush rug and toed it with her sneaker. “Why would Maria Tutweiler have a secret room?” She couldn’t help but think about the newspaper banner Calliope had showed her, and it gave her a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t like the idea of Maria Tutweiler having secrets she didn’t know about. And this room definitely proved that she did.
    â€œBecause it was cool? I don’t know, do you need a reason?” Bud scoffed, settling against the stiff couch back. He made a mental note to try a chair next time. The couch was definitely not the place to sit.
    â€œYou’re probably right.” Laurie knew that if she had a secret room, she’d never come out, except maybe to sneak snacks out of the kitchen. It would be awesome.
    She sighed. “I just wish we didn’t have to tell Winkle about it.”
    â€œWhat? What do you mean?” Bud took his feet off the coffee table. Now that he’d thought about it, he didn’t want to seem too comfortable. Not yet, anyway. Not until he’d had a chance to move some of his stuff in and really give it the ol’ Bud touch. “Who says we’re going to tell him?”
    Laurie rolled her eyes. “Come on, Bud, you know we have to tell him. You think we can keep this secret?” She perched tentatively on the arm of the wing chair. She didn’t want to mess anything up by touching it too much.
    â€œI don’t know, but don’t you want to try?” Bud scooched down to the end of the couch. “Come on, Laurie, you know what’s going to happen when we tell them. They’ll cordon the whole place off with ropes,and we’ll never get to see it again. Not up close. You’ll never get to touch that stupid lion, and Misti will never be able to read that stupid notebook she’s holding. Am I right? Misti, back me up here.”
    â€œIt’s in cursive, so I’m not really reading it anyway,” Misti said, putting the ledger down. “I’m not really great at cursive,” she admitted, sitting on the footstool. Laurie and Bud nodded sympathetically. Nobody liked cursive.
    Misti shrugged. “But Bud’s right. We can’t even touch the spirit stick now, and you guys are the ones who found it.”
    Laurie made a face. The spirit stick was a sore subject. She and Bud had found the spirit stick at the beginning of the year, and according to the letter from Maria Tutweiler, they were in charge of it. But ever since they’d found it, it had been behind glass in the entryway to the school. Miss Abernathy had sent people to detention for breathing too close to the glass, that’s how much she guarded it.
    Laurie slid backward until she was sitting in the wing chair with her legs draped over the arm. She stroked the head of the lion bookend and sighed. Bud was right. They weren’t allowed to do anything. But she knew Principal Winkle, too, and if he found out they’d beenhiding something like this, their names would be dirt.
    â€œWell, what if we just keep it secret for a little while? Maybe just a day or two?” Winkle would have to know eventually, sure, but it would be nice to have a secret hideout for a little while.
    â€œThat would work,” Bud said, nodding happily. “I’m fine with a day or two. That would give us a chance to investigate a little more. Maybe see what everything is. Like that door over there, where does that go? We can’t tell Winkle about this place without knowing stuff like that, right?”
    Laurie hesitated. She did want to know where that door in the corner went, now that she’d noticed it. “Right, that makes sense.”
    Misti hopped up and ran to the strange small door. She opened it a crack and peered out.
    â€œWhat is it?” Laurie held her breath. She really hoped the door didn’t lead into Mr. Winkle’s private office or the boys’