The Penderwicks at Point Mouette Read Online Free PDF Page A

Pevensie for Sabrina. And without someone for Sabrina to fall in love with, there could be no book to write. It was frustrating, and being frustrated with her writing was a new experience for Jane. Usually the books had just poured out of her. Sighing, she closed her notebook and tossed it onto the green cupboard.
    Above the cot was a window that looked back into the house. Jane knelt and peered through to the main room, which had lots of wicker and brightly colored cushions, and big sliding glass doors that opened onto the rear deck. Off to one side was a round wooden table for meals. Batty was sitting there now, drawing with a set of new markers that Iantha had given her for the vacation. The minuscule kitchen was around the corner and out of sight, and Aunt Claire could be heard banging around in there, putting away the supplies they’d brought from Massachusetts. Soon Jane would go in and explore the kitchen, since she’d promised to help with meals.
    But first to finish unpacking. Jane stuffed a pile of T-shirts into the cupboard, then paused, distracted by noises coming from the other part of the sleeping porch. Skye was muttering to herself over there, not happily, and there were thumps, too, as though she were tossing things. Jane peeked around the bamboo shade. Skye had dumped the contents of her suitcaseonto the floor and was frenziedly pawing through her clothes and, yes, tossing them from one side of the porch to the other.
    “What’s wrong?” asked Jane.
    “I can’t find my secret list.” Skye was now flipping through the pages of
Death by Black Hole
, forward and backward, once, twice, three times.
    “What secret list?”
    “Everything Rosalind, Daddy, and Iantha told me about Batty, all written down so that I could remember. I thought it was in my pocket, but I can’t find it.” Skye jammed her hand into one of the pockets of her jeans, then another, and then another. “See, nothing.”
    “Those jeans are dry. What about the ones you wore into the ocean?”
    “I hung them outside on the—Oh, no.” Skye whirled around and crashed out through the screen door. A moment later, she was back with a pair of sopping jeans in one hand and a sodden wad of paper in the other.
    “Now we really are doomed,” she said, looking sick.
    Jane wasn’t in the mood for doom. She took the wad from Skye and tried to gently separate the pages, but where the paper didn’t rip, the ink had run so badly that nothing was legible. But wait, here were a few blurry words.
    “Blow up,”
she read. “I wonder what that means. Maybe that Batty could blow up, with hives or something?”
    “We’re sure to find out, since we can’t read what we’re supposed to do or not do about it! This is a nightmare. What was everyone thinking, Jane? I make a terrible OAP.”
    “Daddy thinks you’ll grow into it. I heard him tell Iantha so.”
    Skye looked like she’d been thrown a lifeline. “He really said that?”
    “Yes, he really did.” Jane was telling the truth—she had heard him say that. She’d also heard him say he wasn’t sure exactly when Skye would grow into it. But Skye didn’t need to hear that part. “Maybe you can remember what the list said.”
    “Stuff about brushing her hair and which vitamins to give her.”
    “Which vitamins?”
    “I don’t remember details! I thought I’d have the list!”
    “Maybe I can hypnotize you into remembering.” Jane waved her hand like a pendulum in front of Skye’s face. “You are getting sleepy. You are getting very—”
    Skye swatted her away. “Jane, this is serious.”
    “Taking care of Batty can’t be all that hard. We’ve watched Daddy and Rosalind do it for five years now.”
    “I haven’t been paying attention,” said Skye. “Have you?”
    “No, not really.” Jane refused to give in to hopelessness. “So whenever we have a question, we’ll just call Rosalind and ask.”
    “We can’t do that. If Rosalind figures out I don’t know what I’m