What a Doll! Read Online Free PDF Page A

and as she did, she
noticed something she had never seen before. Behind the tower was a closed door. At the
same time that she saw the door, she smelled something strange. Some sort of strong,
flowery smell.
    Emmy had thought the toy store was just the one square room and that
Christine did all her desk work at the front counter. How had she never noticed a door
back here? Feeling nosy, she tried the knob and pushed the door. It swung open with a
loud creak. Christine didn’t look up. Then suddenly there was a face right in
front of her—like three inches from her face.
    â€œOh!” Emmy gasped. It was as if someone had said
“boo!” But no one had. Instead, there was an older woman standing just on
the other side of the door. She was heavyset and had long white hair. She wore a
loose-fitting blouse and a long, flowing skirt.
    â€œWhat’s the matter?” the woman asked kindly.
    â€œS-Sorry,” Emmy stammered. “I didn’t know anyone
would be in here. I was just looking at the puppets.” She removed the sea turtle
puppet from her hand and put it back on its post.
    â€œPuppets are nice,” the woman said. “But there are more
things to see back here. Didn’t you know?”
    â€œNo,” Emmy said, shaking her head. “I didn’t know
there was anything back here.” She peeked in a bit. The room was dimly lit and had
a sort of red glow. It was so unlike the rest of the store that Emmy thought she must be
dreaming.
    â€œWhat’s your name?” the woman asked.
    â€œEmmy,” she said, suddenly shy. The woman looked like the kind
of fortune-teller Emmy had seen in the movies and on television. She wore giant dangly
gold earrings, bangle bracelets around her wrist, and had a large mole on her cheek.
    â€œCome in, Emmy,” the woman said warmly, and Emmy slid behind
the puppet tower and into the room. She felt she had left the bright, silly world of Zim
Zam far behind, and as she stood in the scented room, her mood took a nosedive as she
remembered her horrible day.
    â€œWhat’s wrong, Emmy?” asked the woman, sounding like
Emmy’s grandmother.
    â€œOh, I just had a bad day,” Emmy said softly as she looked
around. The room was small, but its shelves and counter were packed with all kinds of
weird stuff.
    There were lots of little dolls, and lots of candles in different shapes,
sizes, and colors. There was a glass countertop that held bracelets, necklaces, and
earrings. There were also jars of beads for making jewelry.
    Emmy noticed little containers of oil and perfume, wooden sculptures of
people and animals, and a tall stack of old books. Plus, there were glass goblets,
crystals, drums, wooden instruments, dried gourds, shells, snakeskins, skull figurines,
and blocks of wax. So many strange things!
    â€œWhat happened?” the woman asked. She seemed so kind that Emmy
decided to just tell the truth.
    â€œI’m losing my best friend,” Emmy whispered.
    â€œAh,” the woman said. “And every girl needs a best
friend, doesn’t she?”
    â€œI suppose so.”
    â€œThis best friend of yours,” the woman said. “What makes
you say that you’re losing her?”
    â€œI don’t know.” Emmy shrugged, feeling very odd
discussing this with a total stranger.
    â€œWell, something must have
happened,” the woman pressed.
    â€œOh, things happened all right,” Emmy said, suddenly shy no
longer. “Like, she’s totally treated me like I’m an annoyance all
year.”
    The woman nodded, encouraging Emmy to continue. So Emmy did.
    â€œAnd then this weekend she chopped all my hair off!” She
gestured to her head.
    â€œWow,” the woman said, still nodding. “You must really
hate her.”
    Emmy felt strangely happy, hearing those words said aloud. She certainly
hadn’t said them before, or even dared think them. Hate is a
strong word, her parents