LITMIR.BIZ

      “Good morning, Mrs. Jacobs.”

      “Good morning, Ellie, how are you today, honey?”

      “Good. Is Cathy here?”

      “Yes, she is, sweetheart, she’s right here in the kitchen having breakfast. Why don’t you come in and have a piece of toast with her. I’m sure Cathy would like that.”

      “Thank you, Mrs. Jacobs.”

      “Thank you, Mrs. Jacobs,” Cathy whispered, mimicking her nine year old friend. Cathy didn’t like it when her mother was nice to her playmates; it made her jealous-especially when it was Ellie. Ellie was the little doll baby of the neighborhood with her blond curly hair, rosy cheeks and cute little voice. Cathy resented Ellie, who wanted nothing more than to be friends with the pretty, appealing Cathy.

      “Hi Cathy, your mom said I could come in and have some toast with you.”

      Cathy’s legs gyrated back and forth nervously; she turned and looked at Ellie through slightly narrowed eyes. “Okay, you can have one piece of toast.”

      “Thank you,” Ellie murmured. She slid the other chair back and started to sit down.

      “No!” Cathy blared. “You have to stand up, that’s my mommy’s chair.” Her words were sudden and raw.

      “Okay.” Ellie quickly slid the chair back under the table and stood with her arms folded, chin on chest.

      Cathy quickly examined the three pieces of toast stacked neatly on a small plate. She slid the heel piece off the bottom and jabbed it toward Ellie. “Here, this is your piece. It already has butter on it.”

      Ellie timidly took the toast from Cathy. “Thank you. Can I have some jelly, please? I like grape.”

      “No, we’re almost out of jelly.” Cathy quickly slid the almost full jar of jelly behind her steaming cup of hot chocolate.

      Ellie frowned. The dryer door banged shut in the laundry room. A few seconds later, Cathy’s mom came bouncing in the room smoothing her apron as she approached the girls.

      “My oh my, Ellie! Why are you standing up? You sit right down this minute.” She grabbed the chair next to Cathy and pulled it out from under the table. She gave Cathy a stern glare and stabbed her finger at the chair. “Here you are, Ellie.”

      A reluctant Ellie cautiously took her seat while avoiding Cathy’s glare.

      “Do you want some jelly on your toast, honey?”

      Ellie nodded.

      Mrs. Jacobs spread a generous amount of jelly on the toast and handed it back to her.

      “Thank you, Mrs. Jacobs.” Ellie’s eyes were locked on Mrs. Jacobs to avoid the wicked stare from Cathy.

      “You girls have fun. I need to go back in the laundry room and finish the ironing.” Cathy’s mother smiled with warm spontaneity and hurried from the room.

      With her brow raised and eyes bulging, Cathy continued to stare daggers at her little friend.

      Ellie nibbled on her toast making an occasional attempt at eye contact with Cathy, but she was no match for the aggressive glare from her larger playmate and would quickly look away.

      Then suddenly Cathy’s mood changed, her face softened. “Want to play in the woods today?” she asked nicely.

      “We’re not supposed to go to the woods.”

      “Our mommies said we could go through the woods if we’re going to somebody’s house. We could tell my mommy that we’re going to Janey’s house; she lives on the other side of the woods.”

      “What if my mommy finds out and gets mad?”

      “Your mommy won’t get mad if my mommy says it’s all right.”

      “Okay.”

      Cathy took a final sip of her orange juice and slid off her stool. “Ready?”

      “Yeah.”

      Cathy sprung toward the laundry room with Ellie close behind.

      “Mommy, Mommy, we’re going to Janey’s house and play on her swings.”

      “Are you sure her mother won’t mind? Maybe I should call.”

      “No, no, Mommy, her mother said we could play on her swings any time, even if Janey isn’t home.”

      “Okay, but stay on the big trail.”

      “We will, Mommy. Bye.”

      “Good-bye, girls, have a good time and don’t wear out your welcome at the Williams’.”

      “Okay,” the excited girls squealed in unison.

      The two girls raced through the house and out the back door. They snatched their bikes off the gravel driveway and hopped aboard for their trip through the nearby woods.

      Cathy was still angry with Ellie for the look she got from her mother. Sometimes she wished that Ellie lived far away from her and wasn’t around all the time to making her feel jealous and upset.

      Cathy pedaled hard along the winding road with Ellie fighting to keep up. After a few minutes, they swerved off the paved street and onto the big path that twisted its way through the center of the large wooded area that bordered the girls’ neighborhood. Suddenly, Cathy took a sharp turn off the big path and bolted down a narrow, less traveled path with Ellie peddling furiously to keep up. The two little girls followed the zig-zagging path through thick prairie grass until they reached the big hill by the old gravel pit. Then without warning, Ellie stood up, pushed back on her peddle and stopped suddenly on the narrow path behind Cathy. Cathy rode on, not noticing that Ellie had stopped. When she turned and saw Ellie straddling her bright pink and purple bike some fifty feet behind her, Cathy got angry and stopped on the side of the hill.

      “You can’t stop, Ellie, we’re almost there!” she fumed. But Ellie wasn’t moving. Cathy spun her bike around and pedaled hard toward her defiant friend. When she got close, she hit the brakes and skidded to a stop next to the mulish Ellie.

      “Come on, Ellie! It will be fun. We can throw rocks in the water and everything.”

      “My mommy told me to never go by the old gravel pit. She said it’s dangerous!”

      “No, it’s not dangerous. I’ve been up there

Скачать книгу