Read Online Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary - Free Book Online Page A

front of the house and three children climbed out. Two more were splashing across the street.
    â€œMother!” cried Beezus. “Come here, quick. Ramona wasn’t pretending!”
    Mother appeared in the living room just as the doorbell rang. One side of her hair was up in pin curls and the other side hung wet and dripping on the towel around her neck. “Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed when she understood the situation. “That explains Mrs. Kemp’s phone call. Ramona, how could you?”
    â€œI wanted to have a party,” explained Ramona. “I invited everybody yesterday.”
    The doorbell rang again, this time long and hard. There was the sound of manyrubber boots jumping up and down on the porch.
    â€œMother, we just can’t have a party with our hair wet,” wailed Beezus.
    â€œWhat else can we do?” Mother sounded desperate. “They’re here and we can’t very well send them home. Their mothers have probably planned to shop or something while we look after them.”
    Ramona struggled with the doorknob and managed to open the heavy front door. Mrs. Kemp stopped her car in front of the Quimbys’, and Howie and Willa Jean hopped out. “I’ll pick them up at four,” she called gaily. “I’m so glad to have a chance to get out and do some shopping.”
    Mother smiled weakly and looked at all the children on the porch.
    â€œWhere do you suppose she found them all?” whispered Beezus. “I don’t even know some of them.”
    â€œAll right, children.” Mother spoke firmly. “Leave your wet boots and raincoats on the porch.”
    â€œI’ve got a par-tee,” sang Ramona happily.
    Beezus, who had plenty of experience with Ramona and her boots, knew where she was needed. She started pulling off boots and unbuttoning raincoats.
    â€œWhat on earth shall we do with them on a day like this?” whispered Mother.
    Beezus grabbed a muddy boot. “Hold still,” she said firmly to its owner. “They’ll expect refreshments,” she said.
    â€œI know,” sighed Mother. “You’ll have to put on your coat and run down to the market—Oh, no, you can’t go out in this rain with your hair wet.” Mother tugged at another boot. “I’ll have to see what I can find in the kitchen.”
    Beezus and her mother herded the wiggling, squealing crowd into the front bedroomand went to work removing sweaters, jackets, caps, and mittens. In between Beezus pulled three children out of the closet, dragged one out from under the bed, and snatched her mother’s bottle of best perfume from another.
    â€œAll right, everybody out of here,” Beezus ordered, when the last mitten was removed and her mother had hurried into the kitchen. “We’ll go into the living room and…and do something,” she finished lamely. “Ramona, bring some of your toys out of your room.”
    â€œBingle-bongle-by!” shouted Howie, just to make some noise.
    â€œBingle-bongle-by!” The others joined in with great delight. It was such a nice noisy thing to yell. “Bingle-bongle-by,” they screamed at the tops of their voices as they scampered into the living room. “Bingle-bongle-by.”
    Howie grabbed the vacuum cleaner, turned on the switch, and charged across theroom. “I’ll suck you up!” he shouted. “I’ll suck everybody up in the vacuum cleaner!”
    â€œBingle-bongle-by!” shouted the others above the roar of the vacuum cleaner.
    One little girl began to cry. “I don’t want to be sucked up in the vacuum cleaner,” she sobbed. Willa Jean, looking bulgy because of the diapers and plastic pants under her overalls, clung to a chair and wept.
    Ramona appeared with her arms full of toys, but no one paid any attention to them. The vacuum cleaner was much more fun.
    â€œI want to push the vacuum cleaner,” screamed