Read Online Georgia's Greatness by Lauren Baratz-Logsted - Free Book Online
Authors: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
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eight of us here, you know. Ouch! I mean seven."
"We fill up most of the minibus," Marcia added.
"Oh," Ms. Harkness said, "I have a vehicle big enough to hold all of you. Come along."
So we followed her to the teachers' parking lot, where, it turned out, she did have a big vehicle.
"I think that must be the biggest car ever made!" Zinnia said, awe in her eyes. The vehicle was huge, and it was painted the color of an army uniform.
"Do you like it?" Ms. Harkness asked. "I just bought it yesterday."
When we climbed inside of it, it did have that new-car smell.
Ms. Harkness put the key in the ignition, and the car hummed to life. Then she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.
"Don't you need me to tell you where to go?" Annie yelled from the back.
"I have an even better idea," Ms. Harkness said as she drove, speaking as though this idea too had just come to her. "Why don't I take you all back to my place for dinner? With your parents both in France, your aunt taking care of Georgia, and your uncle not stopping by until later, it might be more fun for you. I know—we can even order a pizza!"
Seven voices instantly shouted, "Yes!"
Georgia pinched us all at least five times, but it was too late: we'd already accepted the invitation.
And we were glad we had.
After all, what could be better than being invited over to have pizza with Serena Harkness?
CHAPTER EIGHT
The house was solid brick; at least, the whole front side of it was, with not a window in sight.
For some reason, we all thought immediately of the last house that was built by the Three Little Pigs—you know, the one the wolf couldn't blow down.
The house was also very large, even larger than our house!
And it was the only house on the street.
"Wow," Rebecca whispered, then she let out a low whistle. "I had no idea substitute teachers made so much money."
"Come along," Ms. Harkness chirruped at us. Then she used several keys to open the several locks that were on the one iron door that was the only way into the house as far as the eye could see.
Once we were inside, she locked just as many locks from the inside before pocketing the set of keys.
"Feel free to look around," she said, turning on the lights. "I just need to check on something in the other room. Won't be more than a few minutes, and then we can order that pizza."
Since it's silly to refuse an invitation to be nosy, we took her at her word and looked around.
The front room was the most beautiful room we'd ever been in. Everything was a work of art, and yet so touchable, in pretty shades of pink and purple, green and turquoise.
"Psst," we heard Georgia's voice hiss. "Get out of this house while you still can. Something's not right here."
But we ignored her voice. We even ignored all her pinches.
We'd seen the Wicket's house. We knew what evil looked like, and this wasn't it.
There was a painting on the wall, a very large painting of two women, obviously twins, with long chestnut-colored hair. The women reminded us of Serena Harkness, but they were about ten years older than her. They also reminded us of someone else, but we couldn't quite figure out of whom. One of the women's eyes were chocolate brown; the other woman's eyes looked as if they were moving around desperately.
Huh. That was funny. Those moving eyes that were following us about, they looked like the McG's eyes.
But as we stepped toward the painting, thinking to investigate further, Ms. Harkness returned.
Something about her had changed in the short time she'd been out of the room. Not her clothes, not her hair—it was nothing like that. Rather, it was the way she acted toward us.
"Come along now," she said, but it wasn't in the bright and friendly way she'd said it before. "Don't dawdle."
Feeling as though we couldn't argue, we followed her out of that room, around the corner, and into another room.
This room was nothing like the front room.
The walls were made of dark brick, and there were no
"We fill up most of the minibus," Marcia added.
"Oh," Ms. Harkness said, "I have a vehicle big enough to hold all of you. Come along."
So we followed her to the teachers' parking lot, where, it turned out, she did have a big vehicle.
"I think that must be the biggest car ever made!" Zinnia said, awe in her eyes. The vehicle was huge, and it was painted the color of an army uniform.
"Do you like it?" Ms. Harkness asked. "I just bought it yesterday."
When we climbed inside of it, it did have that new-car smell.
Ms. Harkness put the key in the ignition, and the car hummed to life. Then she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.
"Don't you need me to tell you where to go?" Annie yelled from the back.
"I have an even better idea," Ms. Harkness said as she drove, speaking as though this idea too had just come to her. "Why don't I take you all back to my place for dinner? With your parents both in France, your aunt taking care of Georgia, and your uncle not stopping by until later, it might be more fun for you. I know—we can even order a pizza!"
Seven voices instantly shouted, "Yes!"
Georgia pinched us all at least five times, but it was too late: we'd already accepted the invitation.
And we were glad we had.
After all, what could be better than being invited over to have pizza with Serena Harkness?
CHAPTER EIGHT
The house was solid brick; at least, the whole front side of it was, with not a window in sight.
For some reason, we all thought immediately of the last house that was built by the Three Little Pigs—you know, the one the wolf couldn't blow down.
The house was also very large, even larger than our house!
And it was the only house on the street.
"Wow," Rebecca whispered, then she let out a low whistle. "I had no idea substitute teachers made so much money."
"Come along," Ms. Harkness chirruped at us. Then she used several keys to open the several locks that were on the one iron door that was the only way into the house as far as the eye could see.
Once we were inside, she locked just as many locks from the inside before pocketing the set of keys.
"Feel free to look around," she said, turning on the lights. "I just need to check on something in the other room. Won't be more than a few minutes, and then we can order that pizza."
Since it's silly to refuse an invitation to be nosy, we took her at her word and looked around.
The front room was the most beautiful room we'd ever been in. Everything was a work of art, and yet so touchable, in pretty shades of pink and purple, green and turquoise.
"Psst," we heard Georgia's voice hiss. "Get out of this house while you still can. Something's not right here."
But we ignored her voice. We even ignored all her pinches.
We'd seen the Wicket's house. We knew what evil looked like, and this wasn't it.
There was a painting on the wall, a very large painting of two women, obviously twins, with long chestnut-colored hair. The women reminded us of Serena Harkness, but they were about ten years older than her. They also reminded us of someone else, but we couldn't quite figure out of whom. One of the women's eyes were chocolate brown; the other woman's eyes looked as if they were moving around desperately.
Huh. That was funny. Those moving eyes that were following us about, they looked like the McG's eyes.
But as we stepped toward the painting, thinking to investigate further, Ms. Harkness returned.
Something about her had changed in the short time she'd been out of the room. Not her clothes, not her hair—it was nothing like that. Rather, it was the way she acted toward us.
"Come along now," she said, but it wasn't in the bright and friendly way she'd said it before. "Don't dawdle."
Feeling as though we couldn't argue, we followed her out of that room, around the corner, and into another room.
This room was nothing like the front room.
The walls were made of dark brick, and there were no
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