Read Online Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews - Free Book Online

bush, circled around, and came up to the bench from behind. He still couldn’t guess the girl’s identity. Without a word, he picked up the pixie head and sat himself down on the bench in its place.
    “Well, hey there, Dixie,” he drawled.
    The girl turned and looked at him. It was her, his little sister Pokey’s best friend, Annajane. She’d been a cute little kid when he’d seen her last, and he’d glimpsed her around the plant over the past two summers but had somehow never really run into her again.
    He’d been right about the heat inside that pixie suit. Her hair was wet and plastered to her head, and her face was beet-red and slicked with perspiration. She’d taken off the oversized green booties, and was so busy rubbing her stocking feet that she hadn’t seen his approach. Also, she appeared to be crying.
    “Oh no,” she said quietly, covering her face with her hands.
    “No good,” Mason told her. “I can still see you, even if you can’t see me. It’s Annajane, right?”
    “No,” she said, sniffing, and still not moving her hands. “I don’t know any Annajanes. Go away, please.”
    He looked around. “Where’s your cart?”
    “G-g-gone,” she wailed. “I was almost at the park, and this bunch of little thugs snuck up behind me. I could only see straight in front of me with that darned pixie head on. Two of the boys grabbed me by the arms and held me, and the others took off with the cart. I tried to chase after ’em, but I couldn’t run in these stinkin’ shoes. I tried, but I tripped and fell. I tripped and fell, and I’ve ripped these doggoned tights.” She stuck her right leg out, and Mason could indeed see the stocking was torn and stained with blood.
    “You’re hurt,” he exclaimed, bending over to get a closer look. He could see now that the sleeve of her tunic was also ripped and spotted with more blood.
    “Just scrapes,” Annajane cried. “But I’ve ruined the costume! And that cart—it was probably really expensive.”
    “Well, hey,” Mason said. “It’s not like it’s your fault. Nobody’s going to blame you. You were mugged!”
    Annajane drew her knees up to her chest and clutched them tightly. “God! I just want to go home and take a cold shower and forget about today.”
    “Do you need a ride?” Mason asked. “How were you supposed to get the cart back to the plant today?”
    She sobbed again. “I was supposed to call Voncile, and she’d have one of the route drivers pick me up once I got here to the park! I had my billfold and my car keys in the cart. And now it’s gone! And I’d just cashed my paycheck yesterday, and I had a hundred and fifty dollars in it, and now it’s all gone!” She buried her head and wept more bitter tears.
    Mason looked around uneasily. He wasn’t really good with girls who cried, but Annajane was about to break his heart.
    He patted her back gingerly. “Hey, it’s not the end of the world, you know.”
    She raised her head and looked at him, rivers of tears and rivulets of snot dripping down her crimson cheeks. “It is to me. I can’t afford to lose a hundred and fifty dollars.”
    Mason felt like a heel. “I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Look, sitting here crying isn’t doing you any good. We should find a cop, and fill out a report. Did you see what the kids looked like?”
    “Not really. Just teenaged boys. Maybe thirteen or fourteen. I didn’t recognize any of them from around here.”
    “Okay,” Mason said with a sigh. “I’ll go see if I can find a cop. Listen, are you hungry? Have you eaten today?”
    “No,” she said, her voice wobbly. “I mean, no, I haven’t eaten, and yeah, I’m starved. But I don’t have any money.”
    He stood up quickly. “All right. I’ll be right back. Hotdog or barbecue?”
    “Hotdog.”
    “Ketchup or mustard?”
    “Both.”
    “French fries or potato chips?”
    “Chips,” she said, and then, managing a wan smile, “please.”
    He found a cop