Read Online The Girls' Revenge by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - Free Book Online
Authors: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
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backyard.
“Beth! Caroline!” she called. “I think we've got company!”
Beth and Caroline had been in Beth's bedroom wrapping a new hammer and pliers and screwdriver set as a Christmas present to their father. They left the paper and ribbon on the floor and hurried into Ed-die's darkened room.
“Look out this window,” Eddie said. “Down the hill toward the river.”
The three girls watched.
“I don't see anything,” said Caroline.
“Keep looking,” Eddie insisted.
“Looks like the beam of a flashlight,” Beth said finally. “I'll bet the boys are back.”
“Holding a club meeting at night? In the dark?” said Caroline.
“What do you think? They're spying on us, of course,” said Eddie. “And if they're caught, they'll say they're holding a club meeting. Well, you know what we do to spies.”
“Give them something to talk about!” breathed Caroline excitedly.
“Right!” said Beth.
“I suggest we really give them an eyeful this time. I suggest murder,” said Beth, who had just finished a book called The Rise of the Worm People. “Caroline, why don't you pretend to hit me on the head with a hammer or something. And act like you're really mad! Only be careful to bring the hammer down on the other side of my head, away from the window, so it only looks like it hit me, and I'll crumple to the floor.”
“All right!” Caroline said eagerly. “What will you do, Eddie?”
“I'm going to keep out of it. If we're all in the room together, it will look like a put-up job. It will be more convincing if it's just the two of you.”
The girls began to giggle.
“They should be going up the ladder to the loft just about now,” Beth said. “I'll go in and sit on the edge of my bed, and Caroline, you come in and pretend you're having an argument with me. After a while I'll stomp my foot and turn my back on you, and that'syour cue to pick up Dad's hammer and pretend to hit me over the head.”
“Got it!” said Caroline. It was wonderful being a team against the boys with Beth and Eddie again.
They could hear Eddie chuckling to herself in the hallway as they took their places.
Caroline, standing in the doorway, moved her arm and shook her fist, her face contorted with anger, but all the while she was reciting the words to “Jingle Bells.”
“ ‘Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh,’ ” she said, glaring at Beth.
“ ‘O'er the fields we go!’ ” Beth retorted angrily.
“ ‘Laughing all the way!’ ” said Caroline, pleased at how well she and her sister were playing their parts without a trace of a smile.
In the hallway, Eddie was laughing out loud. It was all Caroline could do to keep a straight face.
“ ‘Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright, what fun it is to ride and sing…’ ”
“ ‘A sleighing song tonight!’ ” finished Beth, standing up, stomping her foot, and turning her back on Caroline.
Caroline reached over, picked up the new hammer on the dresser, and, holding it up in the air, brought it down in the space between Beth's head and the wall, murmuring, “Now!”
Beth toppled over and collapsed on the floor.
Eddie, waiting in the hall, slipped one hand around the door frame and clicked off the light.
The three girls rolled about on the rug, laughinghysterically. Finally, when they couldn't laugh anymore, they lay still, grinning up at the ceiling.
“Those guys are so gullible they'll swallow anything,” Beth said.
“I'll bet they knew we were fooling, though,” said Eddie. “But that's half the fun.”
“They'll probably knock on the door and ask Dad if we're all right, just to bug us,” said Caroline.
“Wouldn't that be a riot?” said Eddie. “If they do, we'll just turn on the light again and go on wrapping presents and pretend nothing happened. Boys have got to be the dumbest creatures that ever lived.”
“Oh, I don't know,” said Beth. “Josh isn't so dumb.”
“You're always standing up for Josh,”
“Beth! Caroline!” she called. “I think we've got company!”
Beth and Caroline had been in Beth's bedroom wrapping a new hammer and pliers and screwdriver set as a Christmas present to their father. They left the paper and ribbon on the floor and hurried into Ed-die's darkened room.
“Look out this window,” Eddie said. “Down the hill toward the river.”
The three girls watched.
“I don't see anything,” said Caroline.
“Keep looking,” Eddie insisted.
“Looks like the beam of a flashlight,” Beth said finally. “I'll bet the boys are back.”
“Holding a club meeting at night? In the dark?” said Caroline.
“What do you think? They're spying on us, of course,” said Eddie. “And if they're caught, they'll say they're holding a club meeting. Well, you know what we do to spies.”
“Give them something to talk about!” breathed Caroline excitedly.
“Right!” said Beth.
“I suggest we really give them an eyeful this time. I suggest murder,” said Beth, who had just finished a book called The Rise of the Worm People. “Caroline, why don't you pretend to hit me on the head with a hammer or something. And act like you're really mad! Only be careful to bring the hammer down on the other side of my head, away from the window, so it only looks like it hit me, and I'll crumple to the floor.”
“All right!” Caroline said eagerly. “What will you do, Eddie?”
“I'm going to keep out of it. If we're all in the room together, it will look like a put-up job. It will be more convincing if it's just the two of you.”
The girls began to giggle.
“They should be going up the ladder to the loft just about now,” Beth said. “I'll go in and sit on the edge of my bed, and Caroline, you come in and pretend you're having an argument with me. After a while I'll stomp my foot and turn my back on you, and that'syour cue to pick up Dad's hammer and pretend to hit me over the head.”
“Got it!” said Caroline. It was wonderful being a team against the boys with Beth and Eddie again.
They could hear Eddie chuckling to herself in the hallway as they took their places.
Caroline, standing in the doorway, moved her arm and shook her fist, her face contorted with anger, but all the while she was reciting the words to “Jingle Bells.”
“ ‘Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh,’ ” she said, glaring at Beth.
“ ‘O'er the fields we go!’ ” Beth retorted angrily.
“ ‘Laughing all the way!’ ” said Caroline, pleased at how well she and her sister were playing their parts without a trace of a smile.
In the hallway, Eddie was laughing out loud. It was all Caroline could do to keep a straight face.
“ ‘Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright, what fun it is to ride and sing…’ ”
“ ‘A sleighing song tonight!’ ” finished Beth, standing up, stomping her foot, and turning her back on Caroline.
Caroline reached over, picked up the new hammer on the dresser, and, holding it up in the air, brought it down in the space between Beth's head and the wall, murmuring, “Now!”
Beth toppled over and collapsed on the floor.
Eddie, waiting in the hall, slipped one hand around the door frame and clicked off the light.
The three girls rolled about on the rug, laughinghysterically. Finally, when they couldn't laugh anymore, they lay still, grinning up at the ceiling.
“Those guys are so gullible they'll swallow anything,” Beth said.
“I'll bet they knew we were fooling, though,” said Eddie. “But that's half the fun.”
“They'll probably knock on the door and ask Dad if we're all right, just to bug us,” said Caroline.
“Wouldn't that be a riot?” said Eddie. “If they do, we'll just turn on the light again and go on wrapping presents and pretend nothing happened. Boys have got to be the dumbest creatures that ever lived.”
“Oh, I don't know,” said Beth. “Josh isn't so dumb.”
“You're always standing up for Josh,”
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