Heidi Heckelbeck Gets the Sniffles Read online

  Chap ter 1: SNIFFLES

  Chap ter 2: ZONKED

  Chap ter 3: GROUCHY

  Chap ter 4: GERMS!

  Chap ter 5: GROUNDED

  Chap ter 6: QUICK FIX

  Chap ter 7: RIBBIT!

  Chap ter 8: SAY SOMETHING!

  Chap ter 9: TWO WORDS

  Chap ter 10: A SURPRISE

  Chap ter 11: BOO!

  ‘Heidi Heckelbeck Is Not a Thief’ Excerpt

  About Wanda Coven and Priscilla Burris

  Ah-choo! sneezed Heidi. Ah-choo! Ah-choo!

  “Wow, you sure are sneezy today,” said Heidi’s friend Bruce Bickerson.

  Heidi sniffled and smiled. “It’s nothing,” she said. “Let’s finish our leaf pile.”

  Heidi and Bruce raked the leaves into a colorful mound.

  “You go first,” Heidi said.

  Bruce scurried to the edge of the yard to get a running start. His dog, Frankie, followed close behind.

  “One, two, three . . . GO!” shouted Heidi.

  Bruce took off, and so did Frankie. It had become a race! Then, whump! Frankie disappeared into the leaf pile.

  “We have a winner!” cried Heidi.

  “Hey, that didn’t count!” said Bruce. “Frankie wasn’t supposed to race me.”

  Heidi covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “Okay, do-over!” she said.

  They raked another pile of leaves. Then Bruce put Frankie in his dog run so he wouldn’t interfere.

  “Ready?” called Heidi.

  Bruce got into position and gave the ready signal.

  “On your mark!” shouted Heidi. “Get set! GO!”

  Bruce ran across the yard and pounced into the leaves. Then he shook off the leaves and ran back to Heidi.

  “Your turn!” he said.

  Heidi rubbed her forehead.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Bruce.

  “Nothing,” Heidi said. “I’m just a little tired.”

  “Let’s get a snack,” said Bruce.

  “No, thanks,” Heidi said, setting down her rake. “I think I’d better get home.”

  Heidi plopped onto the sofa.

  “Dinner’s ready,” said Mom.

  Heidi didn’t answer.

  “Feel like a taco?” asked Dad.

  Heidi loved tacos.

  “Nah,” she said. “I’m not very hungry.”

  “Are you sick or something?” asked Henry.

  “No-o-o,” moaned Heidi.

  “Well, you better not be, or you’ll miss the Fall Festival,” her brother said.

  Every year the town of Brewster held a Fall Festival at Thompson’s Homestead. They had scarecrows, pumpkins, a haunted barn, a petting zoo, a hay-bale maze, face-painting, bounce houses, hayrides, and lots of carnival games with prizes. Heidi especially liked the haunted barn. This year Heidi and her best friend, Lucy Lancaster, planned to go through the haunted barn together.

  “I’m FINE,” Heidi said.

  Then she felt a tickle in her nose.

  Ah-choo! she sneezed. Ah-choo! Ah-choo!

  “Uh-oh,” Henry said.

  “What?” said Heidi.

  “You don’t sound very good.”

  “I just need some orange juice,” Heidi said, sitting up.

  Heidi forced down a glass of orange juice, but it didn’t make her feel any better. Then she made an Aunt Trudy Special: half a cup of honey and half a cup of apple cider vinegar. It smelled awful. But there was no way she was going to miss the Fall Festival. She plugged her nose and drank it down.

  “Yuck,” she said.

  “How about some chicken soup?” Dad suggested.

  “Maybe later,” said Heidi.

  “How about a good night’s rest?” Mom said. “Maybe you’ll feel better in the morning.”

  Rest sounded unexpectedly good. Heidi dragged herself off the couch and plodded upstairs. Mom helped her into her favorite blue polka-dot pajamas. Then Heidi crawled right into bed.

  And zonk, she was out.

  I feel horrible, thought Heidi when she woke up. Her throat hurt and her head was stuffed up. She pulled the covers over her face and groaned. Then she yanked the covers right back down. No! she told herself. I have to get up! Today I’m going to help Aunt Trudy set up her booth for the Fall Festival. Heidi slid out from under the warm covers and plunked her feet on the floor. She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her fists and snuffed up the gook in her nose. Then she shuffled to the bathroom, splashed cold water on her face, and looked in the mirror.

  “You can do this,” Heidi said to herself.

  She straggled to her bedroom and sluggishly put on her jeans, a white daisy T-shirt, and a lavender hoodie. She brushed her hair, and headed to the kitchen.

  “Well, if it isn’t our late sleeper!” said Dad cheerily as he looked up from his bowl of granola.

  Heidi sniffled and forced a smile.

  Mom closed the lid on the waffle iron and walked over to Heidi. She put her hand on Heidi’s forehead.

  “You’re warm,” Mom said.

  “I’m warm because I just got out of bed,” said Heidi as she landed on her chair with a thud.

  Mom frowned.

  “Ahoy, matey!” shouted Henry, who was sitting in the chair beside her. He was wearing a fake handlebar mustache.

  Heidi covered her ears.

  Henry shoveled a handful of a waffle into his mouth. Part of his mustache went in with it.

  “Want some grub?” asked Henry as he pulled the mustache out of his mouth.

  Heidi didn’t answer.

  Henry picked up his plastic sword and poked his sister in the side.

  “Ow!” cried Heidi, yanking the sword from Henry’s hand. “Quit it!”

  “Well, ex-CUSE me!” said Henry.

  Mom placed a waffle and a cup of tea in front of Heidi.

  “Mom, Heidi’s in a bad mood,” Henry said.

  “Heidi doesn’t feel too well,” said Mom.

  “I feel FINE,” Heidi said.

  “You’re a grouch,” said Henry.

  “Leave me alone!” yelled Heidi.

  Henry picked up his plate and walked to the sink.

  Dad got up and kneeled behind Heidi. “Maybe you should go back to bed, pumpkin,” he suggested.

  “No,” said Heidi. “I promised Aunt Trudy I’d help set up her booth for the Fall Festival.”

  “Aunt Trudy will understand if you don’t feel well,” said Mom.

  Heidi sighed. “But I DO feel well,” she lied.

  She took a sip of tea and ate a bite of waffle. “See?” she said. “I have a normal appetite and everything!”

  Mom and Dad gave each other a worried look.

  “I’m good!” Heidi said. “Watch—I’ll prove it!”

  She jumped up from the table and began to do jumping jacks. She did ten in a row and stopped. Her head throbbed, but she acted like she was okay. “How’s that?”

  “Not bad,” Dad said.

  Mom didn’t seem so sure, but she went along with it. “Okay, we’ll let you help Aunt Trudy,” she said. “But if you’re not feeling any better, I’m going to bring you straight home.”

  “I feel GREAT!” said Heidi. Then she ran upstairs to change.

  Heidi and Mom met Aunt Trudy in front of a white canopy tent. Under the tent stood three banquet tables, a bunch of folding chairs, and several boxes of Aunt Trudy’s homemade perfumes. She also had two large boxes full of fall decorations and a wheelbarrow filled with pumpkins.

  “Let’s get started!” said Aunt Trudy as she pulled out three chocolate-brown tablecloths.

  Mom and Aunt Trudy unfolded the tablecloths and spread them over
all the tables. Heidi rummaged through the decorations and pulled out two scarecrows, a bag full of colored leaves, and a stuffed witch with black-and-white–striped stockings. She hung the scarecrows on the tent’s poles in front of the booth. Then she set the stuffed witch on the center table and scattered some of the fall leaves across the tablecloths. After that she helped her aunt arrange the perfumes on the tables.

  Aunt Trudy made perfumes in all kinds of fragrances, like jasmine, cherry blossom, vanilla brown sugar, and peony. She also had some fall fragrances, like pumpkin spice and caramel apple. Heidi liked lily of the valley the best. She squirted some on her wrist and sniffed. She couldn’t smell a thing. Ugh, she thought. My nose is too clogged.

  Then Heidi noticed Melanie Maplethorpe standing in front of Aunt Trudy’s booth. Melanie had a tray of cider doughnuts in her hands.

  “Well, well,” said Melanie. “Now I know why it’s so STINKY around here!” Then she took one hand off the tray and pinched her nose. “And it’s NOT the perfume!”

  Heidi tried to ignore Melanie, but she couldn’t. Heidi felt mad and sick. She opened her mouth to say something, and then she felt a tingle in her nose.

  AH-CHOO! sneezed Heidi.

  Melanie looked at her doughnuts.

  “EWWW!” she shouted. “You got GERMS all over my doughnuts!”

  “I didn’t mean to!” cried Heidi.

  “Ugh! That is just SO disgusting!” yelled Melanie.

  Heidi’s mom ran to the rescue.

  “Settle down, girls!” she said. “I’ll pay for the doughnuts.”

  Mom got her wallet and handed Melanie twenty dollars.

  “We’re so sorry about your doughnuts,” said Mom. “Heidi has a cold.”

  Melanie put the money in her jacket pocket and stormed off. She shoved the doughnuts—tray and all—into a trash can. Then she ran back to her booth, where she and her dad were selling doughnuts and muffins.

  Mom hugged Heidi. “Don’t worry about Smell-a-nie,” Mom said. “She’ll get over it.”

  “I doubt it,” said Heidi. Then she looked at her mother. “Did you just say SMELL-A-NIE?”

  Mom smiled. “You bet I did.”

  Heidi lifted a pumpkin from the wheelbarrow and lugged it to the front of the booth. She propped the pumpkin in front of one of the scarecrows. Then she put her hand to her head. Wow, I feel so tired, she thought. She sniffled and sat on one of the folding chairs.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Mom.

  “I just need a little rest,” Heidi said.

  Mom walked over and felt Heidi’s head.

  “You’re very warm,” said Mom. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you home.”

  Aunt Trudy nodded in agreement.

  “No-o-o-o!” begged Heidi. “I’ll be okay.”

  “Try to take a little nap,” suggested Aunt Trudy, “and come back this afternoon.”

  Heidi thought about it for a moment. Maybe a nap would do the trick.

  “Okay,” she said. “But I’m coming right back.”

  “Good,” Aunt Trudy said. “I’ll be waiting.”

  Aunt Trudy gave Heidi a great big hug. Then Heidi and Mom walked to the car. Heidi felt like she was walking in outer space. She flopped onto the backseat and shut her eyes.

  The next thing Heidi knew, they were in their driveway. Mom helped Heidi get to her room. She tucked Heidi into bed and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Don’t forget to wake me up for the festival,” mumbled Heidi.

  Heidi woke up three hours later. She felt awful, but she rolled out of bed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Dad and Henry had their jackets on.

  “Where are you going?” asked Heidi in a raspy voice that didn’t sound at all like her own.

  “They’re going to the festival,” said Mom. “I called Lucy and told her you wouldn’t be able to make it.”

  Heidi covered her face and began to cry.

  “It’s okay,” Mom said, wrapping her arms around Heidi. “We’ll have lots of fun right here. We can make cinnamon spice tea and watch your favorite movie, The Witch Switch.”

  “I’ll bring you a treat,” promised Henry.

  “And I’ll try to win a stuffed animal for you,” added Dad.

  Then they slipped out the back door.

  Heidi buried her face in Mom’s sweater. She cried until her nose became so stuffy that she couldn’t breathe through it. Then she looked at her mom and said, “Why does everything bad happen to me?”

  If only I could get rid of this stupid cold, thought Heidi, then I could go to the festival. She flopped onto her bed. It could take days to get better, and by then the festival will be long gone. Heidi threw her stuffed owl against the wall. It bounced off and rolled under her dust ruffle. She reached over to pick it up and noticed her Book of Spells under the bed. Wait a second, she thought. Maybe I CAN get better faster. She pulled the book out from under the bed.

  “There has to be a spell to cure a cold,” she said to herself.

  Heidi looked at the Contents page and found a whole chapter on health. There were remedies for everything from rashes to back pain. Then she found a spell called “No More Sickness!”

  “Bingo!” said Heidi as she began to read the spell.

  Do you have an upset stomach? Are you the kind of witch who has a tendency to get tonsillitis? Or perhaps you’ve just come down with a rotten cold. If anything ails you, then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  1 teaspoon of cinnamon

  1 cup of peppermint tea

  2 tablespoons of ketchup

  Mix the ingredients together in a mug. Hold your Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand. Place your other hand over the mix and chant the following words:

  Drink the potion and feel your sickness disappear!

  The thought of drinking that mixture of ingredients was totally disgusting, but it wasn’t as bad as feeling sick. Heidi bookmarked the page. Then she slid into her fuzzy blue bunny slippers and headed downstairs. She paused on the bottom stair and listened. Mom was on the phone. Heidi tiptoed past her office and into the kitchen.

  She plopped a tea bag into a mug and filled the mug with warm water. Then Heidi added the cinnamon and ketchup and stirred the ingredients together. When she was done, she shuffled toward the stairs with her potion.

  “Is that you, Heidi?” called Mom.

  Heidi froze and held her mug close. “Yup, it’s me,” she said. “I, uh, just wanted some juice.”

  “Good,” said Mom. “Are you up for a movie?”

  “I would much rather go to the festival,” Heidi said.

  “I know, but not this time,” Mom said apologetically. “I’ll get some pillows and blankets.”

  Heidi went to her room and shut the door. She sat on the floor and placed her Witches of Westwick medallion around her neck. She held the medallion in one hand and put her other hand over the mug. Then she chanted the spell. For a moment the mixture bubbled, then it became still again. Heidi took a sip. It’s a good thing I’m too sick to taste this, she thought. Then she guzzled it down.

  Heidi set down the mug and breathed through her nose. The air went right in—just like it was supposed to. No sniffles! she thought. Then she swallowed. No sore throat! Heidi hopped to her feet and jumped up and down. I don’t have a single ache or pain! She did a little happy dance. I feel all better! she thought. Now I can go to the festival!

  Heidi couldn’t wait to tell her mother. She ran from her room and called to her mom from the top of the stairs.

  “RIBBIT!” she shouted. “RIBBIT! RIBBIT!”

  Heidi covered her mouth with her hand. Oh no! she thought. I sound just like a frog! Something must’ve gone wrong!

  Heidi thundered downstairs and ran straight into Mom’s office. Mom twirled her chair around.

  “What in the world is going on?” asked Mom. “You sounded like a herd of buffalo on the stairs. Are you feeling better?”

  Heidi pointed
frantically to her mouth.

  Mom looked puzzled. Heidi opened her mouth and pointed down her throat.

  “You’re so silly,” she said. “Just tell me if your throat still hurts.”

  Heidi shook her head and bugged out her eyes. She grabbed a pen from Mom’s pencil cup. Then she peeled off a sticky note and wrote Mom a message:

  I used a spell to get rid of my cold and something went wrong! Now I have a frog in my throat! Help!

  Mom read the note and looked at Heidi. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  Heidi nodded.

  “Try to say something,” said Mom.

  “RIBBIT!” said Heidi.

  “Oh dear!” said Mom.

  “RIBBIT! RIBBIT! RIBBIT!” Heidi said, which translated to “Please help me!”

  Mom put her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, Heidi!” she said. “You’ve done it AGAIN!”

  Heidi began to cry again.

  She peeled off another sticky note and wrote:

  Do you think Aunt Trudy can help me?

  “She’s still at the festival,” said Mom. “But don’t forget I’m a witch too. Maybe I can figure out what went wrong. Show me the spell you used.”

  Mom rarely used her witching skills. She tried to live as normal a life as anyone. But today she had to make an exception.