Heidi Heckelbeck and the Christmas Surprise Page 2

  “What’s wrong?” Lucy asked.

  “I lost my mom’s charm bracelet in the snow yesterday,” said Heidi. “It must’ve slipped off.”

  “You’re kidding!” cried Lucy.

  “It gets worse,” said Heidi.

  Before Heidi could tell Lucy the rest of her story, Melanie Maplethorpe—better known as Smell-a-nie—butted in. She had been listening in as usual.

  “What did you lose, weirdo?” Melanie asked. “Your brain?”

  Heidi whirled around and looked at Melanie.

  Melanie had a hand on her hip and a snicker on her face.

  Heidi got tongue-tied. Melanie always made her feel uncomfortable.

  “Mind your own business,” said Lucy. Then she linked arms with Heidi, and they walked to the reading corner.

  “Thanks,” said Heidi.

  Lucy nodded. “So what happened?” she asked.

  “I found the bracelet in our driveway,” said Heidi. “But it had gotten smooshed by the snowplow.”

  Heidi pulled the bracelet out of her pocket and dangled it in front of Lucy.

  Lucy clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh no!” she cried. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to try to fix it after school,” said Heidi.

  “Not to be mean,” said Lucy, “but it would take a magician to fix that bracelet.”

  “I know,” said Heidi as she dropped the bracelet into her pocket. “All I need is a little magic.”

  Heidi sat on her bed and opened her Book of Spells. She ran her finger down the page and found a section called Jewelry Repair. Perfect, she thought as she flipped to the page.

  She read over the spell:

  Has your favorite piece of jewelry been broken? Have you busted a clasp? Lost a gemstone? Perhaps you’ve damaged a charm or locket? Then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  1 cup of apple juice

  1 teaspoon of sugar

  2 grape seeds

  Collect the ingredients and mix them together in a glass. Add the broken jewelry. Hold your Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand and place your other hand over the mix. Chant the following words:

  I can make Mom’s bracelet as good as new, Heidi said to herself. She hopped off her bed and ran to the kitchen. Then she helped herself to a cup of apple juice, a mixing spoon, and two grapes. Now all I need is some sugar.

  Mom had left a bowl of red sugar on the counter. She had been making Christmas cookies. Heidi sprinkled a teaspoon of red sugar into the glass with the apple juice. Then she snuck everything to her room.

  Heidi shut her bedroom door and sat at her desk. First she nibbled half a grape. Then she picked out the seeds with her fingernail and dropped two into the glass. Heidi stirred the ingredients with the spoon.

  Next she added the smooshed bracelet. She held the medallion in her right hand and put her left hand over the mix. Heidi chanted the spell. The mix bubbled, and the bracelet wiggled and jiggled. Heidi waited for the liquid to settle. Then she fished out the bracelet.

  The charms had been perfectly repaired, but there was just one small problem: The bracelet was covered in rust.

  Uh-oh, thought Heidi. I totally messed up. She shoved the bracelet into her jeans pocket and ran into the kitchen. There’s only one person who can help me now.

  “Mom, can I go to Aunt Trudy’s?” Heidi asked.

  Mom gave her a what are you up to now? look.

  “I need to talk to her about a Christmas surprise,” explained Heidi.

  “Well, okay,” Mom said. “Be back before dinner.”

  Heidi pulled on her boots and coat and raced to her aunt’s house. Aunt Trudy answered the door and smiled. Her cats, Agnes and Hilda, swirled beneath her flowing purple skirt.

  “What a lovely surprise!” said Aunt Trudy. “Is something the matter?”

  “How did you know?” asked Heidi.

  “Just a hunch,” said Aunt Trudy. “Come on in.”

  Heidi followed her aunt to the kitchen and sat at the table. The house smelled like ginger.

  “Would you like a slice of gingerbread?” asked Aunt Trudy.

  “I’d love one,” said Heidi.

  Aunt Trudy set the gingerbread and a glass of milk in front of Heidi. Then she sat down across from her. After taking a bite of gingerbread, Heidi reached into her pocket and pulled out the rusty charm bracelet.

  “Oh my,” said Aunt Trudy. “Is that your mother’s charm bracelet?”

  Heidi nodded.

  She told her aunt about how she had taken the bracelet without asking and about how it had gotten run over by the snowplow.

  “I used a jewelry repair spell,” said Heidi. “But something went wrong.”

  “I see,” said Aunt Trudy. “What kind of sugar did you use?”

  “Red Christmas sugar,” said Heidi.

  “Well, that explains the rust,” said Aunt Trudy.

  “Can we fix it?” asked Heidi.

  “We can,” said Aunt Trudy. “But we’ll need silver fish scales, and they have to be special ordered. They’d take about six weeks to get here.”

  “Six weeks!” said Heidi. “What if Mom finds out about the bracelet before then?”

  “Well, maybe you should tell her what happened,” Aunt Trudy suggested.

  “Are you kidding?” said Heidi. “She’ll be so mad at me. I took it without asking.”

  “We all make mistakes, honey,” said Aunt Trudy. “Your mom may get cross, but she’ll understand.”

  Heidi stared at the rusty bracelet. Her stomach felt queasy. The gingerbread gurgled in her tummy.

  “Think about it,” said Aunt Trudy with a wink.

  Heidi gave her aunt a big hug and then plodded through the snow toward home. She looked at the bright Christmas lights on the trees and houses. She passed by a brightly lit Santa holding an armful of presents. Heidi sighed. Santa will be so disappointed in me. Then Heidi stopped in her tracks. On second thought, maybe Santa can help me.

  Heidi sat on her bed and began to write another letter.

  Hi, Santa,

  It’s me again. Christmas is two days away, and guess what? I was BAD! I borrowed my mom’s charm bracelet to play dress-up without asking for her permission.

  Then I lost it. To make matters worse, it got run over by a snowplow. I feel positively horrible. If you’re still reading this, I want to ask you a favor. W ill you please bring me a new charm bracelet instead of the book I asked for? I want to give the bracelet to my mom. Since I was bad, you don’t have to bring me PRINCESS CHARMING. Thanks.

  Your friend,

  Heidi

  PS This won’t

  happen again.

  I promise.

  Heidi put the letter in the mailbox and sighed. Santa probably won’t get my letter in time, but what else can I do? she thought. She kicked a chunk of snow on the way up the front walk. Wait! Maybe there IS something else I can do. I can make Mom a special bracelet for Christmas in case Santa doesn’t send the charm bracelet in time.

  Heidi hurried inside and pulled out her bead kit. She strung rainbow crystals and a few of her fanciest stones on a piece of memory wire. Dad helped with the clasp. Heidi laid the finished bracelet on her bed. This is the prettiest bracelet I’ve ever made, she thought. She wrapped it in red tissue paper and stuck a small white bow on top. Then she hurried downstairs and tucked it under the tree.

  “Hooray! It’s Christmas!” shouted Henry. “Time to get up!”

  Henry pounced on Heidi. Then he woke up Mom and Dad.

  “Let’s open presents!” he said.

  “You may open your stocking stuffers,” said Mom. “We’ll open tree presents when Aunt Trudy gets here.”

  Heidi and Henry unhooked their stockings from the mantel. Then they sat down and took turns calling out their presents—a family tradition.

  “I got Hot Wheels!” shouted Henry.

  “I got some fake tattoos!” cried Heidi.

  They unwrapped jacks, scented erasers and pencils, sports cards, snow globes, Silly Putty, fuzzy toe socks, and chocolate Santas.

  Aunt Trudy joined them for coffee cake, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Then they opened the presents from under the tree. Everyone took turns. Heidi paid close attention to what Mom opened.

  Soon there were just a few presents left. Mom still hadn’t opened the bracelet Heidi made, and that was the only present she had left to open. Heidi only had one present to go too, and it was her turn to open. I really hope this is the charm bracelet, she thought.

  It was a present from Santa! Heidi tore off the paper and found Princess Charming, the book she had wanted earlier. Drat, she thought. Santa didn’t get my letter in time. Now she would have to tell her mom what had happened.

  She waited until it was Mom’s turn again. Mom unwrapped the handmade bracelet. Then Dad fastened it on Mom’s wrist.

  “I love it,” Mom said.

  Mom kissed Heidi on the cheek.

  “There’s a little story that goes with it,” said Heidi.

  Heidi took a deep breath and told her mother about the charm bracelet. She told her how she had lost it, how she tried to fix it, and how she had written to Santa in hopes of getting a new one.

  “I’m so sorry,” Heidi said.

  Mom gave Heidi a big squeeze.

  “Well, I’m sorry too,” she said. “But I like the bracelet you made for me even better. It’s a Heidi original.”

  “Then you’re not mad?” asked Heidi.

  “No, I’m not mad,” said Mom. “I’ve been saving the bracelet for you. Losing it taught you a lesson about taking something without asking.”

  “No kidding,” said Heidi.

  Then Henry pulled something from one of the tree’s branches.

&nbs
p; “Hey, look what I found!” he said.

  Everyone looked at what Henry had in his hand.

  “What . . . ?” asked Dad.

  “Is that . . . ?” started Mom.

  “Your charm bracelet!” exclaimed Heidi. She grabbed the bracelet from Henry. “The rust is all gone!”

  Mom looked at Aunt Trudy. “Did you have something to do with this?” she asked suspiciously.

  “I wish I had,” said Aunt Trudy. “But it wasn’t me.”

  “Then how did the bracelet wind up on our tree?” asked Dad.

  Heidi’s eyes lit up. “It must’ve been Santa!” she exclaimed.

  “Well, duh,” said Henry. “Who else could it have been?”

  Then everyone became very quiet.

  “Wow,” said Heidi. “This must be Christmas magic.”

  And they all knew that something very special had taken place.

  Ho, ho, ho!

  Boing! Boing! Boing!

  No one could sit still in Mrs. Welli’s classroom. Everyone wanted to hold Maggie. Maggie was a fluffy white bunny with bright blue eyes. She belonged to Principal Pennypacker, but sometimes he let Maggie go on classroom visits.

  This week Mrs. Welli’s class had Maggie. Mrs. Welli let her students take turns holding the bunny. When it was Heidi’s turn, she cuddled Maggie in her arms. The other kids gathered around.

  “Her fur feels like velvet,” said Heidi.

  Lucy Lancaster stroked Maggie’s fur. “She’s the softest little fluff ball in the whole world,” she said.

  Mrs. Welli clapped her hands.

  “Everyone, take your seats,” she said. “It’s time to put Maggie back in her cage. The bunny needs a rest.”

  Heidi slowly walked to the cage and let Maggie hop in. Then she sat down with the rest of the class.

  “I have very exciting news, boys and girls,” Mrs. Welli said. “Principal Pennypacker is going to pick one lucky boy or girl to take Maggie home for Easter weekend.”

  Everyone gasped and squealed.

  “At the end of the day,” Mrs. Welli continued, “the principal will draw a name from our class hat.”

  Everyone began to chatter about who would get the bunny. Heidi had always dreamed of having her very own pet. Oh, I hope I’ll get the bunny.

  Wanda Coven has always loved magic. When she was little, she used to make secret potions from smooshed shells and acorns. Then she would pretend to transport herself and her friends to enchanted places. Now she’s able to visit other worlds through writing. Wanda lives in San Jose, California, with her husband and son. They have three cats: Hilda, Agnes, and Claw-dia.

  Priscilla Burris has illustrated numerous books and materials for children, parents, and teachers. She enjoys painting cakes and creating art for products, which include murals, greeting cards, and rubber stamps! Priscilla lives with her family in Southern California.

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster

  New York

  Meet the author and illustrator and get activities at

  KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

  Authors.simonandschuster.com/Wanda Coven

  Authors.simonandschuster.com/Priscilla Burris

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Jacket design by Ciara Gay

  Jacket illustrations by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Coven, Wanda.

  Heidi Heckelbeck and the Christmas surprise / by Wanda Coven ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: After Heidi borrows her mother’s charm bracelet without permission, it gets damaged and she uses magic to try to repair it before her mother finds out, and that is a problem that only Aunt Trudy or Santa can fix.

  ISBN 978-1-4424-8124-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-8125-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-8126-8 (ebook : alk. paper) [1. Charm bracelets—Fiction. 2. Behavior—Fiction. 3. Witches—Fiction. 4. Magic—Fiction. 5. Christmas—Fiction.] I. Burris, Priscilla, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.C83393Ham 2013

  [Fic]—dc23

  2012030273

 

 

  Wanda Coven, Heidi Heckelbeck and the Christmas Surprise

 

 

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