Heidi Heckelbeck Casts a Spell Read online

  “Please put on your costume, Heidi,” she said.

  Heidi joined two other students who were scary apple trees. They already had on their costumes. Mrs. Noddywonks lowered the cardboard tree trunk over Heidi’s body. Heidi could barely move. She had to twist the trunk to find the hole for her face. Then she poked her arms through the holes in either side of the tree.

  “Hold your arms in the air like branches,” said Mrs. Noddywonks.

  Heidi held up her arms. She felt like a total ding-dong.

  “Places please, everyone!” called Mrs. Noddywonks. “Now let’s start by practicing the apple tree scene.”

  “Come on, Stanley!” said Melanie.

  Her ruby slippers clacked down the stairs in front of the stage. She held a basket with a stuffed Toto peeking out.

  Stanley Stonewrecker had the part of the Scarecrow. He was Melanie’s closest friend.

  “Action!” said Mrs. Noddywonks.

  Dorothy ran up the stairs onto the stage.

  “Oh, look!” she said. “Apples!”

  She tried to pick an apple from one of the trees, but it slapped her hand.

  “Ouch!” cried Dorothy.

  “Get your grubby paws off my apples!” said the tree.

  “Did you say something?” asked Dorothy. “We don’t have talking trees in Kansas!”

  “Go pick on someone else!” said the tree.

  “Yeah!” said the second tree.

  Heidi watched from the hole in her tree.

  “Come on, Dorothy,” said the Scarecrow. “You don’t want to eat those wormy apples.”

  “How dare you make fun of my apples!” said the first tree. “Fire away, guys!”

  The trees launched their Styrofoam apples.

  Dorothy and the Scarecrow dodged the apples. They also picked up a few for Dorothy’s basket. When Dorothy stood up, she bumped one of Heidi’s branches on purpose. Heidi’s costume shifted to one side.

  “Help!” cried Heidi. “I can’t see!”

  She teetered one way and then tottered the other. She turned in circles, and then splat! Heidi tipped over on center stage.

  “Tim-ber!” said Melanie. She nudged Stanley and they both laughed.

  Heidi could hear Mrs. Noddywonks scurry across the stage. She pulled Heidi’s costume off.

  “Are you okay, dear?” asked Mrs. Noddywonks.

  Heidi’s hair was tangled and stuck to her face paint. She felt too embarrassed to notice if she was hurt.

  “I’m fine,” said Heidi.

  But Heidi wasn’t fine, she was FURIOUS.

  That Melanie needed to learn a lesson once and for all.

  FRANKIE

  The spell was BACK ON! Tomorrow was opening night, and Heidi had to find the rest of the ingredients. She still needed:

  Heidi studied the list. Candy will be easy, she thought. She ran to the kitchen pantry and found the plastic Halloween pumpkins. She dumped the leftover candy on the floor and sifted through mini candy bars and loose candy corn. Then, like a glittering gem in a treasure chest, Heidi uncovered a black plastic spider.

  “Yes!” said Heidi as she held up her find.

  “Not so fast!” said Henry, who was standing in the doorway. “That’s MINE.”

  “Finders keepers,” said Heidi.

  “Give it,” said Henry. “Or I’ll tell.”

  “Wait,” said Heidi. “I’ll trade my mini lightsaber I got at the Burger Pit.”

  “Done!” said Henry.

  “It’s on my nightstand,” said Heidi.

  Henry bolted upstairs.

  Phew, thought Heidi. But she still needed sour gummy worms. Heidi’s mother loved sour gummies—gummy worms, gummy bears, you name it. Heidi tiptoed across the kitchen and pulled open her mother’s secret candy drawer. She saw butterscotch candies and mints. They have to be in here somewhere, she thought. She reached farther into the drawer. Her hand hit something. Aha! Heidi pulled out a small crumpled bag from the back of the drawer. She peeked inside. She saw red licorice and sour gummy worms.

  “Score!” said Heidi.

  She quickly stuffed two sour gummy worms into her pouch and one into her mouth.

  “Heidi!” called Mom. “Time to go!”

  Heidi shoved the bag back in the drawer.

  “Okay!” said Heidi, trying to act normal.

  Heidi had a playdate with Bruce. He had asked her over to see his laboratory.

  Mom drove Heidi to Bruce’s house. He answered the door in his white lab coat and safety glasses. His puppy, Frankie, wagged his tail and barked at Heidi.

  Heidi let Frankie sniff her hand.

  “Has he lost any teeth yet?” asked Heidi.

  “Not that I know of,” said Bruce.

  Heidi followed Bruce down to the basement. She looked around at all his experiments. Bruce had built a robot, and a tornado made out of chicken wire and cotton balls. Some things were labeled TOP SECRET.

  “Would you like to see how the Bicker Sticker works?” asked Bruce.

  “Sure!” said Heidi.

  Bruce tapped some keys on his computer. Heidi watched the screen. She saw something moving.

  “That’s Frankie,” said Bruce.

  Heidi couldn’t see Frankie, but she could see what he was doing.

  “Is he supposed to be eating hamburger buns?” asked Heidi.

  Bruce looked closely at the screen.

  “Oh no!” he said. “Come on!”

  Heidi and Bruce raced up the stairs to the kitchen. There they found Frankie happily munching on hamburger rolls and wagging his tail.

  Bruce tugged on the bag of rolls. Frankie growled playfully.

  “Give him a chew toy!” said Bruce.

  Heidi spotted a basket of chew toys and grabbed a plastic pork chop.

  “Here, Frankie!” said Heidi, waving the pork chop back and forth.

  Frankie had no interest in the fake pork chop. He barked and whined at the hamburger rolls, which were now on the counter.

  Heidi was about to toss the pork chop back into the basket when she noticed something stuck in the side. It was a tooth!

  “I found a puppy tooth in the chew toy!” said Heidi.

  “Let me see!” said Bruce.

  Heidi picked the tooth out of the pork chop and handed it to Bruce.

  “That’s so cool,” said Bruce.

  He pulled a magnifying glass out of his lab coat to get a better look.

  “May I still trade you for a shark tooth?” asked Heidi. She tried not to sound too eager.

  “Sure,” said Bruce. “I’d much rather have a shark tooth any day.”

  He handed the tooth to Heidi, and she popped it into her pouch. Now she had nearly all the ingredients for her spell. Just three more to go, and a sand pail.

  “I promise to bring a shark tooth to school tomorrow,” said Heidi.

  “Cool,” said Bruce.

  Then they thumped back down the stairs to the basement to check out some more science experiments.

  SHOWTIME!

  Butterflies!

  Jitterbugs!

  Showtime!

  Well, almost. Heidi had four hours before opening night. She still had to find a couple more spell ingredients. The splashes of water would be easy. So would the sand pail. The piece of straw and the eye of a gingerbread man would be trickier.

  After school Heidi’s mother took Henry and Heidi to Lulu’s Bakery. Mom had ordered cupcakes for the cast party. Heidi prayed she would find the eye of a gingerbread man at the bakery. This would be her only chance.

  Heidi stayed up front while Henry and Mom followed Lulu to the back of the store. When they were far enough away, Heidi turned to the lady behind the counter.

  “Do you have any eyes for gingerbread people?” she whispered.

  The lady thought for a moment. “They’re out of season,” she said, “but I’ll check.”

  She opened and closed several little drawers. Then she pulled out a small strip of paper. The paper was dotte
d with tiny sets of candy eyes.

  “How many do you need?” asked the lady.

  “Just one,” said Heidi.

  “One eye?” asked the lady.

  One eye did sound kind of strange.

  “I mean, one pair,” said Heidi.

  “Here,” said the lady. “Take what’s left on the sheet.”

  “How much?” asked Heidi.

  “No charge,” said the lady, and she handed the strip of candy eyes to Heidi.

  “Thank you!” said Heidi.

  She gently folded the paper and put it in her pouch.

  Lulu carried the cupcakes to the counter. Each cupcake had a Wizard of Oz topper.

  “I want Toto!” said Henry.

  “I want the ruby slippers!” said Heidi.

  Heidi’s mom paid for the cupcakes, and then they went home to pick up Dad.

  “I forgot something in the house,” said Heidi.

  “Make it fast,” said Mom. “You don’t want to be late on opening night!”

  Inside, Heidi carefully placed her pouch, her medallion, measuring spoons, a bottle of water, a spoon, and a pair of scissors in a shopping bag. Then she raced to the garage and unstacked the sand pails. She tossed a red one in the shopping bag. Then she zoomed to the cleaning closet and plucked a bristle from the broom.

  Oh no, thought Heidi. These dumb bristles are made of plastic, not straw. How can a house with two witches have a fake broom?

  Heidi slammed the closet door behind her. She had everything she needed except for one crummy piece of straw. Now her spell was ruined. She grabbed her shopping bag anyway and ran to the car.

  At school Heidi ignored everyone backstage. She put on her makeup and tree costume. Then she peeked around the curtain to see if Aunt Trudy had arrived. As she looked out at the audience someone pushed her from behind. Heidi stumbled onstage as Melanie and Stanley cracked up behind the curtain. Heidi whirled around. She tried to find the split in the curtain, but all she found was more fabric. Then Lucy opened the curtain and yanked Heidi backstage.

  “Are you okay?” asked Lucy.

  Heidi wanted to scream. But then she looked at Stanley and got an idea.

  “Help me out of my costume,” said Heidi. “I have to use the bathroom.”

  Lucy lifted the tree trunk over Heidi’s head.

  “Hurry up!” said Lucy. “The play is about to start.”

  “I’ll only be a sec,” said Heidi.

  Heidi grabbed her shopping bag. As she walked past Stanley she plucked a piece of straw from his scarecrow costume.

  This will do the trick, she thought.

  Then Heidi smiled wickedly.

  Now she had everything she needed to cast her spell.

  THE SPELL IS ON!

  Heidi hid in a bathroom stall and set the sand pail on the toilet seat. She peeled a candy eye from the strip of paper and dropped it in the pail. Then she added the spider, the straw, the gummy worms, the puppy tooth, and the three cornflakes.

  Heidi measured a teaspoon of salt and added it to the mix.

  And then she snipped a tiny hole in the cat toy and added one tablespoon of catnip.

  She added three splashes of water and mixed the ingredients together with a spoon.

  Then Heidi closed her eyes. She put her right hand over the pail and held the medallion in her left hand. Heidi chanted the words of the spell:

  Now the joke will be on Melanie, thought Heidi.

  Heidi gathered her things and headed backstage. The play had just started, and there was Melanie onstage, scratching her head. She couldn’t remember her lines. The spell had worked!

  Mrs. Noddywonks gave Melanie her opening line. “Oh, Toto,” she said. “I wish I could go somewhere over the rainbow.”

  Melanie tried to repeat the words, but she forgot them again.

  Kids backstage whispered and laughed. Melanie’s face turned red. She began to cry.

  Mrs. Noddywonks ran onstage.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said, “we’re going to take a short break and be right back.”

  The curtain squeaked as it closed.

  Mrs. Noddywonks put her arm around Melanie. “It’s only the jitters,” she said. “Take a deep breath.”

  “What’s the matter with me?” Melanie wailed. “How did I become a terrible Dorothy?”

  Just then something strange happened. Something so crazy, Heidi had to pinch herself. She—Heidi Heckelbeck—felt sorry for Melanie. How can this be? she wondered. Melanie is my worst enemy! But Heidi couldn’t bear to see Melanie so upset. Heidi knew what that felt like, and now she had made someone else feel the same way. There was only one thing to do.

  A STAR IS BORN

  Heidi ran to back to the bathroom with her things. She entered a stall and set the red pail on the toilet seat. Heidi put her right hand over the pail and held her medallion in her left hand. Then she closed her eyes and reversed the spell.

  As soon as Heidi walked out of the bathroom, she heard Melanie’s voice.

  “I remember my lines!” Melanie shouted.

  “Oh good. . . . Thank heavens!” said Mrs. Noddywonks. “Okay, children, take your places!”

  After that, nobody tripped and no one forgot a single line.

  At the end everyone came out onstage for their bows. Heidi could hear her dad cheering for her from the audience. The play wasn’t so bad, thought Heidi. But she was glad it was over!

  “You were the best scary tree ever!” said Dad as he handed Heidi a cupcake with the ruby slippers on top.

  “I want one too!” said Henry.

  “Me too,” said Mom.

  “We’ll be right back,” said Dad as he, Mom, and Henry set off on a cupcake hunt.

  Then Aunt Trudy gave Heidi a big hug.

  “Isn’t it a bit strange that Melanie forgot her lines?” asked Aunt Trudy. “And then suddenly—just like that—she remembered them! I can’t explain it. Can you?”

  Heidi looked at the floor. Aunt Trudy knew exactly what Heidi had done.

  “Did you learn something?” asked Aunt Trudy.

  “Yes,” said Heidi. “It feels terrible to make someone unhappy.”

  “Good girl,” said Aunt Trudy.

  “But how come Melanie’s mean to me?” asked Heidi.

  “That’s Melanie’s problem,” said Aunt Trudy. “Not yours. And hopefully someday Melanie will learn how to be kind too.”

  And that, along with her cupcake with the ruby slippers on top, made Heidi feel like a star.

  HERE’S A

  SNEAK PEEK!

  At school everybody was talking about the cookie contest.

  Heidi walked over to her friend Lucy Lancaster. “What kind are you making?” Heidi asked Lucy.

  “Sugar cookies,” said Lucy. “With Fruity Polka Dots cereal on top.”

  “Yum,” said Heidi.

  “What kind are you making?” asked Lucy.

  “Chocolate chunk,” said Heidi.

  “Ew,” said Melanie Maplethorpe. Melanie was Heidi’s worst enemy. She had been listening in.

  Heidi turned around. “What’s your problem?” she asked.

  “YOUR COOKIES!” said Melanie. “I mean, how blah can you get? Even Girl Scout cookies are more exciting than THAT.”

  Lucy put her hands on her hips and glared at Melanie. “What kind of cookies are you going to make? Disgusting chip? Or oatmeal poison?”

  Melanie walked off with her nose in the air.

  Heidi sighed. “It’s true,” she said. “My chocolate chunk cookies DO sound boring next to yours and Melanie’s.”

  “Chocolate chunk cookies are NOT boring,” said Lucy. “Stick with what you do best and you’ll come out on top.”

  On top of what? thought Heidi. The garbage heap? Maybe I need to come up with a fancier kind of cookie. Heidi was sure of one thing: She had to outshine Melanie Maplethorpe.