A Katie Kazoo Christmas Read Free Page A

to the parking lot,” Mr. Derkman said.
    “Okay, dear. Let’s go.” Mrs. Derkman looked at the girls. “I’ll see you both tomorrow night. It’s Christmas Eve, the night of the big contest.”
    “I won’t be there,” Suzanne told her. “I’m going to the Cherrydale Christmas Extravaganza.”
    “Sorry you’ll miss all the fun,” Mrs. Derkman said. “You’ll have to come by and see our trophy one day.”
    Katie sighed. Mrs. Derkman was so certain she would win the contest. Maybe she shouldn’t be so confident. After all, she had some pretty stiff competition at Mr. Brigandi’s house.

Chapter 6
    “Come on, Katie,” Suzanne said as soon as the Derkmans had gone. “Let’s get going to Cinnamon’s. I can’t wait to try the gingerbread!”
    Katie followed Suzanne into the store.
    “Hi, girls,” Cinnamon said, greeting Katie and Suzanne as they came through the door. The candy-store owner was dressed in a red dress with white trim. She had on a red-and-white Santa hat.
    “Hi, Cinnamon,” Katie answered.
    “Have you girls come in for a treat?” Cinnamon asked.
    “Of course,” Suzanne replied. “Do you have any more of your home-baked gingerbread cookies? We really love them.”
    “I think there may be a few in the back,” Cinnamon said. “Let me go check.”
    As Cinnamon went into the back room to look for the cookies, Katie and Suzanne wandered around the store. Cinnamon’s Candy Shop always smelled good. But this year it smelled doubly delicious. Katie took a deep breath. The sweet scent of chocolate mixed in the air with nutmeg, gingerbread, cinnamon, and minty candy canes.
    “I love it in here,” Katie said. “It smells just like Christmas.”
    Just then, a tall man with gray hair popped out from behind the candy canes. “I know what you mean,” he told Katie. “I wish I could bottle this smell and cover my whole house with it.”

    Katie grinned. “Hi, Mr. Brigandi.”
    “Hi, girls,” Mr. Brigandi replied.
    “Your house looks really pretty this year,” Suzanne told him. “You have a lot of extra lights and new decorations.”
    “I thought it was time to make some changes,” Mr. Brigandi replied. “ Especially with the new competition on the block.”
    “The Derkmans’ house is pretty incredible,” Suzanne agreed. “They’ll be tough to beat.”
    “Oh, I’ll win the contest,” Mr. Brigandi assured her. “I always do.”
    “Mrs. Derkman thinks she’s going to win,” Katie told him. “She’s working hard on her decorations. I just saw her buying a whole bunch of Christmas lights at the hardware store.”
    “The Derkmans are buying more lights?” Mr. Brigandi asked curiously. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark blue jacket.
    “Oh yeah,” Suzanne said. “And little plastic elves, too. We saw them.”
    Mr. Brigandi’s face turned beet red. He frowned. “Elves, huh?” he harrumphed. “They think they can beat me with a bunch of elves? Ha! They’ve got another thing coming!”
    “I didn’t say they were going to beat you,” Katie assured him. “I just meant that they want to win, too.”
    Mr. Brigandi handed Katie the candy cane he was holding. “I’ve got to run,” he said as he dashed out of the store.
    “I wonder where he’s going in such a hurry,” Suzanne said as she went over to look at some Christmas-tree-shaped chocolates.
    “Probably to get more decorations for his house,” Katie replied. “Did you see how angry he got when he heard the Derkmans had bought those elves?”
    “I bet when the Derkmans see what Mr.
    Brigandi does at his house, they’ll go out and buy more decorations, too,” Suzanne said.
    “And then Mr. Brigandi will buy more, just so his house can have more decorations than the Derkmans’ house,” Katie added.
    “And then the Derkmans will buy more . . .” Suzanne began.
    “Grown-ups can be such babies sometimes!” Katie declared.

Chapter 7
    “This traffic is terrible!” Katie’s mom groaned as she