Amelia Earhart: Lady Lindy Read Free

no small parts, just small paychecks,” and then they would both laugh ruefully because usually her mother got no paycheck at all for her acting.
    From the corner of her eye, Maisie saw Felix and Jim Duncan arrive and go inside. She sighed.
Okay, Mercy Lewis,
Maisie thought,
go on in.
    The first thing Maisie saw when she stepped into the school’s lobby was a crowd gathered around the cast list Miss Percy had posted.
    â€œI’m going to class,” Maisie muttered.
    But before she could walk away, Bitsy Beal angrily barreled right into her.
    â€œExcuse me,” Maisie said sarcastically.
    Bitsy’s eyes were red and her cheeks were wet with tears. But her face looked mad enough to knock Maisie over.
    â€œYou!” Bitsy said. “You . . . nothing! You no-talent, no-friend, scene-stealer!”
    â€œWhat?” Maisie said, bewildered.
    Bitsy stormed off, and slowly Maisie became aware that every single person was staring at her.
    â€œWhat?” she said again.
    From the crowd, Jim Duncan emerged with a big, silly grin on his face.
    â€œJohn Proctor,” he said, holding his hand out to Maisie. “Pleased to meet you, Abigail Williams.”
    â€œWhat?” Maisie said for a third time.
    â€œYou got the part!” Felix shrieked. “You’re Abigail!”
    The next thing she knew, Felix and Jim Duncan and the Ziff twins and almost everybody else were hugging Maisie.
    They were congratulating her and gushing about her audition, their faces all happy and excited.
    But all Maisie could do was think:
I got the part, I got the part, I got the part
while she tried not to throw up.

CHAPTER 2
    AMY PICKWORTH
    O nce Great-Uncle Thorne discovered that the Ziff twins were descendants of Amy Pickworth, he started to change his mind about some things. First, he changed his mind about Maisie and Felix and their mother moving back upstairs to the servants’ quarters.
Pickworths belong in Elm Medona!
he announced, and they all unpacked everything they had just packed up and settled back into their old rooms. Then he changed his mind about The Treasure Chest. He unsealed it and kept it unsealed.
Pickworths have a gift, a responsibility, a calling!
he decided. Then he changed his mind about the Ziff twins.
Pickworths need to stick together!
    Added to his excitement about finding new Pickworths was the excitement about his upcoming wedding to Penelope Merriweather. And, of course, Maisie and Felix’s father’s wedding to Agatha the Great. It was hard not to feel excited, too, Felix thought. But Maisie was not excited. She was mad.
    Maisie was going to be a junior bridesmaid, not once but twice. This would be fine, maybe even thrilling, except for the fact that Felix was going to be a best man. Twice. And on the importance scale for weddings, best man was much higher than junior bridesmaid.
    â€œCan’t I be a real bridesmaid?” Maisie asked her father.
    â€œI don’t really know how this all works,” he admitted. “But Agatha said junior bridesmaid, which I think just refers to your age. Maybe you can’t be a full-blown bridesmaid until you’re old enough to vote?”
    â€œThat,” Maisie said, “is ridiculous.”
    â€œCan’t I be a real bridesmaid?” Maisie asked Great-Uncle Thorne that night at supper.
    â€œNo,” he answered, his mouth full of
moules
, which were actually mussels. But he insisted on calling them by their French name.
    â€œMaybe you’ll think about it?” Maisie said.
    She took a mussel out of its shell with the special little fork that was used for just this purpose, and stared at it. Yellow and slimy with some blue around the edges. She put it back in its shiny black shell and waited.
    â€œThere’s nothing to think about,” Great-Uncle Thorne said. “Read your Emily Post.”
    â€œMy what?” Maisie asked.
    Across the table, Felix plopped mussels into his mouth. How