Diary of Anna the Girl Witch 1: Foundling Witch Read Free Page A

organized the games, of course. Sister Constance’s idea of fun was rolling skeins of yarn into balls in preparation for knitting. She was always knitting, even at the beach. She had brought along her enormous carpetbag of wool, and she spent the afternoon sitting under an umbrella, knitting a purple sweater, and yelling at the hoodlums. The strange thing was that I never saw her or anyone else wear the sweaters she knitted. I wondered what she did with them.
    We played a game in which we had to fill an enormous sponge with water from a bucket, run across the sand to squeeze it into another bucket at the far end, and pass the sponge to a teammate who would run back for more water. The team who filled their bucket first would win. That would have been my team, but Jean-Sébastien and Luca stole the sponges on the last run and squashed them on the tops of two girls, Sarah and Emily, soaking them in an instant. Sarah screeched and chased the boys up the beach.
    Oh, well. If that was the worst thing the hoodlums did today, I’d consider myself lucky.
    By four o’clock, I was starting to worry about Gaëlle. She should have arrived already. I kept looking up the path that led through the grassy sand dunes toward the road, but it was still empty.
    “It’s time to cut the cake,” said Sister Daphne in her usual singsong voice.
    “More food?” grouched Sister Constance from her shaded chair. “Haven’t you spoiled these children enough for one day?”
    “Dear Constance, that’s what birthday parties are all about!” Sister Daphne laughed. “Lauraleigh, why don’t you go get the cake out of the cooler?”
    “Yes, Sister,” Lauraleigh said.
    “Don’t worry,” Beatrice whispered. “I’ve been guarding that cooler all day, just like you asked. I’m sure that Jean-Sébastien hasn’t been anywhere near it.”
    I tried to relax as Lauraleigh walked over, carrying one of Sister Daphne’s incredible creations. But I was worried about Gaëlle. Why was she so late? And I’d been worrying about Uncle Misha for weeks, too. Why were his letters always returned unopened? And I was especially worried about Jean-Sébastien ruining my birthday cake. Where was he, anyway?
    Just then, I spotted him, sneaking up behind Lauraleigh with something long and wiggly in his hands.
    A garden snake! Oh, no! From his evil grin, I could tell that he was going to toss it around Lauraleigh’s neck. She would scream and drop my beautiful cake.
    No! I wouldn’t allow it. I clenched my fists tight and yelled, “Stop!”
    And that’s just what everyone did: They froze. Not like in a game of Red Light, Green Light, in which people try to stand still but wobble and fall. No, I mean everything froze: the people, the small waves on the lake, the birds flying overhead. Even the air. Everything was perfectly still except for the garden snake that wriggled until, with a poof , it changed into a billowy green scarf.
    Time started up again. I was the one frozen now – with shock. No one else seemed to have noticed what had just happened. Jean-Sébastien hadn’t. He still thought he held a snake. He tossed it over Lauraleigh’s neck, but the scarf fell harmlessly onto her shoulders. She turned to him and smiled.

    “Well, thank you, Jean-Sébastien,” she said. “Is this a present for the birthday girl?”
    His eyes goggled. “Uh, no. I mean, yes,” he stammered, and ran off.
    I would have let out a triumphant laugh except the whole thing had nearly scared the pants off me. Had time actually stopped? Why didn’t anyone else notice? And the scariest question of all: Did I do that?
    No time to think about it now. My friends were singing Happy Birthday, and then Sister Daphne pressed the handle of a knife into my hand.
    “You must cut your own cake, dear. It’s for good luck.”
    So I cut the cake for everyone, giving the biggest piece to Beatrice and saving one for me and one for Gaëlle, who still hadn’t shown up. All the while, I kept