Hold the Pickles Read Free Page B

didn’t seem interested in finding out where they could get more. Hammy should have stuck to his old high-f lavor recipe and not worried about nutrition. Nobody eats a hotdog for their health.
    So that’s why what happened next came as a surprise. I’d just finished my spiel and, naturally, expected everybody to keep walking by. Instead someone said, “Oh, what have we here?”
    I turned toward the voice.
    The next thing I knew, something whacked me hard in the ankles. My legs flew out from under me. Hammy’s samples scattered all over the floor. People ducked for cover. My head hit the ground. This was starting to feel like a bad habit.
    I waited until the pain subsided before I opened my eyes. Call me crazy, but I was hoping to see Brooke leaning over me again. The concussion would have been worth it.
    Unfortunately, that’s not what happened.
    I saw a giant yellow cupcake wearing a thick coat of white icing and a jaunty cherry hat. It batted its long black eyelashes at me.
    â€œOh, sorry. Are you okay?” The cupcake had a little girly voice.
    I groaned and got halfway up on my elbows. “Yeah. I’m fine,” I said, although the world seemed to be spinning all of a sudden.
    â€œCareful! You lie back down now.” The cupcake gently pushed me onto the floor. “You could still be dizzy. You might hurt yourself.”
    The pink smile on its spongy face didn’t change, but the voice sure did. “Listen, meathead,” it whispered into an eyehole in a deep rumble. “Beat it. This is Cupcake Katie territory. Show your buns around here again, and I’ll shove each and every one of those sesame seeds down your high-fiber throat. Understand?”
    He yanked me onto my feet, and I heard my cape tear. The creep actually laughed. “Oops. How did that happen?” he said. “Didn’t realize I was standing on it. Silly me…”
    Normally, you’d think a hotdog could take on a cupcake, but this guy wasn’t your average cupcake.
    Or your average Katie.
    It was safer to get out of there while I could. I was a little ashamed of myself. I had the feeling an all-beef frankfurter wouldn’t let himself be pushed around like that.
    Cupcake Katie did a little dance and waved a yellow glove at me. “Toodle-oo, Frank Lee! Hope you’re feeling better,” he said in the girly voice. I wanted to punch him right in his muffin-top, but I knew when I was beat.
    I got as far away from him as I could. Once I was safe, I had a twinge of guilt about ruining Hammy’s expensive costume. But my guilt didn’t last long. I had something else on my mind.
    Brooke.
    Sooner or later I was going to have to step out of this hotdog and show her the real me. Let’s face it, the real me couldn’t stand up to a miniature marshmallow, let alone a full-size cupcake with attitude. I didn’t know how she’d react to sad little Dan Hogg. It made me nervous. But what could I do about it? I just kept hoping that if I really put the charm on, she’d still like me when the ugly truth finally came out.
    But where was I going to find her?
    I wandered around the hall, but it seemed useless. I couldn’t do my sales pitch with no samples to give away. The costume was getting heavier all the time. And I didn’t even know if Brooke was still here. She might have eaten her fill and gone home by now.
    I was starting to feel depressed about the whole situation when I spotted Shane cramming his pockets full of samples from Eat-o-Burrito’s.
    Half an hour earlier I’d been thrilled to get rid of the guy. Now he seemed like the only person who could help me find Brooke. I cleared my throat and headed over.
    â€œExcuse me, sir,” I said in a deep voice. “A little while ago, you were speaking with a dark-haired girl over by The Codfather Fish ’n Chips stand. I wonder if you might know where she is.”
    Shane wiped a dribble of