Jennifer Murdley's Toad (Magic Shop Books) Read Free Page A

then that Jennifer had put away most of her doll furniture.
    Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple to put away her impossible desire to be beautiful.
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    "Did you hear me?" asked Bufo, interrupting her thoughts.
    "Yes, I have a chair you can use," said Jennifer. "And I think there's a ten-gallon tank in the basement that I can turn into a terrarium. How does that sound?"
    "Crummy. But if it's the best you have, I'll live with it."
    "Wait here. I have to see if I can use it."
    Jennifer knew her mother wouldn't be home from her law office for another hour or so. That was just as well, since her dad was more likely to give the go-ahead on the terrarium anyway; he was considerably less concerned about dirt and messes than her mother was.
    Her father was still in the garage, his head buried in the back of the piano. The youngest Murdley, Brandon, was squatting next to the piano, playing with a bug. When he saw Jennifer he stood and hugged her leg.
    "I'll be four soon," he said, as he had every time he saw her during the last week.
    "I know, Bran," she replied, tousling his blond hair--which she would have given her right arm to have instead of her own limp, mouse-brown mess.
    She waited a moment, then rapped on the side of the piano.
    "Hello?" came a muffled voice from within.
    "It's me, Dad. I want to know if I can have that old fish tank in the basement."
    "What for?" Mr. Murdley asked, without removing his head from the instrument.
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    "I want to make a terrarium."
    "No problem," said Mr. Murdley. "Brandon, hand me a small Phillips head screwdriver, would you?"
    Brandon let go of Jennifer's leg and began pawing through the toolbox. After a moment he pulled out what his father wanted and stuck it into his outthrust hand.
    "Thanks, pal," said Mr. Murdley.
    "That's okay," Brandon replied, returning his attention to the bug he had been playing with when Jennifer walked up.
    "Don't eat him, Brandon," said Jennifer.
    "I don't do that anymore," he said firmly, picking up the bug and balancing it on his fingertip.
    Hoping Brandon had really reformed, Jennifer headed for the cellar. She found the tank behind a stack of empty boxes. After lugging it upstairs, she washed it out in the bathtub, working carefully so as not to crack the glass or scratch the tub. Her shirt was soaked by the time she was done.
    "Well, where have you been?" asked Bufo, when she reentered the room. "I was beginning to think you had run off and left me."
    "I might consider it if you can't be a little more polite," snapped Jennifer. "I've just about drowned myself trying to clean this stupid tank for you. Honestly, sometimes you remind me of Sharra."
    Bufo looked taken aback. "Who's Sharra?"
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    "This snobbette I go to school with. She's so stuck up she thinks she sweats perfume."
    "I don't sweat at all," said Bufo smugly.
    Deciding to ignore this comment, Jennifer asked, "What do you want me to do with this tank?"
    Bufo's wide mouth curved in a toady smile. "Make it homey."
    Ninety minutes later, Jennifer stood in front of the tank, trying to figure out where to put the last of the plants she had dug up out back. Her wet shirt was now covered with splotches of mud. A smudge of dirt ran across her right cheek to the tip of her nose. But the terrarium was looking good. A ceramic bowl formed a pool in the back corner. Next to it sat a blue chair that had once belonged to Barbie and Ken.
    As Jennifer was reaching into the tank with a six-inch-wide beach umbrella, the door opened and Skippy walked in.
    "Whatcha doin'?" he asked.
    "Making a terrarium," replied Jennifer, annoyed that he had come in without knocking. She was also nervous; she wondered how mad Skippy was about the underwear incident. He had been hard to figure out ever since he started sixth grade.
    "Where'd you get the toad?'" he asked, walking over to her desk and grabbing Bufo around the middle.
    "Put him down!" cried Jennifer.
    "Hey, don't get hyper," replied Skippy, lifting
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    Bufo into the air. The