No One Must Know Read Free

the hall. Christie followed us. A large white refrigerator, a stove, and a small countertop were lined up along the wall, with painted white cabinets directly above. The two other members of the Canary patrol were sitting cross-legged onthe linoleum floor. The three of us sat down beside them.
    “Look who I’ve brought with me,” Molly said to them.
    One of the girls was Jean McCormick, my other best friend. She let out a whoop of delight. “You didn’t tell me that you were joining Guides!” she shrieked.
    “I wanted to surprise you.”
    “I guess you know everybody here,” Molly said.
    “She doesn’t know me,” said a tiny girl with a halo of red hair and a friendly smile. “My name’s Isabel.”
    “I’m Alex Gal. Nice to meet you.” I noticed she held a pad of paper and a pencil in her hand. “What are you doing?”
    “The Canaries will be hosting the annual tea this year, as part of our work for our hostess badges,” she said. “That means that we’re responsible for organizing the tea. Our mothers and all of the girls in our company will be invited to it. We’ll be baking cookies and cakes and making punch. The younger girls in our troop can also do some baking if they want to, but we’re in charge. Our mothers are allowed to advise us, of course, but we have to do everything ourselves. We already began planning the party at our last meeting,” she added.
    “We’ll even be drawing our own party invitations,” Jean said. “And –”
    The tinkling of a bell and the clapping of hands cut her off mid-sentence. The gaggle of Guides fell silent.
    “Attention, girls!” Mrs. Cowan cried. For such a small lady, she had a mighty voice. “Line up, please.”
    With practiced ease, even the youngest members formed themselves into a straight line and marched into an open horseshoe formation. I tagged along behind Molly, trying not to stumble over my own feet.
    “Color party, fall out!” called Mrs. Cowan.
    Two girls stepped forward – Christie Sutherland, our patrol leader, was on the left and Jean, her second, was on the right. Mrs. Cowan took the red-and-blue Union Jack out of a stand and handed it to Christie. She and Jean then turned smartly and marched to one end of the horseshoe, where they turned again and faced the rest of the company. Next, we all recited the Girl Guide motto. I was lost after the phrase “A guide is always prepared” but promised myself to memorize the rest as soon as possible. Then we sat down on the carpet and took attendance. A piggy bank was passed around and each girl dropped a dime into it with a hard ping.
    “I’d like to welcome a new member to our company–Alexandra Gal,” Mrs. Cowan announced. “She has joined the Canary patrol. Let’s give Alexandra a proper Girl Guide welcome!”
    All of the girls clapped enthusiastically, and the ones nearest me patted me on the back.
    “I have some more wonderful news to share with you,” added Mrs. Cowan in a pleased tone. “As you already know, I announced last week that we’d be holding our annual tea on Saturday, November 21. The Canaries will be in charge, and they are already hard at work planning the menu,” she said, smiling at us. “In the past, our annual teas have taken place in this hall.” She waved her hands in all directions. “But this year, I decided to investigate the possibility of using a more glamorous location.”
    All our eyes were fixed on her. She took a deep breath and announced dramatically: “I spoke to the catering manager of the Sports Club, and he has agreed to allow us to hold our tea in the banquet hall, free of charge, if we provide our own refreshments.”
    A ripple of excitement passed through the room.
    “Dad plays tennis there every week,” I whispered to Molly, “but I’ve never been. He doesn’t take Mom or me with him.”
    “The club is a very elegant facility,” Mrs. Cowan continued. “Very elegant indeed! I think you’ll all agree that we’re lucky to have