They passed a restaurant. A wonderful cheesy smell poured out of it. Corey had a sudden picture of a casserole of macaroni and cheese with bread crumbs on top. In her imagination, the casserole was toasty brown and the cheese was bubbling. Her father was holding the casserole and smiling.
When Corey’s mother used to work late, Corey’s father would make macaroni and cheese. He was a teacher of French and Spanish. He loved to pretend to be a French chef. Talking in a silly French accent, he would explain how the cheese had to be grated “just zo” and how the macaroni had to be “zoft but not too zoft” and how only the best bread crumbs would do.
Corey really missed her father. These days she often visited him at his new apartment, but that wasn’t the same thing as having him at home. This was going to be a hard Christmas, she thought.
“You’ll think of something,” Jasmine said.
That was easy for Jasmine to say, Corey thought. Jasmine was always coming up with great ideas. At the moment, Corey’s mind was a blank.
“Make something yourself,” May said. “People really appreciate it when they receive something unique. Personally, I am planning to make chocolate chip cookies with cheese frosting.”
“That’s certainly unique,” Mrs. Grover said. Corey thought she looked slightly green. May was always doing nutty things. Corey could tell that Mrs. Grover wasn’t sure whether May was kidding or not.
“That’s kind of understated,” Jasmine said. “I would throw in a few olives.”
“Good idea,” said May. “And maybe a few pimientos.”
“Sardines would be good,” said Jasmine. “I see a sardine on top of each cookie.”
“How about a pickle?” said Corey.
“Perfect,” said May. “So long as it leaves room for the anchovies.”
The three girls burst out laughing.
“It’s a joke, isn’t it?” asked Mrs. Grover.
May hugged her mother. “I’m a terrible cook. But not that terrible.”
“You’re a wonderful cook,” Mrs. Grover said. But Corey could tell she was relieved.
“You’ve given me an idea,” Corey said.
“Moi?” said May. Moi was French for “me.” The Pony Tails had learned a few words of French in school that fall. It was funny, Corey thought, but the Pony Tails usually had the same idea at the same time. Here she was thinking about her father as a French chef, and May said something in French.
“I’m going to make a fabulous feast,” Corey said.
“What kind of feast?” asked Jasmine.
“Macaroni and cheese,” said Corey. “Is there any other kind?”
“Great choice,” said May. Her pony, Macaroni, had got his name because he was the color of macaroni and cheese.
“We are needing ze zingy cheese,” Corey said.
“You can’t be too zingy,” agreed Jasmine.
“For ze zingy cheese, I mean the zingy cheese, I suggest we go to Cheese World,” Mrs. Grover said. “They have an excellent selection.”
May linked arms with Corey and Jasmine. “Off we go to zearch for ze zingy cheese,” said May.
“Zingy is the thingy,” said Jasmine.
Cheese World was a madhouse, with crowds of people buying wheels of cheese and gift boxes of cheese. This didn’t stop May. She marched up to a salesman and said, “Please, we would like to see some zingy cheese.”
“Zingy?” said the salesman.
“I think she means something with a good strong flavor,” said Mrs. Grover.
“All our cheeses have a good strong flavor,” said the salesman.
Mrs. Grover thought for a minute. Then she said, “She means sharp.”
“Would that be Limburger? Or Gorgonzola? Or Monterey Jack?” asked the salesman.
Who knew cheese had so many funny names? Corey, May, and Jasmine looked at each other with wonder.
“Is it for something in particular?” the salesman asked.
Corey looked around Cheese World. Everyone there looked so sophisticated. There were women with long coats and men in three-piece suits. There was even a boy in a three-piece suit. Corey hated to yell out “Macaroni and cheese!” in a spot like this.
But the salesman was waiting.
“Mcrni ’n’ chse,” Corey mumbled.
“I beg your pardon?” said the salesman.
Corey took a deep breath. “Macaroni and cheese.” She waited for people to turn and laugh. But no one paid any attention.
“Ah, macaroni and cheese,” the salesman said. “To make the best macaroni and cheese, I recommend a sharp cheddar.”
“Great,” said Corey. At last they were making progress.
The salesman went to a case where there were a zillion kinds of cheeses. He picked up a wheel of yellow cheese and put it on the counter. He held a knife over it. “How much would you like?” he asked.
Corey was about to say that she wanted a really big chunk because she was going to make a truly cheesy casserole.
“Perhaps we could have a taste,” Mrs. Grover said. She turned to the girls. “We want to make sure it has the right degree of zinginess.”
With a tool shaped like a wedge, the salesman carved off four delicate curls of cheese and put them on a sheet of waxed paper. He passed the sheet to Mrs. Grover, who held it while each girl took a curl.
May was the first to try. “It tastes like a dirty foot.” When the salesman looked hurt, she added, “Like a really wonderful dirty foot.”
Jasmine tasted her curl of cheese. “That’s interesting,” she said. Jasmine was always polite.
Corey nibbled her curl of cheese. It tasted like a tin can. The salesman was watching her. Bravely she swallowed. “Er,” she said, “… fantastic.”
“Perhaps something a little milder,” said Mrs. Grover.
“Would you like semi-sharp, medium, or mild?”
“Let’s try mild,” said Mrs. Grover.
The salesman picked up another wheel of cheese. This one looked exactly like the first one, and Corey was bracing herself for another nasty shock when the salesman handed her a curl.
She closed her eyes. She took a tiny bite, waiting for her taste buds to go into orbit. But this cheese was actually normal. “Cool,” she said.
“Zingy, but not too zingy,” agreed Jasmine.
“Zinginess is something you can definitely overdo,” said May.
“What size wedge are you thinking of?” asked the salesman.
Corey blanked.
“How many people are going to eat the casserole?” Mrs. Grover asked helpfully.
At last, an easy question. “Three,” said Corey.
Mrs. Grover looked puzzled. After all, Corey and her mother were only two people. But then Mrs. Grover shrugged.
The salesman cut a wedge of cheese that looked small. But Corey figured he knew what he was doing. He wrapped the wedge in waxed paper. Then he wrapped that in white paper. Then he put the package, in a fancy bag and gave it to Corey.
“Now where?” said Mrs. Grover, after Corey had paid for the cheese.
“We have to get macaroni,” Corey said. “I mean really excellent macaroni.”
“Fancy Foods is where we want to go,” Mrs. Grover said.
Fancy Foods was even crazier than Cheese World. People were running around pushing carts stacked with bottles of vinegar that had flowers in them and jars of mustard that had seeds in them.
May walked up to a clerk and said, “Show us your best macaroni.”
“Would that be spinach macaroni? Or beet macaroni? Or squid ink macaroni?” asked the clerk.
“I said best,” May said. “I didn’t say worst.”
“I think we want plain macaroni,” Mrs. Grover said.
The clerk found a package of macaroni and gave it to Mrs. Grover, who gave it to Corey. Corey looked at it carefully. “Does it have anything weird in it?” she asked.
“Weird?” said the clerk.
“Like ants or something,” said May.
“W
e have some very nice ants,” the clerk said. “Chocolate covered, of course.”
“That’s okay,” Corey said.
By the time they got out of the store, Corey was feeling pooped. Who knew that buying macaroni and cheese could be so hard?
“So there we are,” said Mrs. Grover.
Corey hated to do it to Mrs. Grover and to Jasmine and May. But she wasn’t finished.
“Macaroni and cheese tastes twice as good when you eat it by candlelight,” she said.
“For real?” May asked.
“Absolutely,” Corey said. “Otherwise macaroni and cheese is just … macaroni and cheese.”
When they got to the candle store, Corey had lots of tough decisions to make. What color should the candles be? Should they be scented? Finally, after a lot of thought, she settled on pine-scented green candles. She figured they would look nice with macaroni and cheese.
“Whew,” Corey said as they left the store. “Thanks for your help, guys. This is going to be a great feast.”
“I’m going to dream about macaroni and cheese tonight,” said May.
Corey smiled a secret smile. She had been wrong to think she never came up with ideas. She had come up with the greatest idea of all.
She was going to trick her father into coming to the feast. She would make up some kind of excuse—like that she was having trouble in school. She’d tell him that they had to have an emergency family conference. And then when her father came for the conference, she’d invite him to stay for dinner. When her father and mother were sitting at the table, she’d bring out the casserole. She’d turn off the lights. She’d light the candles, put a romantic CD in the player, and—bingo!—her parents would fall in love all over again.
2 The Animals’ Christmas
“Hello,” Corey said. “I’m home.”
No one answered.
Corey figured that her mother was probably still in her office. Her mother, Dr. Takamura, was a veterinarian. Everybody called her Doc Tock. Her office was part of the house where she and Corey lived. Corey loved to watch her mother work, and sometimes she even got to help! As Corey headed toward the kitchen, she heard a voice upstairs and realized that her mother was on the phone.
Corey went into the kitchen and put the cheese in the refrigerator and the candles and macaroni in a cabinet. She walked into the dining room to check out the light situation. The light switch was next to the door. She realized that it would be impossible to turn off the lights without her parents’ noticing.
Corey wandered into the kitchen. Over the refrigerator was the fuse box. The fuse box had switches that turned the electricity in the house on and off. If Corey could figure out a way of switching off the dining room fuse, the room would be thrown into darkness. Corey wasn’t allowed to touch the fuse box. But a grown-up could. All she needed was a helpful grown-up.
On the blackboard next to the telephone she saw a note that read:
Dear Corey,
I didn’t get you a Christmas present yet:
Have you got any ideas?
Jack
Hmmm, Corey thought. She might have an idea. Jack was her mother’s assistant. He was really nice. He’d help her. Corey poked her head into her mother’s office, looking for Jack, but he wasn’t there.
Corey ran upstairs.
Her mother was still on the telephone. She was saying something in a soft voice. Corey knew that voice. Her mother used it when she talked to Mr. Lee, the man she’d been dating. “That’s sooo silly,” Corey’s mother said. She didn’t sound as if she thought it was silly at all.
“Silly is right,” Corey muttered. She stomped down the hall into her room and slammed the door.
Usually Corey loved her room. It was cozy and bright, filled with books and pictures of animals—especially ponies. Normally she’d grab a book, flop down on her bed, and read. Now none of her books looked interesting. She sat on her bed and stared at her feet.
There was a knock on her door.
“What?” Corey said.
Her mother came in. Her eyes were sparkling, and she was wearing only one earring. Corey knew that her mother always took off an earring when she talked on the phone. But now it really bugged Corey.
“I’m busy,” Corey said, though she wasn’t busy at all.
“I have good news,” her mother said.
Yes, Corey thought, Mr. Lee thinks you’re wonderful.
“CARL is having an animals’ Christmas party,” her mother said. CARL was the County Animal Rescue League. It took care of animals that needed homes. Doc Tock gave medical care to the animals at CARL. She was on the board of directors, and so was Mr. Lee. “We want the Pony Tails to run the party.”
“That’s nice,” Corey said.
“I thought you’d be excited,” said her mother, looking disappointed.
“I am excited,” Corey said. “Totally.” She knew she should be happy, but she wasn’t. She kept imagining her mother and Mr. Lee at the party. Probably they’d be doing something disgusting like holding hands.
“If you don’t want to do it …,” her mother said.
Corey realized that she was acting like a jerk. Her mother had been trying to make her happy. She took a deep breath and said, “It’s great. It’s wonderful. Thanks, Mom.”
Corey’s mother sighed with relief. “I knew I could count on you.”
“I’ve got a surprise, too,” Corey said.
“It’s a good one, I hope,” said Doc Tock.
“It’s okay,” said Corey with a smile. “I’ve decided to make MM.”
“MM?” said Doc Tock, looking puzzled.
“Macaroni Madness,” said Corey. “Remember how we used to have big bubbling casseroles of macaroni and cheese?”
“Yes,” said Doc Tock a little sadly. “Those were fun times.”
“Today at the mall I bought all the fixings,” Corey said. “Gourmet cheese. Gourmet macaroni. We can have the feast before we go to the party at CARL. We can stuff ourselves first, and then stuff the animals.”
“Great idea,” Doc Tock said.
Her mother didn’t know how great, Corey thought. Just wait! Corey was about to make her mother the happiest person on earth.
“Can I use the phone, Mom?” Corey asked.
“Of course you can use the phone,” said Doc Tock. “I have the feeling you may be calling Jasmine and May.”
Corey ran downstairs to the kitchen. She picked up the wall phone and hesitated. Whom should she call first, Jasmine or May? She knew it didn’t really matter, but she wanted to talk to both of them at the same time.
Hey, she had the perfect solution. She called May and said, “We need to have a meeting of the Pony Tails. Can we have it in the loft in your barn first thing in the morning?”
“Great idea,” said May. “I’ll call Jasmine.”
3 Menu Mania
The next morning Corey lay back in the hay in the Grovers’ loft. From below came the steamy, earthy smell of horses. From around her came the smell of dried flowers.
May frowned. “We don’t want to hurt the animals’ feelings. So we have to be sure to give them equal presents.”
“Those gerbils are really sensitive,” said Corey with a smile. Personally, she didn’t believe that the gerbils would get upset if the dogs got better presents. But she knew that May wanted to make sure every animal at CARL had a perfect Christmas.
“Folsom’s has special holiday dog biscuits,” said Jasmine. “They come with red and green ribbons.”
“How many should we get?” asked May, her pencil poised over a sheet of paper. “We want to make sure we have enough. It would be terrible if we ran out.”
They decided to get two dozen.
“How about rawhide shoes for the dogs to chew on?” said Corey.
“That would be popular, especially with the puppies,” Jasmine said.
“Folsom’s has Christmas ornaments made of seeds,” May said.
“The birds could really get into that,
” said Jasmine.
“We can’t forget the animals outdoors,” May said. “If we give treats to the tame animals and not the wild ones, they’ll be jealous.”
“There’s nothing worse than a jealous raccoon,” said Jasmine with a giggle.
Corey wriggled farther back in the hay. To think that last week when school let out she had been dreading vacation. Everyone else had been singing and goofing and saying they’d see each other next year. But her stomach had been an empty pit. The days ahead had seemed endless.
Had she ever been wrong! This vacation was shaping up as the best ever. But Corey realized that she had one important decision left to make. She hadn’t decided what music to play in the background during Macaroni Madness. Maybe, she thought, it should be something sweet and soulful like “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” But then she thought that song was kind of slow. It was hard to chew to slow music. Maybe it should be something traditional like “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” But she was kind of tired of that song. They were always playing it at the mall. Her music should be both soulful and jolly.
She had it! “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The song was sad because in the beginning the other animals laughed at Rudolf for having a red nose. But it was cheerful because in the end Rudolf lit up the sky with his amazing nose. If “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” didn’t bring her parents back together again, nothing would.
Earlier Corey had left a message for her father telling him that she had to talk to him. She was planning to tell him that she had missed three words on a spelling test and that her schoolwork was going right down the tubes. She had missed three words on a test, but it was a fifty-word test and she’d gotten the best grade in the class. She just wasn’t planning to mention that.
Corey imagined her father walking into the house, looking worried and miserable, expecting to hear about her troubles in school, and then—surprise!—he’d smell the toasty casserole and hear the familiar strains of “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Within seconds his mood would change from anxious to joyful. Corey reminded herself that she still needed to talk to Jack to make sure he was there to turn off the fuse and plunge the dining room into darkness. But otherwise she was all set.
May's Runaway Ride (Pony Tails Book 14) Page 5