“Come on!” grunted Matt. The gate latch rattled. They were coming in.
Ivy smashed her wax flat against her forehead and dropped to the ground next to Bean with her eyes closed.
The gate opened and banged shut.
“Whoa!” said Trevor.
“Oh my gosh!” whispered Sophie W.
“What happened to them?” Dino said. “Is that blood?”
“Uh,” grunted Crummy Matt. “I gotta go.”
There was the sound of the gate opening and closing again.
“They must have fallen off that trampoline,” Ruby whispered.
“Maybe they’re only fainted,” said Sophie.
“We could check,” said Ruby.
They didn’t.
“Should we tell the grown-ups?” Dino asked quietly.
There was a long silence.
Then Sophie W. sighed.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Let’s go,” said Dino.
The gate banged again.
Footsteps went away, down the driveway.
Bean opened one eye. “They’re gone,” she whispered. She peeled the wax from her lip and nudged Ivy. “Pretty good, huh?”
Ivy giggled. “They thought we were dead!” She took the wax off her forehead. “I love this stuff!”
From far away inside the house, they heard the doorbell ring, but they didn’t answer it. They knew who it was, and besides, they were busy jumping.
A second later, they heard the sound of Bean’s dad running. They watched as he flew out the back door and skidded across the porch. “Are you okay?” he yelled.
Ivy and Bean stopped jumping. “We’re fine,” said Bean.
“Sophie said you were hurt,” he panted.
“Oh, that Sophie,” said Ivy. “She was probably just joking.”
“No,” he began. And then he stopped and frowned. “Do you think this has something to do with The Flipping Pancake?”
Bean and Ivy looked at each other and then back at Bean’s dad. They made their eyes big. “How could it?” Ivy asked.
“Dad,” said Bean. “Thanks for giving us the idea to do a newspaper. It was really fun.”
He coughed. “Any time. I’m full of good ideas.”
Bean reached into her pocket and pulled out a circle of cheese. It was a little bit fuzzy. “Here.” She held it out to her dad. “This is your thank-you present.”
“You can have mine, too,” said Ivy.
“What?” said Bean’s dad. “I thought you loved this cheese.”
“Nah,” said Bean.
“Actually,” said Ivy, “the cheese is kind of gross.”
“But you might like it,” said Bean.
Bean’s dad turned around and walked into the house without saying a word.
“What’s the matter with him?” whispered Ivy.
Bean shrugged. “Maybe he’s tired.” She set the circle of cheese on the edge of the trampoline and held up her wax. So did Ivy.
Squish, squish, squish.
The End
When she was a kid, ANNIE BARROWS was always hoping to find money, because making it seemed like an awful lot of work. She dug many holes in her backyard and in other people’s backyards, too, but she never found anything good. Except worms.
SOPHIE BLACKALL’s children would like to report that she has deprived them, their entire childhood, of wax-coated cheese in special just-for-you serving sizes. She remains unmoved. If, after discovering this about her, you still wish to learn more, you can visit her at www.sophieblackall.com.
To host an event with the author or illustrator of this book, please contact [email protected].
Text © 2011 by Annie Barrows.
Illustrations © 2011 by Sophie Blackall.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available.
eISBN: 978-1-4521-1041-7
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclekids.com
Ivy and Bean No News Is Good News Page 4