I wish I had the guts to run away.
We figured that was why he loved his car so much — because he could use it to escape. It couldn’t have been Raymond’s, because Raymond had run away. But I didn’t think he’d be running away anymore.
There was our new friend Katie Park.
No one loves me except my goldfish.
And Paz’s, which she could have shared with Thea:
I’m betraying my best friend in a terrible way.
Lennie didn’t have a gold star.
I put a curse on my enemy. And it’s working.
“We can put a star next to Lennie’s secret now,” I said. “She promised to stop cursing Paz.”
Raymond grabbed his box of stars and starred Lennie’s secret.
On the last page was a picture of me. Underneath, it said:
BEST FRIEND, MINTY MORTIMER.
SECRET: I don’t want to grow up. Ever.
That one didn’t have a star either.
“How did you know this was mine?” I asked.
“Because I know you,” Raymond said.
“We can put a star on this one too,” I said. “Because I changed my mind.” I wasn’t scared of middle school anymore. Paz and Raymond would be there with me, and Isabelle, Katie, and Lydia too. Even Troy and David didn’t bother me so much. I had a whole roller derby squad’s-worth of middle school friends.
One secret was still loose.
I made a special surprise lunch for my friend.
“Don’t forget about this one,” I said. “We need a picture of you.”
“I don’t have one,” Raymond said.
“Do you have any film left in your camera?”
Raymond checked. “One more picture.”
I picked up the Polaroid camera and aimed it at Raymond. He smiled. I took the picture. It slid out of the camera, dark and murky. A few minutes later, it developed in front of our eyes.
I pasted it in the book, with the secret underneath. “Now we have everybody.”
I gave it a gold star.
The next day, we carried the secret notebook through the woods to the Secret Tree. The secrets belonged to Crazy Ike. We decided to return them to him in a Secret Ceremony.
“O Crazy Ike,” I said in a low, serious voice that I thought would be appropriate for a Secret Ceremony. “O Craziest of Ikes. We present these secrets to you. Keep them well, and let them be whispered on the wind.”
“Yes, O Crazy Ike,” Raymond said. “I hope you’re hungry.”
I dropped the notebook into the hole, but it wouldn’t go all the way down. Something was blocking it.
I reached inside and felt around. I touched something soft and squishy. I yanked it out.
“The voodoo doll!” Paz’s face was still taped to the head, but all the pins were gone.
“That means the curse is really over,” Raymond said.
I put the notebook into the hole and stuffed the doll in with it. “That ought to keep you full for a while, Crazy Ike,” Raymond said.
The ship’s bell rang. Mom was calling us home.
We bowed before the Secret Tree and ran home through the woods. Mr. Gorelick waited for us on his front steps.
“Get your harmonicas, kids. I feel like playing a round.”
Raymond and I sat down with Mr. Gorelick and played this song:
Make new friends, but keep the old,
One is silver and the other gold.
A circle’s round, it has no end,
That’s how long I will be your friend.
Natalie Standiford was born and raised in Maryland, where she learned how to tell stories, play the harmonica, and keep secrets. She has never seen the Man-Bat. Natalie lives in New York City, where she writes and plays the bass, and you can find her online at www.nataliestandiford.com.
If you have a harmonica in the key of C, you can play this song. The numbers correspond to the numbers marking the holes on your harmonica. Blow into the hole as noted. When the number has a minus sign (-) in front of it, that means draw in on that hole rather than blow out. With a little practice, you’ll soon be playing a tune.
Copyright © 2012 by Natalie Standiford
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data available
First edition, May 2012
Cover art © 2012 by Nathan Durfee
Cover design by Christopher Stengel
e-ISBN 978-0-545-44310-4
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
The Legend of The Secret Tree
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
About the Author
Harmonica
Copyright
The Secret Tree Page 16