The Clover Curse

by Poppy Green

  That night Sophie lay in bed, staring at the four-leaf clover.

  Okay, it was true. She’d had some bad luck over the weekend. She’d lost her race with Winston at the playground. Then Malcolm and Piper had invited them along to visit Zoe. On the way, Sophie had tripped and scraped her knee. And getting caught in the rain . . . thought Sophie. She winced. It was still hard to look at her ruined paintings.

  Sophie was doubtful about the Clover Curse. Winston must have gotten it wrong somehow. But maybe she’d ask Ben about it at school anyway.

  The next morning Sophie woke up late.

  At breakfast she spilled tea all over her jumper.

  She rushed upstairs to change. Then, while brushing her teeth, she didn't notice a hole in the sink pipe. Water sprayed everywhere, soaking Sophie. Sophie ran off to change her clothes again.

  Hurrying out the door, she grabbed her satchel—upside-down. Everything spilled onto the floor. She threw it all back in as fast as she could.

  Of course, Sophie and Winston were late to school. Mrs. Wise eyed them sternly as they walked in. Sophie hated how everyone turned to look. She and Winston made their way to their desks.

  Sophie slumped into her seat. She glanced over at Hattie.

  The look on Hattie’s face said, “Everything okay?”

  Sophie responded with a look that said, “Don’t ask.”

  And now I’ll have to wait until recess to ask Ben about the Clover Curse! Sophie realized. She glanced over at Ben’s desk.

  It was empty!

  Where was Ben?

  The morning seemed to drag on and on. Finally, Mrs. Wise dismissed the class for recess. Sophie practically jumped out of her seat. She hurried outside.

  “James!” Sophie called to Ben’s little brother. “Is Ben out sick?”

  James nodded. “He’s all stuffed up,” he said. “Maybe allergies.”

  Hattie and Owen came over. “Hi,” Hattie said gently. “Rough morning?”

  Sophie snorted. “Rough weekend!” she said. She told her friends about her string of bad luck. “But it started off so well! On Saturday, I went to paint in the Clover Patch. I made a bunch of paintings I really liked.” She sighed. “I even found a four-leaf clover and I—”

  Owen and Hattie gasped loudly together.

  “Oh no!” cried Owen. “The Clover Curse!”

  “You didn’t pick it, did you?” Hattie asked.

  “That’s exactly what Winston said!” Sophie replied. “I didn’t hear Ben talking about it.”

  Obviously, Hattie and Owen had!

  Sophie looked at her friends doubtfully. “It can’t be for real,” she said. “Can it?”

  “Well . . . you did forget about the trip we had planned to Rosebush Ravine,” Hattie said quietly.

  Sophie’s hands flew up to her mouth in shock. How could she have forgotten about Hattie?! And they had both been so excited about exploring Rosebush Ravine, too!

  “I’m so sorry Hattie,” Sophie said sincerely.

  “It’s okay,” replied Hattie. She patted Sophie on the back. “Just some bad luck, I guess!”

  Sophie Gives Up

  Hattie and Owen told Sophie everything they remembered from Ben’s story.

  “The thing is,” said Hattie, “it didn’t sound like just a story.”

  “Ben said his grandfather once found a four-leaf clover,” explained Owen. “Right afterward, he started having terrible luck.”

  Hattie nodded. “Until the grandfather tossed the clover into a river. It floated away, along with his bad luck.”

  Sophie groaned. Now she really wanted to talk to Ben.

  “Oh, why did he have to be sick today?” she cried.

  For the rest of the day, Sophie tried to be so careful. It was no use.

  She bumped into the side of Mrs. Wise’s desk. A mug toppled off and smashed.

  “Don’t worry,” Mrs. Wise said kindly. “It was an accident.” But Sophie felt terrible.

  Then, on the walk home, a sour cherry dropped from a tree. It landed right on Sophie’s head. Not only did it hurt, now Sophie had cherry juice all over her!

  She got home and cleaned herself up. But the sour cherry juice had left a stain. Lily Mouse took a look and shook her head. “Sour cherry juice is hard to get out,” she said. “It will fade in a few days.”

  That’s when Sophie’s frustration bubbled over. The clover had to go. Curse or no curse, she had to try something.

  She grabbed the four-leaf clover from her room. She headed for the stream, stopping to get Hattie on the way.

  They stood on the bank, side by side. Sophie lifted the clover over her head. She got ready to throw it in.

  She hesitated. She had never found a four-leaf clover before in her whole life! Now here she was, about to toss it away.

  “On the count of three,” Hattie said.

  Sophie carefully stepped out onto a thin branch that hung over the water. She looked back at Hattie on the stream bank.

  “One, two, three!”

  She threw the clover. It floated downstream. Sophie and Hattie watched it until they couldn’t see it anymore.

  “Well,” said Sophie. “That’s the end of that.”

  Crrrrrack!

  At that very moment, the branch broke under Sophie’s weight. The end splashed down into the shallow water, taking Sophie with it.

  Sophie stood up, soaked to her neck. She looked at Hattie.

  “Oh no,” she moaned. “Am I cursed . . . forever?”

  Ben Returns

  The next morning part of Sophie felt like staying in bed all day. How could bad luck strike if she stayed under her covers?

  But the other part of her wanted to get to school early. She had to talk to Ben!

  So Sophie got out of bed very carefully. She clutched the handrail extra tight as she went downstairs to breakfast.

  She gasped at every clink of dishes, thinking she had knocked something over.

  On the way to school, she heard a rustle in the trees above. She dove off the path and took cover.

  “It’s okay,” Winston reported. “Just a couple of squirrels.”

  Sophie figured she couldn’t be too careful. Bad luck could be waiting at every turn.

  She and Winston got to school with a few minutes to spare.

  Mrs. Wise was still unpacking her tote bag. Sophie scanned the room. She waved at Hattie and Owen. Lydie, Malcolm, Piper, Zoe, and Willy were already there too.

  Not Ben. Sophie’s heart fell. Where is he? she thought. Sophie didn’t want to wait until recess to ask him about the Clover Curse. Then she had a worse thought: What if he’s absent again!

  Too soon, Mrs. Wise asked everyone to sit down. Sophie sighed and dragged herself to her desk.

  Just as she sat, the door flew open. James came hurrying in. Right behind him was Ben!

  “Just in time,” Mrs. Wise said to them.

  Ben and James sat down as Mrs. Wise began the lesson.

  “We’re going to talk more about legends this morning,” she said. “Did any of you think of others over the weekend?”

  The room was quiet. Mrs. Wise waited patiently.

  Suddenly, Sophie had an idea. This was her chance! Her hand flew up. Mrs. Wise called on her.

  “I heard a story over the weekend,” Sophie said. “It’s something about a Clover Curse?”

  Sophie watched Ben’s reaction. His eyes went wide and he turned to look at her. Hattie, Owen, and Winston did too.

  Mrs. Wise tapped her chin. “I haven’t heard that one,” she said. “Has anyone else?”

  Slowly, Ben raised his hand. “I have,” he said.

  “Would you tell us about it?” asked Mrs. Wise.

  Sophie smiled. Yes! she thought. Now I don’t have to wait until recess for more details!

  “W-Well,” Ben said. “I mean . . .” He seemed unsure how to begin. “It’s a story about my grandfather. . . .” His voice trailed off.

  “Oh! How interesting!” Mrs. Wise s
aid. “Just tell the version you know. We can see how it compares to what Sophie heard.”

  So Ben told the story—the exact same story that Sophie had heard from Hattie, Owen, and Winston. He even included the part about the bad luck floating away along with the clover.

  When he finished, Mrs. Wise nodded. “Thank you Ben!”

  “But Mrs. Wise,” Ben said. “There’s one more thing. I know for sure that legend is not true.”

  Sophie jumped in her seat.

  “Aha!” Mrs. Wise replied. “How do you know?”

  Sophie held her breath, eager to hear Ben’s answer.

  “I know,” he said, “because I made that story up.”

  Good-Luck Charm

  Ben explained that he and Willy had been playing a game on Friday after school. “We were making up different legends and tales,” Ben said.

  Mrs. Wise started to pass out paper. “How funny,” she said. “Because that’s our writing assignment today! Each of you is going to write a legend.”

  Sophie’s mind was spinning. She was full of questions! There was no such thing as a Clover Curse? Then why did she have such bad luck?

  At recess, she bolted out the door. She made a beeline for Ben and Willy. Hattie and Owen were right on Sophie’s heels.

  Sophie caught up to Ben. “So there’s really no Legend of the Clover Curse?” she asked him, out of breath.

  Ben shook his head. “Did you think there was?” he asked.

  Hattie spoke up. “Well, I did . . . sort of. I was listening on Friday.”

  Owen poked his head between them. “Yeah. Why didn’t you say it was just made up?”

  “You must have missed the beginning,” Ben said. “Willy challenged me to think something up on the spot.” Ben looked apologetic. “I wasn’t trying to fool you or anything.”

  Hattie and Owen looked sheepishly at Sophie.

  “Sorry Sophie,” said Owen. “I guess we made you worry for no reason.”

  Sophie smiled. “That’s okay,” she said. She pulled at her whiskers. “But I just don’t get it. There’s no Clover Curse. So why has everything been going wrong for me lately?”

  Owen shrugged.

  “Maybe just a really bad weekend?” Hattie suggested.

  Sophie smiled. Then she started to laugh. “Really, really bad!”

  Sophie felt so relieved. She wasn’t cursed after all! And surely her luck was about to change.

  That day, after school, Sophie grabbed her painting supplies. She headed back to the Clover Patch. This time, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky or a drop of rain. And her paintings turned out even better than the first batch.

  As she finished the last one, Sophie felt a pang of regret. Too bad I threw away that four-leaf clover, she thought. But I’m sure I’ll find another.

  Here's a peek at the next Adventures of Sophie Mouse book!

  One day Sophie Mouse is startled by a noise outside her home. When she peeks outside, she’s surprised to see that a little bird has made a crash landing into her yard! And it turns out he’s hurt his wing. Can Sophie help fix his wing so he can return home?

  Poppy Green can talk to animals! Unfortunately, they never talk back to her. So she started writing in order to imagine what they might say and do when humans aren’t watching. Poppy lives on the edge of the woods in Connecticut, where her backyard is often a playground for all kinds of wildlife: birds, rabbits, squirrels, voles, skunks, deer, and the occasional wild turkey.

  Jennifer A. Bell is an illustrator whose work can be found on greeting cards, in magazines, and in more than a dozen children’s books. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, son, and cranky cat.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 • First Little Simon hardcover edition February 2016 • Copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Designed by Laura Roode. Jacket illustrations by Jennifer A. Bell. The text of this book was set in Usherwood.

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this title is available from the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5184-0 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5183-3 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-5185-7 (eBook)