“Um—sorry,” Ali said. At least Mary thought she was the one who was humming. Ali glanced at the backpack, hoping that Genie would take the hint and be quiet. But then Ali saw that the backpack was beginning to twitch. Genie was obviously doing some of her favorite dance moves!
There was only one thing Ali could do. Feeling very embarrassed, she began to dance about in front of the table, hiding the backpack with her flailing arms and shimmying hips.
Mary covered her eyes.
“That’s great, Ali!” Mr. O’Connor laughed.
The song ended at last. Her cheeks bright red, Ali glanced anxiously at the backpack. It had stopped moving. With a sigh of relief, she firmly zipped the pocket.
Mary shook her head at Ali as her dad picked up his coffee and went out. “Please don’t dance with him,” she said. “It only encourages him!”
Ali didn’t get a chance to reply because at that moment Daniel stuck his head around the kitchen door, his cleats slung over his shoulder. “Is my stuff ready?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Mary said with a scowl.
Daniel frowned. “Well, I haven’t got time to wait for it,” he said, glancing at his watch. “I’m in a hurry. You’ll have to bring it to my practice.”
“What?” Mary put her hands on her hips and glared at her brother.
“I told you, I’m in a hurry. Dad’s coming to the match, so he can help you carry it.”
“I suppose you want to get there early because Julie’s going to be there,” Mary teased. Ali smiled as Daniel turned bright red.
“Just don’t be late,” he snapped, and stomped down the hall. A second later they heard the front door slam.
“What a pain!” Mary grumbled. “Now we’re going to have to go to a stupid soccer match. If he could have just waited two minutes, everything would have been ready.” She bent down to open the dryer. “Sorry about all this, Ali.”
“No problem,” Ali said. She couldn’t think of anything she’d have to touch as she was standing on a playing field, and maybe the wishes would have worn off by the time she got home.
“Mary, could you come here a minute?” Mr. O’Connor called from the living room.
Mary made a face. “I never get a minute’s peace around here!” She sighed. “Will you get the washing out for me, Ali?”
“Sure,” Ali replied without thinking.
As Mary went out of the kitchen, Ali glanced over at the backpack. It was twitching again. Genie was probably trying to get out. Well, after forcing her to dance around like that in front of Mary and her dad, Genie could stay zipped up in the pocket for a bit, Ali decided with a grin. She knelt down in front of the dryer and put her hand inside.
Little Genie’s voice came faintly from inside the backpack. “Ali! Don’t touch anything!”
But it was too late. Ali gasped in horror as she watched the bright pink color spread from her fingers through the jumble of blue and white shirts and shorts inside the machine.
Now the shorts were a shocking pink, and the shirts were pink with purple stripes!
Chapter Six
Something Red
Ali stared openmouthed at the jerseys.
“You touched the clothes, didn’t you?” Little Genie called from inside the backpack. “Oh, Ali! Let me see.”
Ali rushed over to the table and unzipped the pocket. Little Genie climbed out, smoothing her ponytail.
“I forgot,” Ali said, biting her lip. “And the heat helped the color spread! What am I going to do, Genie?”
“Is it really bad?” asked Genie, sitting down on the edge of the table.
Ali nodded. She pulled out one of the pink and purple jerseys and held it up.
“Wow! That’s great!” Little Genie beamed. “What a cool color for a soccer team!”
Ali stared despairingly at her. “But they’re supposed to be pale blue and white,” she pointed out. “Daniel’s going to be really annoyed—and so is the rest of the team.”
“I don’t see why.” Little Genie sounded puzzled. “Pink and purple are way nicer. I bet there aren’t any other teams with pink and purple shirts.”
“Yes, I bet there aren’t,” Ali groaned. How was she going to explain this to Mary? “Come on, Genie, think!” Ali went on urgently. “Mary’s going to be back any minute now, and she’ll want to know what happened.”
Little Genie looked blank for a moment, then brightened. “Well, we could hide the shirts so Mary can’t find them,” she suggested. “Or I could make them invisible.”
Ali bit her lip. Genie wasn’t helping at all.
“Hang on a minute,” Ali said excitedly as an idea popped into her head. “I’ve got it!”
“Oooh!” Little Genie jumped up, looking excited too. “What?”
“I’ll tell Mary something red must have got into the washing machine, and the color ran and turned everything pink,” Ali decided. “That happened to my mom once. She washed one of Jake’s dark socks with her white T-shirts and they all came out blue.”
“Great idea!” Little Genie exclaimed, dancing about on the edge of the table. “We just need to put something red in the dryer so that Mary believes us.”
“Yes, and you’re going to have to take care of that,” Ali whispered. She was beginning to panic because she could hear Mary’s voice out in the hall. “Quick!”
“Leave it to me,” Little Genie said confidently. “Hmmm, something red …,” she began muttering to herself. Ali hoped she was going to produce a dark red sweatshirt or some really bright socks.
A few seconds later, Genie grinned broadly at her. “It’s done,” she whispered with a wink. Then she dived headfirst into the backpack pocket.
Mary came into the laundry room holding a large duffel. “Time to go,” she said to Ali. “Is it dry yet?”
Ali felt a blush start at her toes and work its way up to her face. “Um—yes,” she stammered. “But there’s a bit of a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Mary frowned, raising her eyebrows. She put her hand in the dryer and pulled out a jersey while Ali hovered nearby, shuffling from foot to foot.
“It’s pink! With purple stripes!” Mary gasped, holding up the shirt and staring at it as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Yes, I know,” Ali put in quickly. “I think something red must have got into the washing machine by accident.”
Mary started to pull out pair after pair of bright pink shorts. “Daniel’s going to kill me,” she moaned.
Ali felt bad as she bent down and began to help her friend pull the clothes out of the dryer. She didn’t want to get Mary into trouble.
“I think you’re right, Ali,” Mary went on, pulling out another shirt. “There must be something red in here.”
Suddenly two bright red tomatoes dropped out of the shirt in Mary’s hand and rolled through the door and across the kitchen floor. Ali and Mary stared at them.
“T-tomatoes?” Mary stammered. “What are they doing in the dryer?”
Ali tried not to groan. She should never have trusted Genie!
“And look at this!” Mary said in amazement as she pulled out a bottle of ketchup.
Ali couldn’t help smiling. Genie had had the right idea. After all, ketchup and tomatoes would certainly make a big red mess. She wasn’t sure they’d actually dye anything, though. Luckily, Mary began to laugh.
“This is really weird,” she said. “But do you know what, I like these colors together.” She held a pink and purple shirt against herself to admire it.
“But what’s Daniel going to say?” Ali said anxiously.
Mary grinned, her eyes sparkling. “Who cares?” she replied cheerfully. “I can’t wait to see his face when we give him a pink jersey to play in.” She began to bundle the shirts and shorts into the bag. “It serves him right for making us carry it all to the playing field. Come on. This is going to be fun!”
“Um—yeah,” Ali agreed hesitantly, beginning to fold one of the shirts. But she couldn’t help f
eeling worried. Daniel and his teammates were going to be really mad when they saw their uniforms. And it was all her fault.
Chapter Seven
A Shaggy-Dog Problem
When they’d finished packing the bag, Mary went over to the kitchen door. “Dad, we’re ready to go,” she called. There was no reply. Mary turned back to Ali. “He must be upstairs,” she said. “I’ll just go up and get him.”
“Is your mom coming?” Ali asked.
Mary shook her head. “She’s working late. Will you go and get Nugget for me, please? He loves coming to soccer matches.”
“Oh! I can’t,” Ali began, but it was too late. Mary had already run out of the kitchen and upstairs.
“Who’s Nugget?” Little Genie asked, stretching her arms as she poked her head out of the backpack. “Ah, that’s better. It’s getting a bit boring in here.”
“The O’Connors’ dog,” Ali told her She went over to the window and peered out into the backyard. Nugget, a big hairy dog with large floppy paws and a long fluffy tail, was snoozing in the shade under a tree. “How am I supposed to get him without turning him pink?”
Little Genie grinned. “I don’t know how you could explain that away. Still …” She beamed proudly at Ali. “That business with the red things worked just fine, didn’t it?”
“Well, sort of,” Ali admitted as she remembered the look on Mary’s face when the tomatoes had rolled out. “But what am I going to do about Nugget?”
“Oh, you’ll think of something,” Little Genie said airily. She frowned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. “Time for me to disappear.”
Ali picked up the backpack and zipped Genie into her pocket, then slipped it over her shoulder. Mary and Mr. O’Connor came into the kitchen.
“Let’s go, girls,” Mr. O’Connor said, picking up the bag. “We don’t want to miss the start of the match.”
Mary winked at Ali, then frowned. “Where’s Nugget? Didn’t you bring him in, Ali?”
“I couldn’t,” Ali explained quickly. “My mom has just found out that she’s allergic to dog hair, so … so I can’t get any on my clothes. It makes her sneeze and her eyes swell.” That sounds believable, Ali thought.
“Oh.” Mary looked surprised. “She always used to play with Nugget. It must have come on very suddenly.”
“Well, yes. Yes, it did,” Ali agreed. About two minutes ago, actually!
Mary picked up Nugget’s leash and went outside. She came back a moment later with Nugget trotting happily beside her. As soon as he spotted Ali, he began barking and dragging Mary toward her.
“Hello, Nugget,” Ali half shrieked, backing up to keep out of the excited dog’s way.
“Stop it, Nugget!” Mary yelled as Nugget jumped up at Ali, trying to lick her nose. Ali held her arms high above her head, hoping Nugget wouldn’t manage to lick her fingers. “He can’t understand why you’re not petting him,” Mary puffed, trying to haul the dog away.
Nugget whined and lunged forward again. This time he was too strong for Mary, and the leash slipped through her fingers. Ali gasped as Nugget flew straight toward her, his tail wagging. “Keep away from me!” she cried. In desperation she ran behind an open closet door and dived inside, almost falling over a bucket.
“Stop shaking me, Ali!” Genie yelled from inside the backpack, which had fallen off Ali’s shoulders.
“Ali!” Mary gasped. “What are you doing? You can come out now. Dad’s got Nugget.”
Rather sheepishly, Ali crept out of the closet. Mr. O’Connor was chuckling and holding Nugget’s leash, and Mary was staring at her in surprise.
“Your mom must be really bad if you’re that worried about dog hair,” she said.
Ali felt very embarrassed. She picked up her backpack.
“Just a minute,” said Mr. O’Connor as they went out into the hall. “Can’t forget my lucky charm!” He rooted around in the coat closet and pulled out a blue and white striped scarf. “I never go to Daniel’s matches without my lucky scarf,” he told Ali.
“Those are the team’s usual colors,” Mary pointed out to Ali, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Pale blue and white. I think they’re boring. Maybe it’s time for a change, Dad.”
“Certainly not,” said Mr. O’Connor, sounding horrified. “The Cocoa Superstars have always played in blue and white. Even when I played for them.”
“Was that in the old days?” Mary asked. “Before they invented the wheel?”
Mr O’Connor laughed. “It wasn’t that long ago. Now come on or we’ll be late.”
Ali began to feel even more worried as they all went outside. Mr. O’Connor was right. A soccer team’s colors were very important to their fans. What was the crowd going to say when they discovered that their team was playing in pink and purple instead of blue and white? She just hoped the crowd wasn’t too big, or there could be lots of unhappy people.
“It’s a really big match today,” Mr. O’Connor went on as they walked along the street. “The Superstars are playing the Kingston Flyers, our biggest rivals. At least the Superstars will have plenty of people there cheering for them.”
Oh, great, Ali thought, her heart sinking.
They turned left and headed down Dudley Street, which was the shortest way to the playing field. Dudley Street was always full of people. Ali had to be very careful to keep her hands in her pockets to make sure she didn’t accidentally touch anyone.
She was just congratulating herself on doing rather well when suddenly someone brushed past her, knocking her off balance. It was a young mom pushing a baby in a stroller. A little girl holding a doll was toddling along behind her.
Ali stumbled forward and put her hands out to steady herself. As she did so, her fingers brushed against the doll the little girl was holding. Immediately the doll’s skirt changed from yellow to bright pink.
“Oh!” The little girl gasped, staring at her doll with wide eyes. “Mommy, look! Dolly’s wearing a pink skirt now. It’s magic!”
That’s true, Ali thought with a grin. Quickly she ran to catch up with the others, leaving the little girl smiling at her doll’s new skirt.
When they reached the playing field, Daniel and the rest of the Cocoa Superstars were waiting impatiently outside the clubhouse.
“This is going to be funny,” Mary whispered to Ali.
Ali gulped. I hope so, she thought.
“Where’ve you been?” Daniel asked. “We’ve been waiting for ages. The other team has already changed.”
“Sorry,” Mary said. “There was, um, an accident.”
“What do you mean?” Daniel looked annoyed.
Mary pointed at the duffel. “You’d better take a look.”
Ali held her breath as Daniel unzipped the bag and stuck his hand in. He pulled out a pink and purple shirt, followed by a pair of bright pink shorts.
“They’re pink!” he yelled.
Chapter Eight
Superstars and Stripes!
Ali felt very guilty. Daniel and the rest of the team stared in horror.
“What happened, Mary?” Mr. O’Connor asked, his eyes wide.
“Sorry. I washed them with something red,” Mary apologized. She caught Ali’s eye, and the look on her face made Ali want to burst out laughing.
“Oh, great!” Daniel groaned. The other guys on the team looked outraged.
“I’m not wearing pink!” one of them said in disgust.
“Hey, what’s wrong with pink?” came an indignant voice from inside Ali’s backpack. Luckily, no one else heard.
“We’ll have to cancel the match,” said another member of the team. The others nodded.
“Oh, come on, guys, it’s not that bad,” said Mr. O’Connor, who looked as if he was trying not to laugh too.
Daniel turned to him. “Dad, a friend is coming to watch the match,” he protested. “She’s going to think I’m totally weird if I walk out in a pink and purple shirt.”
“I think they’re quite pretty,” Mary said.<
br />
“Pretty!” Daniel repeated. “Can you name any soccer team that plays in pretty pink shirts?”
Mary smiled innocently. “Well, you’ll be the first, won’t you?” she pointed out “You might start a trend.”
“And at least the other team will see you coming,” Mr. O’Connor added.
The referee, a tall, thin man dressed in a black shirt and shorts, ran over to them. “Come on, boys,” he said, blinking a bit in surprise when he noticed the bright pink jersey in Daniel’s hand. “We’ll be starting in a few minutes, and you’re not even changed yet.”
“We have a problem with our uniforms,” Daniel explained. “Would it be okay if we played in our T-shirts and shorts?”
The referee shook his head. “You know the rules,” he called over his shoulder as he jogged back onto the field. “You have to play in full uniform or you forfeit and the other team gets the win.”
Daniel turned to the rest of the players. “Well?” he asked, looking at them. “We can’t let the Flyers walk off with this match, can we?”
“No,” they muttered gloomily, although some of them sounded as though they wouldn’t mind.
“Pink it is, then, boys!” Genie sang from behind Ali’s back.
Ali, Mary, and Mr. O’Connor watched as the team shuffled into the changing room.
“I hope it doesn’t affect their playing,” Ali said anxiously as they joined the crowd of people standing around the field. Lots of them were wearing blue and white scarves like Mr. O’Connor’s.
“They’ll be fine,” Mr. O’Connor said. “Ah, here come the Kingston Flyers.”
Wearing red shirts and dark blue shorts, the Flyers ran out to cheers from their supporters. They began to warm up by kicking a couple of balls around.
A few moments later, Mary nudged Ali. “Here come the Superstars,” she said.
Daniel and the others were trailing reluctantly out of the changing room. Ali blinked several times and shook her head in despair. The pink uniforms looked even brighter now!
“Come on, Superstars!” roared the fans, shaking their blue and white scarves in the air. But the cheers trailed off into puzzled silence as they noticed what the team was wearing.
A Puff of Pink Page 3