WHAT WAS A HUGE SURPRISE
Sammy up close!
WHAT I DID JUST TO BE SAFE
Right before the wedding started, I had everyone go over their jobs one last time. They all got A-pluses! Everything was going to be perfect!
MY FIRST WEDDING JOB
I was talking with Sammy when Luke suddenly appeared. “Are you ready?” he asked. I nodded yes. It was time to start my flower job. Luke took a second look at Sammy, but he didn’t say anything. He was probably too shocked to speak.
I followed Luke down to the wedding chairs and took my spot right in the middle of the aisle. No one could get by without me giving them a flower. It was a fun job. The best part was that I got to decide which guests got which flowers. My favorites were the lilies. I only gave those to the ladies.
Some of the guests were people I knew, like Mom, Dad, Mrs. Luther, and Lily and her mom and dad, but most of them were strangers. Everyone was really friendly, though, and happy to take a flower. I think most of the people were French, because there were more mercis than thank yous.
MY SECOND WEDDING JOB
As soon as everyone was sitting down, Luke gave me the signal. The signal was pulling on his ear two times. Delphine’s mom was standing there too, but really it was my job to tell Delphine to start her flower girl walking. I gave her a big smile and pointed to the front of the aisle where Luke was standing. Her mom said something to her in French. Delphine smiled at me and then she took her first step. I was hoping she was going to walk slow, like we had practiced, because I needed that time to get Crinkles. I watched her for two seconds, just to make sure she was okay, and then I turned to run to Augustine Dupre’s apartment.
WHAT I WASN’T EXPECTING
As soon as I turned around, there was Augustine Dupre. She was standing right behind me! She looked like a princess! The most beautiful princess ever! But I couldn’t stay to talk. “Bathroom! Emergency,” I lied, and I raced off.
TWO THINGS I WAS GLAD ABOUT
That I had practiced with Crinkles—he was so good about putting his flower on! And that I had practiced wearing my new shoes—even walking fast, back to the wedding with Crinkles, my feet didn’t hurt one little bit.
MY PRESENT FOR AUGUSTINE DUPRE
When I got back to Mrs. Luther’s yard I could see everyone was in their right places: Sammy was at the end of the chair row so Crinkles could not escape, Max and Mr. Scruffers were at the start of the aisle, and Mimi and Robert were about two feet away from them.
I looked down the aisle and saw Augustine Dupre walking to the front—she was almost there. Everyone was looking at her. No one was even guessing what was about to happen. It was perfect, except for one thing. There were two people sitting in my way.
I was lucky—the two people were very nice. They made room for me to go by and didn’t even complain. They were probably too surprised to talk. It’s not every day you see a fancy cat at a wedding.
FLOWER CAT
Crinkles and I got into position. It seemed like forever for Augustine Dupre to get to the front. I waited for her to turn around so she could see Crinkles, but she didn’t. And then the music stopped and everyone sat down.
Suddenly Crinkles decided to be super squirmy. I tried to give him one of his treats, but he didn’t care about treats anymore. He tried to bite me. And then his claws came out! All of them! He was like a spinning piñata of needles. Ahhh!” I screamed and pulled my hands away. I dropped him. He landed right in the middle of the aisle. I don’t know if my scream was loud or soft, but suddenly everyone was looking at me. My face felt red and hot. And then, at least for me, everything was like a slow-motion movie.
THE SLOW-MOTION PART
I looked across at Sammy, and he was flapping his oven mitts just like he was supposed to. Crinkles was frozen. He was as still as a statue standing in the aisle exactly where I had dropped him—only his eyes were moving. I knew he was trying to decide what to do. WALK UP THE AISLE! WALK UP THE AISLE! My brain was screaming at him, but I didn’t make a sound. Suddenly Augustine Dupre made a noise, kind of like a gasp. Crinkles heard it too. It was perfect. It was the magic sound he needed. He looked back at Mr. Scruffers and then with his slow, fancy footsteps walked toward his favorite person in the whole entire world. I held my breath. Everyone did. The only sound I could hear was Robert crunching away on his crackers.
Crinkles had only six or seven more steps to take before he got to Augustine Dupre. I was guessing that once he got to the front of the aisle he would run right past her and make his escape. It was too bad, but I knew there was no way he was going to sit quietly up there at the front right next to her while she got married.
Finally I took a breath, and then two seconds later, everything changed.
THE FAST-MOTION PART
Everything was perfect until Robert yelled the one word that ruined everything. “SQUIRREL!” Instantly the spell was broken. Suddenly Mr. Scruffers lunged down the aisle after Crinkles, or an invisible squirrel. She was barking like crazy, dragging poor surprised Max right up the aisle behind her. Lucky for me I caught her and scooped her up as she passed by. She stopped barking the minute I picked her up, but still it was a total disaster. Instantly I knew one thing—I was going to be in a lot of trouble. I had ruined Augustine Dupre’s most special day in her entire life. I started to cry. I didn’t mean to, but I couldn’t help it. I felt awful. I looked up at Augustine Dupre so she could see how sorry I was, and there in front of me was the most perfect thing ever. I couldn’t believe it. It was Crinkles in Augustine Dupre’s arms. She must have caught him and picked him up.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
Everyone took tons of pictures of Augustine Dupre and Crinkles and Luke, and the funny thing about it was that Crinkles didn’t seem to mind one little bit.
Finally Mrs. Luther came and got Crinkles and took him away so Augustine Dupre and Luke could get married. It was a beautiful wedding. I cried a lot. It was mostly happy crying. The lady next to me was really nice. She gave me at least five tissues, and whispered that her favorite part of the whole wedding was the cat part.
When Augustine Dupre and Luke were done getting married, they walked down the aisle together and everyone gave Augustine Dupre their flower so she could have a bouquet. When I gave her my flower she blew me a kiss. It made me cry again—good thing the lady was there with the tissues.
WHAT I DID NOT KNOW UNTIL THE VERY END
I was standing watching Augustine Dupre and Luke when someone touched my shoulder and said, “How did you do that?” I knew the voice. It was Dad. “How did you know that Crinkles would jump right into Augustine Dupre’s arms?” He was standing next to Mom. They looked more surprised than mad.
“What a shock!” said Mom. “I knew you were up to something.” She pointed her finger at me. “But still, you were lucky. It could have turned out differently. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole thing. I’ll have to think about it.” I put my head down. I wanted Mom and Dad to think I was feeling serious about what they were saying. I didn’t want them to know that my brain was really thinking, I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!!! CRINKLES JUMPED UP INTO AUGUSTINE DUPRES ARMS!
Suddenly two arms grabbed me in a hug. It was Augustine Dupre. I could tell from her perfume. “Oh, Grace,” she said. “You are just perfect! Thank you!” And then guess what? I cried some more!
FIVE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT A WEDDING
Just because you are not invited at the beginning does not mean you won’t get invited at the end. Augustine Dupre invited Sammy, Mimi, and Robert to stay for the whole rest of the wedding. I had to change my dress, because it was covered in cat fur and I wanted to sit with Mimi. It was worth it.
Being a flower girl helper can feel really good.
You should never let a four-year-old be by himself near the wedding cake.
A boy who you think has bad manners might surprise you when he is somewhere fancy.
Good presents don’t always come in wrapping pape
r.
TWO NEW GOOD THINGS
I was thinking that I would really miss Augustine Dupre while she was away on her honeymoon, but the truth is I’ve been pretty busy. She’s been gone for a week, and I’ve hardly had time to feel sad. It’s unusual for two surprising good things to happen on the same day. It was not something I was expecting. My two new good things made me smile from morning until night.
MR. FRANK SHOWED US OUR BOOK!
I GOT A POSTCARD FROM AUGUSTINE DUPRE!
Front of card
Back of card
MY FAVORITE DAY
Mimi and I have a new favorite day—it’s Flower Cat Friday. If Crinkles could understand it, I’m sure he would be proud!
OUR OUTFIT FOR EVERY FRIDAY
A Peek Inside Community Comics
Here are some of the comics from our book. I never knew there were so many different ways to play games. I’m going to try some of them. For once, something I learned at school was actually going to be helpful at recess.
MIMI’S COMIC
ABIGAIL’S COMIC
MARTA’S COMIC
SUNNI’S COMIC
A special thank-you to my comic artists.
Abigail’s comic—Risa Liebmann
Marta’s comic—Emily Michaels
Sunni’s comic—Grace O’Rourke
Buy the Book
Visit www.hmhbooks.com or your favorite retailer to order the book.
About the Author
Charise Mericle Harper is the author and illustrator of many books for children, including the Just Grace series. In a starred review, Booklist called Just Grace “Hilarious,” and said, “The kids come alive in the story, and Harper enhances the comical goings-on with sparkling cartoon sketches. Give this to . . . anyone looking for a funny book.” Charise lives in Westchester County, New York. Visit her website at www.chariseharper.com and visit Just Grace's website at www.justgracebooks.com, where you'll find all sorts of fun things, including videos, quizzes, and information about all the Just Grace books.
Just Grace and the Flower Girl Power Page 7