Any Which Wall Read Online Free Page B

beginning to discover such wonderful books as
Magic by the Lake
, nodded solemnly.
    “Now everyone swear,” Henry said. “Swear that you won’t tell a soul.” Henry looked at each of them one by one. “Swear!”
    Susan swore quickly, with a giggle.
    Emma’s eyes were gigantic as she repeated after Susan. Sacrifices and swearing all in one day!
    Roy appeared cool and thoughtful. “I solemnly swear,” he said, “though I reserve the right to revisit this issue at a later time, since we just don’t know what’ll happen. Okay?”
    Henry gave a brief head shake that meant “Yes, okay, sure, whatever you say, Roy” and also “That won’t happen, goofball” before he went on in a rush of excitement. “And I swear too. Okay! Now, do you realize what we have? We have a
wishing wall
! We can wish anything we want! We can wish for wings and to fly, or we can wish for piles of money and then buy a baseball team, or we can wish ourselves right onto the moon, or … or … or … pirates!”
    “And I can be a princess?” Emma was shivering withexcitement. The pale blond curls danced on top of her head.
    “Sure!” said Henry. “As soon as we get back to that field, you can—”
    “Now wait a minute,” Susan cut in. “Even if it
is
magic and it’s ours, I think it’s too late to ride back there today. We’ll miss dinner.”
    “What?” Henry yelped. “You’re
nuts
! It’s just a little after four o’clock right now, and we don’t have to be home until the streetlights come on at six!”
    Susan shook her head. “Think! By the time we get all the way out there, it will be nearly five, and we’ll just have to turn around and come home again. There won’t be any time for wishing at all, and I don’t want to get home late and end up grounded. Then we won’t be doing any wishing for at least a week!”
    “Gah!” Henry was scornful of “thinking ahead,” in general. As a rule, it ruined fun, but in this case, it felt like sheer madness.
    “Besides,” Susan said, ignoring him, “there’s something else that has to happen first anyway.”
    “What, you want to call your mom and check in? You need to return your library books? You have to call Alexandria?” Henry asked in disbelief.
    “No, you bonehead.” Susan smiled. “What I
need
—is to drink a delicious—frosty—frothy—creamy—scrumptious—root beer float! An icy beverage to sustain me for the arduous ride home. And since I happen to have ten dollars in my pocket, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
    With a decided flounce, she got up from the bench, stuck out her tongue at Henry, turned sharply, and pushed her way through the swinging doors.
    The others followed close behind, because Susan had ten dollars in her pocket and they did not, and also because, as even Henry had to admit, root beer floats are just another kind of magic.

T HE NEXT MORNING , Henry and Emma woke up early, raced through breakfast (Henry almost choked on a piece of too-dry rye toast), and began rummaging through the pantry shelves.
    “What? Where on earth are you going?” sputtered their father through his coffee and his mustache as Emma and Henry ran from the kitchen, his newspaper fluttering in their wake.
    “Aren’t you even going to watch your cartoons?” called out their mom as they tore down the hall with granola bars spilling from their pockets. By the time she’d finished her sentence, the screen door was already slamming shut.
    When they got to the yard, Emma and Henry found Susan and Roy cutting through the thick hedge that divided the two houses. They could make out arms,feet, and the shiny gleam of handlebars struggling through the thick foliage. Roy’s head popped through, grinning from ear to ear. “Hey, guys,” he said, pulling his body and bike into their yard and brushing off a few loose twigs. “We found a shortcut.”
    Roy was wearing his explorer uniform: khaki shorts and a matching shirt. Around his neck was a red bandanna. He