Magic in the Mix Read Online Free

girl?”
    Miri put down the laughing brothers. “I dunno,” she said. “But whatever it is, it’s mad.” A piece of a board sailed past her head. “Dad!” she yelped, jumping back.
    â€œSorry! Forgot to look!” he called apologetically. “Maybe you guys should go inside, huh? You’reprobably supposed to do some homework anyway, right?”
    They gave him injured looks. “Anyone would think you didn’t want us here,” called Molly.
    â€œI don’t,” said Dad. “Go away.” He bent to pick up a rock.
    â€œYou’ll miss us when we’re grown up,” said Miri, and with one last, apologetic look at the dangling door, they swept away.

    The two girls extended snack time to the farthest boundaries of the possible—apples and peanut butter with slow and refined chewing, chocolate milk with slow and unrefined slurping, an extended and unsuccessful search for cookies—but finally there was nothing left to do but sit down and face the bitter truth of math.
    Robbie and Ray called to say they had missed the bus. Then they called to say that they had missed the next bus. Then they called to ask Mom to pick them up. Then they called to say that they didn’t need her to pick them up, because the bus was coming. Then they called to ask if there was milk in the refrigerator.
    â€œMilk?” asked Mom in confusion. “Why are you calling about milk? Come home and do your homework!”
    Miri and Molly exchanged tiny smiles and virtuously factored polynomials.
    Time passed.
    The phone rang.
    â€œWhy do you keep calling me about milk?” wailed Mom. “Yes! We have milk! We always have milk! Come home!”
    A few minutes later, Ray and Robbie shuffled into the kitchen. As usual, their jeans sagged, their sweatshirts were scrawled with ink, and their hair stuck out in stiff, dirty sprigs from under their hats. Not as usual, they were walking very slowly, almost gently. Weirder still, they weren’t yelling. They weren’t squabbling. They weren’t snorting or burping or grunting. They weren’t making any noise at all. Miri watched in amazement as they glided in ghostly silence toward the table. What was the matter with them? Were they sick?
    â€œThere you are!” cried Mom in relief. “Now, I want you to sit right—”
    â€œShhh,” murmured Robbie.
    â€œIt’s sleeping,” whispered Ray.
    Mom froze. “Excuse me?”
    Robbie slid toward the table without replying, and Miri saw that he had the dirtiest T-shirt in the world cupped in his hands. His eyes were shining with pride. “We got you guys something,” he whispered.
    â€œUs?” Molly was whispering, too.
    He nodded. “A present. Because of yesterday.” He tilted his head ever so slightly in the direction of their mother. “You know.” Ray hung over Robbie’s shoulder as he carefully set the dirty T-shirt on the table and opened it. There, rolled into a ball, was a very small, very white, very fluffy kitten.
    â€œOoooh,” sighed Miri. “A
kitty
.” Wonderstruck, she looked up at her brothers. “A baby kitty.”
    â€œLook!” Molly breathed. “Look at its baby paws.”
    As though it had heard, the kitten gave an arching, rigid stretch, and a tiny white paw quivered in the air. Miri couldn’t help stretching out a finger to touch it. Round green eyes flew open and regarded her with astonishment. This was followed by a sneeze. Exhausted by this whirlwind of activity, the kitten sank back into sleep.
    Mom peered around her sons. “You got them a
kitten
?” she gasped. “A
kitten
?”
    â€œYuh-huh,” Ray said, beaming. “Pretty cute, huh?”
    Miri held her breath. Please, please, please, she begged Mom silently. Please let us keep it. I’ll be good for the rest of my life. I’ll be good and kind and hardworking—
    Then she saw her