Nathan Reed - Spelling Trouble

Miss Strega sighed and drank a thimbleful of her own stiff brew. “Now pay attention,” she ordered. “I’m starting to Mingle.” Holding her left hand behind her back like a television cook, she extravagantly sprinkled a few exclamation marks into the cauldron. “Now take the feather of a long-eared owl …”

“Does it have to be a long-eared owl? Would a short-eared one not work?”

“ …and draw it backwards and forwards over your soup like this.” Miss Strega closed her eyes and drew the long feather rapidly over the soup. “Backwards and forwards, figures-of-eight,” she chanted, “round and about, a criss and a cross, then loop the loop.”

“Do you have to close your eyes?” Jessica asked. “How many times must you …”

Jessica’s voice trailed off into silence. All of a sudden, the words

STOP INTERRUPTING!!!

had popped up in her brain and were flashing on and off like warning lights. She covered her face with her hands and peered through her fingers.

Miss Strega was doing her best not to laugh. She had covered her chin with her hand and pressed her lips together but her shoulders were shaking up and down and tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“May I try to Mingle?” Jessica asked, all polite.

“Of course, my dear.”

Jessica lightly oiled a cauldron. She threw in a handful of letters and seasoned her mixture with a single exclamation mark. She began to Mingle, doing the figures-of-eight routine, the side-to-side, the round and abouts, the crissing and crossing, then looping the loop.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.