Heidi Heckelbeck and the Big Mix-Up

by Wanda Coven

  Chapter 1: Sweater Weather

  Chapter 2: Twinsies

  Chapter 3: Hurt Feelings

  Chapter 4: Gossip Girl

  Chapter 5: Mr. Smarty-Pants

  Chapter 6: Monkey in the Middle

  Chapter 7: Sweet Talk

  Chapter 8: Missing in Action

  Chapter 9: One Good Story

  Chapter 10: No Surprise

  ‘Heidi Heckelbeck Tries Out for the Team’ Excerpt

  About the Authors

  Flit!

  Fly!

  Flutter!

  Fall leaves swirled and ticked the panes of Heidi’s window. She pulled the hem of her quilt up to her chin. I love fall! she said to herself happily. Then she remembered something else she loved: sweater weather! And the best part was, Heidi had a brand-new sweater.

  She hopped out of bed and slipped on her fuzzy bunny slippers. Then she shuffled to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer. There it was—her new light-gray sweater. It had pink buttons up the front and pink stripes down the sleeves. On the lower right-hand side, sat an embroidered brown mouse in a white teacup. Heidi had gotten the sweater at Miss Harriet’s store.

  And now I finally get to wear it! she thought. She pulled on a jean skirt and a yellow tank top. Then she snuggled into her new sweater. She posed this way and that in front of the mirror. “Oh, it’s SO cute!” she declared. Then she skipped downstairs to breakfast.

  “Mmm,” she murmured as she stepped into the kitchen. “What smells so good?”

  Henry tapped the side of his head with his finger. “Hmm, let me think,” he said. “Probably not YOU!”

  Heidi rolled her eyes.

  “It’s cinnamon-apple oatmeal,” said Dad, stirring a pan on the stove. He had on Mom’s red-checked apron.

  Heidi held an empty bowl in front of Dad. “Fill it up, please!” she said.

  Dad spooned steaming oatmeal into her bowl. Heidi lifted the bowl to her nose and breathed in the delicious scent.

  “It smells like fresh apple pie,” she said dreamily as she sat at the table.

  “It tastes like it too,” said Henry, licking his lips.

  Mom glanced at Heidi. “Be careful not to get oatmeal on your new sweater,” she said. “Henry already spilled some on his hoodie.”

  Heidi frowned at her brother. “Way to go, little bro,” she said.

  Henry shrugged. “Sometimes my clothes get hungry,” he said. “Maybe that little mousie on your sweater wants some oatmeal too!”

  “Not if I can help it,” Heidi said as she placed a napkin on her lap.

  Mom gave her a wink and a smile. “By the way, Heidi, I heard from Mrs. Welli that you have a publishing party at school on Friday. Parents are invited to hear students read their stories.”

  “Sounds like fun!” said Dad as he joined the family at the table. “Do you know what you’re going to write about?”

  Heidi blew on a spoonful of oatmeal. “Not yet,” she said. “But I want it to be something special.”

  Then she took a big bite and gave her dad a thumbs-up. “I wonder if it would it be too mushy to write about this oatmeal . . . because it’s super-yummers!”

  Hippity!

  Hoppity!

  Bippity!

  Boppity!

  Heidi pranced down the hallway toward her classroom. My new sweater makes me SO happy, she said to herself. Or should I say “HOPPY”? Then she waved to Lucy Lancaster and Bruce Bickerson at the other end of the hall. They waited for Heidi in front of the bulletin board.

  Heidi took two steps back when she saw Lucy.

  “No way! We have on the SAME sweater!” Heidi cried.

  Lucy squealed and cupped her hand over her mouth.

  “Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t wear mine,” said Bruce with a smile.

  Then the three friends burst into laughter.

  Melanie Maplethorpe, Heidi’s least favorite girl in the class, caught sight of the matching sweaters. She blinked very dramatically.

  “Wow, am I seeing DOUBLE?” she asked.

  Lucy leaned with her elbow on Heidi’s shoulder. “What you’re seeing is double-good taste in clothes!” she said proudly.

  Melanie’s jaw dropped. “Did you actually PLAN those matchy-matchy outfits?” she said, pretending to be horrified.

  “As a matter of fact, they DIDN’T,” said Bruce, defending his friends. “They were both TOTALLY surprised.”

  Melanie didn’t like to be told what was what, so she tilted her head toward Bruce. “And how would YOU know?” she said, glaring at him. “Do you really think Heidi and Lucy would let YOU be part of their twinsy plan?”

  Bruce swallowed uncomfortably. Then Heidi and Lucy noticed and came to his rescue.

  “Oh, don’t listen to her, Bruce!” said Heidi.

  “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” Lucy added.

  Melanie shrugged. “Believe what you want, Bruce,” she said with a sly smile. Then Melanie flipped her hair, twirled, and walked away.

  Br-r-r-r-r-ing!

  The last bell of the day rang. The children thundered down the front steps of the school and lined up for either the bus line or the pickup line.

  “Heidi! Lucy! Wait up!” shouted Bruce, who had gotten stuck behind a bunch of slow first graders.

  The girls waited for Bruce by the playground.

  “Wanna come over to my house this afternoon?” he asked breathlessly.

  Heidi slung her backpack over her shoulder. “Sounds fun,” she said. “But we already have plans.”

  Bruce’s face fell. “What are you guys up to?” he asked.

  “We’re just going shopping,” said Lucy, trying not to make it seem like a big deal.

  Bruce bit his lower lip. “Do you have room for one more?” he asked hopefully.

  Heidi nudged Lucy with the tip of her shoe.

  “Um, well . . . ,” Lucy began. She looked to Heidi for help.

  Heidi shifted her feet. “Er, it’s just that there’s not enough room in Lucy’s car,” she said weakly.

  Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Okay, what’s going on with you two?” he asked.

  Heidi made her eyes look big and round. “NOTHING’S going on!” she said a little too dramatically. “Right, Lucy?”

  Lucy nodded swiftly in agreement. “Absolutely nothing!” she said in a way that meant absolutely something.

  Mrs. Lancaster pulled up in her silver minivan. The girls rushed to the door and hopped in. Bruce couldn’t help but notice that there were still empty seats in the back.

  “See you later, Bruce!” called Heidi as she closed the door and clicked on her seat belt. As they rolled away she turned to Lucy. “Wow, that was close.”

  “You are NOT kidding!” Lucy agreed. “We can’t let Bruce find out about our secret mission.”

  The girls took a deep breath and then giggled with excitement.

  The next day, Lucy and Heidi waited for Bruce before class.

  “I wish we could tell Bruce about our surprise,” said Heidi. “I hate keeping secrets.”

  “Me too,” said Lucy. “But the shop owner said our surprise would take at least a few days.”

  Heidi slumped her shoulders. “I know. It’s pure TORTURE,” she said.

  Lucy laughed. Then she checked her ladybug watch. “I wonder what’s taking Bruce so long?”

  Heidi shrugged. “Who knows? But here comes Laurel.”

  Laurel Lambert hurried up to the girls. Her eyes were wide and she looked worried.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Heidi.

  Laurel looked over her shoulder and then back at the girls. “Is it true what everyone’s saying?” she asked.

&nbs
p; The girls froze.

  “About what?” asked Lucy.

  “About YOU!” Laurel whispered.

  Lucy pointed to herself. “ME?” she questioned.

  Laurel nodded and whispered, “Everyone says you have LICE!”

  As soon as Laurel said the word “lice,” the kids in the hall scattered.

  “Ewww!” cried Heidi. “That is so disgusting! Why would anyone ever say THAT?”

  Lucy sniffled and fought back tears. “I . . . I don’t know, but it’s NOT true,” she said, wiping the corner of her eye. “I don’t have lice. Where did you hear that?”

  Laurel clutched the straps of her backpack. “Everyone’s been talking about it this morning,” she said. Then she hung her head slightly. “I didn’t think it was true, Lucy, but I thought you should know there’s a rumor going around.”

  Heidi folded her arms tightly. “Who would start a horrible rumor about Lucy?” she said angrily. “Especially one as awful as LICE!”

  “Shhh,” shushed Lucy. “Here comes Bruce.”

  Bruce was walking down the hall with Melanie and Stanley Stonewrecker. They walked right by the girls without even saying hello. Laurel followed them into the classroom.

  “What was THAT all about?” questioned Heidi.

  Lucy covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

  Heidi patted her friend on the back. “Please don’t cry,” she begged. “We’ll get to the bottom of this mystery.”

  “I’m sorry,” wailed Lucy. “I have to go.” Then she ran down the hall and disappeared into the nurse’s office.

  Rumors of lice rustled around the classroom all morning. Everyone had a case of the creepy crawlies. Some kids even began to scratch their heads. Heidi did her best to stick up for Lucy.

  “It’s all LIES!” she declared to anyone who would listen. Mrs. Welli tried to reassure the children too, but it was no use. The whispering kept going all through math.

  Heidi could not concentrate on her multiplication worksheet. She read the directions again: Find the missing factor. But it seemed like the only missing factor was Lucy. Heidi let out a great sigh. I wonder if she’ll come back to class? Heidi checked the door every few minutes, but there was no sign of her friend.

  At lunchtime, Heidi grabbed her lunch box and zoomed to the nurse’s office.

  “Is Lucy here?” asked Heidi.

  Mrs. Foster, the school nurse, smiled. “Lucy went to the library a little while ago,” she said.

  “Did you have to check her head for lice?” Heidi asked.

  Mrs. Foster nodded with understanding. “Yes,” she said. “And Lucy is perfectly fine.”

  Heidi whistled a sigh of relief. Then she went to the library.

  Mrs. Williams, the librarian, was arranging papier-mâché ducks along the front of her desk.

  “Make way for ducklings!” she said, and chuckled. Then she noticed Heidi’s serious face. “Is there something I can do for you?” she asked.

  Heidi looked around the library. “Have you seen Lucy Lancaster?” she asked hopefully.

  Then Mrs. Williams pointed over to the Magic Tree Fort. “She’s up there,” whispered the librarian.

  In the back of the library stood a real tree house. It had a trunk, branches, leaves, and a ladder. The inside of the tree house had beanbag chairs and mushroom pillows to hang out on and read books.

  Heidi climbed the ladder and peered into the tree house. She saw Lucy lying on a yellow beanbag chair, looking at a book.

  “Hey,” Heidi began, setting down her lunch box. “I just wanted you to know, I told everybody the lice rumor wasn’t true.”

  Lucy sighed and closed her book. “The only problem is that it WAS true,” she said. “It happened a long time ago, before you moved here. I don’t have them anymore.”

  Heidi plopped onto a red polka-dot mushroom pillow next to Lucy.

  “And I only told one person,” Lucy said.

  “Who?” Heidi asked.

  “BRUCE.”

  Heidi’s eyes widened as she touched Lucy’s shoulder. “But why would Bruce ever start a rumor about you?”

  Lucy’s face became furious. “I don’t know,” she said angrily. “But I know how to get back at him.”

  Heidi gulped. “How?” she asked.

  Lucy sat up and looked at Heidi. “I’m going to tell everyone Bruce’s SECRET!”

  Heidi bit her thumbnail. “Bruce has a secret?”

  Lucy nodded. “Did you know he almost changed schools this year so he could be in an ADVANCED class?”

  Heidi almost fell off her mushroom.

  “That’s because he thinks he’s SMARTER than everyone else!” Lucy added.

  Heidi had no idea that Bruce had been thinking about switching schools.

  “We’ll see how Mr. Smarty-Pants feels when the whole school finds out he thinks he’s better than everyone!” said Lucy. Then she got up from her beanbag chair and began to climb down the ladder.

  Heidi reached for Lucy’s arm. “Please don’t say anything bad about Bruce,” she said. “It won’t help you feel better. In fact, it might make matters worse!”

  Lucy had already made up her mind. She jumped off the bottom rung of the ladder and walked quickly out of the library.

  Heidi picked up her lunch box. “Well, I have officially lost my appetite,” she moaned.

  Heidi clumped into the kitchen.

  “How was your day?” asked Mom.

  “Awful,” said Heidi. “Lucy and Bruce are mad at each other.”

  Mom frowned. “That’s too bad,” she said. “I have something that might cheer you up.” She placed a warm ginger molasses cookie and a glass of milk on the table.

  Heidi sat down. “Where’s Henry?” she asked, sinking her teeth into the soft, chewy cookie.

  “At a friend’s,” said Mom.

  “May I have his cookie too?” asked Heidi. “It’s been a two-cookie kind of day.”

  Just then the telephone rang.

  “Of course, sweetie,” Mom said, and she answered the phone. “Hello?”

  She listened and then covered the receiver. “It’s Bruce,” she whispered.

  Heidi took a sip of milk and reached for the phone. Then she dragged a chair down the hall and into the closet for privacy.

  “Hey, Bruce,” Heidi said. “Are things better with Lucy?”

  “Uh, no,” said Bruce. “She told everyone that I think I’m the next EINSTEIN! Why would she DO that?”

  Heidi felt terrible for both Bruce and Lucy.

  “Well, um, maybe you shouldn’t have started that lice rumor about Lucy,” Heidi offered.

  Bruce wasn’t listening though. He just went on and on about what Lucy had done. Heidi had to hold the phone away from her ear.

  Heidi heard the doorbell ring. Mom answered the door. Heidi peeked out from behind the closet door. Oh my gosh, it’s Lucy! she said to herself. Heidi opened the door very quietly and waved to Lucy.

  “Heidi!” Lucy cried. “I need to talk to you!”

  Heidi leaned out of the closet door some more and pointed toward the phone.

  “Who are you talking to?” Lucy demanded.

  Heidi covered the receiver. “Bruce!”

  Lucy squinted her eyes. “Ugh, I am so mad at him right now! He’s made my life miserable!”

  Heidi put a finger to her lips. “He’ll hear you!” she whispered.

  “And why should I CARE?” said Lucy.

  Heidi put the phone back up to her ear. “Is LUCY at your house?” Bruce asked.

  “Um, she is,” said Heidi meekly.

  “What’s SHE doing there?” he cried.

  Then Lucy stamped her foot. “I cannot believe you’re on the phone with BRUCE!” she complained.

  Suddenly, Heidi felt like a monkey in the middle. Before Heidi could say anything, Bruce hung up, and Lucy stormed out the front door.

  “What was THAT all about?” asked Mom, who came in to see what was going on.

  Heidi hande
d Mom the phone.

  “I’ll tell you later,” said Heidi. Then she ran out the front door to catch Lucy, but she was too late. Lucy was gone. Heidi slumped down on her steps and cupped her chin in her hands.

  Merg! It’s like my friends are under a curse, she thought.

  Then Heidi had an idea. She jumped up and declared, “There’s only one way to reverse a curse, and I know how to help!” Heidi ran straight to her room and pulled out her Book of Spells from under the bed. She found a spell called the Kindness Charm.

  Are you mad at your best friend? Or perhaps your best friend has become angry with you? Or worse yet, what if your two best friends are mad at each other? If you or your friends are fighting, then this is the spell for you!*

  Ingredients:

  4 candy conversation hearts

  1 wooden clothespin

  3 tablespoons of strawberry jam

  1 glob of glue

  Stir the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Hold your Witches of Westwick medallion over your heart. Chant the following spell:

  * Charm only lasts one day, but one good day can help you find the best kind of magic.

  Heidi laid her book on the floor. This was the perfect spell to make Lucy and Bruce stop fighting and like each other again. Proud of herself, Heidi got up to gather the ingredients. She found a box of last year’s conversation hearts in her desk drawer, which were underneath last year’s valentines. She dumped the candy hearts onto her desk and turned them all face up. Then she picked four perfect hearts for the spell: