And besides, what would I tell Hailey? Ellie thought. She picked up the glittery pink belt and put it away. She wasn’t going to show it to Hailey after all.
Ellie looked at the dress in the mirror. She smiled. So it wasn’t the flower girl dress she had hoped for. But it was pretty. And Ellie was the flower girl. It was time to start getting excited!
Ellie gathered up the craft supplies she had taken out of the tub. She dumped everything back inside. She reached for the lid and put it on top. But it didn’t click into place. Ellie pushed down hard, trying to force it closed.
“Why—isn’t—this—closing,” Ellie said as she kept trying to push the lid down. She tried again, putting all her weight on the lid.
SQUIIIIIIISSSSHHHH! A jet of orange paint shot out from a bottle that had been wedged under the lid. It splattered all over the skirt of Ellie’s dress.
“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!” Ellie repeated over and over. She grabbed her pink towel from the back of her door. She used it to dab at the paint splotches. Instead of coming off, they smeared into one big splotch.
Ellie was panicking. Would the paint wash out of fabric? What if it didn’t? Had she just completely messed up the dress?
Had she wrecked Hailey’s wedding?
The Hard Truth
Ellie raced down to the kitchen.
“Mom!” she shouted, her voice shaking. “It’s the worst thing ever!” She showed the paint splotch to her mom and told her what had happened. “What am I going to do?”
Mrs. Mitchell tried to calm Ellie down. “Okay, sweetheart,” she said. “First things first. Take a few deep breaths.”
Ellie’s mother knew about a trick using a kitchen knife to scrape any excess paint off the fabric. Ellie watched her give it a try. Afterward, the stain looked a little better. But it was still there.
“I’m not sure what to do next,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “I think this might be oil-based paint. We’d need a strong cleaner to get it out.” She felt the dress fabric. “But sometimes it damages the fabric.”
Mrs. Mitchell looked Ellie straight in the eye. “Honey,” she said, “I hate to say this. But I think you need to call Hailey. Let her know what happened. Maybe a dry cleaner can clean the dress. But we should let Hailey decide what to do next.”
Ellie felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. What her mom said made sense. But she really didn’t want to tell Hailey. What would Hailey say? Would she be super mad?
Mrs. Mitchell dialed Hailey’s number and handed Ellie the phone. It rang once, twice, three times.
Maybe she won’t answer! Ellie silently hoped.
“If she doesn’t answer, leave her a message,” her mom said.
Ugh! thought Ellie.
Hailey’s voice mail picked up. After the beep, Ellie took a deep breath.
“Hi, Hailey. It’s me, Ellie. I, um, well, I have something to tell you.”
On Monday morning, Ellie got dressed and dragged herself down to breakfast. “Has Hailey called back?” she asked her mom.
Her mom shook her head no. “Not yet,” she said gently.
At school, Ellie told her friends about her awful weekend. “First, we didn’t find anyone to adopt Lulu. And then . . .” She cringed. “You guys, I really messed up.”
She told them about the paint mishap.
“Can a flower girl get fired?” she asked them. “I feel like I might.”
Her friends rallied around her. “It was an accident,” Liz said. “Accidents happen.”
“Yeah,” Amy added. “Hailey will understand.”
Ellie shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said uncertainly. “She hasn’t called me back. Maybe it’s because she’s too mad to speak to me.”
A Surprise Visitor
After school Ellie asked her mom again. “Has Hailey called?”
But she hadn’t. She didn’t call Monday evening. Or Tuesday morning. Or Tuesday after school, either. With each passing hour, Ellie was more and more sure: Hailey was furious with her.
The next day after school, Ellie and the girls were at The Critter Club. They were getting ready to walk both dogs—Lulu and Rufus, Ms. Sullivan’s dog.
The dogs were outside the barn, playing. Tiny Lulu only came up to Rufus’s knees. But both their tails wagged excitedly as they jumped around and barked loudly.
So Ellie did not hear Hailey arrive and walk up behind her. “Hi, Ellie,” Hailey said. “Hi, girls.”
Ellie whirled around, startled. She gulped.
Oh no! Hailey had come to fire her! Instead of calling her back, she had come to tell her face-to-face!
“Hailey!” Ellie cried out. “You’re here!” Hailey opened her mouth to speak. But Ellie continued. “Wait,” she said. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. I know why you’re here.”
Hailey looked surprised. “You do?” she asked. “How?”
Ellie shrugged. “I just had a feeling,” she replied.
Hailey nodded. “Connor and I have talked it over a lot. And we really feel this is the right thing to do.”
Ellie felt tears welling up in her eyes. She was so sad that Hailey and Connor didn’t want her to be in their wedding anymore.
But Hailey looked pretty cheerful. “It’s a big decision!” she said. “But we’re excited about it!”
Whoa! Ellie thought. That kind of hurt my feelings. “Excited about it?” Ellie cried. “Really? Excited to replace me with a different flower girl?”
Hailey stared. “A different flower girl?” she repeated in disbelief. “Ellie! What are you talking about?”
Ellie frowned now too. “Wait. What are you talking about?” Ellie asked.
Hailey threw up her hands. “I’m talking about adopting Lulu!” she exclaimed. “Connor and I want to adopt Lulu!”
Ellie Comes Clean
Marion, Amy, and Liz had overheard the whole thing. They gathered around Hailey, buzzing over the big news.
“Lulu, did you hear that?” Liz was saying.
“We have some questions to ask you,” Marion was telling Hailey. “Just to make sure you and Lulu are a good match.”
Amy added, “But I bet you will be! Oh, this is so great!”
Meanwhile, Ellie’s head was spinning. She was so surprised and happy for Lulu—and Hailey! But she was completely confused.
“Hailey,” she said, “did you get my message?”
“Which message?” Hailey asked. “On my cell phone?” She sighed. “It’s broken. I dropped it the other day. Now it won’t even turn on. I’m sorry, Ellie. I didn’t get it.” They sat down side by side on the bench by the maple tree. It was the same bench where Hailey had asked Ellie to be her flower girl. “So what was your message?”
Ellie’s shoulders slumped. She had to tell the whole terrible story again! This time to Hailey’s face!
Before she lost her nerve, Ellie blurted it all out as fast as she could.
“Oh Hailey, I feel awful. I was trying on the flower girl dress. And there was this bottle of orange paint that I kind of squashed and the paint came squirting out and it got on the dress! So I showed my mom and she scraped some of it off, but we weren’t sure whether we should try to wash it or not. And anyway, I called you to tell you what happened and to say I’m so, so, so sorry for messing up the dress.”
Ellie took a deep breath. There. It was done.
She searched Hailey’s face for clues about how mad she was. She waited for Hailey to let it all out.
But Hailey didn’t. She just reached over and pulled Ellie into a big hug.
“Ellie,” she said, “did you actually think I’d be mad? I understand. It was an accident. And we’ll figure something out. Okay?”
Ellie beamed and sighed with relief. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her. “Hailey, you are the best!” Ellie exclaimed.
The two of them headed off to Ellie’s house so Hailey could see the dress. Hailey scratched at the paint, which was dry and crusty. She dabbed at it—first with water, then detergent,
and even a bit of nail polish remover. But the stain wasn’t going anywhere.
Hailey looked up at Ellie. “Well,” she said, “we might to have to try something different. Luckily, I’m pretty handy with a needle and thread. How about you?”
Ellie nodded. “I took a sewing class last summer,” she pointed out.
Hailey smiled and gave Ellie a thumbs-up. “Great,” she said. “Because we’re about to get creative.”
The Big Day
Ellie and the bridesmaids were waiting by the rose arbor that led into the botanical garden. The wedding guests were all seated in the courtyard. The ceremony was set to begin. All they needed was the bride.
Then a shiny white car pulled up. Hailey and her parents got out. Arm in arm, they walked over to the rose arbor.
Hailey’s gown was a dreamy mix of silk and lace. Her hair was pinned up with pearl hairpins. And the veil! It trailed behind her as she walked.
“You look so beautiful!” Ellie said to Hailey.
But best of all, Hailey looked so happy. She smiled and gave Ellie a kiss on the cheek. “You look beautiful too!” Hailey replied.
“Thank you,” Ellie said with a smile.
She loved her dress. Hailey had come up with such a clever idea. She had cut away the stained section of the skirt. Together, she and Ellie had hemmed the cut edges. Then Hailey had sewn in a white underskirt and something called a crinoline. It turned the skirt from a fitted one into a fuller, layered, flouncy one. Ellie thought that it twirled beautifully when she spun around.
They also added a pretty white belt with a fabric flower. It matched Ellie’s white ballet flats and the white basket that held her flower petals.
Somehow, amazingly, the dress looked even better than the original!
Ellie could hear the music starting. It was almost time!
Suddenly, Ellie realized she was missing something. Or rather, someone.
Arf! Arf!
Lulu scurried out from behind the skirt of Hailey’s dress. She was wearing a pink collar around her neck. Her leash was decorated with tiny flowers.
“Awww,” Ellie said, kneeling down to pet Lulu. She took the leash from Hailey’s dad, Uncle Walter. “You look so cute, Lulu!”
It had been Hailey’s idea that Ellie walk Lulu down the aisle. Ellie loved the idea.
Ellie found her spot in line. She was right in front of Hailey and behind Toby, who was behind the bridesmaids.
“I’m so glad we found you a home!” Ellie said to Lulu.
Behind her, Hailey said, “I’m so glad her home is with us!”
Ellie took a deep breath. It was almost their turn to go. “Are you ready, Lulu?” she asked. “Ready for our big moment?”
Arf! Arf! Lulu replied.
Read on for a sneak peek at the next Critter Club book:
Liz’s Night at the Museum
Liz Jenkins turned on her flashlight. She held it up to her chin so it illuminated just her face.
It was silent and shadowy in Liz’s bedroom. Her best friends, Ellie, Amy, and Marion, waited for Liz to begin her story.
“It was a dark and stormy night,” Liz said in a low voice.
“Uh-oh,” said Amy. She pulled her sleeping bag up to her nose. “I don’t like the sound of this.”
Ellie giggled. “Stormy nights are always the spookiest!”
Marion yawned. “I think I’ve heard this one before,” she said sleepily.
“Outside, lightning flashed,” Liz continued. “Thunder clapped. But inside one house, four girls were having a sleepover.”
“Just like us!” Ellie whispered.
Liz went on. “They were all in their sleeping bags. One of the girls had just finished telling a story. It was a scary story about a ghost, with rattling, clattering footsteps roaming her house at night.”
Now Amy’s sleeping bag was covering her head. She let out a squeak from inside.
“Don’t worry,” Marion gently told Amy. “It’s just a story.”
Liz suddenly flicked off her flashlight. The bedroom went completely dark.
“All of a sudden, one of the girls gasped,” Liz went on. “‘What was that?’ the girl cried. The others listened. They heard it too!” Liz stomped her foot on the ground. “Thwump—rattle. Thwump—rattle. Rattling, clattering footsteps! Coming from the other side of the bedroom door!”
Marion sat up straight. “Shhh!” she said, suddenly wide-awake. “Did you hear that?”
Liz looked confused. “Hear what?” she replied. Then she smiled. “Oooh. Nice one, Marion. Trying to scare the storyteller.”
Marion shook her head. Her eyes were wide in alarm. “No. Listen!”
The four girls sat silently, listening.
They all heard it. Thwump—rattle. Thwump—rattle. Thwump—rattle. Each time it was a little louder.
“Rattling, clattering footsteps!” Liz whispered.
“Coming closer,” Ellie said shakily.
Amy stayed hidden inside her sleeping bag. “Is it coming from the hallway?” she asked.
Liz flicked her flashlight back on. She aimed the beam at her bedroom door. Liz, Ellie, and Marion watched it, trying not to blink.
Thwump—rattle. Thwump—rattle. Louder and louder, until . . .
Silence.
And then, slowly, Liz’s doorknob turned.
Callie Barkley loves animals. As a young girl, she dreamed of getting a cat or dog of her own until she discovered she was allergic to most of them. It was around this time that she realized the world was full of all kinds of critters that could use some love. She now lives with her husband and two kids in Connecticut. They share their home with exactly ten fish and a very active ant farm.
Tracy Bishop has loved drawing since she was a little girl in Japan. She spends her time illustrating books, reading, and collecting pens. She lives with her husband, son, and hairy dog, named Harry, in San Jose, California.
Little Simon
Simon & Schuster • New York
CritterClubBooks.com
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
LITTLE SIMON
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 • www.SimonandSchuster.com • First Little Simon hardcover edition August 2016. Copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Designed by Laura Roode. • Jacket illustrations by Marsha Riti • Jacket illustrations by Simon & Schuster, Inc. The text of this book was set in ITC Stone Informal Std.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4814-6719-3 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-6718-6 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-6720-9 (eBook)
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Ellie the Flower Girl Page 2
