Free Karate Katie by Nancy Krulik Page B

the magic wind had turned Katie into Lucille, the lunch lady in the school cafeteria. That time, Katie had started a food fight and gotten Lucille fired. It took all the kids in school to get her hired back again.
    In fact, it seemed like Katie got into trouble whenever the magic wind came. And so did the person she turned into. That was why Katie didn’t like wishes. When they came true, they really could make a mess of things!

Chapter 3
    “Go, Emma, go!” Katie shouted as the relay race began. Coach Debbie had put Emma Weber in as George’s partner in the race. Now Emma W. was running as fast as she could down the track. She held a metal baton in her hand as she ran.
    Katie really cheered her two pals on! “Come on, Emma!” she shouted loudly.
    Emma W. was running pretty fast. She was tied with the runner from the other team. As Emma reached the finish line, she handed the white baton over to George. He took off and ran down the track.
    “Come on, George!” Katie yelled. “You can do it!” She really wanted her team to win.

    “Move it, George!” Suzanne screamed toward the field. “Go faster! FASTER!”
    Unfortunately, George wasn’t moving very fast at all. He hadn’t tied his shoelace very well. It came untied when he started to run. Now his sneaker kept falling off his foot.
    A few moments later, a runner for the other team crossed the finish line. George was way behind.
    As George crossed the finish line, Emma W. and Katie were there waiting for him.
    “It’s okay,” Emma told George. “We’ll get them next time.”
    “Grrr!” George growled. “There won’t be any next time.”
    Katie shook her head. “Come on, George. That’s not fair. It’s not Emma’s fault you lost the race.”
    “No. It’s Kevin’s fault,” George grumbled. “I hate him.”
    Katie shook her head. She knew it wasn’t Kevin’s fault at all. If George had just tied his shoelace, he might have had a chance.
    But there was no sense telling George that now. He wasn’t going to listen anyway.
    “Katie, it’s almost time for the long jump,” Coach Debbie called out. “You’d better start warming up.”
    “Okay,” Katie called back.
    “Good luck,” Suzanne told her.
    Katie looked at Suzanne strangely. Her voice sounded kind of hoarse. Uh-oh! What if George’s mean wish was coming true?
    “Are you okay?” she asked Suzanne.
    Suzanne nodded. “Sure, I’m fine. I’ve just got a sore throat. It’s my third one this month.”
    “Are you sure?” Katie asked her.
    “Stop worrying about me,” Suzanne continued. “Worry about how you’re going to beat that girl from Oakwood Elementary School in the long jump. Have you seen how tall she is?”

    Suzanne wasn’t kidding. The girl from Oakwood Elementary had really long legs. And, boy, could she jump! Still, Katie had come in second place against the four people who were jumping. That was the best she’d ever placed in a track meet.
    “I think I did pretty well,” Katie told Suzanne that night while the two girls were on the phone.
    “You did,” Suzanne assured her. “But no matter how you did, you would have been better than George. What a klutz.”
    “Why are you so mean to him?” Katie asked her.
    “ I’m mean?” Suzanne insisted. She coughed hoarsely. “How about him? Did you hear what he said to me?”
    Katie sighed. How could she forget?
    “Besides, he’s always blaming other people for his—” Suzanne stopped in the middle of her sentence and began coughing again.
    “Are you okay?” Katie asked her.
    Suzanne coughed harder. When she finally stopped, there was silence on her end of the phone.
    “Suzanne?” Katie asked. “Are you there?”
    The answer came back in a hoarse whisper. “I think I lost my voice,” Suzanne struggled to say.
    Katie gasped. George’s wish had come true!

Chapter 4
    Katie didn’t sleep very well that night. She was really worried about Suzanne. What if she never got her voice back? How would she sing