Free A Katie Kazoo Christmas by Nancy Krulik Page B

doing here?”
    “My mom’s taking Heather to have her picture taken with Santa,” Suzanne told Katie. She pointed toward the line of children and parents waiting to see Santa.
    Katie spotted Mrs. Lock in the middle of the line. She was carrying Suzanne’s one-and-a-half-year-old sister, Heather.
    Heather was wearing a red velvet dress.
    She had a big green bow in her curly brown hair. “She looks so cute!” Katie told Suzanne.
    “My mother bought her that dress just to have her picture taken with Santa Claus,” Suzanne explained. “She said I could have a new dress, too, if I would have my picture taken.”

    Katie studied Suzanne’s outfit. She was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, brown suede boots, and a yellow sweater with glitter around the neck and sleeves.
    “I guess you said no,” Katie said with a laugh.
    “Of course,” Suzanne told her. “I’m not going to the Winter Wonderland. That’s totally for babies.”
    “I don’t know, Suzanne,” Katie told her. “It could be kind of cool to sit on Santa’s lap. For old time’s sake, I mean.”
    “It would not be cool,” Suzanne told her. “I mean, look at that guy. He doesn’t even look like the real Santa. His belly isn’t nearly fat enough.”
    Katie shook her head. There was no point arguing with Suzanne when she got like this. “Well, I’ve got to get going,” Katie said finally. “I’m shopping for some of my Secret Santa presents.”
    “Oh, yeah, I heard you guys in class 4A were doing that,” Suzanne replied. “Whose name did you pick?”
    “I can’t tell you that,” Katie told her. “It’s supposed to be a secret.”
    “Come on. I’m not even in your class,” Suzanne urged. “And I’m your best friend.”
    “True,” Katie agreed. “But you can’t keep a secret. So I’m not telling.”
    Suzanne frowned. “Fine,” she said. “But if I find out who got your name, I’m not telling you.”
    “That’s okay,” Katie answered. “I want to be surprised.”

Chapter 3
    On Tuesday morning, Katie was the first one in the school building. She wanted to drop off her present before anyone could see her. By the time the other kids began placing their gifts in the big red bag, Katie was already seated on her beanbag chair.
    “Okay, gang, let’s get rolling,” Mr. Guthrie said as he walked over to the board. “It’s time to start learning.”
    “Oh,” the kids all seemed to groan at once. It was obvious they wanted to get their Secret Santa gifts right away!
    “Here’s your WFT,” Mr. G. said as he wrote on the board. WFT meant “Word for Today.” Each day, Mr. G. wrote a new, really hard vocabulary word on the board for the kids to learn.
    “Today’s word is impetuous ,” Mr. G. continued. “Can anyone tell me what that means?”
    He looked around the room. Nobody raised a hand.
    “George, why don’t you look up the WFT in the dictionary for us?” Mr. G. suggested.
    George walked over to the big red dictionary and opened to the I words. “Impetuous,” he read out loud. “Acting on the spur of the moment.”
    “Now, someone use it in a sentence,” Mr. G. said.
    Andrew raised his hand. “I wish Mr. G. would be impetuous and let us do Secret Santa now.”
    Mr. G. chuckled. “That’s right.”
    “No, I mean it,” Andrew continued. “I really want you to!”
    “Me too,” Mandy added. “I’m dying to know what I got.”
    “Please, Mr. G.,” Kevin pleaded.
    Mr. G. rolled his eyes. But Katie could tell he wasn’t really annoyed. He still had a big smile on his face.
    “Okay, I surrender,” he said finally. “We’ll do Secret Santa now. But don’t think you’re off the hook. After you open your presents, it’s back to work.”
    One by one, Mr. G. began handing out the gifts. “Don’t be impetuous ,” he told them. “Please wait until everyone has a present before you open yours.”
    The kids waited until all the gifts were handed out. “Go for it!” Mr. G. shouted.
    “Oh, cool!”