Free Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

goodness,” sighed Mother.
    â€œMaybe they’ll play parade long enough for us to fix something for them to eat.”
    â€œWhat’ll we give them?” Beezus asked.
    Mother laughed. “This is a wonderful chance to get rid of all that applesauce. Let’s hurry and get it ready before they get tired of their game. Get the colored paper napkins out of the cupboard and—oh, dear, what shall we do for chairs?”
    â€œThey can sit on the floor,” suggestedBeezus, looking through the cupboard for napkins.
    â€œI guess they’ll have to.” Mother took the applesauce out of the refrigerator. “If we put a couple of sheets down for them to sit on, maybe they won’t get applesauce on the rug.”
    The parade tramped down the attic stairs and through the kitchen. “But Mother,” said Beezus, when the drum and horns had disappeared into the basement again, “the only napkins I can find are for St. Valentine’s Day and Halloween. They won’t do.”
    â€œThey’ll have to do,” said Mother.
    Beezus spread two sheets in the middle of the living-room floor. Then she went into the kitchen to help Mother, who was tearing open three boxes of fig Newtons. “It’s a good thing I bought these at that sale last week,” she remarked.
    â€œAre we going to give them lemonade oranything to drink?” Beezus asked.
    â€œNot on my living-room rug.” Mother rapidly spooned applesauce into dishes.
    â€œApplesauce and fig Newtons are bad enough.”
    â€œMaybe if we feed them right away some of them will think the party is over and go home.” Beezus piled fig Newtons on two plates.
    â€œI hope so. This many small children in the house on a rainy day is too much.” The parade stamped across the attic floor again, and Mother had to raise her voice to make herself heard. “It sounds as if they were coming through the ceiling.”
    â€œLet’s catch them the next time they come through the kitchen and hand out the applesauce,” Beezus shouted back. “Then maybe we can get them to march into the living room.”
    It was not long before Howie led theparade into the kitchen again. He stopped so suddenly that the children bumped into one another. “When do we eat?” he demanded.
    â€œNow.” Beezus thrust a dish of applesauce and a spoon into his hands.
    â€œI want some,” cried the others.
    Mother handed a second child some applesauce. “Forward march!” she ordered.
    Beezus led Howie into the living room, and the rest of the parade followed with their applesauce. “You sit there,” she said to Howie, pointing to a place on the sheet. She was relieved to see the others seat themselves around the edge of the sheet. Quickly she handed around paper napkins.
    â€œI want one with witches on it,” demanded a boy who had a Valentine napkin.
    â€œI want one with hearts on it,” wailed a girl who had a Halloween napkin.
    Beezus hastily counted the napkins. Yes, there were enough of each kind to goaround. Two napkins apiece would be safer anyway. She handed each child a second napkin and they all began to eat their applesauce, except one little girl who didn’t like applesauce. Ramona was beaming, because refreshments were the most important part of any party and now at last her guests were behaving the way she wanted them to.
    Mother came out of the kitchen with the plates of fig Newtons, which she handed to Beezus. “Here, pass these around,” she said. “I think I’d better help Willa Jean.” Willa Jean knew how to eat with a spoon. The trouble was, she had to pick up the food with her left hand and put it into the spoon, which she held in her right hand. Then, most of the time, she was able to get it into her mouth.
    Ramona, her face shining with happiness, looked at her friends sharing the applesauce. “Those cookies are filled with worms.Chopped-up