Free Fashion Frenzy by Annie Bryant Page A

one hand pressed into his back, and his face was contorted in a pained grimace. “Okay, Dad, don’t move,” Maeve said quickly. She looked helplessly at Katani, who always seemed to know what to do in a crisis.
    Katani, however, just shook her head. “I don’t know how to change a tire!” she said.
    Maeve looked petrified. “Well, I don’t know how either!”
    Katani stared at her friend. Be cool, Kgirl , she reminded herself. She knelt down by Maeve’s dad. “Mr. Taylor, are you okay?” she asked.
    He nodded. “My back. You bend the wrong way—and it’s all over!” He tried to laugh but it was just too painful.
    Katani tried to stay calm. She didn’t have any special CPR or emergency training, but she knew in an emergency you had to stay calm. She continued, “What do you usually do for it?”
    “A little aspirin usually does the trick…and some ice.”
    “Do you know where the aspirin is?” Katani asked, preparing to break open suitcases to find it.
    “I’ll look in the glove compartment,” volunteered Maeve.
    He shook his head. “I don’t think I have any with me.”
    Katani rolled her eyes. “Umm,” she said, wracking her brain. “Let’s call somebody! Yes, that’s it, we can call somebody! Where’s your cell phone?”
    Sam looked at Maeve. Maeve looked at her father. Her father looked even more uncomfortable. “In my jacket, I think,” he told her.
    Katani retrieved his jacket from the front seat. She checked the pockets and the inside flaps. Nothing.
    “Try the pocket on my brown suitcase,” Mr. Taylor suggested weakly.
    Katani quickly unzipped it. Lots of socks—no cell phone.
    “Did I forget it?” he wondered. “ That would have been a HUGE mistake.”
    The girls warily looked at each other. “Never mind, Dad,” Maeve said. She tucked her dad’s jacket under his head so he could lie more comfortably on the ground. It was not likely that’s he’d be moving anytime soon. Every time he tried to get up he winced and had to lie back down.
    Katani whipped out her business notebook and made a quick note: Ask Mom and Dad to buy me a cell phone for emergency situations . She wondered how long they’d have to wait there before Mr. Taylor would feel well enough tosit up. And what if he didn’t feel well enough to drive? They could spend the whole weekend stuck out here in the middle of Nowheresville!
    Sam seemed to be reading her mind. “Hey, no problem. I can change that tire in nothing flat,” he boasted. “The first thing I need is an assistant.” He looked at the girls and stuck out his hand. “WRENCH!” he called. Sam began to pry at the hubcap until his father noticed what was going on.
    “Sam,” Mr. Taylor said sharply. “Sam, step away from the hubcap. Just give me a few minutes kids. I’ll be fine,” he said after seeing the worried looks on everyone’s faces.
    Maeve and Katani looked at each other helplessly. “What do we know?” Maeve asked in a low voice.
    Katani shook her head. “I don’t have a clue. We’ve only gotten a flat tire once, and when we did, my dad was there to fix it.”
    “I can’t believe this!” Maeve said quietly to Katani. “I’m sorry this trip is taking so long. If I were you, I’d be really bummed out,” she added, looking genuinely miserable.
    “Hey, it’s okay,” Katani said, trying to convince Maeve AND herself that it was. “These things happen, right?” She couldn’t help but wonder how they were going to get out of this mess. They had no phone, no idea where they were, no chance that another car would pass by, and the only adult in their group was lying on the ground in agony while his eight-year-old son tried to figure out how to change a tire.
    Perfect.
    “Wait a minute!” Mr. Taylor said suddenly. He tried to raise himself up, but that brought another groan. Still, he looked optimistic as he smacked his forehead. “Of course! I just remembered—I put the cell phone in the console underneath the arm