Free Taffy Sinclair 008 - Taffy Sinclair and the Melanie Make-Over by Betsy Haynes Page B

and putting down your heel and then your toe. "
    Mona exhaled and then lifted her right foot into the air.
    " Wait! " shrieked Katie. " We forgot to tell you to look at the spot you ' re walking toward first. You ' ll have to start all over. "
    With that, we all began laughing so hard that we could barely stand up. After a while, Mona was walking as well as the rest of us, and pretty soon we all got into the act, practicing going back and forth across Katie ' s game room until we started to get silly again.
    Suddenly Mona looked at her watch and announced that she had to leave. " There ' s something I always do on Tuesday afternoons, " she said. She was acting shy again, so nobody asked her what it was.
    After she left, Christie brought up the subject that had been on my mind. " I think that Melanie has probably learned her lesson about Taffy Sinclair. So what will we do about Mona if Melanie wants to come back in The Fabulous Five? "
    " Mona ' s nice, " I said wistfully, " but she ' s not the same as Melanie. Melan ie has been our friend forever. "
    " I ' m not sure that Mona would fit in, anyway, " said Beth. " She ' s awfully shy. "
    " You can say that again, " said Christie. " And a little immature. "
    " Speaking of immature, " said Katie, " I couldn ' t believe my eyes when I saw into her locker yesterday. There was a bottle of bubble stuff sitting on the shelf. You know, the stuff that looks like dishwashing liquid that you dip a wand into and blow bubbles into the air."
    " You ' re kidding! " said Beth. " I haven ' t played with anything like that since I was four! "
    We got quiet after that. Nobody knew what else to say. We all liked Mona, even if she was shy and a little immature. But the truth was, Melanie was a super friend and we all wanted her back in The Fabulous Five.
    " I know what, " I said. " Let ' s go to the Double Dip for a big fat ice cream cone. Our diets aren ' t working, anyway, and we need more time to decide what to do. "
    Everybody thought that was a great idea. We grabbed our coats and raced the four blocks to the Dip, as most kids called the ice cream store.
    After we ' d gotten our cones and found a booth and were almost finished eating them, I just happened to look out the window toward the building across the street. It was the local animal shelter, where people took stray dogs and cats or where they dumped animals they didn ' t want anymore.
    " Look, " I said. " That ' s Mona coming out of the animal shelter. Do you suppose she wants to adopt a pet? "
    " Let ' s go ask her, " said Christie.
    We jumped up and hurried outside, calling to Mona to wait for us.
    " What were you doing in there? " I asked breathlessly when we got to the other side of the street. " Are you going to get a new dog or cat? "
    Mona looked at us for a moment and then shook her head. " No, " she said softly. " I was just visiting. "
    " Visiting? " asked Beth. " What for? "
    Sighing, Mona explained, " I feel sorry for all the animals who can ' t find homes. I know they ' ll be put to death. So I go in after school every Tuesday and Thursday to talk to them and play with them a little bit. I ' m not allowed to take them out of their cages, so I save my allowance, and when I can, I buy this. "
    Mona opened her book bag and pulled out a plastic bottle of bubble liquid. I knew it was probably the same bottle Katie had seen in her locker the day before.
    " I blow bubbles at them through the wire, and you should see how they act. The kittens and cats swat at them with their paws, and the puppies and older dogs mostly snap at them and then try to figure out where they ' ve gone when they burst. " Her eyes were shining as she talked about the animals, calling some of them by names she had obviously made up herself.
    " The hard part is when I come back and most of my old friends are gone. " She paused, her violet eyes growing misty. Then she smiled again and said, " But there are always plenty of new ones just waiting to play. "
    I