Girls Rule! Read online

  Eighteen

  Queen for a Day

  When Wally got his card in the mail, it said simply, station number 3. It did not give the name of a float. Jake’s card said he was going to ride on the fire truck with a dozen other guys, and Josh’s card said he got to ride in the car with the mayor and two more boys from his class. But Wally had no idea where he would be in the parade.

  “I’ll be watching for you guys,” Mrs. Hatford said that morning. She had taken the day off work to stay with Peter at the festival. “All the folks at the hardware store will be waving to you.”

  Peter, clutching his tickets for treats, was eager to get going and taste those strawberries, and Mr. Hatford said he would do his mail deliveries in the business district first so that he could see the parade too.

  “Jump in my car and I’ll drop you off at the high school,” he told the older boys, and Wally and the twins climbed into the backseat.

  There weren’t as many kids at the school as Wally had thought. Evidently a lot had collected some money and then stopped. Everyone who had turned in any money at all got a coupon for strawberry shortcake, but perhaps only thirty or so had earned the right to be in the parade.

  “Have a good time!” Mr. Hatford said as they piled out of the car.

  “Bye!” said Josh excitedly as he went over to shake hands with the mayor.

  “See ya!” said Jake as he headed for the fire truck, which was first in the lineup.

  Wally stood still and looked around him. If the fire truck was number one, and the Strawberry Queen float was number two, then number three had to be… Wally looked around some more. There was no number three. Number four followed number two, and that was the Women’s Garden Club float.

  Wally decided that if that was station number three, he would turn around and go home. He would not wear a petunia costume and wave to the crowd. He would not toss daisies to people or dress up like a tulip.

  Just as he turned to go back down the line again, three policemen rode up on horseback and took their places behind the queen’s float.

  “You looking for station number three?” one of them asked.

  Wally’s heart sank. He knew it! He would be the parade pooper scooper. His job would be to walk behind the horses and shovel up manure. Slowly he nodded his head.

  One of the policemen slid off his horse and said, “Over here. You get to ride the bay.”

  Wally stared. “What?” he said.

  “Not afraid, are you?” The officer smiled. “She’s really a good old horse, and you’ve got Mac and Sam here to keep an eye on things.”

  Wally couldn’t believe it. Nothing good ever seemed to happen to him, but this was for real.

  The policeman showed him how to put one foot in the stirrup and swing his other leg over the back of the horse. And there he was! Wally Hatford! Sitting high on a horse between two officers.

  He didn’t mind that the saddle leather was hot beneath him. He didn’t care that the horse’s flanks were warm. He wasn’t even scared when the bay snorted and shook her mane. Wally held the reins in his hand like a longtime cowboy. He had never felt better in his life.

  He looked around at the crowd on his left. He looked around at the crowd on his right. Then he looked straight ahead and almost fell off the horse, because he thought he saw a giant strawberry wave at him. Three humongous strawberries, as a matter of fact. He was sure he saw them move.

  Well, their arms, maybe. Yes, they did have arms. And then he saw that each strawberry had a head right where the stem should be. And then… then … he saw that one of the heads belonged to none other than Caroline Lenore Malloy.

  Wally could only stare in astonishment as the parade began to move. He couldn’t tell if the streaks on Caro-line’s cheeks were tears or sweat, but she definitely did not look happy. Wanly, Caroline smiled to the left and then to the right. Feebly she waved her left hand, then her right.

  Clang! Clang! went the bell on the fire truck. Thumpa thumpa thumpa went a drum somewhere behind him. Clickity clackity went the horses’ hooves on the pavement as Wally and the two policemen trotted along behind the queen’s float. Wally could not see the queen herself, but he could see candy flying out to the left, then to the right, and the crowds reaching out to catch it.

  They went past the hospital, where patients in wheelchairs had been brought out in front to watch. Past the courthouse, where Wally’s dad whistled and waved, his eyes wide with surprise as Wally rode by. Past the theater and the drugstore, on past Ethel’s Bakery and Oldakers’ Bookstore.

  Booths up and down Main Street sold strawberry ice cream, strawberry shortcake, and strawberry pancakes dusted with powdered sugar.

  “Hey, look at Wally!” came a cry from Peter, who grabbed his mother’s arm and pointed. His mouth was smeared red with fresh strawberries.

  “For heaven’s sake!” cried Mrs. Hatford. “Why, it’s Wally on a horse!"

  Wally beamed. This was ten times better than riding on the fire truck. Twenty times better than riding with the mayor. Thirty times better than marching behind the band.

  They passed the hardware store and the department store, the beauty parlor and the college. When they got to Buckman Elementary, where the parade was to turn around and go back, Wally saw people sitting along the wall, up on the steps, even on top of the jungle gym.

  Suddenly, the fire engine stopped. The queen’s float stopped. Little by little the whole parade stopped moving, but the band played on.

  Wally saw two firemen jump down from the truck up ahead and come running back to the queen’s float. There was a great deal of movement and confusion, and the two officers on either side of Wally quickly rode up to see what was going on, motioning Wally to come along.

  “What’s the trouble?” one of the officers called.

  “The queen’s fainted. Heat exhaustion, I imagine,” the first fireman answered. “I’ve put in a call for an ambulance.”

  Wally nosed his horse up to the front of float number two, and there was the strawberry queen lying in a heap at the foot of her throne.

  “We’re going to carry her over there into the shade,” the second fireman said. “Joe will stay with her until the ambulance comes.”

  “We need to get this parade moving again,” said the policeman next to Wally. “Can’t have all these folks just standing out under the sun.”

  At that moment Caroline Malloy burst out of her velveteen strawberry at the back of the float and came running around to the front. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it!” she called. “I’ll sit on the throne and throw out candy to the crowd.”

  The policemen and firemen looked at the girl in the bright red bathing suit with the large pink polka dots. One of the firemen smiled.

  “Well, sweetheart, I guess you’re as close to a strawberry as we’re going to get, so you climb up there with your basket and we’ll get started.”

  An ambulance came down a side street, weaving in and out of the crowd, but the parade was on its way, first the fire truck, then the queen’s float, then Wally and the policemen. Wally couldn’t see Caroline sitting on the throne up ahead, but he could see candy whizzing to the left, candy whizzing to the right, and as they turned around in the school parking lot to head back up Main Street again, he caught a glimpse of Caroline, the crown of strawberries on her head, throwing candy to the crowd with one hand and kisses with the other, as though she had lived in a palace all her life and knew exactly what to do.

  The firemen were smiling. The policemen were smiling. Wally was smiling too. Was this wild or was this nuts? Or did it really matter? School was out, summer had begun, he was on horseback, and if Caroline was queen for a day, so what?

  Nineteen

  Letter to Georgia

  Dear Benson Brothers:

  I thought you might like to know what you’re missing up here in Buckman, so I am enclosing a picture of me on the Strawberry Queen float in the Strawberry Festival Parade last Saturday. The newspaper article will tell you t
he story of how I got to be queen. If you look closely, you will see Wally on a horse behind the queen’s float. Jake was riding on the fire engine and Josh rode with the mayor. Now aren’t you sorry you moved to Georgia?

  Beth and Eddie and I are enjoying a delightful summer in your house, and I don’t know where we’ll move if we stay here in Buckman. I just want you to know that when you come back here and take over your house, you will definitely know we’re around. You will definitely know that the Malloy girls can shake things up a little, and that we can do almost anything if we put our minds to it.

  Sincerely,

  Caroline Lenore Malloy

  P.S. The bathing suit is brand-new.

  About the Author

  There really is an annual strawberry festival in the town of Buckhannon, West Virginia, which serves as the model for Buckman in this book. Maybe the festival is not quite like this one, but it’s still a big deal. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor chose this town for her boys-versus-girls books because that is where her husband grew up, and she loves going back to visit.

  There are now ten books in the series—The Boys Start the War, The Girls Get Even, Boys Against Girls, The Girls’ Revenge, A Traitor Among the Boys, A Spy Among the Girls, The Boys Return, The Girls Take Over, Boys in Control, and Girls Rule!

  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is the author of more than a hundred books, including the Newbery Award– winning Shiloh and the other two books in the Shiloh trilogy, Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh. She and her husband live in Bethesda, Maryland. They are the parents of two grown sons and have three grandchildren, Sophia, Tressa, and Garrett Riley.

  Read all about the Hatford boys and the Malloy girls.

  The Boys Start the War

  Just when the Hatford brothers are expecting three boys to move into the house across the river, where their best friends used to live, the Malloy girls arrive instead. Wally and his brothers decide to make Caroline and her sisters so miserable that they’ll want to go back to Ohio, but they haven’t counted on the ingenuity of the girls. From dead fish to dead bodies, floating cakes to floating heads, the pranks continue—first by the boys, then by the girls—until someone is taken prisoner!

  The Girls Get Even

  Still smarting from the boys’ latest trick, the girls are determined to get even. Caroline is thrilled to play the part of Goblin Queen in the school play, especially since Wally Hatford has to be her footman. The boys, however, have a creepy plan for Halloween night. They’re certain the girls will walk right into their trap. Little do the boys know what the Malloy sisters have in store.

  Boys Against Girls

  Abaguchie mania! Caroline Malloy shivers happily when her on-again, off-again enemy Wally Hatford tells her that the remains of a strange animal known as the abaguchie have been spotted in their area. Wally swears Caroline to secrecy and warns her not to search by herself. But Caroline will do anything to find the secret of the bones.

  The Girls’ Revenge

  Christmas is coming, but Caroline Malloy and Wally Hatford aren’t singing carols around the tree. Instead, these sworn enemies must interview each other for the dreaded December class project. Caroline, as usual, has a trick up her sleeve that’s sure to shock Wally. In the meantime, Wally and his brothers find a way to spy on the Malloy girls at home. The girls vow to get revenge on those sneaky Hatfords with a trap the boys won’t soon forget.

  A Traitor Among the Boys

  The Hatford boys make a New Year’s resolution to treat the Malloy girls like sisters. But who says you can’t play tricks on sisters? The girls will need to stay one step ahead of the boys and are willing to pay big-time for advance information. Homemade cookies should be all it takes to make a traitor spill the beans. In the meantime, Caroline is delighted with her role in the town play. Don’t ask how Beth, Josh, and Wally get roped into it—just wait until showtime, when Caroline pulls her wildest stunt yet!

  A Spy Among the Girls

  Valentine’s Day is coming up, and love is in the air for Beth Malloy and Josh Hatford. When they’re spotted holding hands, Josh tells his teasing brothers that he’s simply spying on the girls to see what they’re plotting next. At the same time, Caroline Malloy, the family actress, decides she must know what it’s like to fall in love. Poor Wally Hatford is in for it when she chooses him as the object of her affection!

  The Boys Return

  It’s spring break, and the only assignment Wally Hatford and Caroline Malloy have is to do something they’ve never done before. Wally’s sure that will be a cinch, because the mighty Benson brothers are coming. It will be nonstop action all the way. For starters, the nine Benson and Hatford boys plan to scare the three Malloy sisters silly by convincing them that their house is haunted. Meanwhile, everyone in town has heard that there’s a hungry cougar on the prowl. When the kids decide to take a break from their tricks and join forces to catch the cougar, guess who gets stuck with the scariest job?

  The Girls Take Over

  The Hatford boys and the Malloy girls are ready to outdo each other again. Eddie is the first girl ever to try out for the school baseball team. Now she and Jake are vying for the same position, while Caroline and Wally compete to become class spelling champ. As if that’s not enough, the kids decide to race bottles down the rising Buckman River to see whose will travel farthest by the end of the month. Of course, neither team trusts the other, and when the girls go down to the river to capture the boys’ bottles, well…it looks as if those Malloy girls may be in over their heads this time!

  Boys in Control

  Wally Hatford always seems to get a raw deal. The rest of the family goes to the ball game, and he has to stay home to watch over a yard sale. Caroline Malloy writes a silly play for a school project, and he gets roped into costarring in it with her! Things are looking down, especially when the Malloy girls stumble across an embarrassing item from the boys’ past. But Wally finally gets his chance to turn the tables on the girls’ scheme and prove who’s really in control. Boys rule!

  Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books

  a division of Random House, Inc., New York

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Copyright © 2004 by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

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  eISBN-13: 978-0-307-52837-7

  June 2006

  v 3.0