Sophie Simon Solves Them All (7 page)

“Isn't he
fantastic
, Owen?” Mrs. Luu cried. “It's exactly what you wanted!”

“I-I … It's … I…” Lenny was licking his claws and staring at Owen. Owen gulped. “It-it … I…”

Sophie poked him in the side.

“It's perfect,” Owen said. He gulped again. “It's exactly the exact same pet I wanted. Exactly.”

“I knew you would love it!” Mrs. Luu exclaimed. “Now! Time for cake!”

While Mrs. Luu lit the candles, Sophie thought about the most recent book she'd checked out from the library.

Fascinating Facts About Ring-Tailed Lemurs

She thought about one chapter in particular.

“The Diet of the Ring-Tailed Lemur”

There were lots of interesting bits of information in that chapter, but there was one fact that Sophie had found
especially
fascinating:

One of a lemur's favorite snacks is grasshoppers.

Mrs. Luu finished lighting the candles.

Sophie scooched to the very back of the crowd of kids, far away from Mrs. Luu.

“Everybody sing!” Mrs. Luu called out.

“Happy birthday to you!”
they all sang.

Sophie reached inside her right pocket.

“Happy birthday to you!”

She pulled out a handful of grasshoppers she'd found in her yard.

“Happy birthday, dear Owen!”

She tossed the grasshoppers up in the air, and they landed—
plunk plunk plunk plunk—
right on top of the cake.

“Happy bir—”

“YAP!”

Lenny the Lemur leaped from Owen's shoulder and pounced onto the cake, trying to grab the grasshoppers.

He snuffed out the candles.

“Yap!”

The cake toppled over.

“Yap!”

Fur and frosting went flying.

“Yap!”

“Owen, your birthday cake!” Mrs. Luu screamed. She yanked Lenny out of the frosting and dropped him on the grass. “I spent seventeen hours perfecting the icing! And now it's
ruined!
”

Sophie smiled.

“Th-that's okay, Mom,” Owen said slowly. “I don't mind. That lemur is the exact pet I exactly wanted. Exactly.”

Mrs. Luu sniffed. “Well,” she said, examining the frosted, ice creamy lemur at her feet. “Okay then. I'm glad you're so happy. I guess it's time for the high-dive contest.”

While Mrs. Luu led the children to the diving board, Sophie scooped up Lenny the Lemur and set him on her shoulder.

Lenny licked his cakey claws, and Sophie winked at him.

Sophie thought about another chapter in the book about lemurs.

“The Social Habits of the Ring-Tailed Lemur”

There were tons of exciting pieces of information in that chapter, but there was one fact that Sophie had found
especially
remarkable:

When lemurs get cold, they like to warm their bellies in the sun. They can stay perfectly still for hours.

Mrs. Luu snapped her fingers. “Everybody in line for the diving board!” she cried.

Everyone lined up behind the diving board ladder.

Sophie stood at the back of the line, Lenny perched on her shoulder.

She reached inside her left pocket.

She pulled out the battery-powered fan she'd brought from home.

She turned the fan on high and shot the frosty air at the ice-cream-covered lemur.

“YAP!”

Lenny leaped from her shoulder and raced up the ladder.

He plopped himself down—
PLOP!
—in the sunny spot at the very center of the diving board.

“Oh no!” Mrs. Luu shouted, staring up at the lemur high above the pool. He had his belly to the sun, his little lemur arms out to the sides. “How can we have a high-dive contest when there's a
lemur
on the diving board?”

Owen shrugged.

He did not seem very upset about not being able to dive.

Mrs. Luu stomped to the front of the line and climbed the ladder.

She walked to the edge, one wobbly footstep at a time.

She tried to pry Lenny off the diving board.

She poked and prodded.

“Yap!”

The diving board flopped, and Mrs. Luu bounced. Down below, the kids held their breath. But Mrs. Luu kept her balance and did not fall into the pool.

She tugged and tickled.

“Yap!”

The diving board flipped, and Mrs. Luu bobbed. Down below, the kids held their breath. But Mrs. Luu kept her balance and did not fall into the pool.

She jerked and jostled.

“YAP!”

The diving board flip-flip-flop-flop-flipped, and Mrs. Luu bumped and bopped and bucked. Down below, the kids held their breath. But Mrs. Luu kept her balance.

She did not fall into the pool.

And that lemur would not move a muscle.

“I had this diving board installed especially for your birthday extravaganza!” Mrs. Luu wailed across the water. “And now the high-dive contest is
ruined
!”

Sophie smiled.

“I-I don't mind, Mom,” Owen said. “Really. I still exactly love that exact lemur exactly up there.”

“Well,” she said once she had climbed down the ladder. “As long as you're happy, Owen.” She looked up at Lenny and shook her head. “I guess it's time for the old-fashioned taffy pull.”

While Mrs. Luu set out the pot of taffy mixture on the table, Sophie thought about Chapter 3 in the book about lemurs.

“Predators of the Ring-Tailed Lemur”

There were loads of incredible nuggets of information in that chapter, but there was one fact that Sophie had found
especially
amazing.

One of a lemur's fiercest enemies is the Madagascar ground boa. If confronted with a boa constrictor, a lemur will attack.

Mrs. Luu pointed to the pot of syrupy taffy mixture. “Who wants to add the food coloring?” she asked.

Sophie looked at the bottles of food coloring.

She picked up a bottle labeled “Jungle Green.”

“I'll do it,” she said.

She unscrewed the lid.

“Just a tiny titch,” Mrs. Luu told her.

Sophie nodded.

She poured in a tiny titch.

Then she poured in the tiniest titch more.

“That's enough,” Mrs. Luu told her.

“Okay,” Sophie said.

She grinned at Owen.

And then she poured in the whole bottle.

“Whoops,” she said. “It must have slipped.”

Mrs. Luu took the bottle from Sophie and frowned at her.

“Now,” Mrs. Luu told the children after she had stirred in the dye, “in order to turn this mixture into candy, we have to pull it. I'll show you. You just grab a great glob like this”—Mrs. Luu reached in the pot—“and then you take it in both your hands”—she took hold of a heaping blob of dark green goop—“and you stretch it.”

Mrs. Luu began to pull.

Slowly …

Slowly …

Longer …

And longer …

Until the taffy between her hands looked exactly like one long, thin, green—

“Yap!”

—snake.

“Yap yap!”

A Madagascar ground boa, to be exact.

“Yap yap yap!”

From up on his high-dive perch, Lenny had spotted the taffy.

“What on earth,” Mrs. Luu said, the taffy stretched out between her hands, “is that lemur yapping abou—”

“YAP!”

That's when she was kicked in the taffy by a high-diving lemur.

“YAP!”

Lenny scuffled with the taffy, and Mrs. Luu knocked over the taffy pot.

CRASH!

“YAP!”

Mrs. Luu hollered.

Lenny tussled with the taffy, and Mrs. Luu toppled onto the table.

BASH!

“YAP!”

Mrs. Luu screamed.

Lenny wrestled with the taffy, and Mrs. Luu, her feet just inches from the edge of the pool …

Lost her balance …

And tumbled into the water.

SPLASH!

“YAP!”

Mrs. Luu wailed.

“That's it!”
Mrs. Luu screeched from the water. She climbed out of the pool.

Her dress was soaked.

Her shoe was broken.

Her hair was stuck to her eyebrows.

The taffy was toast.

“I tried out twenty-two different recipes to make that taffy!” Mrs. Luu bellowed. “And that lemur
ruined
it! He ruined
everything
!”

Sophie smiled.

“But I
love
the lemur,” Owen said. He scooped Lenny out of the pool and handed him to Daisy, sticky and dripping and taffyed all over. “He's exactly the pet I wanted. Exactly.”

“Well, I'm sorry, Owen,” Mrs. Luu said. She wrung out her sleeves. “But I never should have agreed to get you such an exotic pet. I knew it was a mistake from the beginning.”

She squeezed the water out of her hair.

“A lemur clearly isn't a good pet for you,” she said. “You need something totally different. Like a rabbit. Yes. A nice, quiet rabbit with long ears and a fluffy little tail.”

Owen nodded slowly. “Yeah, Mom,” he said. “That doesn't sound too ba—”

“No arguments!” Mrs. Luu scolded. “You're getting a rabbit and there's nothing you can do to change my mind!”

Owen slipped Sophie a twenty-dollar bill.

“I guess that's fine then,” he told his mother.

Sophie smiled and tucked the bill in her pocket with the rest of her money.

One hundred dollars.

Sophie finally had one hundred dollars.

She had done it. She had thought of every detail and solved every problem. And now she had exactly enough money to get the Pembo Q-60.

Mrs. Luu took off her shoes and dumped out the pool water. “I'm going to call Petes' Pets right now and ask for my money back,” she said.

Sophie stopped smiling.

It turned out there was
one
detail she hadn't thought of.

“What?” she asked Mrs. Luu.

“I'm going to call the pet store,” Mrs. Luu said. “I paid one hundred dollars for that lemur, and I want my money back.”

And she turned and walked, drippy-sticky, toward the house.

“Sophie!” Daisy hissed. “She can't call my parents! I'll get in trouble! What if they make me go back to ballet class?”

Julia's eyes were big as cantaloupes. “If Daisy goes back to ballet class,” she cried, “then I won't have a news story!”

Owen sat down plop in the grass. “If my mom finds out about the lemur,” he said, “she'll
never
get me a rabbit!”

Sophie stuck her hand inside her pocket.

One hundred dollars.

She looked at Daisy.

She looked at Julia.

She looked at Owen.

Sophie sighed.

“Mrs. Luu!” she called out.

Mrs. Luu turned.

“You don't need to call the pet store!” Sophie hollered.

Mrs. Luu walked back to the pool.

“Daisy has your refund,” Sophie said. She took the money out of her pocket and slipped it secretly into Daisy's hand. “One hundred dollars. Her parents made her bring it in case there was a problem.”

Daisy looked at the money, and then she looked at Sophie.

Sophie nodded.

Daisy handed the money to Mrs. Luu.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Luu said. She walked back inside the house, leaving soggy footsteps all the way.

And then something happened to Sophie that had never happened before.

Daisy hugged her.

And Julia hugged her.

And
Owen
hugged her.

“Sophie!” Julia cried. The four of them were squeezed up tight together like a human snowball. “I think you may just be the best friend I've ever, ever had.”

And Owen and Daisy agreed.

Sophie thought about that.

Somehow, Sophie had not ended up with a calculator.

Somehow, she had ended up with friends.

What on earth was she supposed to do with
those
?

*   *   *

If Sophie Simon had been paying attention during the rest of the party, instead of sulking behind the broken cake table with the soggy, taffy-covered lemur, she would have noticed several things.

She would have noticed Daisy whispering to Owen.