Ellie and the Good-Luck Pig Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: The New Guest

  Chapter 2: Lunch-Table Talk

  Chapter 3: Mostly Perfect Monday

  Chapter 4: Good-News Tuesday

  Chapter 5: String of Luck

  Chapter 6: Mr. Fisk’s Farm

  Chapter 7: Good-bye, Plum

  Chapter 8: The Blues

  Chapter 9: Ellie Talks It Out

  Chapter 10: Clover All Over

  ‘Liz and the Sand-Castle Contest’ Excerpt

  About Callie Barkley and Marsha Riti

  The New Guest

  Ellie checked her sparkly red watch. “Ms. Sullivan,” she said, “what time are they coming again?”

  Ms. Sullivan laughed. “Like I said the last time you asked—any minute!”

  Ellie sighed. “But that was at least two minutes ago!”

  This time Amy, Liz, and Marion laughed, too. The four girls and Ms. Sullivan were in front of The Critter Club, the animal shelter they ran in Ms. Sullivan’s barn. They were waiting to welcome Plum, their newest animal guest.

  “Do we have the food ready for her?” Marion asked.

  Amy nodded. “My mom says Plum eats all kinds of fruits and vegetables.” Amy’s mom was a veterinarian. She helped out with the animals at The Critter Club. “She also said they are very social animals. We should make sure one of us can come here to play with her every day.”

  Liz knelt down to pet Ms. Sullivan’s dog. “I wonder what you’ll think of Plum, Rufus.”

  Just then, Rufus started to bark, but not at Liz. He was barking at the road. Everyone looked that way. A pickup truck was pulling in to Ms. Sullivan’s driveway.

  “She’s here! She’s here!” Ellie exclaimed. She jumped and clapped. They’d had all kinds of animals at The Critter Club: kittens, bunnies, turtles, even frogs. But never an animal like Plum!

  The pickup truck came to a stop in front of the barn. A smiling young lady with short, dark hair hopped out. “Hi, girls! Hello, Ms. Sullivan!” she said.

  “Hi, Anna!” they all replied.

  They had met her the day before when she’d come to check out The Critter Club. Ellie felt so happy and proud that Anna had decided it was a good place for Plum—at least for the time being.

  Anna walked around to the back of the pickup. “So are you ready to meet Plum?” she asked.

  “Yes!” the girls cried.

  Ellie could see the top of a large metal crate in the back of the truck. Anna climbed up and brought it down to the ground.

  Inside was the cutest, pinkest, littlest pig Ellie had ever seen!

  “Plum!” Ellie squealed. She knelt down beside the crate and peered between the slats. “I’m so excited to meet you!” Plum began to make her own high-pitched pig squeals. She turned around and around in a circle. “And you seem excited to come out!” Ellie added.

  “I’m so glad you offered to find a home for her,” Anna said as she opened the crate. “Plum has had only our tiny backyard to roam in. She needs more space!”

  All of a sudden, Plum rocketed out of the crate. In a flash she was off. Rufus chased her, barking playfully. The two of them ran around and around the barn. Anna, the girls, and Ms. Sullivan looked on and smiled.

  “Yep!” said Ellie. “Space is one thing we definitely have at The Critter Club!”

  Lunch-Table Talk

  The next day Ellie, Liz, Marion, and Amy sat together at lunch. It was a Monday at Santa Vista Elementary School, where the girls were in the same second-grade class.

  “Busy weekend, huh?” Ellie said as she unpacked her lunch.

  The girls had spent Sunday afternoon playing with Plum. They had also helped Ms. Sullivan start to dig Plum’s wallow—a mud pit for her to roll around in. Then Ellie had run off to audition for a play at a local kids’ theater.

  “How did your audition go?” Liz asked.

  Ellie got goose bumps on her arms. “I think it went really well!” she said hopefully. “I tried out for the lead. A lot of other kids did too. But maybe I have a shot.”

  Liz squeezed Ellie’s arm. “I bet you’ll get it!” she said.

  Amy shared some news from her dad, a newspaper editor. “He’s going to put an ad in the paper about Plum,” Amy said. “Maybe someone will read it and want to adopt her.” All the girls agreed that was a great idea.

  Liz told her friends about a painting she had worked on over the weekend. “It’s going to be a birthday present for my aunt,” Liz explained. “She loves pigs! So I used my memory of Plum to help me paint.”

  Marion sighed. “Well, I spent most of Saturday doing homework. Can you believe Mrs. Sienna scheduled that spelling test for today—a Monday?”

  The spelling test!

  Ellie groaned. “Oh, no! Nana Gloria quizzed me a little on Saturday. But we only got through about half of the words. And yesterday there was so much going on. I forgot to finish studying!”

  Ellie wasn’t hungry anymore. She had gotten hundreds on the last three spelling tests. Looks like that’s over! she thought. What a way to start the week.

  Spelling tests were always right after lunch. Back in the classroom, Mrs. Sienna passed out the lined paper. Ellie took a deep breath. She knew one bad spelling grade wasn’t the end of the world. But she also knew Nana Gloria would ask how she’d done.

  Mostly Perfect Monday

  Ellie beamed as her mom drove her to The Critter Club after school that day. She looked down at the paper in her lap. It said “100.”

  Ellie almost couldn’t believe it. She had known how to spell a lot of the words. But there were some she hadn’t been sure about at all.

  I can’t wait to show Nana Gloria, she thought. She gazed out the rain-splattered window. Now if only it would stop raining!

  All four girls were meeting up at The Critter Club. They had planned to play outside with Plum. But it had been raining all day.

  Ellie’s mom pulled up to Ms. Sullivan’s barn. “Marion’s dad will drive you home at five,” her mom reminded her.

  “Okay!” replied Ellie. She put up the hood of her raincoat. Then she stepped out of the car and closed the door.

  As she did, the rain let up—then stopped. Ellie put down her hood to make sure. No more raindrops! She smiled and looked up at the sky. The sun was just peeking out from behind a huge gray cloud.

  “Wow! Great timing!” she said.

  Ellie hurried inside to find Amy, Liz, and Marion already there. They were watching Plum poke around in her food trough. “Hey, guess what!” Ellie called to them. “The rain stopped.”

  “Hooray!” cried Liz.

  “How about we see if Plum likes her wallow?” Amy suggested.

  Leading Plum outside, the girls squinted in the bright sunshine.

  “Look!” Marion said, pointing up at the sky. Ellie looked up. A bright, clear rainbow stretched across the misty sky!

  The dreary, rainy day had turned into the most perfect sunny afternoon.

  The girls led Plum over to the hole they had dug for her.

  “How convenient!” said Ellie. “The rain filled it up.”

  Amy nodded. “It’s the perfect muddy mess,” she said. “What do you think, Plum?”

  Plum wasted no time. She plunged herself into the wallow, splashing mud everywhere. The girls laughed, watching her roll around—until Plum decided she wanted to come out. Ellie shrieked as the mud-covered piglet came running straight at them. Plum seemed to think it was a game. She chased Ellie around Ms. Sullivan’s yard as Ellie half-shrieked, half-laughed.

  Finally, Liz managed to catch the pig. Together they hosed Plum off. Soon she was squeaky clean.

  Tired out, the girls found a patch of sun-dried grass and sat dow
n to enjoy the sunshine. Plum plopped down next to them.

  “Oooh! Clover!” said Liz, sitting next to Ellie. She pointed to a clover patch between them.

  “Hmm,” said Ellie. “I wonder if there’s a four-leaf clover in here somewhere!” It had been a pretty perfect afternoon. Maybe Ellie would find a lucky clover to really top it off. But she didn’t.

  Later, Ellie got a ride home from The Critter Club with Marion and her dad. As Ellie entered the house, her mom came out from the kitchen to meet her.

  “Hi, Mom!” said Ellie. “Where’s Nana Gloria? I want to show her my . . .” Ellie’s voice trailed off. She noticed the look on her mom’s face. It was her bad-news face. “What is it? What’s the matter?”

  “Let’s go out to the porch,” Mrs. Mitchell said. She sat down on the staircase. Ellie sat next to her.

  “The play director called,” her mom said gently. “I’m sorry, honey, but you didn’t get the lead.”

  “Oh,” Ellie managed to say. She shrugged. “That’s okay.” But a lump was rising in her throat.

  “I know,” her mom said, pulling her close. “You really wanted that part. But there is some good news: You got the role of the teacher. That one has lots of lines, right?”

  Ellie nodded. “Right,” she said. But it wasn’t the lead.

  The afternoon hadn’t turned out so perfectly after all.

  Good-News Tuesday

  Ellie moped her way through school on Tuesday. She couldn’t stop thinking about the part she hadn’t gotten.

  Ellie didn’t even enjoy music class, which was usually her favorite. It reminded her of the play, which was a musical.

  And she loved her teacher, Mrs. Sienna. But today the teacher reminded Ellie of the smaller role she would be playing.

  Ellie wasn’t even all that excited about going to The Critter Club after school with Amy. She had told her friends at lunch that she hadn’t gotten the lead. She was worried Amy might bring it up. Ellie didn’t feel like talking about it.

  When the last bell rang, Ellie met up with Amy outside. “My mom is parked over there,” Amy said, pointing. Ellie saw Dr. Purvis’ minivan in the pickup circle. It was easy to spot with SANTA VISTA VET CLINIC written on the side in purple letters.

  Then Ellie spotted her own mom parked right behind Dr. Purvis. Mrs. Mitchell and Dr. Purvis were standing together on the curb. They were both waving at Ellie and Amy.

  Ellie ran over. “Mom, did you forget?” she said. “I’m going to The Critter Club with Amy and her mom today.”

  Mrs. Mitchell had a huge smile on her face. “I know,” she replied. “But I have some news. I had to come tell you!”

  “Really?” Ellie asked. “What? What?!” She figured it must be really good if her mom couldn’t wait until she got home.

  Mrs. Mitchell explained. “Well, the play director called again. She said that the girl who was offered the lead can’t take it. The director says the part is yours . . . if you still want it!”

  Ellie’s jaw dropped open. She couldn’t believe it! “Of course I still want it!” she cried. “It’s all I thought about all day long! Woo-hooooo!”

  Amy laughed and cheered with Ellie. “Congratulations!” Amy said, hugging her friend.

  “I’m so happy for you, Ellie!” said Dr. Purvis. “Come on! We can go tell Ms. Sullivan the good news too!”

  At The Critter Club, Ms. Sullivan was just as thrilled for Ellie as everyone else. “That’s wonderful!” she cried. Then she leaned in close to Ellie and whispered, “Ruby Fairchild knows you’ll be great!”

  She winked at Ellie. Ellie smiled—she was the only person in town who knew that Ms. Sullivan had once been a famous movie actress named Ruby Fairchild.

  “Oh! Before I forget,” Ms. Sullivan added, “you left your raincoat here yesterday, Ellie.” Ms. Sullivan pointed to a red slicker hanging on a wall hook. “The weather was so nice when you left, it’s no wonder you forgot it.”

  “Thanks, Ms. Sullivan!” Ellie replied. “I’ll put it on to help clean out Plum’s pen.”

  She went over and put on her raincoat.

  “Okay, Plum! I’m ready for you!” she announced, and thrust her hands into her pockets.

  Right away, her left hand felt something. She pulled it out and held it up.

  It was a five-dollar bill! “Wait,” said Ellie. “Where did this come from?”

  Ms. Sullivan shrugged.

  Amy asked, “Isn’t it yours?”

  But Ellie didn’t remember putting five dollars in that pocket.

  Wow, thought Ellie. Finding a penny is pretty lucky. Finding five dollars? That’s got to be really, really lucky!

  String of Luck

  That night Ellie lay awake in bed. She was thinking back over her week. It had been pretty great so far. First, The Critter Club had gotten a fun new guest. Then Ellie had aced her Monday spelling test. And she hadn’t even studied all the words! Later that day, the weather had cleared at just the right time. And then, she had gotten the lead in the play and found the money in her pocket!

  I’ve been really lucky, thought Ellie. And it all started with Plum. . . .

  Ellie gasped. Could it be? Was Plum bringing her good luck?

  The idea bounced around in her tired brain. Soon she drifted off to sleep. She had a dream. She was starring in a Broadway play that got rave reviews. Plum was waving from the audience.

  In the morning Ellie decided not to tell anyone about her idea that Plum was a good-luck pig. For one thing, she felt silly saying it out loud. For another, well, what if it was true? She didn’t want to jinx it by talking about it!

  So Ellie tried to go about her week as usual. But it wasn’t a usual week.

  On Wednesday morning she won a class raffle. The prize was an extra half hour of reading time while the rest of the class was cleaning out their cubbies. Somehow, Ellie was not very surprised she’d won.

  On Thursday she climbed the rope fastest during gym class—faster than the strongest kids in her class. Ellie figured luck just wasn’t on their side. Unlike me! she thought.

  On Friday morning Ellie was having breakfast when the phone rang. Her mom answered. When she hung up, she told Ellie, “That was the dentist’s office. Your appointment for today has to be pushed back to next month.”

  Ellie just poured milk in her cereal and whispered, “Thank you, Plum.”

  Walking into school later, Ellie wondered what luck the day would bring! As she slid into her seat, Amy came hurrying into the classroom. She saw Ellie and went right over.

  “Guess what?” Amy said. “I have the best news!”

  Ellie sat up straight in her chair and smiled. Here we go! she thought. This should be good! She couldn’t wait to hear what Amy had to say.

  “Someone called about Plum!” Amy went on. “They saw the ad in my dad’s newspaper. They want to meet Plum—and maybe even adopt her!”

  Ellie’s face fell . . . and her heart sank.

  Mr. Fisk’s Farm

  “Isn’t this all happening a little fast?” Ellie asked Amy, Liz, and Marion.

  The girls had gathered at The Critter Club on Saturday morning. The man who had called about Plum was coming to visit—any minute. Liz was hosing Plum down for the third time that morning. Every time she got the piglet clean, Plum ran off and jumped in the wallow again.

  “I mean, who is this man?” Ellie went on. “What do we know about him, anyway?”

  “Well,” said Amy, “Dad says his name is Mr. Fisk. He owns a farm sanctuary in Springfield—about ten minutes away.”

  “I’ve heard of those!” said Marion. “It’s like a rescue shelter for farm animals—except the animals get to stay there for the rest of their lives.”

  “Right!” said Amy. “And I guess Mr. Fisk has lots of animals: cows, chickens, goats, even other pigs!”

  Liz pet Plum’s head. “Hear that, Plum? Other pigs!”

  Marion added, “It sounds perfect!”

  Ellie wrinkled her brow. It did so
und pretty perfect. But she didn’t want to say so. She didn’t want Plum to go!

  Just then, a car turned in to the driveway. Ms. Sullivan came outside to join the girls as an older man in a flannel shirt got out of the car.

  “Hello,” he said. “I’m Mr. Fisk. I called about Plum the pig.”

  “Hi, Mr. Fisk,” Ms. Sullivan said. “We were expecting you.”

  “Welcome to The Critter Club!” said Liz.

  “We’re so excited you might want to adopt Plum!” said Marion.

  “Would you like to meet her?” Amy asked.

  “Yes, please, I would!” Mr. Fisk replied.

  Ellie didn’t say a word. She just followed as the others led the way into the barn.

  “Oh, what a beautiful piglet!” Mr. Fisk said when he spotted Plum in her pen.

  The girls gathered around to tell him a little about Plum.

  “She’s shy at first,” said Amy. “But once she gets to know you, she’s so sweet.”

  Marion said, “She loves the mud! But she doesn’t mind being hosed off so she’s nice and clean.”

  Next, Liz chimed in. “Her favorite color is blue.” All the girls gave Liz a puzzled look. “At least, I think it is,” Liz added.

  Everyone laughed. Everyone except for Ellie. She felt like it was her turn to say something. But what?

  Then Ellie had an idea. What if she said something bad about Plum? That way, Mr. Fisk won’t want to take her, Ellie thought, and Plum can stay!