worried.
“I’m the one who threw the flour. I’ll take the blame,” Jane whispered, but she was truly hoping Louisa wouldn’t agree to that.
“She’ll blame both of us, no matter what you say. It was both of us. I made you slip. She is going to be so mad! What if she won’t let us cook in here anymore?” Louisa said. “This is the most fun cooking I’ve ever had…ever!”
“Let’s keep her in the other room,” Jane said quietly. “Do you have any pancakes ready? I’ll take her some to eat.”
Louisa nodded to Jane. “These are the fluffiest, so far,” Louisa said loudly enough for Mrs. Fields to hear. “I think they get fluffier with every bit of baking soda we add.”
“Those wonderful smells are making me hungry,” Mrs. Fields said.
“Hurry,” Jane whispered. Louisa placed pancakes on the plate with a spatula.
Jane started towards the porch.
“Wait, Jane! You’ve got flour on your hair! She’ll suspect something.” Louisa used a dish towel to brush the flour away from Jane’s hair. “Okay. That’s better. Go ahead.”
While Jane went into the other room, Louisa hurried to wipe the batter from the computer keyboard. Mrs. Fields was right…the room smelled wonderful. Even though they had made a mess, and even though she had had a fight with her cousin, Louisa was thinking that this kitchen was her favorite place in the world. In fact, the emotion in the kitchen was part of the attraction.
“I should be a chef,” she said to herself. “I have a passion for cooking.”
Suddenly, a flash of lightning and a loud bang of thunder on the computer screen made Louisa jump! When she looked down, she saw a stormy scene with sheets of rain pouring from the sky. She thought the blurred images of storefront signs swinging in the whistling wind were strange and eerie, not at all cozy like this warm kitchen. Where was this place on the website? Wherever it was, Louisa was grateful that she wasn’t there.