Once Upon a Toad by Heather Vogel Frederick

the outdoors, but then again, it made sense, what with her obsession with the national parks and everything. We emerged into a clearing, and she paused to catch her breath, then turned to me, abruptly changing the subject.
    â€œSo what’s all the fuss about, Catriona? I must say, when I spoke with your mother last night, I was expecting a life-and-death situation. It looks to me like you have it pretty good here in Portland.”
    â€œIt’s not all that bad,” I admitted grudgingly. “Except for Olivia.”
    Great-Aunt Abyssinia gave me a shrewd look. “A bit of a pill, isn’t she?”
    I looked up at her, surprised. Most grown-ups think Olivia is perfect. That halo of blond curls fools them every time.
    â€œIt does, does it?” said Great-Aunt Aby.
    I started. Had I spoken that last thought aloud?
    Great-Aunt Aby inspected some moss on the side of a nearby tree.
    â€œWhy don’t you tell me what’s going on between you two,” she said, and listened quietly as I told her everything that had happened over the past week. She chuckled at my description of how I’d sabotaged the diorama and dunked Olivia’s toothbrush in the toilet, and scowled when I got to the “Catbox” tap dance.
    â€œLittle weasel,” she muttered.
    Encouraged by this reaction, I told her about the stuff that had happened when we were younger, too, like the time back in third grade when Olivia cut off my bangs while I was sleeping. “She swore up and down that she’d had nothing todo with it, and that I had been sleepwalking and had cut them myself.”
    Great-Aunt Aby’s big teeth peeked out from between her lips, took a look around, then vanished as she squelched a smile. “She did, did she? And did your father and Iz believe her?”
    I wrapped my arms around myself. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds again, and the wind was picking up. “I think maybe Dad thought it sounded fishy, but he didn’t say anything. I know they really want us to get along, so sometimes they kind of ignore things, you know? But it’s not fair!”
    â€œNot everything in life is fair, Catriona,” Great-Aunt Aby replied. “However, sometimes it’s possible to stack the deck a little in one’s favor.”
    â€œReally?” I replied cautiously. I wasn’t sure if this was an offer to help or not. I hoped she wasn’t going to pull another plastic bag out of her pocket. Stepsister-B-Gone that doubled as antiperspirant or flea powder or something.
    â€œI understand that Olivia doesn’t have the most generous of spirits, but it seems to me that what you two need is to find some common ground.”
    I snorted.
    â€œSurely there’s something you two share that you can build on?”
    I shook my head. This conversation had taken a disappointing turn. I’d been hoping for something with a little more oomph, not just a piece of lame advice. Like maybe an offer to spirit Olivia away in the RV. That would serve her right. See how she liked living on pickled eggs and seaweed.
    Great-Aunt Abyssinia smiled, her eyes glinting behind her glasses again. “You have a delicious sense of humor, Catriona. You’re very like your mother was at your age—and like the Catriona for whom you were named.”
    I looked at her in surprise. “You knew my great-great-grandmother?” Exactly how old was Great-Aunt Aby, anyway?
    â€œVery,” she replied, then coughed. “I mean, of course I did. I mean—oh, never mind.” She cocked her head sharply, suddenly alert. “Your father’s heading home early,” she announced. “We’d better go back.”
    My mouth dropped open. How could she possibly know that? Ignoring me, Great-Aunt Aby turned abruptly and charged back down the Wildwood Trail. I had no choice but to follow her, my head spinning from all the strange twists and turns of our