The Curious Adventures of Jimmy McGee by Eleanor Estes Page A
Authors: Eleanor Estes
Tags: Ages 8 and up
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bebopped now. "
In your stovepipe hat. In darkness some of the time. First, boom! Then zigzag light! Spooky. I can do these things now. Let me out. I'll show you, please!
"
Jimmy McGee replied, "In prison, yes, I can see that. Darkness, no! You, Little Lydia, you now have the zoomie-zoomies. That's magic. You can make little flashes of lightning. That's a great deal more than any ordinary people can do, including those dolls they sell that can do practically anything! Not what you can do, now. Still..."
"
I'll share the magic! Please!
"
Jimmy McGee was impressed with her pretty manners. Right or wrong, he made a decision. He would let her out of his hat, but not out of his headquarters. He must, sooner or later, get her back to Amy, grieving over having lost such an extraordinary doll. So he would let Little Lydia out of his hat, cure her, then get her back to Amy.
In six-sixty time, he wove a tough barrier of twigs and cranberry branches over the entranceway to headquarters. Then he lifted Little Lydia out of his hat. What a relief! He scratched his head, and then he placed her in the darkest farthermost recess of his headquarters. Enchanted, he watched her zigzag flashes come and go.
She was like a lightning bug, twinkling here and there back in the cave. Now he saw her, now he didn't. In one of those moments when he didn't see her, Lydia, Little, alighted on the lid of his little strong box. She had already discovered where he had hidden that box. Little Lydia's magic was recharged.
Jimmy McGee did not know this. He'd been watching her flashes come and go. What he hoped was they would stay gone and that by letting her out of his hat, her magic would wear thin.
Alas! Nothing of what he had hoped by releasing her from her hat prison happened. Instead, her zigzag flashes became more and more frequent.
Again he forgot his rounds. He just couldn't take his eyes off Little Lydia. She mesmerized him. Night passed that way. In the morning he neglected to bang the pipes anyplace. The days were getting shorter, the nights longer and cooler. He still had the sense not to leave Little Lydia alone in his headquarters, not even to check on The Bizzy Bee.
However, he did watch the goings and the comings of Amy and Clarissa, who might be looking for shells or anything to add to the beauty of their castle and its town, or to go paddling.
In the evening, late, a young person out strolling said, "Have you ever seen so many fireflies as there are this year? There must be a nesting place for them up there at the dune. Their lights come on, their lights go off."
"M-m-m," agreed her companion, and on they walked arm in arm down the beach enjoying these last evenings of summer.
So far, nothing bad had happened because of Jimmy McGee's neglect of his people.
Some
complained a little that the hot water hadn't been coming on on the dot as it usually did and that they had slept later than usual. They did not get down to the beach until practically lunchtime, still yawning and stretching from too much sleep.
Jimmy McGee let his work slip more and more. He never made his rounds. People in The Bizzy Bee wondered. Papa said, "I hope we won't have to get a plumber. Seems to me things are going to pot!" It was now getting toward the end of August. Many people had already left Cape Cod to get their children ready for school, buy sneakers and pencils and erasers.
They had left without Jimmy McGee's even having reminded them to turn off the water at the taps in the cellar and empty out all the tanks so that the pipes wouldn't freeze and burst come winter. Also to bolt down the shutters. Amy and her family were still here. Once he heard Amy say, "There's still a chance Little Lydia will wash ashore. Miracles do happen!"
And every day they carefully scanned the water's edge hoping that by some miracle they would find their lost Little Lydia. Guilt, though not very deep, sometimes swept over Jimmy McGee.
Once in a while he reminded himself,
In your stovepipe hat. In darkness some of the time. First, boom! Then zigzag light! Spooky. I can do these things now. Let me out. I'll show you, please!
"
Jimmy McGee replied, "In prison, yes, I can see that. Darkness, no! You, Little Lydia, you now have the zoomie-zoomies. That's magic. You can make little flashes of lightning. That's a great deal more than any ordinary people can do, including those dolls they sell that can do practically anything! Not what you can do, now. Still..."
"
I'll share the magic! Please!
"
Jimmy McGee was impressed with her pretty manners. Right or wrong, he made a decision. He would let her out of his hat, but not out of his headquarters. He must, sooner or later, get her back to Amy, grieving over having lost such an extraordinary doll. So he would let Little Lydia out of his hat, cure her, then get her back to Amy.
In six-sixty time, he wove a tough barrier of twigs and cranberry branches over the entranceway to headquarters. Then he lifted Little Lydia out of his hat. What a relief! He scratched his head, and then he placed her in the darkest farthermost recess of his headquarters. Enchanted, he watched her zigzag flashes come and go.
She was like a lightning bug, twinkling here and there back in the cave. Now he saw her, now he didn't. In one of those moments when he didn't see her, Lydia, Little, alighted on the lid of his little strong box. She had already discovered where he had hidden that box. Little Lydia's magic was recharged.
Jimmy McGee did not know this. He'd been watching her flashes come and go. What he hoped was they would stay gone and that by letting her out of his hat, her magic would wear thin.
Alas! Nothing of what he had hoped by releasing her from her hat prison happened. Instead, her zigzag flashes became more and more frequent.
Again he forgot his rounds. He just couldn't take his eyes off Little Lydia. She mesmerized him. Night passed that way. In the morning he neglected to bang the pipes anyplace. The days were getting shorter, the nights longer and cooler. He still had the sense not to leave Little Lydia alone in his headquarters, not even to check on The Bizzy Bee.
However, he did watch the goings and the comings of Amy and Clarissa, who might be looking for shells or anything to add to the beauty of their castle and its town, or to go paddling.
In the evening, late, a young person out strolling said, "Have you ever seen so many fireflies as there are this year? There must be a nesting place for them up there at the dune. Their lights come on, their lights go off."
"M-m-m," agreed her companion, and on they walked arm in arm down the beach enjoying these last evenings of summer.
So far, nothing bad had happened because of Jimmy McGee's neglect of his people.
Some
complained a little that the hot water hadn't been coming on on the dot as it usually did and that they had slept later than usual. They did not get down to the beach until practically lunchtime, still yawning and stretching from too much sleep.
Jimmy McGee let his work slip more and more. He never made his rounds. People in The Bizzy Bee wondered. Papa said, "I hope we won't have to get a plumber. Seems to me things are going to pot!" It was now getting toward the end of August. Many people had already left Cape Cod to get their children ready for school, buy sneakers and pencils and erasers.
They had left without Jimmy McGee's even having reminded them to turn off the water at the taps in the cellar and empty out all the tanks so that the pipes wouldn't freeze and burst come winter. Also to bolt down the shutters. Amy and her family were still here. Once he heard Amy say, "There's still a chance Little Lydia will wash ashore. Miracles do happen!"
And every day they carefully scanned the water's edge hoping that by some miracle they would find their lost Little Lydia. Guilt, though not very deep, sometimes swept over Jimmy McGee.
Once in a while he reminded himself,
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