A Year of Mini Mysteries. Kathy Passero

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      “Abbie, can I borrow your sewing kit?”

       “Why?” asked Abbie, giving her sister a puzzled look. “You can’t sew.”

       When she heard about Brooklyn’s distress call, Abbie tossed aside her

      design sketchbook. “I’ll come with you,” she said. “Clearly, you are going to

      need my expertise.”

       Alex grinned. This was one time when Abbie’s bossiness would come in

      handy. When they reached the elementary school, they found Brooklyn and

      Charlotte backstage, frantically trying to organize dozens of excited young

      actors. They were all practicing their songs at the tops of their lungs, shouting

      to be heard, or chasing one another around the makeshift dressing room.

       “I’ve never been so glad to see anybody in my life!” said Brooklyn, hug-

      ging them both.

       It took Abbie less than five minutes to get the kids under control. Then,

      while Charlotte helped her wrestle actors into costumes and make last-

      minute hem and sleeve adjustments, Alex used her artistic flair to transform

      first graders into fairies, goblins, and other mythical creatures. Brooklyn’s

      siblings were playing dragons, so Alex painted their faces bright green with

      silver scales.

       “Cool!” said Riley, admiring the effect in the mirror.

       “Awesome!” Frankie agreed.

       As a finishing touch, Alex grabbed a bottle of baby shampoo she kept in

      her makeup kit to remove extra face paint. She twisted sections of the twins’

      hair into points, then rubbed each with a bit of shampoo. It dried fast and held

      the spiked shapes. “Ta-da!” she said. “Dragon horns!”

       “Five minutes till showtime!” a voice shouted from the other side of the

      curtain.

       While the first graders took their places onstage, the girls slipped into

      empty seats in the third row and waited eagerly for the curtain to open.