dud CHAPTER 1 Super-Duper Secret I m a super-duper secret keeper Except when the secret is so big it just puffs up inside my mouth until it explodes-a-rooni Maybe that’s why my parents call me Katharine the Almost Great They say I’m a work-in-progress I bet if I could zip my lips and keep the cat in the bag they’d finally crown me Katharine the Great The last time I spilled the beans was when Aunt Chrissy bought my cousin Crockett a skateboard for his birthday 5
Don’t let the cat out of the bag Katharine said Aunt Chrissy No blabbing Me I asked in my very most innocent voice I kept the secret for a whole entire day But then Crockett’s lizard Hercules died Crockett got Hercules from his dad right before his parents got divorced He saw Hercules a lot more than his dad So losing Hercules made Crockett miss his dad even more Crockett said Hercules needed a funeral He dug a hole in the yard and buried him with three dead crickets He even wrote a poem It went To Hercules my lizard you had the best gizzard You lived through a blizzard If I were a wizard you’d still me my lizard The poem was per-fect-o 6
Crockett’s voice cracked as he read it and he sniffed a lot I’m a good friend and a great cousin because when he snuffled all that gunk I didn’t even tell him how disgust-o it was I wanted to cheer him up and knew exactly how to do it I blurted Guess what you’re getting for your birthday What Then I thought of Aunt Chrissy I didn’t want to be a blabbermouth so I covered my mouth with both hands and shook my head I can’t tell you I said in a muffled voice It’s a secret He shrugged and wrote R I P Hercules in the dirt with a twig That twig gave me an idea I wouldn’t tell him I’d show him Having a blabberhand is much better than being a blabbermouth isn’t it 7
