“Oh, I don’t want one, please,” said Sunny. She was afraid of turtles. “I’d rather have a water lily.”
The fisherman shoved the boat into the water lily pads. Sunny picked her own flower. The stem was tough though and she had to pull very hard.
Vevi was too busy looking after the turtle to think about flowers. The fisherman showed her how to hold it so she would not be bitten.
The turtle though, would not hold still. He kept squirming and squirming. The shell was wet and slippery and Vevi finally dropped him into the bottom of the boat.
“Don’t you dare let him get near me!” squealed Sunny, edging away.
The turtle had fallen upon his back. But he used his long neck to lift himself up and flip over on his feet again. Vevi picked him up before he could crawl toward Sunny.
All the Brownies were waiting when the boat reached shore.
“You don’t know what you missed!” Jane called out before Vevi could show her turtle.
“We saw a wonderful bird,” added Connie, her eyes shining. “It had long legs like a stork.”
Vevi thought at first that the girls were only teasing her. Then she realized that they really were excited.