Cynthia C. DeFelice > Quotes

“The "down and dirty”
― Cynthia DeFelice

“You can't picture NOTHING, because as soon as you do, it's SOMETHING.”
― Cynthia DeFelice

“She reached under the flowerpot for the key, but before putting it in the lock she said, "Dub? I wonder . . . how come we both acted so weird."
Dub, who ordinarily had an answer for everything, was silent. If Allie wasn't mistaken, she saw a faint blush color his neck. That gave her the courage to say, "I think I got so jealous because I thought you liked Pam better. Liked her, you know, for a girlfriend."
"Are you serious?" asked Dub, looked surprised "She's nice, but no way."
Allie went on, feeling—she couldn't believe it—shy in front of Dub. "But why did it bug me so much? It's not like I'm your girlfriend." She paused and added, "Right?"
As soon as she had spoken, she wished she could snatch the words back. What if Dub looked at her as if she were crazy and said again, "No way!" She'd feel like a complete idiot.
Dub's blush crept from his neck to his face. "Who said you're not?"
Allie laughed happily. "Nobody," she said.
They stood grinning at each other for a moment.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs

“Once she had asked about Mrs. Hobbs promotion, what then?
"Mrs. Hobbs, all the students are scared to death of you. Rumor has it that you hate kids. Is this true?"
No.
"Mrs. Hobbs, a ghost made me pick you for my class project. Do you have any idea who it might be?"
No way.
"Mrs. Hobbs, your nickname is the Snapping Turtle. Would you care to comment?"
No, no, no.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs

“Oh, now I get it,” said Dub. “They lose weight because they never eat more than one!”
Mrs. Nichols laughed and said, “I have to admit I had the same thought when I was shopping for the ingredients, Dub.”
Allie scowled. “Dub, I thought you came over to help.”
“I did,” Dub said. “I’m trying to help poor Hoover.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“That’s a mighty big perch,” Allie said. “The biggest one I ever saw was maybe this long.” She held her hands ten inches apart.
“Well, this one was humongous, right, Dad?”
“It sure was,” Mr. Nichols answered, winking at Allie. “And it’s been getting bigger all afternoon.”
“The mark of a true fisherman,” Mrs. Nichols said with a laugh.
“What is?” Michael asked, looking down at himself as if expecting to see some sort of mark on his chest.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“Slowly, she rose from her seat and walked toward the door, her mind droning a dramatic narration: The condemned girl took what would turn out to be her final steps. Little did her teacher and classmates know they would never see her again . . .”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs

“I assume, of course, that these things are made under the strictest sanitary conditions.”
“Oh, absolutely,” Allie said. “The kitchen at our headquarters is immaculate.”
She felt herself starting to smile, and Dub pushed her quickly out of the shop. Once outside, she collapsed in a fit of giggles.
“Oh, that’s real businesslike, Al,” Dub said. “Are you trying to blow the whole deal?”
“Sorry,” Allie said, gasping, “but she was too much!” She imitated Enid’s loud, grating voice.
Dub began to grin, too.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“This’ll be our rough draft,” Allie said.
Dub laughed. “Mr. Henry would be so proud.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“I know what you did to Lucy,” Allie went on, unable to stop herself. “You’d better not sell the glen, or you’ll be sorry!” Quickly, she hung up, then stared at the phone in horror. What if it rang? Could Gag-Me trace the call? What if he had Caller ID? What in the world had she done?
She lifted the receiver again and dialed Dub’s number. When he answered, she told him all about the diary and about the call she had made to Raymond Gagney.
“You did what?” Dub shouted in her ear. “You called a murderer and said, ‘I know what you did’? Why didn’t you just say, ‘Please come kill me, too’? Are you crazy?”
“Geez, Dub,” said Allie, “take it easy.”
“Did you actually say, ‘You’ll be sorry’? Oooh, I bet that scared him, Al.”
“I never thought he’d answer the phone!” Allie wailed. “So I was sort of—unprepared.”
“I’ll say,” said Dub darkly. “You didn’t happen to say, ‘By the way, my name is Allie Nichols and I live at 67 Cumberland Road,’ did you?”
“Give me a break,” said Allie. “I’m not that stupid.” There was a silence. “Dub, you’re scaring me,” she said in a small voice.
“Well, I’m sorry, but I wish you’d called me before you got the brilliant idea of calling to threaten a known murderer.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Fossil Glen

“First and foremost, you are not to call me 'sir.' You are to address me as Most Excellent of All Masters."
Lord Pinkwinkle in Nelly May Has Her Say”
― Cynthia DeFelice

“If you ever catch me acting jealous again, just call me John. I promise I'll snap right out of it.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs

“When Allie didn’t answer, he added, “Besides, what did he do to help you, anyway?”
“Right before two o’clock, when I was all worried about the interview, he gave me the words to say. That was when he told me to ask about the fire.”
“Oh, that was great advice,” said Dub sarcastically. “The interview really went smoothly after you said that.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs

“Man,” said Dub, lifting a dripping, muddy sneaker and examining it. “What is this, the Black Lagoon?”
“Keep going,” Allie urged him. “If we stop, we might sink in this stuff and never be seen again.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“This got anything to do with that wild-goose chase Officer Burke went on earlier?” the policeman asked.
Allie saw Dub’s face flush. “Yeah,” he mumbled.
The policeman sighed. “All right. Let’s go inside.” He opened the door of the cab, and Dub and Allie got out. “Whew,” he said, wrinkling his nose.
“It’s the puppies,” Allie explained. “They’re not very clean.”
With a grimace, the policeman said, “I can see this is going to be one of those nights.”
You can say that again, thought Allie.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“What would I want with dog food?”
His jeering tone was really getting on Allie’s nerves.
“Oh, I get it. You think I’m so hard up, that’s what I gotta eat. Is that it?”
Allie stared at him. Why would he say such a thing?
Dub explained calmly, “We heard dogs barking when we were here before. The treats are for them.”
As any normal person would have realized, Allie thought.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“We’re going to have to decide what the consequences will be,” he said to Allie, and she saw Mr. Whitwell nod in Dub’s direction.
Oh well, thought Allie, at least we’re in trouble together.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“I’m proud of you and Dub,” he told her as they headed up the stairs to bed. “And I’m glad you’re safe. But tomorrow we’re going to have to talk about this business of sneaking out of the house.” He kissed her good night and looked at her, his stern expression changing to one of wonder. “I can’t believe you bit his arm.”
Allie laughed. “Neither can I.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“And I’m making a collar for Mr. Henry.”
“Oh, he’ll look terrific in that,” said Dub. “Don’t forget a matching leash.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“Pedaling down the toad, Allie looked back over her shoulder so often that she felt lucky not to crash.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“Well, I think I've figured something out," said Allie.
"What?"
"When you start to see ghosts and hear voices—that’s when you find out who your friends really are.” She looked down at her hands on top of the covers, embarrassed to look at Dub. After a minute, she glanced up to find Dub grinning at her. “Okay,” she said, “I admit it. You were right about Karen. And Pam, too, I guess.” She grinned back. “I really hate it when you’re right.”
“I can’t help it,” said Dub with false modesty. “Being right is what I do.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Fossil Glen

“Okay,” Dub whispered back, then added, “Why are we whispering?”
Allie giggled and Dub grinned. It made her feel braver.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“You’re kidding, right?” Dub asked wide-eyed.
“We’ve got to at least try them.”
Dub sniffed the bone a few times. “I promise you, Allie, if this thing kills me, my ghost will definitely come back to haunt you.”
“Except I’ll be dead, too. So there,” said Allie.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“He can’t catch us now.”
It took a moment before L.J. was able to communicate that news to his foot.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“Can I trust you two to stay here today with Hoover while I’m at the store?” she asked.
“Yes, Mom,” Allie said sheepishly. Dub nodded.
“No daring rescues? No slipping off to solve a crime better left to the police?”
“No, Mom. Honest.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“Remember when Hoover came on our field trip to the apple farm and we found her in the barn rolling in cow manure?” Dub was saying.
The class groaned.
“On the way there you were all fighting over who got to sit with her on the bus,” Mr. Henry said. “But on the way back, as I recall, she was all mine.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek

“Hi, Dub” Allie called. “Where’s your bike? Oh, I forgot. At the bean plant, with mine.”
“I had to walk all the way over here,” Dub said grumpily.
“Poor baby,” Mrs. Nichols teased.”
― Cynthia C. DeFelice, The Ghost of Cutler Creek