Next morning was Saturday. Amy’s mother and father didn’t have to go to work. They slept late. So did Amy. She was wakened by the sound of the doorbell.

Amy jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to the front door. “Hi, Jean. Come on in. I just woke up. Mother and Dad aren’t up yet. Would you like to wait in the yard for me? I’ll be dressed in a minute.”

Amy ran back upstairs. When she came down again she went out into the back yard.

Jean was sitting in the swing, watching the birds. The bluejay was on the rim of the birdbath. She was standing on one foot and trying to wash her face with the other. A sparrow flew into the birdbath and began to splash around in the water. The bluejay drew back as if she didn’t want to get anything more than her face wet. The sparrow went on splashing. Finally the jay flew away.

“That sparrow certainly isn’t worried about bluejays,” Jean said.

A big black-and-white tomcat squeezed through the picket fence from the neighbors’ yard. The sparrow at once fluttered up into the peach tree.

“Hello, Domino.” Amy stooped to pet the cat.

“You wasted half the day in bed,” Jean said. “I wanted to go somewhere on the broom.”

“I already went somewhere,” Amy told her. “That’s why I slept so late.”

“You mean you were out last night? What did your mother say?” Jean asked.

“Sh-sh! My mother doesn’t know. And I don’t want her to find out. She didn’t much like it when she found Wispy in my bed.”

The girls were in the back of the yard. Jean sat in the swing, and Amy stood behind her. Jean couldn’t wait to hear about Amy’s trip on the broom. “Tell me all about it. Where did you go?”

“I don’t really know where I went,” Amy said. She told Jean the whole story of her adventure with the witches.

The bluejay sat on the picket fence with her head cocked to one side.

“Are you sure you didn’t dream the whole thing?” Jean said when Amy had finished.

Amy looked around at the sunny yard. The black-and-white cat rubbed against her leg. Bees hummed in the roses on the bushes near the fence.

“How could I be so silly?” Amy laughed. “It must have been a dream.” She gave the swing a push and sent Jean flying up into the air.

Mrs. Perkins opened the back door. She was holding the little blue broom. “Amy, must you leave this broom all over the house? I just found it in the spare room.”

Amy knew she hadn’t left the broom there, but she couldn’t tell her mother.

Mrs. Perkins caught sight of the bluejay. She ran over to the fence and waved the broom at the bird. Amy thought the bird would get hurt. But the bristles seemed to bend away from the bluejay. The bird flew up into the peach tree.

“Don’t chase her, Mother,” Amy said. “She’s a tame bird.”

“Bluejays are nasty,” her mother said. “Come into the house now and have your breakfast. Maybe Jean would like something too. What do you girls want to eat?”

Amy let go of the swing. It coasted to a stop. Jean got off. “Thank you, Mrs. Perkins,” she said, “but I’ve had breakfast.”

“What are you doing with the new broom, Mother?” Amy asked.

“I was just going to use it to sweep the front walk. I wish children wouldn’t throw down bubble-gum wrappers.” Mrs. Perkins went into the house.

Amy chased after her. “Use the old broom, Mother, please,” she begged. “You’ll get the new one all dirty.”