Pepper the Parrot and the Secret Nobody Meant to Share

Chapter 1: Secrets

In a cheerful yellow house on Lantern Lane, there lived a green parrot named Pepper.

Pepper had a red-tipped tail, a curved golden beak, and a very remarkable talent. He could repeat anything he heard. Anything at all.

He could squeak like the garden gate. He could ring like the telephone. He could cough exactly like Grandpa and call "Dinner's ready!" in Mama's voice, which sent the whole family running to the table, only to find nothing there but a pleased parrot.

"Pepper, you rascal," Mama would laugh.

"Pepper, you rascal!" Pepper would squawk back.

He didn't understand what the words meant. He just loved how they sounded, and he loved the way people laughed.

The family had a ten-year-old girl named Junie, with freckles, a missing front tooth, and a secret that was getting heavier every day.

It began on a Tuesday. At school, Junie had been playing with her friend Mara's glittery pencil case. It slipped from her hands and hit the floor, and the zipper broke clean off.

Junie's heart dropped to her shoes. She had meant to say something. But Mara was at the water fountain, and a strange, tight feeling closed Junie's throat. She tucked the pencil case back into Mara's bag, zipper dangling, and said nothing.

The next day, Mara cried. "Who broke my pencil case? My grandmother gave it to me!"