asked Mrs. Malloy. “I thought you'd been spending the last two weeks on that report. What happened?”
“She went overboard,” said Eddie. “She dressed up in Wally Hatford's clothes.”
Mrs. Malloy sat down and listened as the story slowly came out.
“It sounds to me as though it wasn't Wally's clothes that did you in, my dear, but the way you described him to the class. It wasn't flattering, which of course it didn't have to be, but I doubt very much if it was fair.”
“But you should have heard what he said about me, Mother! I may be a lot of things, but I am not boring!”
“Was that fair?”
“No!”
“Then I guess you're even. Now the two of you have to straighten it out with Miss Applebaum.”
We are not even! Caroline thought. We are not even until I give Wally a present for Christmas that will absolutely knock him out. Then, maybe, we'll be even.
The next day Miss Applebaum did not say anything to Caroline or Wally about their reports, nor did either of them bring the matter up. It still seemed much too scary. Caroline and Wally didn't say anything to each other either, and after school, when the three girls were crossing the bridge, Eddie said, “Let's crawl up there and see what they've got in their clubhouse.”
“We're not supposed to,” said Beth. “Squatters' rights. Dad said they could use the loft.”
“They don't own it, though. We're the ones who are paying the rent on the Bensons' house, remember. I guess if anybody has a right to go up there, we have. We just want to see what the guys are doing.”
So they left their book bags on the steps and wentinto the garage. Eddie went up the ladder first, then Caroline, then Beth, as Patches, the stray cat, watched sleepily from below.
“Ha!” came Eddie's voice. “ Members Only! That's a laugh. I now pronounce you a member, Caroline. You too, Beth.”
When all three had reached the loft, they knelt in the center of the floor, and looked around.
There were empty soda cans and candy wrappers, a mitten, a newspaper… There was also an old tin milk box in one corner, from back in the days when milkmen delivered the milk. It was covered with dust, and Caroline crawled over to look inside.
“Aha!” she cried as she lifted the lid.
“What?” asked Eddie and Beth.
Caroline reached down into the milk box and lifted something out. “Binoculars,” she said.
Ten
Truce
H e had his clothes back, but he'd still failed the December project.
Wally sat at the dinner table that night and confessed, while his father stared at him from one end, his mother from the other. Jake and Josh sat across from him, and Peter, who was sitting beside him, stared at his ear.
In the next room, the lights on the Christmas tree twinkled gaily, but it didn't feel like the Christmas season to Wally; it felt like the end of the world.
“How,” asked Mr. Hatford, spearing a forkful of lima beans, “can you possibly have written a report so terrible that you failed the whole project?”
Wally swallowed. “I don't know, Dad. I guess I just take stupid pills or something.”
“You aren't stupid, Wally. I know you knew how to do that assignment. An interview can't be that hard. Something must have made your teacher angry at the way you went about it,” his father said.
“She says Caroline and I probably hate each other,” Wally told him.
“Why, what a terrible thing to say!” exclaimed Mother. “What would make her think that?”
Jake and Josh rolled their eyes.
“ 'Cause they steal each other's clothes,” said Peter.
“ What?” cried Mother and Father together.
“Forget it,” said Wally.
“What I want you to do, Wally, is go to school early tomorrow and talk to your teacher. Ask what you can do to earn extra credit and bring up your grade,” said his father.
“I'll just spend the rest of my life in fourth, I don't care,” said Wally.
“Over my dead body,” said his dad.
“He'll just stay in fourth grade long enough for
“She went overboard,” said Eddie. “She dressed up in Wally Hatford's clothes.”
Mrs. Malloy sat down and listened as the story slowly came out.
“It sounds to me as though it wasn't Wally's clothes that did you in, my dear, but the way you described him to the class. It wasn't flattering, which of course it didn't have to be, but I doubt very much if it was fair.”
“But you should have heard what he said about me, Mother! I may be a lot of things, but I am not boring!”
“Was that fair?”
“No!”
“Then I guess you're even. Now the two of you have to straighten it out with Miss Applebaum.”
We are not even! Caroline thought. We are not even until I give Wally a present for Christmas that will absolutely knock him out. Then, maybe, we'll be even.
The next day Miss Applebaum did not say anything to Caroline or Wally about their reports, nor did either of them bring the matter up. It still seemed much too scary. Caroline and Wally didn't say anything to each other either, and after school, when the three girls were crossing the bridge, Eddie said, “Let's crawl up there and see what they've got in their clubhouse.”
“We're not supposed to,” said Beth. “Squatters' rights. Dad said they could use the loft.”
“They don't own it, though. We're the ones who are paying the rent on the Bensons' house, remember. I guess if anybody has a right to go up there, we have. We just want to see what the guys are doing.”
So they left their book bags on the steps and wentinto the garage. Eddie went up the ladder first, then Caroline, then Beth, as Patches, the stray cat, watched sleepily from below.
“Ha!” came Eddie's voice. “ Members Only! That's a laugh. I now pronounce you a member, Caroline. You too, Beth.”
When all three had reached the loft, they knelt in the center of the floor, and looked around.
There were empty soda cans and candy wrappers, a mitten, a newspaper… There was also an old tin milk box in one corner, from back in the days when milkmen delivered the milk. It was covered with dust, and Caroline crawled over to look inside.
“Aha!” she cried as she lifted the lid.
“What?” asked Eddie and Beth.
Caroline reached down into the milk box and lifted something out. “Binoculars,” she said.
Ten
Truce
H e had his clothes back, but he'd still failed the December project.
Wally sat at the dinner table that night and confessed, while his father stared at him from one end, his mother from the other. Jake and Josh sat across from him, and Peter, who was sitting beside him, stared at his ear.
In the next room, the lights on the Christmas tree twinkled gaily, but it didn't feel like the Christmas season to Wally; it felt like the end of the world.
“How,” asked Mr. Hatford, spearing a forkful of lima beans, “can you possibly have written a report so terrible that you failed the whole project?”
Wally swallowed. “I don't know, Dad. I guess I just take stupid pills or something.”
“You aren't stupid, Wally. I know you knew how to do that assignment. An interview can't be that hard. Something must have made your teacher angry at the way you went about it,” his father said.
“She says Caroline and I probably hate each other,” Wally told him.
“Why, what a terrible thing to say!” exclaimed Mother. “What would make her think that?”
Jake and Josh rolled their eyes.
“ 'Cause they steal each other's clothes,” said Peter.
“ What?” cried Mother and Father together.
“Forget it,” said Wally.
“What I want you to do, Wally, is go to school early tomorrow and talk to your teacher. Ask what you can do to earn extra credit and bring up your grade,” said his father.
“I'll just spend the rest of my life in fourth, I don't care,” said Wally.
“Over my dead body,” said his dad.
“He'll just stay in fourth grade long enough for
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