Part 6 (1/2)
”Funny,” Mrs. Krupnik murmured as she headed down the stairs. ”I was going to cook spaghetti for dinner. But now I've changed my mind.”
Anastasia walked with Sam to the public library on Sat.u.r.day morning. Their mother and father had decided to stay at home.
”Dad would have liked to come,” Anastasia told Sam, ”but you know with his allergies, he was worried about being around dogs and cats.”
Sam nodded. He was carrying his worm box very carefully.
”And Mom was afraid there might be rodents,” Anastasia said.
”Yeah. Mom hates rodents.”
They both remembered how much their mother had hated Anastasia's gerbils.
”Good thing a worm isn't a rodent,” Sam said, patting his box. ”Mom likes worms okay.”
”And fish,” Anastasia added, thinking of Frank.
They were almost at the corner, where the small brick library building was set in the middle of a big green lawn. The pet show would be on the library lawn, under the trees.
Sam could hear the sound of barking.
”A dog won't win first prize,” he said confidently to his sister, ”because dogs are ordinary.”
”Let me tie your shoe tighter, Sam,” Anastasia said suddenly.
She knelt on the sidewalk, and Sam looked at her in surprise. ”n.o.body needs to tie my shoes,” he reminded her, ”because Mom bought me Xerox shoes. I mean Velcro,” he corrected himself.
”I really only wanted to talk to you for a minute,” Anastasia explained, as she knelt beside him. ”Sam,” she said, ”don't be disappointed if you don't win the prize. Prizes don't matter.”
”Yeah, they do!” Sam told her. ”Prize means best. I think King of Worms will be the best pet! I washed him. And I changed his dirt.”
”But, Sam, every child thinks his pet is the best. And we don't really care what the judges think, do we? As long as we know King of Worms is the best, that's the important thing, isn't it?”
Sam shook his head. ”No,” he said. ”The really important thing is to win the prize.”
Anastasia sighed. ”Come on,” she said. She stood up and took Sam's hand, the hand that wasn't holding the worm box. ”Let's get it over with.”
The library lawn was very noisy. Dogs were barking, babies were crying, children were shoutinga”Sam recognized some of his nursery school friendsa”and a lot of people were standing around a tree, looking up and calling to a cat, asking it please to come down.
The librarian recognized Sam and Anastasia. She gave Sam a number on a square of cardboard. ”There you are,” she said. ”Your pet is number seventeen. And your place will be over there. Do you see the seventeen on that table? Better get in your place because the judging will start soon. Then we'll have refreshments, afterward.”
Anastasia nudged Sam over to the empty card table with the 17 taped to it. They placed the little box on the center of the table and removed the lid.
Sam poked gently in the fresh dirt until he found King of Worms. ”Stick your head out,” he whispered, ”and look beautiful when the judges come around.”
”Hey, look, Sam,” Anastasia said, ”somebody did bring a goldfish. See over there?”
They checked to make certain that Sam's worm box was safely situated on its table, and then wandered over to look at the goldfish in a bowl nearby.
”Not as good as Frank the Second,” Anastasia whispered to Sam, and Sam nodded in agreement. ”Not as bright-colored, not as big. And Frank's face is more intelligent.”
Sam tugged suddenly on Anastasia's jeans. He pointed. ”That's Nicky from my school,” he whispered. ”Remember Nicky the biter?”
”Well, Nicky wouldn't dare bite anyone at a pet show,” Anastasia rea.s.sured Sam. They strolled over and looked into the huge box beside Nicky.
”Forty-seven gerbils,” Nicky said in a loud voice.
”Nice,” Anastasia said politely, and she and Sam moved away.
”And there's my friend Adam with his cat.” Sam pointed. ”Adam's cat is named Squeaky.”
”Shhh,” Anastasia said. ”Look. There are the judges!”
The three men and one woman were stopping in front of the first pet, a rabbit in a cage, and discussing it. Sam could see them talking quietly to each other. One man was carrying a shopping bag. He reached into it and took out a bright blue ribbon with a badge attached to it. He wrote something on the badge and attached it to the rabbit's cage. The girl standing beside the cage grinned proudly.
”No fair!” wailed Sam. ”They're giving the prize and they didn't even look at King of Worms!”
The judges had moved on to the next pet. Anastasia grabbed Sam's hand, and they ran over to the rabbit cage.
”I won!” the girl was saying happily. ”My rabbit won!”
Anastasia read the words on the blue ribbon. ”First Prize,” she read aloud, ”for Nose-wiggling.”
Sam brightened. ”King of Worms couldn't win that,” he said, ”because he doesn't have a nose.”
”Look, Sam,” Anastasia said. She had moved to the next pet. The judges had gone on ahead, moving from table to table, cage to cage.
”First Prize for Yellowest Pet,” Anastasia read, leaning over a canary cage.
”First Prize for Largest Sleeper,” she read, almost tripping over a snoring Newfoundland dog.
”First Prize for Wettest Pet,” she read on the goldfish bowl.
”First Prize for Best Climber,” she read on the ribbon attached to a tree trunk. From a limb above, the cat still looked down.
”First Prize for Most Pets,” said the award on Nicky's huge box of gerbils.
Sam and Anastasia stood and watched quietly from a distance as the judges came to the table with the 17 on it. They saw the judges lean over the worm box.
”Maybe he'll be roundest pet,” Anastasia suggested.
”I bet he'll be dirtiest,” Sam said cheerfully.
They could see the judges poke gently in the dirt. One of them lifted the box. They talked some more.
”They can't decide,” Anastasia whispered to Sam. ”It must be a truly tough decision.”