Part 14 (2/2)

I looked at Mary Anne. She looked at me and shrugged.

”Don't you recognize him?” asked Mrs. Harrington.

Mary Anne shook her head.

I said, ”Who? Bill? No. Should we recognize him?”

Mr. Harrington nodded to Bill, who nodded back, and left the room. When he returned, he was carrying a rain hat and a pair of dark gla.s.ses. He put them on.

”Aughhh!” screamed Mary Anne. ”There's that guy!”

”Mary Anne, that's Bill,” I said. I turned to the Harringtons and asked, ”Who's Bill? I don't get it.” And please don't kidnap us, I added silently.

”Bill is our bodyguard,” replied Mr. Harrington.

”Your bodyguard?” said Mary Anne with a gasp.

”Yes. You girls were right in thinking that Rowena and Alistaire should be watched,” Mr. Harrington continued. ”It's unfortunate that they must be, but thaf s the state of our affairs. In England, we are very much in the public eye. And here in the United States, Mrs. Harrington and I are involved in international politics. We can't take chances. So Bill is the bodyguard for Alistaire and Rowena.”

”Why - why didn't you tell us about him?” asked Mary Anne, who apparently was recovering from a great shock.

”Or why didn't the kids tell us about him?” I asked. ”They know who Bill is, don't they? They must recognize him.”

”Oh, they know Bill,” replied Mrs. Harrington. ”They know him all too well. And, they like him, but he makes them feel self-conscious. They're very aware of him when they're out in public. Having a bodyguard reminds them that they're in a different situation than most children are.”

”So we thought we would try to give Rowena and Alistaire a real vacation,” continued Mr. Harrington. ”They know Bill is here with us, of course, but they don't know he's been following you around. And they would have recognized him, which is why he wore the hat and the gla.s.ses.”

”But why didn't you tell MS about Bill?” Mary Anne asked again.

”Because we thought you'd be nervous, that you'd overprotect the children, and we just wanted them to have a good time.”

Mary Anne turned to Bill. ”Will you be following us today?”

”Yes,” replied Bill. He smiled. I could tell that he liked Alistaire and Rowena, which is why these thoughts began clicking along in my mind, and suddenly I cried, ”Bill! Did you do something with the balloons that Alistaire and Rowena got at the street fair and then tied to the bike rack at the museum?”

Bill looked sheepish. ”Well,” he said, ”I didn't want the children to be disappointed, and I knew they would be if they left the museum and found that their balloons had gone missing. So I checked on the balloons once, saw that they were gone, and ran back to the fair. I bought two more, but I think I got the wrong colors.”

”One wrong color,” said Mary Anne, laughing.

She looked as relieved as I felt. I began to laugh, too, and was soon joined by the Har-ringtons and Bill.

”Hullo! You're here!” cried Rowena, running into the living room.

She was followed by Alistaire, calling, ”Brilliant! Is it time to go?”

”Yup,” I replied. ”We planned a big day.”

I asked the Harringtons if they minded if our friends came along, and they said it would be fine. So we set off.

” 'Bye, Bill!” called Rowena and Alistaire as the door closed behind us.

I think we walked about twenty miles that day. Our first stop (well, we took cabs there) was FAO Schwarz. Rowena said she could not wait one more moment to see it. ”And,” she added, ”I need a toy.”

”Well, you're in luck,” I told her. ”Your mother and father said that you and Alistaire could each buy one toy, as long as the toys aren't too expensive.”

”They did? Brilliant!” exclaimed Rowena.

As soon as we entered the store, Rowena's eyes lit up. ”Ohhh,” was all she said.

And Alistaire whispered, ”So many animals.” (He meant stuffed ones.) I thought for sure we were in trouble as we roamed the store and the kids kept examining things that were priced at hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But when Mary Anne finally said, ”Okay, guys. What do you want to buy?” Alistaire chose a small stuffed dinosaur and Rowena chose a Skipper doll. Whew.

As we were leaving the store, I caught sight of Bill stepping off the escalator. I waved to him and he waved back. Then he straightened his rain hat and tried to look inconspicuous but official.

We wandered through Bloomingdale's. While Rowena sampled perfume, Bill hovered over a cosmetics counter, pretending to look interested in some lipstick.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. It wasn't easy, but a waitress managed to seat the ten of us together. Bill sat by himself at a little table across the room. He looked pretty odd wearing his hat while he ate, and especially wearing his sungla.s.ses, because the inside of the Hard Rock Cafe is on the dark side. A few people stared at him, but at least Alistaire and Rowena didn't recognize him. (I waved to him again. I couldn't help it.) After a long day of shopping and sightsee- ing, we returned the Harrington kids to their apartment. Mr. Harrington was home, and he gave Mary Anne and me our pay.

Then we said good-bye to Alistaire and Rowena.

And on our way out, we said good-bye to Bill, who was on his way in.

Claudia.

Chapter 23.

My friends and I (plus Laine) ended our vacation with a terrific evening. First we got all dressed up, and then Stacey, Dawn, and I went to the c.u.mmingses' apartment. The eight of us looked like models or something. Even Kristy. She was wearing a long cotton sweater, black leggings, and black shoes. (She had borrowed everything from Laine.) The rest of us were wearing short skirts or dresses, leggings - you know, the layered look. A lot of our clothes were new, bought while we were on vacation.

”Where are you girls off to?” asked Mr. c.u.mmings. As if he didn't know.

”Our night on the town,” replied Laine.

Mr. c.u.mmings dapped his hand to his head. ”You know? I completely forgot!”

”Dad, you didn't. What about the limo?” cried Laine.

”Laine, I think he's kidding,” I whispered.

”Are you kidding?” she asked.

”Of course,” said Mr. c.u.mmings. ”The limo is waiting outside. It's at your disposal from now until the play is over. The driver knows he's supposed to bring you directly here from the theater.”

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