Part 2 (1/2)

On the afternoon that I was to baby-sit for them, Linny and Hannie were waiting for me in the front yard.

”Hi!” called Hannie, jumping up as soon as she saw me coming.

”Hi, you guys,” I said.

”Guess what we want to do today,” Linny said. ”We want to have a pet fas.h.i.+on show.”

”Yeah, we want to dress up Myrtle and Noodle,” Hannie added.

This is the great thing about the Papadakises. They have just as much money as anyone else around here, but you wouldn't know it, except for the mansion. They're very down to-earth, and their pets are named Myrtle the Turtle and Noodle the Poodle, not Astrid of Grenville, like some pets I can think of. The children are allowed to choose their own clothes every morning, even though they sometimes end up wearing stripes with plaids, and they go barefoot all summer long.

”Let me talk to your mom first,” I told Linnie and Hannie, ”and then we'll see about Myrtle and Noodle.”

”Okay,” said Hannie cheerfully. She took my hand and led me inside the Papadakises' house. ”Mo-om!” she yelled. ”Kristy's here!”

Mrs. Papadakis came bustling through the hallway from the back of the house. ”Hi, Kristy,” she said. ”Thanks for coming.”

Linny, Hannie, and Sari look exactly like their mother. Mrs. Papadakis wears her dark hair so that it frames her face. And when she smiles her terrific smile, the corners of her wide-set brown eyes crinkle just the way Hannie's were crinkled then.

”I should be back by five o'clock,” she told me. ”I've got a meeting at the children's school.”

”Okay,” I replied. ”Are there emergency numbers somewhere?” (As a baby-sitter, I always ask this if I'm working for a family I'm not too familiar with. You just never know what could happen.) ”Oh, yes,” said Mrs. Papadakis. ”I almost forgot. They're on the memo board in the kitchen. Pediatrician, grandparents, and George's - I mean, Mr. Papadakis' - office number.”

”Great,” I said. ”Where's Sari?”

”Upstairs napping, but she should wake soon. And she'll want apple juice then. There's some in the refrigerator. But no snacks for the kids, okay?”

”Okay.”

Mrs. Papadakis kissed Linny and Hannie and rushed off.

”Now,” I said briskly, ”what's this about dress - ”

”WAHH!”.

I was interrupted by a cry from upstairs.

”Oh, Sari's awake,” said Linny.

”I'll get her,” I told him. ”Why don't you guys go play in the backyard?”

”Okay,” they agreed.

”But stay there,” I added. ”Don't leave without telling me.”

”Okay!” They were already halfway out the door.

I ran upstairs and followed the sound of Sari's sobs to her bedroom. I opened the door slowly, knowing she would be confused to see me enter instead of her mother.

”Hi, Sari!” I said brightly.

The sobs increased.

I cheerfully pulled up the shade and straightened the room, talking to Sari all the time. ”Hi, I'm Kristy,” I told her. ”We're going to have fun playing this afternoon.”

”No, no, no, no, no!” wailed Sari.

But by the time I'd changed her, tickled her, and talked to her teddy bear, we were old friends. We walked down the stairs hand in hand. I gave her some apple juice, and then we joined Hannie and Linny in the yard.

”Hi, Sari-Sari!” cried Hannie, running over to her sister.

”Kristy,” Linny said, ”we want to have a fas.h.i.+on show for Myrtle and Noodle.”

”You're going to dress up a turtle?” I replied. ”Don't you think that's going to be kind of hard? Besides, where are you going to find turtle-size clothes?”

”Well, that's one of our problems,” said Linny. ”The other one is that we can't find Noodle. And we do have clothes for him. He fits into Sari's old baby clothes.”

”Really?” I said.

”Yeah. For my pet show last summer, he wore this little sundress and a bonnet and two pairs of socks.”

I giggled. ”Maybe Noodle was embarra.s.sed and now he's hiding so you won't be able to do that to him again.”

”Maybe ...” said Linny doubtfully, not seeing anything funny about that.

My eyes drifted across the yard and over a low stone wall in search of Noodle. They landed in the yard next door - on one of the girls I had noticed at the bus stop. She looked like a short version of Shannon. She was sitting in the sun filing her nails and listening to a tape deck.

I nudged Linny. ”Hey,” I whispered, pointing to the girl. ”Who's that?”

Linny looked across the yard. ”That's Tiffany Kilbourne.”

'Tiffany,” I repeated. ”She must be Shannon's sister.”

”Yeah,” said Linny. ”She is. You know what? Sometimes Shannon baby-sits for us.”

”She does?” I asked in surprise. ”Do you like her?”

”Sure. She's neat.”

”You know,” I said, ”I don't know too many people around here. Tell me who your neighbors are.”

”Okay.” Linny plopped to the ground, and I joined him. Not far away, Hannie was playing ”This Little Piggy” with Sari.

”Shannon and Tiffany have another sister, Maria. She's eight, like me. They all go to Stoneybrook Day School. But Hannie and I go to Stoneybrook Academy.”

”Oh,” I said. ”Right. So does Karen. She and Hannie are in the same cla.s.s.”

”Yeah,” agreed Linny with a smile. I could tell he was proud that I'd given him the responsibility of telling me about the neighborhood.