by Elise Allen
“Petey?” Gabby asked.
The boy, who had to be Petey, didn’t look at Gabby; he craned around her to look at Sharli, hands on his hips, swinging them back and forth as he taunted her. “You moved stuff without as-kin’…. I’m gonna tell your mo-om…and you’re gonna get it ba-ad….”
FOOMF!
The cushion dropped back down on top of him.
“Hey!” Gabby cried as she quickly yanked the pillow back off the couch. “We don’t crush our tiny friends with pillows.”
Unlike Always keep a promise, this wasn’t one of Gabby’s go-to rules, but it felt like a good one.
Luckily, Petey seemed fine—more angry than hurt. He stood back up, put his hands on his hips, and narrowed his eyes at Gabby. “I’m not ‘tiny.’ I’m exactly the right size for a ten-and-three-quarters-years-old Minisculean.”
Gabby felt bad that she’d insulted the boy. “Right,” she said quickly. “I apologize. You’re not tiny at all. Petey, right? I’m Gabby.”
Petey didn’t answer; instead he rose into the air. For a second he looked down, surprised, then he kicked and f lailed his arms. “Hey, cut it out! Sharli, come on!”
Gabby wheeled around and saw the little girl staring intensely at the boy, a hint of a grin on her lips.
Gabby knew better than to get angry. That would only egg Sharli on.
“Sharli, I’m going to count to three, and I expect you to put him down. One…two…thr—”
Sharli glanced away from the boy. He screamed as he plummeted. Sneakers barked and ran over as if to help, but Gabby held out her cupped hands and caught Petey. He folded his arms and grimaced. “I hate when she does that.”
Gabby held him up to her eyes to get a better look.
“Cut it out,” Petey said. “It’s not nice to stare. And if you keep holding me this close to your face, I’ll tell you about the hair I see growing on your nose.”
Gabby blushed and thrust her arms out. “Sorry. I wasn’t staring. I mean—I didn’t mean to…Really? A hair on my nose?”
She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to think about that.
“Let me start over. I’m Gabby. I’m babysitting while your parents are out, and I think you, and Sharli, and Sneakers, and me should all have fun and play a game together.”
“Hold on a sec,” Petey said. He ran across Gabby’s arm, leaped off and grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, then swung back and forth on it until he had enough momentum to let go and soar down to the coffee table. He held out one finger—one more second—then leaned his whole body into pushing a stack of books across the table to a tall glass of water. He trotted up the book spines like stairs, pulled a tiny straw out of his jeans pocket, dunked it in the water, took a sip…and did a spit take, spraying water everywhere.
“You want me to play with them?!” Petey snorted. “BO-RING! Sneakers won’t run when I try to ride him, and Sharli’s a girl. She likes dolls and stuffed animals and she barely even talks. She’s—”
Petey’s body suddenly zipped into the air, turned upside down, then dunked into the glass of water, again and again and again.
“Hey!” he spluttered between dunks. “Cut it out! That’s not cool !”
“Sharli!” Gabby snapped.
Petey thumped down on the coffee table as Sharli turned away from him and looked at Gabby. Her bottom lip poked out and her big brown eyes filled with tears.
“Oh no…oh no…” Gabby scooted to Sharli and wrapped the little girl in a big hug just as she started to sob. Gabby felt awful. She had never snapped at a kid she was babysitting and made her cry. Never. “I’m so sorry, Sharli. It’s just—you could have really hurt him.”
It f lashed through Gabby’s mind that Petey was an alien, so even though he looked human, things didn’t necessarily work the same way. Maybe he could breathe with his entire head underwater. Maybe he had gills, or breathed through his kneecaps, and she’d just made a three-year-old cry for no reason.
Out of nowhere, a vivid image filled Gabby’s head. Petey, standing on the back of the couch, making faces at Sharli. He waggled his hips, stuck out his tongue, and held his hands like moose antlers on the sides of his face while he wiggled his fingers.
She didn’t actually see it; she was still holding Sharli. All she could really see was the empty far side of the room. But the image was so clear, Petey could have been right in front of her.
Then she heard him shout.
“Hey! Come on! Cut it out! STOP!”
For a second she thought she was imagining that, too, but then Sneakers started barking and pawing at her. Gabby let go of Sharli and realized the little girl had been staring around Gabby’s back at Petey…who was now tumbling quickly backward through the air, screaming all the way.
harli, please put him down!”
This time Sharli didn’t listen. Eyes locked on Petey, she toddled out of the room, sending him spinning backward down the hallway and into the foyer. Gabby gave chase, but Sneakers was ahead of her. His nails scratched the tile f loor as he zigged and zagged to keep up with the boy, barking constantly.
“Sneakers, it’s okay,” Gabby said, but she was honestly just as worried as the dog. Petey was now twirling through the air, coming painfully close to walls and the f loor. Gabby leaped and lunged for him, but she missed him every time.
“Keep away from the babysitter!” Petey crowed. He had sounded frightened before, but now that Gabby was chasing him, he laughed like it was a game. “Keep going, Sharli!”
Gabby heard Sharli giggle behind her, then she rocketed Petey up into the air, so fast he was a blur.
He was about to smash into the ceiling.
“Stop!” Gabby cried frantically.
He stopped exactly a nanosecond before his head would have splattered into a pulp. Gabby couldn’t breathe. Petey didn’t seem worried.
“What’s the matter?” he laughed. “Nervous much?”
Gabby sat on the f loor and tried to stop the room from spinning. That only made Petey laugh harder. “It’s not like she’s gonna hurt me.”
“Sharli’s three,” Gabby said. “She could hurt you by accident—badly.”
“Aw, come on. You wanted us to have fun together, right?” Petey asked. “Help me out, Sharli.”
His body slowly descended until he f loated right in front of Gabby’s face. Don’t reach for him, Gabby told herself. It’ll only encourage them.
Then Sharli shook Petey up and down like a can of soda ready to explode. His teeth rattled, and whatever was in his pockets jangled.
“Uh-oh…” he moaned, his voice vibrating. His face looked green, and he put a hand over his stomach. “I don’t feel so good…”
Gabby broke. She reached out to snatch him, but he somersaulted over her head at the very last second. Both kids laughed out loud.
Gabby bit her lips so Sharli and Petey wouldn’t see her smile. If torturing Gabby made them happy, well, she’d done sillier things to get kids to play together. And if Sharli kept Petey just out of Gabby’s reach, she wouldn’t slam him into anything dangerous.
Gabby roared as if she were truly furious and jumped to her feet, lunging and spinning and leaping after Petey, who always zipped away before she could grab him. Sharli went from giggling to shrieking squeals, and Petey laughed so hard he cried.
“Enough!” Gabby finally wailed. She collapsed in an exhausted, panting heap. Sharli squealed and threw herself gleefully on Gabby’s head. Gabby laughed…until she heard Petey scream and realized that without Sharli’s gaze on him, he was plummeting to the f loor. Gabby tried to pull Sharli off her so she could roll over and catch Petey, but the little girl struggled and Gabby panicked—she knew she’d be too late.
Suddenly, a perfectly clear image filled her mind, just like before. This time she saw Petey land on the soft fur of Sneakers’s belly. She even heard the quiet thump as he landed. By the time she peeled Sharli off her and sat up, Sneakers was getting up, and Petey had crawled onto the dog’s back. He urged
the dog to go faster instead of plodding across the f loor.
Gabby shook off the weird sensation in her head. She hadn’t been looking at Petey at all when he fell. She was blocked by Sharli, so she couldn’t see any of it. It felt like she’d seen it, but clearly she’d just heard the thump of Petey landing and imagined the rest.
Except she saw him fall before she heard the thump.
And what about earlier, when Gabby saw Petey teasing Sharli, even though her back was to him? Did Gabby just imagine that, too?
“Petey—” she began, but then her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw it was Zee. Gabby answered.
“Hey! Can’t talk. Babysitting. Everything okay?”
Through the phone Gabby heard a roar of clangs, dings, and whooshes, plus the murmur of a zillion different voices.
“I’m at the fair!” Zee shouted so loudly that Gabby had to hold the phone away from her ear, and both kids and the dog turned to listen. “Satchel’s here, too—his aunt and uncle are helping with the world’s largest pizza! When are you coming?”
“NOW!” Petey shouted. He slid down Sneakers’s back and ran across the f loor so he could shout into the phone. “We’ll meet you there!”
“Gabs?” Zee asked. “Who was that? Was that a kid?” Then she gasped. “Was that an alien kid?!”
Gabby shook her head in disbelief. “Zee? Tell me you didn’t just scream that out loud in the middle of a crowded fair.”
There was a long, silent beat, then Zee’s voice got even louder. “…in the movie we saw last night?! ’Cause that’s totally what I’m talking about—the alien kid in the movie we saw last night! Was that who it was…in that movie?!”
“Nice save,” Gabby said, deadpan. “Very smooth.”
“Hold up,” Zee said.
Gabby wanted to get off the phone, but she wouldn’t hang up without saying good-bye, and all she heard on the other end was muff led noise, like Zee was taking the phone somewhere. She put her phone on speaker, then gathered Sharli under one arm and beckoned for Petey and Sneakers to follow them back to the living room. Gabby had already plopped Sharli down on the rug, put the phone on the coffee table, and dug through a toy chest to find some oversized plastic blocks to occupy the girl while Gabby made a fort out of couch cushions, when Zee finally spoke up again. Gabby didn’t know where she was, but the outside noise was muted, while Zee’s voice was an intense near-whisper.
“Okay, we can speak freely,” Zee said. “Who are the specimens?”
“Specimens?” Petey repeated. He sat next to the phone at the edge of the coffee table and kicked his feet off the side. “Is she for real?”
“Kids, Zee,” Gabby called over her shoulder as she worked on the fort. “They’re kids.”
“Well, bring ’em! The fair is great for kids!”
“Yes!” Petey shouted. “Smart girl,” he added to Gabby. “I like her a lot.”
“I can’t,” Gabby called to Zee. “I don’t have permission from their parents.”
“Our parents would totally let you take us to the fair!” Petey said. “Call and ask. They’ll say yes. Right after they say you destroyed the universe ’cause you interrupted their super-important meeting that’ll decide the fate of everything.”
“What?!” Zee’s voice shot back. “Did he say ‘destroyed the universe’?”
“Yup,” Petey replied. “One interruption at the wrong time, and kabloooie-uney!”
It didn’t really seem plausible that a P.T.A. meeting could decide the fate of the universe, but everyone in her dream-that-wasn’t-a-dream last night had made it sound awfully important, so…
“Long story,” Gabby said into the phone. “Sorry, Zee. I really wanted to be there with you and Satchel—”
“So come! We’ll see you soon. The kids, too—and this time I want hair clippings!”
“No hair clippings. Never hair clippings.”
But Zee had already clicked off.
Petey turned to Sharli. “Didja hear that?”
“Don’t worry,” Gabby assured him. “She’s not getting hair—”
“We’re going to the fair!” Petey shouted. He threw both arms in the air and sang. “We’re goin’ to the fa-ir, we’re goin’ to the fa-ir!”
“You’re not going to the fair,” Gabby said. “It’s a bad idea.”
“It’s a great idea!” Petey said. Then he chanted, pumping his fist, “Fair! Fair! Fair!”
“Feh! Feh! Feh!” Sharli joined in, bouncing up and down on her chubby toddler legs. Even Sneakers got caught up in the excitement; he barked along in perfect rhythm.
Of course Petey and Sharli wanted to go to the fair. Gabby did, too. It ran for three weeks every year, but everyone knew the first Saturday was always the best. There were rides, and farm animals, and exotic foods like last year’s fried ice-cream hamburger. Almost everyone Gabby knew was there right now, including Satchel and Zee, which was perfect. Satchel was terrific with kids, and Zee would go nuts over a tiny boy and a girl who could move things with her mind. Sure, Gabby would have to deal with Zee’s never-ending quest for alien tissue samples, but she’d handled it before and she could handle it again.
Still, there’s no way she could bring the kids. “I’m sorry. I can’t take you to the fair,” she said. “Even if I had permission, it’s too far to walk, and I can’t get you there on my bike.”
“Duh—sure you can,” Petey said. “I can fit in your pocket.”
“That’s not safe,” Gabby said. “And it doesn’t help Sharli. My bike doesn’t have a baby seat.”
Sneakers whined. He drilled his snout into Gabby’s back.
“Ow! Sneakers…”
Gabby stood to stop the snout-probing, then Sneakers moved in front of her, grabbed the bottom of her jeans in his mouth and tugged, whining more.
“You okay, Sneakers? You need to go out?”
Sneakers moved back behind Gabby and pushed his head into her knees.
“Looks like he wants to show you something,” Petey said.
“Is it your leash?” Gabby asked the spaniel. “You wanna show me where it is so I can take you out?”
Sneakers trotted ahead of Gabby, then turned back, waiting for her to follow.
“Go ahead,” Petey said. “I’ll watch Sharli.”
Gabby gave him a look.
“What, you think I’m too small?”
“No!” Gabby insisted. “It’s just…” Gabby tried to come up with an excuse that had nothing to do with Petey’s size, but she couldn’t.
Petey just watched her and nodded, his hands on his hips. “Uh-huh. Thought so. Look.” He walked to the recliner, jumped onto the hem of a sweater hanging over
the chair back, and shimmied into its pocket. He ducked all the way down. “If she can’t see me, she can’t move me. I’ll peek up to make sure she’s okay. See? Small but smart.”
Gabby blushed. She still wasn’t sure it was the best idea to leave the two of them alone, but Sharli was now fully engrossed with the oversized blocks and the room looked very toddler friendly. As long as Gabby only left the room for a little bit and didn’t go far, everything should be fine. “If she gets up, yell for me,” she said. “I’m just gonna get his leash. Go ahead, Sneakers.”
Sneakers led Gabby through the kitchen, down the short hallway, then scratched at a door until Gabby opened it to reveal a remarkably neat garage with a single car inside. Sneakers ignored the car and trotted right to a bicycle with a toddler seat on the back. A child-sized helmet rested on the seat. The dog reared back on his hind legs and put his paws on either side of the helmet, then turned to Gabby, tongue out, as if to say, See?
“Oh,” Gabby said, surprised. “You’re not showing me your leash at all. You’re showing me there’s a bike with a baby seat.”
Gabby furrowed her brow and looked at Sneakers. She and Carmen had never had a dog. She knew a lot of them understood key words and phrases, but it seemed like an awful lot to pick up on “baby seat,” th
en remember it through Gabby’s whole conversation with Petey. Unless maybe taking Sharli on the bike was part of his normal schedule.
“I could borrow the bike and take Sharli,” Gabby said as if the dog could understand, “but there’s still no way to keep Petey safe. Plus, I don’t have permission.”
Sneakers barked, then moved to the front of the bike and nosed a saddle bag that was firmly attached to the frame, just below the handlebars. Sneakers barked and nosed, barked and nosed, until Gabby joined him at the bag.
“Uh-huh,” she said. “A bag. I see it.”
Sneakers pawed at the zipper.
“O-kay,” Gabby said. She pulled open the zipper.
Inside the bag sat a small leather car seat. It mounted securely to the bike frame through the back of the pouch and had a seat belt that would hold its occupant safely in place. Leaning down closer, Gabby saw that the front of the pouch was mesh, making it easy for anyone inside to breathe and enjoy the scenery.
“This looks like it was made for Petey,” she said. “You understood that, too?”
Sneakers barked and wagged his tail.
“Okay,” Gabby said guardedly. “But what about you? Would I just leave you here?”
Sneakers trotted back into the house, tail wagging, then turned and barked. When she didn’t move, he barked three more times in quick succession, like he was impatient with Gabby for taking so long to listen. Fascinated, Gabby followed. She pulled the door closed behind her and trailed him back to the living room, where Sharli was now crawling across the rug on all fours, Petey riding on her back.
“Hi-yo, Sharli! Away!” Petey cried.
Sharli giggled and blew through her lips. As long as she was having fun, Gabby wouldn’t stop them.
Sneakers barked again and Gabby turned back to him. He was standing by a dog bed, and once he had Gabby’s attention, he pulled a blanket off the bed to reveal a leash clipped to a very dapper green-and-white plaid vest with pockets. Gabby knelt down and took the ensemble in her hands.
