But then it was present-opening time. If you can't have your own presents it is almost as much fun watching someone else open up his.
Moving from smallest to largest, Will opened Mandy Stenko's first.
"Wow," he said flatly, trying to muster enthusiasm, "a soccer ball."
"Will hates soccer," Rebecca said.
"No, he doesn't," Mandy hissed. "Didn't you all see how enthusiastic he was when Mrs. McGillicuddy gave him those trading cards? And you," she accused Jackie, "you said it was the wave of the future."
"Did I?" Jackie said. "I meant to say it's a silly game. The only reason anyone ever plays it is if they have no imagination."
"Why do you all always have to be so mean?" Mandy asked.
"We're not," Jackie said. "We just don't see why you can never pay attention to people. If you paid attention to Will—outside of us, he is your only classmate—you'd know he hates soccer. Everyone knows, except for you and the McG." She turned to Mrs. Simms. "Isn't that right?"
We didn't think Mrs. Simms liked to hurt any child's feelings, but: "He hates it," she said at last, "even worse than taking medicine."
"We're sorry, Mandy," Jackie said, "we wish it weren't true, but it is."
Mandy scowled.
To break the mood, Will opened our present.
"Oh. My." It was all Mrs. Simms could say at the grandiosity of it.
"I've always wanted one of these!" Will practically shouted. "Well, I didn't actually know they even made anything like this. But I always dreamed that someday someone might invent it and I knew I'd want one." He turned to his mother. "Can we set it up right here?"
"Oh, Will," that nice lady said sadly, "I don't think the Kids' Castle people would like that. Besides"—she consulted her watch—"it's just about time for the party to end. Mandy's mother is already here"—of course Mandy Stenko's mother was there; it seemed like everyone in the whole world's parents were already there—"so we just need to wait for the girls' parents to arrive and then it'll be time for us to go too."
The girls' parents. Hmm ... where were they?
CHAPTER NINE
We waited, the clock ticking more loudly minute by minute.
"Hmm," Jackie said, "I wonder what's keeping Daddy?"
"You know," Marcia said to Mrs. Simms, "you really can go now. We can wait for Daddy by ourselves. I'm sure he'll be along any moment."
"Don't be ridiculous," Mrs. Simms said. "What kind of hostess would I be? Besides, it's probably against the law."
"Excuse me," Annie said abruptly. "I need to go to the bathroom."
Then Rebecca created a diversion by asking if she could have some more frosting—"please!"—so Mrs. Simms didn't notice that rather than head for the bathroom, Annie raced straight for the back door.
Five minutes later, enough time for Rebecca to get frosting all over her frock, we heard the sound of a horn honking. Loudly.
It was the Hummer.
"Ooh, that must be Daddy!" Jackie said as we all put on our coats, not even bothering to peek in the goody bags Mrs. Simms handed us.
"Well, goodbye!" Zinnia piped up. "Happy birthday again!"
Mrs. Simms squinted out the back door. "Has your father grown a mustache since I last saw him?"
"Oh, yes," Jackie said. "You know ... France."
"I should at least say hello to him." Mrs. Simms started for the door.
"Oh, no!" Jackie said. "I mean, didn't Will say his family party is tonight? I suspect you'd want to hurry. And you still have packages to bring out to your car, you know, out front. We'd hate to keep you, so..."
"Goodbye again!" Zinnia said.
We rushed out before Mrs. Simms could say anything else. Then we buckled ourselves in and waited for her to totally and completely leave, meaning the parking lot as well. Because of course she was parked in front, like any normal person would be, while we were in the back.
"Some party that was for us, thanks to you," Rebecca said to Annie. "It was about as much fun as the one on New Year's Eve."
"Okay." Annie ignored Rebecca and put the key in the ignition. "Everybody ready?"
We said that we were, but when she turned the key, nothing happened.
"Are you putting your hand on the gas hard enough?" Annie called to Durinda, down beneath her legs.
"Of course I am!" Durinda said, annoyed. "You know, eventually we're going to have to devise a more efficient way of doing this. This can't be safe for everyone else, and it's certainly not safe for me."
"Well, press harder," Annie instructed.
But however hard Durinda pressed, and her grunts told us she was pressing very hard, it wasn't hard enough.
"What are we going to do?" Georgia asked.
"It's too far to walk." Petal's lip quivered. "We'll freeze to death."
"There's nothing for it." Annie picked up the car phone, a device none of us had ever used before. "I'll just have to call Pete." She went through her usual routine-call Information, wait, impersonate Daddy, beg Pete to come help out for double the pay, call him "old chap," and ring off—after which she quickly changed back into her party clothes.
"You look ridiculous," Rebecca said. "Have I mentioned that before?"
"Pretty much," Annie said, "but we can't have Pete seeing me in my Daddy-driving-the-car disguise. He'll know something is up then."
"Like he won't already." Rebecca snickered.
"That's not helpful," Annie said, then as the snow started to fall gently, we all waited in silence for Pete to come.
When he got there, we were hugely relieved. Kids' Castle had closed for the day, and soon it would be dark.
"Hullo, Eights," he said as we all got out to greet him. "What seems to be the problem with the Hummer? And where, by the way, is your dad?"
"In the bathroom," Jackie said.
"Gone for coffee," Marcia said at the same time.
"Huh," Pete said. "And here I thought you'd say he was in France."
"That's Mommy," Zinnia said earnestly. "Weren't you paying proper attention that time you came to visit us?"
"Right-o," Pete said. "Well, while we're waiting for your dad to reappear from ... wherever he is, why don't I look at the car for you?"
Which is what he did, moving to climb behind the wheel, but first...
"Huh," he said, the falling snow making his hair look like he had more salt than pepper in it now. "Has your dad shrunk since I last saw him? I don't remember him needing to sit on dictionaries to drive his own car."
"They're reference materials," Jackie said. "Mommy's." Then she finished lamely, having run out of lies, "I don't know how they got there."
"Never mind," Pete said, moving them out of the way. "But you must admit, it is all very strange: dictionaries appearing where they shouldn't be, your dad suddenly speaking with a British accent..."
"Is there any reason why he couldn't be British?" Annie asked irritably. She was sensitive about her Daddy accent. "Couldn't we all be British?"
"Sure," Pete said agreeably enough as he moved the seat back, "why not? I mean, we do all sound sort of British when we talk. For all we know, we are in England." He turned the key in the ignition, but nothing happened.
"Huh," Pete said. "I was sure you were calling me out here on another false alarm, but there really is something wrong." He popped the hood, got out, and started rooting around where we thought the engine might be.
A minute passed, two, three, the sky getting darker all the while. At last we heard a low whistle. Pete's head popped up, and then his hand. In it was a long piece of black rubber with copper wires sticking out of it.
"What's that?" Annie asked. "Did the driver somehow, er, break it?"
"By driver you mean your dad?" Pete asked. When Annie nodded, he went on. "No. I'm afraid this is a case of ... sabotage." He eyed us all. "First, you have me come out to the house when nothing is wrong with your car, and now you have me come out here only to find a car that's been tampered with." His gaze narrowed. "Are you sure one
of you doesn't have a crush on me and is trying to capture my attention?"
"God, no!" we all said at once.
"Do you honestly think," Annie said, raising herself up with the pride of an adult, "that any one of us would do something like that?"
Pete studied us for a long time.
"No," he finally admitted. "I suppose not. But then..."
"Then what?" Annie said.
"Then if it wasn't any of you, someone—some other person—did this. Someone wanted to make sure you wouldn't get home. Or at the very least, that you'd be delayed. Do you have any idea who?"
"No!" we all said. But now we were worried. We had to get home.
"Please, Mr. Pete," Annie begged on our behalf, "is there anything you can do to fix the car?"
"Of course," he said. He got cables and did some stuff. Then he got back behind the wheel and tried the starter again. This time, it hummed.
"We don't know how to thank you," Annie said. "I mean, with a check, of course. But, er, Daddy left the house today without his checkbook..."
"No worries," Pete said. "I've always trusted your dad. But ... my, my, my, he has been gone at the coffee-bathroom for a long time." He paused. "And I really wouldn't feel right leaving until he returns."
Blasted adults! The ones you wanted disappeared on New Year's Eve and the rest kept sticking their nose in your business.
"Please, Mr. Pete." Now Annie was begging in a way we'd never seen her do before; there were practically tears in her eyes. "Please don't wait for our father to return. He can't come back to drive the car if you're here. So if you do wait, you might be waiting for—"
We were all sure she was about to say forever, but she never got the chance because Pete, perhaps feeling sorry for her, cut her off.
"Stop babbling, lamb," he said gently. "If it makes you fret so to have me wait, I won't do it. But do me just one favor, to ease my mind."
"Anything," Annie promised. "Anything!"
Pete disappeared inside his van again, then returned with two large wooden blocks to which he'd attached giant rubber bands.
"Here," he offered, holding them out to Annie, "I have the feeling your dad has grown shorter since I last saw him. If he puts these on the gas and brake, he should have no trouble reaching them."
Now there really were tears in Annie's eyes.
"Thanks," she said, rising up on tippytoes to lay a kiss on Pete's stubbly cheek. "You're the best mechanic ever!"
"Thank you." Pete touched the place where he'd been kissed. "Almost no one ever kisses me." Then he got serious again as he moved toward his truck, calling, "And promise me one more thing?"
"Anything," Annie said again. "Anything!"
"You still have my number?" he asked.
We nodded.
"Promise me you'll use it if you ever need someone to help you with emergencies even bigger than cars that are perfectly fine or cars that won't start. I'm going to be worrying about you lot."
"You don't need to worry about us, Mr. Pete," Annie said. "We're the Sisters Eight, after all. But I promise, if we need you, we'll call."
***
The ride home was less hair-raising than the previous rides had been, even with the falling snow. With those new blocks on the pedals, Annie could now drive without help.
But it was still hair-raising because we didn't know what we were going home to. Someone had cut a cable in our car, delaying our arrival home. Someone maybe didn't want us to get home at all.
And yet, although we were filled with fear and anticipation, we were tired too.
"It is exhausting," Jackie said, "telling all of these lies to people. Do you think it's wrong of us to do it? Do you think it makes us bad people?"
"No," Annie said slowly, as though she were working the thoughts out even as she was speaking the words, "I don't. Adults train us to tell white lies all the time. They say, 'Tell Aunt Martha she doesn't look fat in that dress.' They say, 'Tell Uncle George his cooking tastes great.' None of that stuff is ever true, but we have to say it to save other people's feelings. Well, now we have to save something bigger: we have to save Mommy and Daddy, maybe even ourselves. If we can lie about fat clothes and bad food and it's okay, I don't see anything wrong with lying to save people's lives. Even if we are having fun while we're doing so."
We were silent for a long moment, digesting all that she had said. Annie really had grown as smart as any adult we knew. Then:
"What do you think is going on at our house right now?" Georgia asked.
"To that," Annie said, driving on into the night, "I have no answer."
CHAPTER TEN
Annie parked the Hummer at the bottom of the drive and killed the lights.
"What are you doing?" Rebecca asked.
"I'm creating the element of surprise," Annie said. "If someone is in the house, it would be better if they didn't see us coming."
"Shouldn't we run the other way?" Petal said.
"No," Annie said. "There are eight of us. Whoever might be up there can't catch all of us at once. We could probably overpower whoever it is. Or at the very least, some of us would be able to get away to tell the tale."
"You don't make that sound very encouraging," Georgia said. "Maybe we'd be better off calling the police?"
"Or maybe we could smoke the person out with a fire?" Rebecca suggested.
"I keep telling you," Annie said, ignoring Rebecca, "the police can't help people like us. They're equipped to handle kids getting kidnapped but not parents getting parentnapped."
"What about Pete?" Georgia pressed. "He comes when we call."
"True," Annie said. Then we saw her shrug in the dark of the car. "But he knows now that we're on our own. If we call him, he'll rethink leaving us that way and turn us in to the coppers."
"What are we going to do, then?" Marcia asked.
"We're going home," Annie said simply.
Then she got out of the car, inviting all of us to do the same.
"I'm not dressed for walking up the driveway in new snow," Petal said.
"I don't like to complain," Zinnia added, "but I am sliding around."
"Hold on to each other's hands," Annie advised, starting a chain. "If we hold on to each other, we'll hold each other up."
"Or," Rebecca said, "one of us will fall, bringing the rest down with her, like dominoes." But she took hold of Georgia's hand just the same and now our chain of eight stretched across the whole driveway.
"We're like a line of linebackers," Marcia said with a nervous giggle.
"Or a line of cut-out paper dolls," Zinnia said.
"Or a line of idiots," Rebecca said.
"Shh," Annie whispered. "We're getting closer."
Now that we were practically upon the house, we sensed that something was wrong.
"There are no lights on," Marcia observed. "If it wasn't for the moonlight, we wouldn't be able to see anything. It's too dark."
"Of course it's dark," Annie hissed. "We didn't leave any lights on."
"But why didn't we?" Jackie asked. "What are we, nuts?"
"We may be," Annie said, "but that's not it. We didn't leave any lights on because we thought we'd be coming home in daylight. We didn't plan on someone sabotaging the Hummer."
"So what will we do when we go in?" Marcia asked. "Will we leave the lights off in case the intruder, if there is one, is still there?"
"Maybe we could bark like a pack of mean dogs to scare the intruder off," Rebecca suggested.
"Don't be daft," Annie said, ignoring Rebecca. "How will we find anything in the dark? Besides, if we leave it dark, someone could sneak up behind us."
We were on the stoop now and we waited, scared, as Annie slowly turned the doorknob. As she turned it, we heard a flutter. In the moonlight, we saw a carrier pigeon, perhaps the one who'd visited us before, circle the house and then fly away.
"I wonder what he wanted," Durinda said, watching him go.
"I guess we'll never know," Annie said. Then she opene
d the door.
The moonlight revealed a delegation of eight cats waiting for us right inside the door. This was not unusual. We'd been gone longer than planned, and they were probably hungry. Either that or they were planning to lodge another complaint about the condition of the human toilets.
"Meow!" Anthrax said as soon as we were in the door.
"Yes, I know you're hungry," Annie whispered, "and we'll feed you as soon as we can, but we need to take care of something else first."
"Meow!" Anthrax said more violently as Annie switched on the lights.
"Really," Annie started to say, "I promise we'll—"
But Zinnia cut her off. "She's not complaining about hunger," she said. "She's trying to tell us something else."
"How would you know?" Rebecca scoffed. "I suppose you think the cats are talking to you again?"
But Annie ignored Rebecca's scoffing of Zinnia, even if Zinnia didn't.
"Let's look around," Annie said. "We need to investigate each room."
"Shall I run ahead and get your spear for you?" Georgia offered.
We'd noticed that Georgia had changed somewhat. She could still be as testy as Rebecca, but it was as though seeing Annie take charge of the household had caused a grudging admiration to grow in her.
"No, thank you," Annie said. "If you run ahead without us, you might get yourself killed."
That shut Georgia up. That shut all of us up. We were that scared.
The front room was the obvious first room to investigate because, well, it was right there.
"Daddy and Mommy are missing!" Marcia observed with a cry.
"Of course they're missing," Georgia said, proving that while she might now admire Annie, she didn't necessarily admire the rest of us. "They've been missing for weeks!"
"Or dead," Rebecca added.
"I don't mean that," Marcia said. "I mean Daddy Sparky and Mommy Sally." She indicated the spot near the window where they had spent most of their time. "They're not there."
"That's because we moved them to the drawing room so they could have tea while we were at Will's party," Georgia said. "Don't you remember?"
"Oh, right," Marcia said.
Annie's Adventures Page 7
