For my grandson, Garrett Riley Naylor
Contents
One: The News
Two: Suspicion
Three: Picnic, Sort Of
Four: Mystery
Five: Dare
Six: Shadows
Seven: Center Stage
Eight: Emergency
Nine: Oh, No!
Ten: Moving Out
Eleven: Stop Complaining!
Twelve: Undercover Operation
Thirteen: The Magic Underwear
Fourteen: Eggs-actly!
Fifteen: Seen!
Sixteen: Old Rusty Truck
Seventeen: Once Upon a Midnight Dreary …
Eighteen: Ka-boom!
Nineteen: Tippy
Twenty: E-mail to Georgia
Twenty-one: E-mail from Georgia
Twenty-two: Goodbye! Goodbye!
One
The News
It was official: they were going back.
After Mrs. Malloy put down the phone, Caroline sneaked a look at her two older sisters. Was either of them going to cry?
It certainly wouldn't be Eddie, the oldest. Beth? Possible, but not likely. No, if anyone was going to get emotional about leaving Buckman, it would be Caroline herself. She swallowed.
“Well,” said their mother. “I guess that's that.”
“Goodbye, West Virginia! Hello, Ohio!” said Eddie.
When Mr. Malloy had taken a job at the college in Buckman on a teacher-exchange program, they'd all known that it would only be for a year. He had been offered other jobs too in Buckman, however, and the girls—and even their mother—had wondered if he might decide to stay.
But now he was back in Ohio, he'd signed the job contract, and the Malloys would be moving on August 24. The Bensons, whose house the Malloys had been renting, would be back on August 31.
There was silence around the dinner table. The shrimp salad sat half eaten on their plates, the lemon slices undisturbed in the iced tea.
“Well, at least I get to finish out summer baseball,” Eddie said at last. She'd be entering middle school when they got back home.
“I think I'm going to be sad,” said Beth, who was a year younger. “I'll miss the library—being able to walk to it, I mean.”
“I'll miss the river and the swinging footbridge,” said Caroline, age nine. She had a dark ponytail, while her two older sisters were blond.
More silence.
Then Eddie started to grin. “What I won't miss …,” she began, glancing at the others, and the three girls chimed together, “the Hatfords!” They laughed, but Caroline knew it wasn't true. They would miss the boys.
“Do you remember the day we moved in here?” Eddie asked her sisters.
“How could we forget?” said Beth. “We caught them up on the roof of their house, watching us from across the river.”
“And they dumped dead birds and squirrels on our side to make us think the river was polluted, just so we'd go back to Ohio,” said Caroline.
“Why, you never told me that!” said her mother.
“Ha!” said Eddie. “We never told you half the stuff those stupid guys did!”
Caroline knew, of course, that the Hatford brothers—Jake and Josh and Wally and Peter—weren't stupid in the least. Annoying, disgusting, and conniving, yes, but they had outwitted the girls on several occasions and entertained them on others, and though Eddie might not admit it, the girls had never had so much fun in their lives.
Later that evening, when Mrs. Malloy was packing up books in the living room and the girls were doing the dishes, Eddie said, “You know, if we've got only three more weeks here, we'd better make them count.”
“Doing what?” asked Beth.
“Showing the Hatford boys once and for all who's in charge, what else?”
“In charge of what?” asked Caroline. “We're moving back to Ohio. How can we be in charge of anything?”
“In charge of us! In charge of them! What I mean is, we have to show them we won.”
“I didn't know we were at war,” said Beth.
“Of course you did,” said Eddie. “War broke out the first day we got here! I just don't want those guys telling the Benson boys that they led us around by the nose all year. That they tricked us so many times we didn't know up from down. We've got to pull a couple more tricks ourselves.”
“Maybe we could just do something fun with them,” said Beth. “We don't have to fight.”
“Did I say fight?” asked Eddie. “I simply want them to remember that the Malloys are not to be messed with. We'll have fun, all right. Trust me.”
Caroline sighed and took the pan Beth handed her, wiped it off, and put it back in the cupboard. Everything was a competition with Eddie—a race, a contest. There had to be winners and losers, first place and second. The champions and the defeated.
All that Caroline, actress-to-be, wanted to do before they left was sneak into the old elementary school auditorium a few more times and act out little scenes up on a real stage. Her elementary school back in Ohio didn't have an auditorium with plush seats for the audience. It didn't have a stage with lights and scenery and a velvet curtain to pull when a performance was over. The only place to put on a production in the school back home was the gym, which also served as a lunchroom and usually smelled of bananas and pizza.
“So,” said Beth to Eddie. “What are we going to do?”
Eddie's eyes narrowed. In fact, they almost seemed to glow, Caroline thought. Like a wolf's eyes. Glowing eyes on Eddie were bad news. They meant she was up to something, and whatever it was, Beth and Caroline would get blamed for it too.
“Well, you know how Jake brags about all the wild things they used to do when the Bensons lived here?” Eddie said. “I'll bet they didn't do half the stuff he says they did. Knob Hill, the old Indian burial ground where the spirits roam at night? Ha! ‘Okay, Jake, take us there,’ I'm going to tell him. The old coal mine? ‘Hey, let's go!’ Smuggler's Cove? ‘I'm up for it!’ ”
Caroline didn't especially like the sound of roaming spirits or an old coal mine. And the one time they had been to Smuggler's Cove with the boys, she had almost got thrown into the water. But the possibility of Eddie and Beth doing anything without her was unthinkable. So she said what she had to say: “Sure.”
“We'll tell Jake to put up or shut up,” said Eddie.
“But be nice to Josh,” said Beth. “He's not so bad. And Peter's cute. Wally? Wally is just …”
“Just Wally,” said Caroline.
“Girls,” their mother said, coming to the doorway. “Each day from now until the twenty-fourth, I want you to pack at least three things. I've put a box in each of your rooms, and if you pack a little every day, it won't be such a chore at the end.”
“If we keep packing stuff, we'll run out of clothes to wear,” said Beth. “They'll all be in boxes.”
“That's the idea,” said Mrs. Malloy. “We want to be ready to go, so that as soon as the movers have loaded our things into the van, we can get in the car and drive off.”
The girls trooped upstairs, but instead of sorting through their closets, they sat down on the floor by the window in Caroline's room and gazed out at the river and the house beyond, where the Hatfords lived. The Buckman River flowed into town on one side of Island Avenue, circled around under the road bridge leading to the business district, and flowed back out again on the other side. It was here that the Malloys lived in the Bensons' house, and a swinging footbridge connected their side of the river to the Hatfords' on College Avenue.
“Do you remember the bottle race we had on the river?” asked Beth.
“Yeah,” said Eddie. “And the time the boys brought over that box with the chiffon cake in it? O
nly we thought it was dead birds or something and threw it in the water?”
Caroline gave a little sigh. “It's going to be boring walking to school on a sidewalk instead of a swinging bridge,” she said.
“Oh, for Pete's sake, let's quit moaning,” said Eddie. “Let's each throw three things into our packing boxes and then go downstairs and call the Hatfords. I'll do the talking.”
She stood up and yanked open one of Caroline's dresser drawers. She pulled out a pack of Uno cards, a necklace, and a pair of underpants and tossed them into the empty box Mrs. Malloy had placed on Caroline's bed.
“Next!” she said, and led them into Beth's room.
There Eddie opened the closet, grabbed a belt, and tossed it into Beth's box. She found a book and a pair of loafers and added those.
“Next!” she crowed. In her own room, she put two pair of socks and a baseball cap into the packing box.
“Done!” she said, and they all marched downstairs and crowded around the phone in the hallway.
As usual, after Eddie dialed, she held the phone slightly away from her ear so that her sisters could hear too.
“Hello?” she said. “Peter?”
Caroline moved in a little closer.
“This is Eddie,” her sister said. “How you doing?”
“O-kaaaay!” came Peter's voice, and Caroline and Beth grinned at each other. He was the youngest of the Hatfords, just out of second grade.
“How's your summer going?” asked Eddie.
“Boring,” Peter answered.
“Really?” said Eddie. “Well, maybe we can liven it up a little. Is Jake around?”
“No,” said Peter.
“What about Josh?”
“He's not here either,” said Peter.
“Wally? Where is everyone?”
“Mom's at work and Dad's cleaning out the gutters. Jake and Josh are holding the ladder, and Wally s picking up the stuff that comes out of the rainspouts,” Peter told her.
“Yuck!” said Eddie. “Well, when they come in, would you give your brothers a message?”
“Okay,” said Peter.
“Tell them that we're moving back to Ohio, and before we go, we want them to show us Smuggler's Cove, Knob Hill, and the old coal mine. Got it?”
There was silence at the other end of the line.
“Got it?” Eddie asked again.
“Does this mean you won't bake any more cookies for me?” came Peter's plaintive voice.
“I'm afraid so,” Eddie said. “But we'll bake up a big batch just before we leave. Okay?”
“I'm going to be sad,” said Peter.
“I know, buddy,” said Eddie. “But that's life.”
Two
Suspicion
Why, Wally wondered, when his mom worked in a hardware store, did the Hatfords have a rickety old ladder that had to be held on both sides when anyone climbed it? And why, when their dad was up on the ladder, did Jake and Josh get to hold it while he—Wally— had to scoop up the smelly muck that Mr. Hatford was hosing down the rainspouts?
Even though Wally was wearing his dad's work gloves, he hated the feel of soggy leaves, dead bugs, sharp twigs, and mold in his hands as he dumped it all into a trash barrel. When his father came down from the roof at last, Wally took off the gloves and threw them on the grass. Then he sprawled on the back steps beside the twins, who acted as though they had done all the work.
If I was the oldest boy in this family, there would be some changes around here, Wally thought. Jake and Josh shouldn't get the best jobs just because they were going into middle school in the fall. Peter, of course, being the youngest, didn't have to do half the work the others did, while Wally, in the middle, ten years old, got the short end of the stick. Again.
Peter appeared at the back screen.
“Eddie Malloy wants you to take her to Knob Hill and the old coal mine and Smuggler's Cove,” he said.
Jake jerked upright. “What?”
“That's the message,” said Peter.
“ When? When does she want to go?”
“I dunno.”
“Just Eddie?”
“All of them. Caroline and Beth, too, I guess.”
“Why?”Jake asked.
Peter shrugged, lifting his small bony shoulders as high as they would go and then letting them drop.
“Did she call or come over?” asked Josh.
“She called.”
“Peter, think!” Jake demanded. “Was that all she said?”
“Yes! I told you! They want to see Knob Hill and stuff before they go.”
“Go where? asked Wally.
“Back to Ohio,” said Peter. “They're moving.”
Like tires losing air, Wally and the twins sank slowly back into their sprawl on the steps. It was official, then. The Malloys were going home. After a year of Hatford tricks and teasing to drive them away, it had finally happened. The girls were going back.
“Well, hey! All right! It's about time!” said Jake, but no one else was cheering.
Peter came out on the steps and sat down beside his brothers. He and Wally looked somewhat alike. They had round faces and stocky builds, while the twins were string-bean skinny and already taller than their friends. “There won't be any more chocolate chunk peanut butter cookies,” Peter said mournfully.
“Peter, don't you understand?” said Jake. “Once the Malloys are gone, the Bensons will be back! Our friends! They'll be living in their own house and it'll be just like old times! Nine guys together again! Laughs galore!”
“Hip hip hooray,” Josh said without expression.
“I don't know what's wrong with the three of you,” Jake said. “Don't tell me you're going soft. Don't tell me you're going to miss those girls!”
Wally wasn't sure he would miss them, exactly, but he'd certainly know they were gone. He'd used to think he would be supremely happy if he never saw Caroline Malloy and her sisters again. If he never had to feel Caroline poking him in the back with her ruler as she sat behind him at school. Never had to listen to Caroline bragging about how she had been moved up a grade—to his grade—because she was so “precocious” or watch Caroline stand up in front of the class to read a story and sound like she was an actress in Hollywood.
But now he wondered if, once she was gone, it would be like a big empty hole in the sky, like when the wind had blown down their locust tree and left only space where branches had been.
“So what are we going to do?” Wally asked Jake. “You know no one's supposed to go near that old mine. And she'll probably want to go up Knob Hill at night.”
One of Jake's eyebrows tipped low toward his nose at one end and rose way up, like a question mark, at the other end. “You know what I think?” he said. “I think they're up to something. I'll bet Eddie's got some trick up her sleeve. I think she's trying to pull some big stunt on us before they go. And Smuggler's Cove? They've already been there! Done that! Oh, she's got it all figured out, you can bet.”
No one spoke for a minute. Then Josh said, “Jake, you wouldn't trust the Malloys no matter what! How do you know that Eddie doesn't just want to be friends?”
Jake turned and stared at his twin, both of them dark with summer tans. “You think all Eddie Malloy wants is to be our friend?. ”
“Why not?” said Josh. “Maybe she's trying to get the most out of Buckman before they leave.”
“Maybe the girls just want to show there are no hard feelings,” said Wally.
“Yeah, and maybe the Pope's Protestant!” said Jake.
But even Peter chimed in. “Why do you always think the Malloys are bad?” he asked.
Jake rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay! Eddie's a kind and loyal friend. So we'll show them a good time! So we'll take them up Knob Hill and leave them there, for all I care! Tell her yes.”
Wally looked around. “Who are you talking to?”
“Anyone! I'm not going to call her back. She didn't ask for me, did she, Peter?” said Jake.
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p; Peter thought for a minute. “She asked if anybody was around.”
“Okay. So, Wally, you call her,” said Jake.
Wally had known that this would happen. No matter how much he wanted to stay clear of the Malloys, something always happened to rope him in. But not this time!
“Nope!” he said. “Not me. I never went around bragging about going in that coal mine or climbing up Knob Hill at night.”
“Josh?” said Jake.
“Huh-uh,” said Josh.
“Okay, Peter,” said Jake. “Call Eddie back and tell her yes.”
The boys went into the house and sat at the kitchen table while Peter dialed the Malloys' number. Wally sat with his chin in his hands. This was not going to end well, he was sure of it.
“Hello?” said Peter. “Eddie?” There was a pause. Then, “Jake said for me to call you. He said yes, he'll take you up Knob Hill and leave you there.”
“Peter!” yelped Jake, springing from his chair. He grabbed the phone from his younger brother. “Joke! Joke!” he said to Eddie. “Sure, we'll show you around. Just let us know when you want to go.”
Wally decided to mark off each day on his calendar until the Malloys were gone. Every day there wasn't a disaster was one less day to worry about.
But when Wally woke up the next morning and went downstairs, the Malloy girls were sitting on his front porch. Wally stared at them through the window, then turned and raced back upstairs and into the twins' bedroom.
“They're here!” he yelled.
Jake almost tumbled out of bed. “Huh?” he said. “Who?”
“The Malloys! They're sitting on our front porch with a picnic basket!”
“What?” yelled Josh, awake now.
All the commotion must have wakened Peter, because by the time Jake and Josh and Wally had pulled on their jeans and T-shirts and padded downstairs in their stocking feet, Peter was sitting out on the glider in his Donald Duck pajamas, the girls around him, laughing and talking.
“So where are we going today?” asked Beth pleasantly when she saw Peter's brothers. “Smuggler's Cove, Knob Hill, or the old coal mine?”
“Uh …,” Jake mumbled.