by Elise Allen
She hopped back on the bike and pedaled even faster than before.
hear music!” a voice screamed. “I smell popcorn! And cotton candy! And animal poop! We’re at the fair!”
It sounded like Petey was right by Gabby’s ear…but that was impossible.
Then Sneakers barked, and Gabby saw what Petey had done, as if it was happening right in front of her. His bag unzipped, then he climbed out and held onto the zipper tab to swing around the bike, where he curled his arms and legs around the frame, slid down it, then bounced off the empty water-bottle holder, using the bracket like a trampoline. He somersaulted through the air, then gripped the back of Gabby’s puffy purple jacket, which he climbed until he sat on her left shoulder, perched like a parrot.
Gabby’s heart stopped a million times as the vision played; when it ended she was breathless. She really had to tell Edwina to take away this power. It wasn’t helping her babysitting skills, and it was definitely bad for her stress levels.
Even though she’d heard him speak right into her ear, she reached up to her shoulder to make sure Petey was really there.
“Cut it out!” Petey wailed. “If you tickle me, you’ll make me fall.”
“I’ll make you fall? Why did you unbuckle? It’s not safe!”
“I know what I’m doing,” Petey said. “And Sneakers would’ve caught me if I fell. Come on—let’s go see everything!”
With Petey out of his basket and therefore shockingly unsafe, Gabby was eager to pull into one of the many bike racks in the fairgrounds’ giant paved parking lot. It was only after she did, then quickly texted Zee and Satchel to let them know where she was, that she remembered something.
“Shoot, I don’t have a lock. I can’t just leave the bike here.”
Sneakers whined and pawed at a small bag on the back of the bike, just under the seat. Gabby unzipped it and found a thick, coiled bike chain and a lock with a key.
“So that’s settled, then,” Gabby said. “You’re an alien dog, who understands every word I say. And you’re a very good boy.” She scratched Sneakers behind his ears, then chained the bike, snapped the lock shut, and put the key in a secret pocket on the very top of her knapsack.
“Come on, come on, come on!” Petey said. Gabby winced as he climbed up her curls and scampered over her scalp. “I wanna go in!”
“I’m thinking we should talk about personal space,” Gabby said, trying to peer up into her hair. “Maybe ask before you start climbing someone’s head.”
Sharli held out her arms. “In! In! In!”
Sneakers barked and wagged his tail.
“Okay, we’re going,” Gabby relented, “but we need to blend in. So, Sharli, please don’t move anything without touching it, okay?” She reached up and took Petey out of her hair, bringing him down to face her. “And, Petey, you can’t let anyone see you. You can hide in my pocket, or—”
“Or in Sneakers’s vest pockets, or behind your hair, or behind Sharli’s braids…” Petey rolled his eyes as he rattled off the options. “I get it. I’m human-years ten. It’s not like this stuff’s new.”
“Gabs!”
Gabby grinned and looked up to see her two best friends approaching. Zee was in the lead. She wore denim overalls as always, the pockets bursting with the zillion odds and ends she used to make her mechanical creations. Her blonde braids bounced and clacked as she ran, which made Sharli shake her own head of braids and giggle.
Right behind her loped Satchel. He was a good head taller than Gabby. He would have been even taller if he ever stood up straight, but he’d gotten so tall so young that he always sloped his shoulders to try to blend in. By now it was second nature. Satchel was all long limbs and bony joints, with a sharp nose that poked out behind the shock of black hair that fell in his face.
Gabby was thrilled to see them both.
“HEY!” she cried as Zee tackled her in a hug. Gabby hugged her back, keeping Petey clutched gently in one hand.
It was a bad idea. Petey quickly squirmed out of her grip and grabbed on to Zee’s braids.
“Tiny person!” Satchel shouted, reeling back like he’d run into a glass wall. “In your hair! Tiny person!”
Satchel and Zee had both known about Gabby’s alien babysitting adventures for a long time now, and Satchel had seen all kinds of otherwise inexplicable things, including the inside of a spaceship hurtling through outer space. He was totally on board to help with things like the pizza-dough breadsticks, and was always there in an instant if Gabby needed him, but he was much happier when he didn’t have to see the impossible. It scared him, and Satchel preferred scary things to stay on TV or movie screens.
Zee, however, relished every opportunity to see an alien. “Where?” she said, and whipped her head around so quickly that Petey lost his grip on her braids and f lew straight for Satchel. Reacting on instinct, Satchel reached out and caught him, but he was so freaked out that he juggled Petey up and down, making the boy’s voice shake.
“I’m gonna hurl!” Petey cried.
“Satch, stop,” Gabby said. Then she turned to Sharli. “Forget what I said before. Can you bring him to me?”
“YAH!” Sharli cried happily. She leaned forward in the bike seat and stared at Petey, who f lew out of Satchel’s hands and soared full speed into Gabby’s stomach. Gabby doubled over with a low oof as Petey ricocheted off her and fell, but Sneakers darted in front of her and Petey landed safely on his back.
“Thanks, Sneakers,” Petey said. Then he looked up at all of them indignantly. “Not a Nerf ball! Actual alien being here!”
“Sorry, Petey,” Gabby said, her eyes darting around the parking lot. It was dotted with people, but they were all striding toward the fairgrounds entrance and seemed to have no interest in Gabby and her friends. “Just…maybe don’t shout the ‘alien’ part out in public.”
“Dude!” Zee enthused, her eyes sparkling. “That baby moved the tiny kid with her mind !”
“Toddler, yes,” Gabby said. “Sharli, this is Zee and Satchel. Zee and Satch, this is Sharli and Petey. And Sneakers, the dog.”
She left out the “most-likely-an-alien” from Sneakers’s description. Less to explain that way.
“Sneakers!” Satchel cried. Within seconds he was on his knees, rubbing the dog behind his ears as the spaniel wagged his tail and covered Satchel’s face with wet tongue-kisses.
“Ew,” Petey grimaced from his spot on Sneakers’s back. “Gross.”
“I’m with the mini-kid,” Zee said.
“Minisculean,” Petey noted.
“Whatever,” Zee said. “That thing licks its butt with that tongue. It’s nasty.”
“That thing?” Satchel said when Sneakers’s snout was away from his mouth. “How do you not like dogs or babies?”
“Neither one of them can tell me what they want,” Zee said. “I like things that can talk to me. Like robots. Or select people, but only if they aren’t annoying.”
“Yeah!” Petey cried. “No dogs or babies or annoying people! They’re all too big anyway. Now let’s go to the fair!” He ran to the top of Sneakers’s head, then jumped into Satchel’s hair, causing Satchel to spring to his feet and launch Petey into the air, where he grabbed one of the many cords spilling out of the pocket of Zee’s overalls, swung back and forth to gain momentum, then launched himself onto her shoulder.
“Nice moves, Petey,” Zee said. “Let’s fair it.”
“Wait,” Gabby said. She took off Sharli’s helmet and hooked it onto the bike, then unstrapped the little girl from her seat and settled her against her hip. “Okay, let’s go. Petey, you’ve gotta stay hidden. Satch, can you take Sneakers?”
“Yeah! High five, Sneakers!”
Sneakers raised a paw and tapped Satchel’s outstretched hand, then Satchel kissed the top of the spaniel’s head and took his leash. Getting through the main gates took no time at all—Zee and Satchel had already been inside, so they just showed their hand stamps. Children under four were free, as w
ere dogs, and while Gabby knew it would be the right thing to pay for Petey, she couldn’t very well keep him a secret if she were buying him a ticket, so she only bought one for herself.
Once they were in, Gabby’s mood soared like a balloon. There was so much to see! She was wide-eyed as they walked the midway, past its barkers hawking games—“Jug Toss! High Striker! Ring the Bottle!”—and foods that made no sense, but sounded too good to miss. “Hot Beef Sundae!” “Giant Deep Fried Gummy Bear on a Stick!” “Donut Burger!” Beyond the midway she could see the tops of roller coasters and a Ferris wheel and a giant pirate ship that zipped in and out of her field of vision as it zoomed up and down. Gabby wanted to do everything all at once, and she could see Satchel, Zee, and Sharli felt the same way. Even Sneakers looked excited; his tail had perked up and he pranced along, sniffing at everything in the air.
Best of all, the fair was filled with people. It was the perfect place to hide in plain sight from whoever was after Sharli.
“I wanna do all the rides!” Petey cried. His voice was right in Gabby’s ear. He’d made his way back to Gabby’s shoulder again, though Gabby had no idea how or when.
“You’re supposed to stay hidden.” Gabby spoke softly, but it wasn’t necessary. The fair throbbed with noise from screams, laughter, the WHOOSH of rides, and the constant blare of pop music from a zillion speakers.
“I am hidden!” Petey insisted. “Your hair’s a big, curly mop. I could hide Sneakers in here with me.”
“What do we do first, Gabs?” Zee asked. “Food? Tilt-A-Whirl? Or I’ve got some lenses in here,” she added, rummaging in her deep side pockets. “I could rig up a microscope and check out a strand of Petey’s hair….”
“Let’s go see my mom,” Gabby said. “She’ll want to know I’m here. Then we can check out everything else.”
Together, the six of them walked through the midway, then turned left, away from the rides and toward the farm area. Here the smells changed from sugar, spices, and deep-fried everything to hay, musk…and a slight tinge of poop. Large, open pens held every farm animal imaginable: cows, sheep, giant hogs, horses, and even alpacas. Gabby held Sharli in her arms to make the long walk easier, but the little girl nearly hurled herself free, reaching out and calling to each one. “Oink, oink! Baaaaa! MOOOOOO!”
Gabby laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll see them in a minute.”
Beyond the farm animals stood the picnic area—a large field dotted with tables and benches, where scattered families shared meals from coolers they’d brought for the occasion. Most of the area was quiet, except for a single patch of lawn that bustled with life. There, a pop-up kitchen area filled with ovens, giant counters, and cabinets held the swarm of local chefs who’d spend the whole day working to create the world’s largest pizza. A massive section of field had been cordoned off to hold the finished pie, which would need a diameter of at least one hundred and thirty-two feet to take the prize.
Gabby craned her neck to see between the crowd of onlookers and found Alice among the throng of chefs. The day had only begun, but already Alice’s perfectly ironed hair stood out in f lyaway wisps, and her brow was beaded with sweat as she threw her entire body into ferociously kneading a mound of dough as big as Sharli.
“Swear to everything, if she sweats into the pizza dough, I’m gonna yak,” Zee said.
“Mom!” Gabby called, but Alice didn’t even look up. Carmen, however, did. She was sitting away from the bustle on her favorite folding chair under an umbrella, both of which Alice had brought along for her comfort. Carmen wasn’t interested in the fair itself—too noisy and too many people—and she’d never put up with sitting at a picnic table all day. The chair and a tablet loaded with e-books would keep her happy.
“She won’t hear you, Gabby,” she called. “And you can’t have a dog near people cooking. It’s unsanitary.”
“But Sneakers is so sweet,” Gabby said. She put Sharli down so the girl could toddle on the grass, then took Sneakers’s leash. “Come on, Sneakers. Let’s sniff the pizza.”
Gabby couldn’t hide her grin as she walked toward the chefs. She had no intention of letting Sneakers sniff the pizza, but she knew the idea of it would make Carmen crazy.
“Gabby, stop,” Carmen said f latly. But when Gabby and Sneakers kept striding forward, her voice got more frantic. “Gabby, come on! Gabby, stop! GABBY!”
Two people from the crowd turned at the sound of her name. Neither was Alice, and both made her regret ever setting foot in this part of the fair.
abby Duran!”
Dina Parker, the reporter, lit up so brightly at the sight of Gabby that for a second Gabby thought the woman might actually be an incandescent alien. She f lashed Gabby a megawatt smile, then glared at her cameraman, smacked his arm, and jerked her head. A second later she was all smiles again as they both strode Gabby’s way.
“Gabby?” came another voice.
Gabby knew that one, too. The Silver Fox looked confused as he broke from the crowd and walked toward her, his eyebrows furrowed at Sneakers.
Gabby smiled, but her insides churned. From a distance her hair hid Petey perfectly, but if Dina and Arlington were up close looking for aliens, they’d spot him in a second. Without moving her lips, Gabby whisper-hissed, “Petey, you gotta go. Stay close, but hide!”
It was too late. Dina was just a few steps away. Gabby’s heart thudded, but it blended in with the thunder of running footsteps behind her.
“Gabs!” Zee shouted. “You can’t talk to a big-time TV reporter with your hair like that! Turn around and let me fix it.”
With a rush of relief, Gabby turned. She mouthed “Thank you” as Zee moved in close and reached up with one hand to pretend to fix Gabby’s front curls. She didn’t touch the back, which worked as a thick curtain to hide Petey while he jumped into the top pocket of Zee’s overalls, which she’d emptied and now held open with her free hand. Once Petey was tucked safely inside, Zee darted away and Gabby turned back around to find Dina’s perfectly painted face an inch from her own.
“Whoa!” Gabby said, backing away a step. “Hi.”
“Well, hello,” Dina said with a slow, lioness smile.
“Gabby,” Arlington said as he pulled up next to Dina. He eyed Sneakers suspiciously, but the dog only sat and panted with a doggie smile. “I’m glad you made it.” Then he squinted a bit and leaned around her. “But where’s the baby?”
“A baby?” Dina asked excitedly. “You’re watching a baby? Child of anyone my viewers would know?”
Gabby spun around and saw Sharli far across the field, toddling back toward the animals. Satchel was bent over, arms spread wide as he took tiny steps behind her, ready to catch her if she toppled. Zee—doubtless still hiding Petey—jogged toward them.
“Is that her?” Dina asked, following Gabby’s gaze. Then she turned to her cameraman. “Let’s go take a peek.”
“Wait!” Gabby said, but Dina didn’t listen. She trotted off toward Satchel and Sharli, moving remarkably well across the grass in her red high heels. Her lumbering cameraman followed, but his wide body and the large camera kept him several steps behind.
Gabby’s mind raced. She’d had trouble with reporters before—babysitting celebrity kids meant paparazzi were always on the prowl. But while video of Adam Dent’s kids was a problem, video of Sharli, or someone zooming in on video with Zee in it and seeing Petey, would be a disaster. As far as Gabby knew, Dina could be sending her videos directly to G.E.T.O.U.T. Gabby could imagine them swarming the fair, grabbing Sharli and Petey and—
Sneakers took off, yanking his leash free of Gabby’s grip. He zipped in front of the cameraman, who lost his footing and splatted forward into the grass, the camera bouncing out of his hands. A nanosecond later, the dog reached Dina. Teeth bared and snarling, Sneakers snapped at her ankles, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
“Be careful! That dog is ferocious!” Arlington shouted, though Gabby noticed he made no move to help. He even backed away a fe
w steps. Gabby, however, ran full tilt into the fray.
“Get away, get away, get away!” Dina squealed.
“Sorry,” Gabby said, panting as she reached them and picked up Sneakers’s leash. “He’s really protective.”
Gabby hadn’t realized that Carmen had left her chair and made her way to the fracas until she spoke up.
“Excuse me,” she said to Dina, “I notice you’re over here, but you told my mother your job is to report on the world-record pizza, which is over there. Is something wrong?”
Gabby looked at her sister, small for her age, with her too-short straight-cut bangs and her inexpressive gaze. It seemed impossible that anyone would find her intimidating, but Gabby had seen grown-ups f lounder time and again under Carmen’s inscrutable stare, and Dina was no exception. She grimaced uncomfortably, then pulled herself tall, adjusted the jacket on her bright red pantsuit, tossed her hair, and f lashed her camera-ready smile.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “Nothing at all.”
She turned on her heel and walked back toward the chefs, pausing as she met her cameraman on the way. “Did you get that dog attacking me?” she growled as he fell into step with her. “I want to take the video to animal control.”
“No,” the cameraman replied. “I fell, remember? You want me to get some footage of the dog?”
Dina turned around, but Sneakers had long since stopped barking. He sat calmly at Gabby’s side, his tail thumping happily.
“Forget it,” Dina said.
“Thanks, Car,” Gabby said as Dina and her cameraman strode out of earshot.
“For what? I just wanted to know why she wasn’t doing her job.”
Gabby hugged Carmen anyway and smiled when her sister stiffened in her grip. “Tell Mom I’ll do my best to come back for the judging,” she said, though she knew she wouldn’t go anywhere near the picnic area again as long as she was still with the kids.
“Wait,” Carmen said. “I need a charger. Mom forgot to bring one—even though I reminded her five-and-a quarter times—and my tablet’s almost dead.”