by Sally Warner
“Whoa,” EllRay said, pausing. “You finally moving out, Alf?” he asked, seeing the boxes. “It’s about time!”
Marco laughed.
“Stop showing off,” Alfie said, trying not to drop her boxes. “I’m not moving anywhere until I leave for San Francisco. Alone.”
“You’re moving to San Francisco?” Hanni whispered, one step behind her.
“Not yet,” Alfie whispered back. “We’re making something,” she told her brother. “Building something, really,” she corrected herself.
“Building” sounded more important than “making.”
“Building a dollhouse, probably,” Marco piped up, staring at the two girls like he was on a field trip to a zoo.
This was a guy with no sisters, Alfie decided.
“Anyway, it’s none of your business,” she told EllRay, ignoring Marco. “So just go outside and play. And leave us alone.”
“Well, scream if you get tangled up in that duct tape,” EllRay said, laughing. “We’ll come rescue you.”
“That’ll be the day,” Alfie said over her shoulder as she finished climbing the stairs.
“And tell me when you’re done building whatever-it-is,” EllRay shouted after her. “Because Marco and me are the building inspectors.”
“Yeah, right,” Alfie called back. “You just stay out of my room!”
“‘Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t,’” EllRay teased, quoting her. He was already halfway out the door.
“You better stay out, that’s all,” Alfie said.
And she meant every word.
9
Operation Kittycat
It was Thursday, August seventeenth, Alfie told herself, looking at the calendar on the refrigerator door.
Eleven days since she’d first learned about the three weeks she would be spending with Hanni.
Eleven days until school started.
Floop.
That made today the belly-button of their two-girl daycare club experience.
Today would be spent at Hanni’s house. And it was going to be major. Operation Kittycat was about to begin!
That meant there was an entire daycare club day to get through before Princess could come home with her, though. And Princess was all Alfie could think about.
Her kitty was the perfect purring handful of love, Alfie thought, feeling mushy, to her own surprise.
“Hi,” Hanni said, greeting Alfie and her mom at the Sobels’ front door. “Mom’s on the phone in her office, but she says hi, too.”
“Understood,” Mrs. Jakes said, smiling. “It’s a little cooler today, so you girls be sure to spend some of your time outside. This morning at least.”
“Mom,” Alfie protested. “We’re supposed to ‘organize our own activities in a fun but sensible way,’ remember?”
Alfie had a strange knack for remembering what people said. EllRay told her this either made her the perfect witness for a trial or a real pain, depending.
“We’re doing two things outdoors,” Hanni told Alfie’s mom. “My dad made this really cool ring toss game for the Fourth of July, and we’re gonna play that on the lawn. And my mom invented a nature scavenger hunt for us, using our own backyard. And after that, we’ve got the wooden bead kit my auntie sent me. I’m gonna share with Alfie,” she added—like it was nothing.
Ooh! Alfie had been eyeing that wooden bead kit all week. Her fingers itched to get going on a necklace or bracelet, maybe with a heart in the middle. She could wear it on the first day of school. So that was sweet.
Hanni really was a good sharer.
She might have to step up her own sharing game, Alfie admitted to herself.
But forget ring tosses, scavenger hunts, and even pretty bead necklaces. What Alfie wanted most was to get her hands on adorable little Princess once more. There were so many things to love about that small gray kitten!
Alfie liked hearing Princess practice her squeaky meow.
She loved it when Princess kicked at a toy mouse while gripping it with her tiny front paws.
And she liked to see Princess play with the shoelaces of the red sneakers sitting next to the laundry room door.
Just looking at Princess’s pretty pink toe pads, striped legs, white vest, and white whiskers made Alfie feel happy inside. Her new kitty was perfect.
And Princess was something to love.
“But remember,” she told both Hanni and her own mom as they all stood in the Sobels’ doorway. “I get to choose some of the stuff we do, too. That was the deal.”
Maybe she could squeeze some Princess-time in there somewhere.
“You always want to do the same thing, though,” Hanni said, laughing.
And—boom. Alfie knew that Hanni was about to spill the beans about the kittens.
About Princess.
Disaster!
“It’s okay,” she said quickly, to change the subject. “Your ideas sound good, Hanni. And it’s really nice of you to share your beads.”
“It certainly is,” Alfie’s mom said, getting ready to leave. “Now, Alfie, listen. Your brother will be picking you up this afternoon, okay? I have an appointment, so he’ll be in charge until I get home.”
Wait. What? This could ruin everything! Because EllRay was a big old snoop.
“I can walk home by myself, Mom,” Alfie said, trying to sound calm.
“Out of the question.”
“Or—or Hanni can walk me home,” Alfie said, thinking fast.
“But then who would walk Hanni back home?” her mom asked, laughing. “We’ve got the makings of an old riddle here, Alfie. No, I think we’ll stick with Plan A,” she concluded, waving her hand in an airy way as she walked down the Sobels’ brick path toward the sidewalk.
“EllRay could walk Hanni home!” Alfie shouted after her.
“But I don’t want him to,” Hanni whispered, tugging at Alfie’s T-shirt. “I’m not used to big brothers, Alfie.”
“Plan A,” Alfie’s mom repeated over her shoulder.
And she was gone.
10
Flat-Out Lying
“This is fun,” Alfie said after lunch as the two girls worked on their bead necklaces in the cool of Hanni’s bedroom—a very cute room, too, in Alfie’s opinion. Hanni’s bed was big and sat between two large windows, and her homework desk was built into a wall of shelves that held both books and toys. Hanni’s desk chair was businesslike—but bright orange. Everything was very neat.
Where did she keep all her junk?
A round ottoman—as big across as a small trampoline—sat in the middle of Hanni’s room. The wooden bead kit was on it, and Alfie and Hanni sat on the shiny wood floor as they worked.
“I’m gonna ask for one of these kits for my birthday in November,” Alfie was saying as she searched for a striped turquoise bead—barrel-shaped—to add to her necklace. Her color choices were casual, whatever looked good. Hanni had decided to invent a pattern, of course.
Purple—white—pink—white—pink—white—purple.
But both necklaces were looking good.
“Are you excited about starting school?” Alfie asked, poking the hard end of the pink necklace cord through her striped bead.
“Yeah. No. Kinda,” Hanni admitted.
“Me too,” Alfie said. “Only with me, it’s more like nervous. I guess I wish we had a girl teacher, not a boy one.”
Most of the teachers at Oak Glen Primary School were women, but Mr. Havens was definitely a man. A very large man. Alfie wondered suddenly if it ever bothered the boys, having girl teachers most of the time. She had never thought about it before.
“I know,” Hanni said. “I’m scared he’s gonna shout at us like he does on the playground, when he’s coaching basketball.”
“But EllRay says he’s really nice, deep down insid
e,” Alfie told her, trying to be fair.
“Yuck. Who cares what he’s like inside?” Hanni asked, frowning as she searched for another round white bead. “If his outside is all yell-y and strict, second grade is gonna stink. Period.”
“I bet the boys are happy he’ll be our teacher,” Alfie said, thinking about it.
“Maybe. But who cares if boys are happy or not?” Hanni asked, shaking her head and pursing her lips as she worked. “You only think of weird stuff like that because you have a brother, Alfie. I guess that kind of warps a girl.”
“I guess,” Alfie said. But she was glad she had a brother. “That reminds me,” she said.
“Don’t tell me,” Hanni joked. “You want to go downstairs and visit the kitties again.” She gave a comical sigh.
“Not really,” Alfie said, fibbing. “But EllRay’s picking me up later this afternoon, and I don’t want him to know I’m bringing Princess home. He’s the only one in my family who doesn’t know about her, see,” she added, the fib flying out of her mouth as easy as anything. “And I want it to be a surprise for everybody at the same time.”
Okay, Alfie scolded herself. Now she was flat-out lying to Hanni, her brand-new friend. “Nice,” as EllRay would say. And none of the Sobels knew she didn’t have permission to bring Princess home.
But Princess needed her!
“We could find a kitten-sized box and decorate it,” Hanni said, eager to take on another craft project. “We could even punch air holes in the top. You could tell EllRay it’s just a pretty box to keep stuff in. He’ll never guess what’s inside. Boys,” she added with a snort meant to show how little they noticed things.
“I don’t know,” Alfie said, her forehead wrinkling as she thought. “Usually, punching air holes in a box is kind of a giveaway about what’s inside.”
“You could say it’s a lizard,” Hanni said.
“Then he’d want to see it for sure,” Alfie told her.
“So we won’t punch any air holes in the box,” Hanni decided aloud. “Princess will be fine for just one block.”
“But what if she meows?” Alfie asked.
“Talk real loud the whole time,” Hanni advised her. “Or ask your brother to explain a video game or a movie plot or something. That’s all boys talk about at school, isn’t it? You’ll be fine.”
“If you say so,” Alfie replied.
“Let’s stop working on these necklaces and get started on that box,” Hanni said, excited. “Because EllRay’s gonna be here in one hour.”
“But can we finish the necklaces next week?” Alfie asked.
“Um-hmm,” Hanni said, nodding. “Our last week of the daycare club. My mom can show us how to do the clasps. Now help me put this stuff away,” she said, back to her bossy old self. “And then I’ll go ask Mom for a box for you-know-who.”
“I hope this works,” Alfie said, half under her breath. “The surprise, I mean. Don’t say anything to give it away,” she cautioned.
“Don’t worry about it,” Hanni told her. “I’m pretty good at keeping a secret when I have to.”
Better than I am, probably, Alfie told herself, smiling—though she was keeping this secret, anyway. The one about Princess.
“What’s so funny?” Hanni asked, putting each loose bead in its correct place in the box.
“Nothing,” Alfie said. “I’m just happy, that’s all.”
Happy—and feeling guilty, she admitted silently. Because—uh-oh.
She was breaking a pretty big family rule.
Somehow, Operation Kittycat hadn’t seemed real until this very moment!
But it was going to happen.
The question was, what would happen next?
11
Ready and Waiting
The hard part about pulling off Operation Kittycat was going to be leaving the Sobels’ house fast enough, Alfie decided.
Before Mrs. Sobel said anything to EllRay about the kitten.
That’s why she, Hanni, and Princess were waiting on the Sobels’ front lawn when EllRay coasted up on his decal-decorated board.
“Hi! We did a craft project, too,” Hanni told him, pointing first to EllRay’s skateboard and then to the cardboard shoebox on the grass that held a snoozing Princess. Alfie and Hanni had decorated the box’s sides with press-on bows and fairy stickers. The box was tied shut with a piece of thick red yarn.
“What?” EllRay said, frowning. “This isn’t some craft project, yo,” he informed Hanni. “Skating is my life.”
“What?” Hanni echoed, confused.
“Be quiet,” Alfie told her brother. “Anyway, I thought basketball was your life. And Hanni was just trying to be nice. Not like some people around here.”
“Yeah, nice,” Hanni echoed. “Showing you this pretty box Alfie made to keep things in. Like—like seashells,” she added, eager to come up with some fake but likely item. She wanted to help keep Princess a secret from EllRay—for now, anyway.
The box jiggled a little on the grass, and a bow fell off, but EllRay didn’t notice. “Whatever,” he said, shrugging. “It’s okay, I guess. But it’s not the same as my board. Now, c’mon, Alf,” he said, impatient to get going. “You got everything? Because Mom said not to let you go waltzing off without all your stuff.”
“I don’t know how to waltz,” Alfie told him, scooping up the box and cradling it to her chest.
“You know what I mean,” he said.
“I got everything.”
“Bye,” Hanni told them, giving Alfie a special look that said, Oh, boy! He is gonna be so surprised.Hanni had no idea how surprised EllRay—and her parents—would be! It would be perfect, she thought, smiling. Because with Princess, it would be two against one at her house.
Two girls against one boy.
She could just see the look on EllRay’s face. “No fair!” he would probably say.
“Life’s not fair,” she’d tell him. “That’s what Mom always says. That, and ‘It’s not a contest.’”
“That doesn’t make it right,” EllRay would grumble.
“Maybe it does, and maybe it doesn’t,” she’d say, smiling. “But I win.”
Score!
But EllRay would not be surprised for a while, Alfie vowed on Hanni’s front lawn, trying to cross her fingers and hold the kitten box at the same time.
“You didn’t have to be so mean to Hanni,” Alfie told EllRay as they walked home.
“I wasn’t mean,” he said, barely listening as he rolled along on his board, going as slowly as possible. “I was telling her the truth, that’s all. And she’d better learn not to make fun of sixth-graders, too. So I was really doing her a favor.”
“She wasn’t making fun,” Alfie said, feeling Princess thump around inside the box. “She was chatting, that’s all.”
“Well, you don’t know how to waltz, and I don’t know how to chat,” EllRay said.
“Huh! You can say that again,” Alfie told him. “Only don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t say that again. Just—just skate on home,” Alfie told him. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“I can’t leave you standing here,” EllRay said. “It would be just my luck if you got lost or something. I’d never hear the end of it.”
“I can see the house!” Alfie exclaimed. “How could I get lost?”
Princess was really kicking up her heels—two heels? four heels?—inside the box by now, but EllRay didn’t notice.
“Just stop talking,” he said. “I’m in charge, remember. And what I say goes.”
“Yeah. It goes in one ear and out the other,” Alfie told him, repeating an old saying she’d once heard.
Zing.
“I wouldn’t brag about that,” EllRay said, turning up the driveway. “Because it means there’s nothing inside your
head. So, ha.”
“Ha back at you,” Alfie said.
“Do I have to tell you to go to your room?” EllRay half teased as he unlocked the kitchen door.
“Go ahead and try,” Alfie said, unable to believe her luck. “I dare you.”
And she had thought she would have to find some excuse not to hang out with him, but here he was—just handing it to her. Score.
Her bedroom was ready and waiting for Princess, its tiny new occupant.
Operation Kittycat was almost complete!
“Okay,” EllRay said, taking the dare. “Go to your room. But grab a banana or something first,” he added, clearly wanting to back down. “Because they’ll yell at me if you starve.”
“No,” Alfie called out, heading toward the stairs. “I’m too busy obeying your royal orders, EllRay. I don’t have time for mere food.”
“Okay,” EllRay yelled after her. “See if I care. This is the last time I try and do something nice for you.”
“Like sending me to my room?” Alfie shouted from the upstairs hall—having the last word.
And that was one of her favorite things in the world to do.
“We’re home,” she whispered to Princess, and she opened her bedroom door.
12
Dinner in a Haunted House
“Don’t forget the salad,” Mrs. Jakes told Alfie and EllRay at dinner that night. “And not just two or three pieces of lettuce for decoration, either,” she added. “I know your little ways.”
Salad would be fine, Alfie thought, if it wasn’t for all the weird stuff her mother put in it.
Beans and nuts.
Raw and cooked vegetables.
Sometimes pieces of fruit.
Alfie liked most of these things on their own, but she did not like them to surprise her by sneaking into other food.
Eek!
And her mom bought so many different kinds of lettuce at the farmers’ market that Alfie was pretty sure there had to be a curly green weed or two in there somewhere.