Blair’s Nightmare (20 page)

That was it, really, he decided. A lot of things suddenly looked different. It seemed as if people just naturally got locked into seeing their problems in a certain way, until after a while they forgot that there was any other way to look at them. When actually, they might not seem like problems at all if they were looked at from a slightly different angle.

Like, Dad and Molly for instance, and their quarrel over whether Blair ought to have an imaginary dog. If they hadn't been looking at their quarrel so hard, they'd have probably had time to ask Blair a few more questions and find out what was really worrying him.

And Dad and Molly weren't the only ones. There were several things that David was suddenly seeing from another perspective. Like how Amanda really felt about him—and how Jeff and Molly really felt about each other—and most surprising, perhaps, the whole Pete thing. How Pete felt about David—and how David felt about Pete. He'd been so sure for all those weeks that Pete was only interested in punching him out. He'd been so sure that Pete was nothing but a stupid bully. Pete was certainly a bully at times, and he might not be the brightest guy in the world about some things. But it was Pete who'd told him something very important about himself—and
about courage. And now, because of Pete, he was pretty sure he was finished with one particular hang-up—because, as Pete said, there were lots of different ways of having guts, and some of them weren't as important as others.

David was still staring out the window and thinking when he heard Blair say “Hi.” He turned around in time to see Blair climbing over Nightmare. Nightmare looked up and wagged his tail and went back to sleep, and Blair crawled up on the window seat beside David. David put one end of his blanket around him, and they both sat there for a while looking out at the darkness. David was trying to think of a way to explain what he'd been thinking about to Blair.

“It's getting locked into seeing something in a certain way,” he told Blair, “until you can't see any other possibilities. It's a matter of point of view. Do you know what I mean?”

Blair stared at him. “Nooo,” he said.

“Well, like—like I was so sure that Dad would make us get rid of Nightmare if he found out. You know, he doesn't change his mind very often, and I was sure he'd never change it about a dog.” He laughed, and Blair laughed too. “I was really P.O.ed at you for bringing him in the house tonight. At first, I mean. I was sure you'd really blown it for poor old Nightmare.”

“Are you P.O.ed at me now?” Blair asked.

“No. Of course not. Everything turned out great. But it
might not have, you know. I mean, deciding to bring Nightmare in like that, without telling anybody what you were going to do. You were really taking a big chance.”

Blair didn't say anything. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but suddenly David was sure he was smiling.

“Blair! You didn't know, did you? Did you know how things were going to turn out?”

Blair shook his head. “No,” he said. “But Harriette did.”

David sighed. “Blair. There's no such person as . . .” But then he stopped. Having a friend like Harriette, like a lot of other things, was probably all a matter of point of view.

Also by

ZILPHA KEATLEY SNYDER

ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 1984 by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Jacket illustration copyright © 2014 by David Frankland

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OOKS FOR
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The text for this book is set in Electra LT.

This Atheneum Books for Young Readers hardcover edition September 2014

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Snyder, Zilpha Keatley.

Blair's nightmare / Zilpha Keatley Snyder. — 1st ed.

p. cm

Summary: The Stanley kids and their stepsister try to keep secret a dog that Blair finds, keep David out of the clutches of the school bully, and find out if some escaped convicts really are nearby. Sequel to “The Famous Stanley Kidnapping Case.”

ISBN 978-1-4814-0320-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4814-0321-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4814-0322-1 (eBook)

[1. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 2. Stepchildren—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.S68522 Bn 1984

[Fic]—dc23 83015677