Lucy's Tricks and Treats (4 page)

Nothing.

Shawn and Bobby looked at each other. Jack didn’t seem shy. He seemed rude.

Mrs. Lee walked over to their group. She frowned a little when she saw Jack playing. She touched him on the shoulder. He looked up at her and shoved the game into his pocket.

“Your person is colonial hero Paul Revere,” Mrs. Lee said.

“Paul Revere,” Shawn said. “He was the one who rode his horse near Boston telling the people the British were coming.”

“There’s a poem about it,” Candy said. “My dad read it to me when I told him we’re studying colonial history. My dad’s a very good reader,” she informed them. “I think he wanted to be an actor. Of course, now he’s a dentist—”

“That’s nice, Candy,” Mrs. Lee said. “I’ll leave you to get started.”

Bobby, Shawn, and Candy began talking about their report. They thought of different ways to introduce Paul Revere. Jack didn’t say much.

“Okay,” Bobby said at last. “Shawn, you’ll give a report on Paul Revere’s life.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to dress up like him, too,” Shawn said.

“I’m going to read that poem,” Candy said. “I remember the beginning. ‘Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.…’ ”

She said it so loudly that all the other groups turned to look at her.

Even Jack smiled.

“I’m going to draw a picture of Paul Revere. And I’ll talk about the Revolutionary War,” Bobby said. Now he turned to Jack. “What are you going to do?”

Jack shrugged. “Not sure,” he muttered.

Bobby, Shawn, and Candy looked at each other.

“Well, you should come up with something pretty soon,” Candy said. “I mean, you wouldn’t want to get a bad grade.”

Jack shrugged again.

Mrs. Lee clapped her hands. “All right, children, back to your desks. Your projects will be due in one week. Each group will present them to the class.”

Bobby felt his stomach twist in a little knot. At least drawing the picture would be fun.

Bobby was back at his desk when he noticed something. His pencil with the bear-head eraser was gone.

He looked around. He looked inside his desk. Then he remembered he’d had it while talking about Paul Revere.

The class was doing silent reading. Bobby went up to Mrs. Lee and asked if he could look for his pencil in the corner. She nodded.

The pencil wasn’t there.

Then something caught his eye. A pencil
with a bear-head eraser. And it was sitting on Jack’s desk.

Bobby walked over to Jack. He stood there nervously for a few seconds. Finally he said softly, “Jack, that pencil is mine.”

Jack acted as if he didn’t hear him.

Bobby put his hand on the desk. That made Jack look up.

“This is my pencil.” He tried to say it a little more firmly.

Jack looked surprised. “Oh, I found it on the floor.” He pushed it toward Bobby.

“Thank you,” Bobby said. He went back to his desk. He took a big breath and put the pencil away.

He was sure glad that Jack hadn’t argued with him about the pencil. That would have been almost as bad as not finding the pencil at all.

B
obby loved to draw. But he wasn’t enjoying drawing today. He had finished his picture of Paul Revere on his horse. Paul Revere was easy to draw.

The horse? Not so much.

Bobby looked at the picture. His horse was too fat. Its legs were too short. It looked like a stuffed animal Bobby had when he was little. That stuffie had been through the
washing machine so many times it was hard to tell just what kind of animal it was.

Lucy came prancing into the family room. She looked up at Bobby and barked. She was ready to play.

And Bobby was ready to make this picture disappear. He crumpled it into a ball and threw it on the floor.

Lucy was surprised. But she picked up the ball with her teeth. Then she dumped it on the couch next to Bobby.

Bobby shook his head. “I’m trying to get rid of it, Lucy.”

He threw the paper across the room. Lucy ran after it. She didn’t care if it was a bad picture. It made a good ball!

“Bobby, Shawn is here,” Mrs. Quinn called from the hallway. “At least I think it’s Shawn.”

What does that mean?
Bobby wondered. In a moment, he understood.

Shawn came into the room. He was wearing long socks, short pants, a white shirt, and a white wig with a small tail. He was dressed as a colonial man.

Bobby jumped off the couch. “What a great costume!”

Shawn beamed. He pointed at the pieces of his outfit. “My sister Sara’s old Bermuda shorts and kneesocks. One of my
shirts. A vest from a suit I wore to my cousin’s wedding.”

“But the wig! How did you make that?” Bobby asked.

“Sara helped,” Shawn said. “She’s good at crafts.”

Shawn pulled the wig off his head. He showed Bobby how the cotton balls were glued together and attached to a small beanie-like cap.

“Cool,” Bobby said.

“I’m going to wear it for our report. And I decided I’m going to wear it for Halloween, too,” Shawn told him. He placed the wig on the coffee table.

“How’s your report coming?” Bobby asked.

“Pretty good. I’m almost done,” Shawn said. “What about you?”

Bobby shook his head. “I can’t get Paul
Revere’s horse right.” He found the balled-up picture and smoothed it out so Shawn could see it. He liked drawing, too.

“Horses are hard to draw,” Shawn said. “You know, I took a book out of the library that showed how to draw all kinds of animals. I don’t remember the name, but just ask the librarian. She knows everything.”

Bobby perked up. “That’s a good idea!”

At dinner, Bobby said, “There’s a book I need at the library. It’s about drawing animals.” He explained about Paul Revere’s horse.

“We can go tonight,” Mr. Quinn said.

“It will be a good walk for Lucy,” Mrs. Quinn added.

It was a dark, chilly night. Bobby was glad that the library was only a few blocks away.

“Look, Dad,” Bobby said. “Some people
have already decorated their houses for Halloween.”

Mr. Quinn nodded. “A couple of our neighbors have gone all out.”

Bobby pointed to a brick house across the street. On the porch, next to a carved pumpkin, was a ghost made from a sheet attached to a pole. It was bigger than Bobby. Every so often, it said, “Boo!”

Lucy was interested in that ghost. She tugged Bobby toward it. He didn’t mind. He wanted to see it, too.

When they got closer to the porch, Lucy ran up the stairs. Just then, the ghost let out a loud “Boo!”

Lucy jumped! She ran down the stairs much faster than she had gone up. Now she pulled Bobby away from the brick house, trotting quickly along.

By the time they arrived at the library, she was panting hard.

“I’m going to mail some letters at the post office,” Mr. Quinn said. “Be as quick as you can.”

Bobby nodded. He hurried inside the library and headed to the Children’s Room. He liked it there. A small fireplace ringed by several comfortable chairs made it a good
place to read. But he didn’t have time for that tonight.

He knew he should ask the librarian for help finding the book he needed. He couldn’t. He felt too shy.

Maybe the librarian knew how he was feeling. She came over to him and asked, “Are you looking for something special?”

Bobby nodded. “A book on drawing horses,” he said quietly.

The young librarian smiled at him. “I think I know just which book you mean.”

She walked over to the shelves and found the drawing books. She pulled out one called
The Art of the Horse
. Then she found another,
Simple Ways to Draw Animals
.

“These might help,” the librarian said.

“Absolutely!” Bobby agreed.

He took his books to the checkout desk.
He was so busy looking through the pages he didn’t notice the boy in line in front of him.

Then he saw that the boy had long hair. He was checking out books about Paul Revere.

Bobby caught up to Jack on the way to the door. He tapped him on the shoulder.

Jack looked around. When he saw it was Bobby, he nodded.

Bobby pointed to Jack’s books. “Have you decided what your report will be about?”

Jack said, “I’m going to talk about Paul Revere when he was a silversmith. My mom has a Paul Revere silver cup. I’m going to bring it in.”

“A real one?” Bobby asked, his eyes wide.

Jack shook his head. “She got it at a gift shop in Boston. It’s a copy of a cup he made.”

Bobby nodded. “Sounds good,” he said. He hoped his horse would work out as well.

Mr. Quinn was waiting with Lucy when they got outside. Bobby wasn’t very good at introducing people. He waved goodbye to Jack.

Lucy liked meeting new people. She ran toward Jack and blocked him from leaving.

Jack leaned over and patted Lucy.

“Hello,” Mr. Quinn said. “I’m Bobby’s dad. And this is Lucy.”

“I have a dog, too. His name is Prince.” Jack spotted a red car. “There’s my mom. I gotta go.”

“I didn’t catch that boy’s name,” Mr. Quinn said as they headed for home.

“It’s Jack. He’s new,” Bobby replied.

“Do you like him?” Mr. Quinn asked.