Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade? (6 page)

But better than the mess was the fact that there were kids everywhere in the Weber house. By the time Katie, Emma, and Matthew got there, Emma's big sister, Lacey, was already home. The teenager was talking to one of her friends on the phone. Katie wasn't sure how Lacey could hear the person on the other end, since one of the twins was sitting on the floor, singing as he banged two pans together.

Katie stared at Lacey. The fifteen-year-old looked so cool. She had her long hair up in a messy bun. She was wearing glittery eye shadow and lipstick. Katie really loved her low-slung jeans and her silver belly shirt. Lacey's outfit was so much cooler than Emma's brown suede loafers and well-worn overalls. Katie thought how lucky Emma was that when she got older, she'd be able to share Lacey's awesome wardrobe.

Katie sighed.
She
didn't have anyone she could share clothes with.

Katie waited for Emma to introduce her to Lacey, but Lacey didn't even notice that the girls had entered the room. She didn't even notice that the twin who had been banging pots on the floor was now standing on the kitchen table.

“Tyler, get down from there,” Emma said, setting the toddler on the ground.

“I'm firsty,” he told her. “Want juice.”

“Wouldn't Lacey get you a juice box?” Emma asked.

Tyler shook his head and pointed to Lacey. “Talk. Talk. Talk.”

Emma sighed. “Lacey, get off the phone. It's your turn to help with the twins.”

Lacey shot Emma a dirty look. She did
not
get off the phone.

Emma went to the refrigerator and took out a sippy cup filled with apple juice. “Where's Mom?” she asked Tyler.

Tyler pointed up toward the ceiling. “Timmy made stinky.”

Katie looked confused.

Emma laughed. “He means Mom's upstairs changing Timmy's diaper,” she explained.

Katie nodded. She smiled at Tyler. He looked adorable drinking his juice, and rubbing a small baby blanket against his cheek.

Katie sighed. Emma was so lucky. She had cute little brothers, and a teenage sister too. Emma probably learned all about the latest styles and new music from Lacey.

“You want a snack?” Emma asked Katie.

“Sure. What do you have?”

Emma peeked in the cabinet. “We have graham crackers, peanut butter, and raisins. Mom usually leaves carrots and celery in the fridge too.”

“Graham crackers sound good,” Katie told her.

“Me too!” Tyler slid across the kitchen floor in his socks. He crashed into Katie's legs. “Oops, sorry.”

Katie rubbed her knee. “It's okay,” she assured him. She looked at Emma. “Is it always like this around here?”

Emma laughed. “You should see what's going to happen when Timmy gets down here.

He's the real troublemaker.”

Just then, Katie heard a woman's voice shouting down the stairs. “Timmy, walk down the stairs like big boy. You shouldn't slide down on your tush.”

“Bump. Bump. Bump,” Timmy replied. He said “bump” every time he bounced down another step on his rear end.

Timmy and Mrs. Weber came into the kitchen. Timmy looked at his twin brother. He noticed that Tyler had his baby blanket. Timmy didn't have his. That did
not
make Timmy happy.

“WANT BLANKIE!” he cried out.

“Emma, will you go upstairs and get Timmy's blankie? I swear I can't go up those stairs another time.” Mrs. Weber let out a weary sigh. “I'm so glad your dad's getting home from this business trip tomorrow night. I could sure use his help around here.”

“I'll get the blankie, Mom,” Emma replied sweetly. “Do you remember Katie?”

“Welcome to the zoo, Katie,” Mrs. Weber joked. “I haven't seen you in so long. Why don't you go into the family room and make yourself at home while Emma runs upstairs? It's quieter in there.” She pointed toward a room in the back of the house.

Katie looked at Emma.

“Go ahead. I'll be right back,” Emma assured her.

As Katie left the room, she could see Mrs. Weber pull a package of chopped meat from the refrigerator. She was obviously starting dinner. Katie wondered how much food it would take to feed such a full house.

The family room was quiet. Sure, there were plenty of toy cars, trucks, planes, and stuffed animals all over the place, but there was no one there. Katie sat down on the fluffy black couch and relaxed for a minute.

Now she knew why Emma wanted to do her math homework at the Carew house. Katie couldn't imagine how Emma got anything done with all the craziness going on in this house.

Still, things were kind of exciting at Emma's. There was no way anyone could ever be bored or lonely here!

Just then, Katie felt a cool draft on the back of her neck. She turned around and looked for an open window. But all the windows were shut tight. She looked up. There was no ceiling fan in the room.

The draft was getting colder and stronger by the second. But it only seemed to be blowing on Katie. There wasn't any sign of a breeze anywhere else in the room. Katie gulped. This was no ordinary wind.

This was the magic wind!

Whoosh!
A powerful tornado began to swirl all around Katie. Faster and faster it spun, growing wilder by the second. Katie had to grab onto the couch to keep from being blown away. She shut her eyes tight, and tried not to cry.

And then it stopped. Just like that.

Katie gulped. The magic wind was gone. Who had it turned her into this time?

Slowly, Katie opened her eyes and looked around. She was still in Emma's family room. At least the wind hadn't blown her far away.

She glanced down at her feet. Her purple platform sneakers were gone. Now she was wearing a pair of brown suede loafers.

Katie's new jeans were gone too. Instead she was wearing a pair of faded overalls.

Slowly, she brought her hands up to her head. Her red curly hair was now brown. And it was bound into two thick braids.

“Oh, there you are, Emma,” Mrs. Weber said, racing into the family room. She glanced around. “Where's Katie?”

How could she possibly explain
this
? “Um . . . she . . . um . . . I think she went to the bathroom or something,” Katie mumbled quickly.

“Oh. Did you get Timmy his blankie?” Mrs. Weber continued.

“I . . . not yet . . . I mean, uh . . . I can go get it now,” Katie said, although she wasn't at all sure where his blankie might be.

“Never mind. That's not important. Right now I have to go to the supermarket to get the rest of the food for dinner. Then I have to stop by the dry cleaners and the video store before they close. Can you bathe the twins for me while I'm gone?”

Katie had never bathed a baby before, never mind two. “But . . .” she stammered nervously.

“I know, it's Lacey's turn to take care of the twins,” Mrs. Weber interrupted. “I just can't get her off that phone. So be a sweetheart and help me out, will you, Emma? I'm sure Katie won't mind. It'll only take a few minutes.”

Mrs. Weber seemed so frazzled and tired. She really did need some help with the little kids. And it couldn't be any harder to bathe the twins than it was to bathe Pepper. Katie had done that plenty of times.

“Sure . . .
Mom
,” Katie said finally.

Mrs. Weber bent down and kissed Katie on the cheek. “That's a good girl. I'll be home in an hour.”

As Mrs. Weber left the house, Katie turned toward the kitchen. That's where she'd last seen the twins.

“Okay, Timmy and Tyler, it's bath time!” she announced, trying to sound very cheerful.

The boys weren't very happy about having a bath. In fact, they refused to go with Katie.

“No bath!” Tyler shouted, throwing his sippy cup.

“No bath!” Timmy echoed. He raced out of the kitchen.

“Come on, you guys,” Katie urged. “It'll be fun.”

Tyler shook his head hard. He ran into the hall, crawled into the front closet, and shut the door.

At least Katie knew where
he
was. She had no idea where Timmy had gotten to. “Timmy!” she called. “Timmy!”

But Timmy didn't answer.

Katie frowned. Where could that boy have gone?

She peeked into the downstairs bathroom. No Timmy.

She looked under the couch in the family room. No Timmy.

She opened the front closet. Maybe Timmy was hiding with his brother.

Tyler went racing out of the closet, running right past Katie. But Timmy was nowhere to be found.

Now Katie was getting worried. Had Timmy run out of the house? Was he outside and all alone? A little kid like him could get hurt out there.

This was
so
not good.

Suddenly, Katie heard a tiny sneeze coming from behind the drapes.

Yes!
Katie moved the curtains to the side. Timmy had been hiding there all along. “There you are!”

“Aachoo.”
Timmy wiped his drippy nose on the drapes.

“Ooh, that's gross!” Katie exclaimed. “Let's go get a tissue. Then we'll have a nice, warm bath.”

“No bath!” Timmy shouted. He zipped right past Katie into the kitchen.

Katie hurried after him. She was careful not to trip over Matthew, who was sitting on the kitchen floor happily coloring with crayons. At least
one
of the Weber boys was being good!

But that didn't make up for Timmy and Tyler. At that very moment, Tyler was standing on a kitchen chair chanting, “No bath! No bath!”

Timmy scrambled up onto the chair next to his brother. “Hungry!” he declared. He reached out toward the kitchen counter.