Authors: Madelyn Rosenberg
Nanny X Returns
X
Returns
Madelyn Rosenberg
illustrations by
Karen Donnelly
Holiday House / New York
Text copyright © 2015 by Madelyn Rosenberg
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Karen Donnelly
All Rights Reserved
HOLIDAY HOUSE is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
ISBN 978-0-8234-3519-7 (ebook)w
ISBN 978-0-8234-3520-3 (ebook)r
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rosenberg, Madelyn, 1966-
Nanny X returns / by Madely9n Rosenberg. â First edition.
pages cm
Sequel to: Nanny X.
Summary: Alison, Jake, and their undercover nanny are on the trail of an artist who is threatening the president and planning to destroy national treasures in Washington, D.C.
ISBN 978-0-8234-3533-3 (hardcover)
[1. NanniesâFiction. 2. Brothers and sistersâFiction. 3. Undercover operationsâFiction. 4. SpiesâFiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories. 6. Washington (D.C.)âFiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.R71897Nd 2015
[Fic]âdc23
2015004324
For Sally
HQ:
Mary Cash and the fine folks at Holiday House
Secret agents:
Susan Cohen and Nora Long
Intelligence:
Graham Lazorchak, Karina Lazorchak, Breece Walker, Moira Rose Donohue, Jacqueline Jules and Wendy Shang
The Usual Suspects:
Tom, Cece, Mary, Molly, Rachael, Anamaria, Andrew, Mel, Jules, Mom, Jimmy, Dad, Linda, Sally, Marfé, Marty, Carla, Ann, Anna, Laura and Liz
The Unusual Suspects:
One More Page, Politics and Prose, Sara Lewis Holmes, Mr. Schu, Margie, Library Laura, Jama and This Kid Erik
Maps and Legends:
Karen Donnelly
Secret Passwords:
George Newman
Segway Training:
Chester Eng
Strategic Planning and Vehicular Operations:
Butch Lazorchak
ALSO BY
Madelyn Rosenberg
Contents
2.
Jake:
Nanny X Tries on a New Hat
3.
Alison:
Nanny X Has a Man Overboard
4.
Jake:
Nanny X Gets Some Help from a Purple Minnow
6.
Jake:
Nanny X Gets Held Up by a Squirrel
7.
Alison:
Nanny X Grabs the Remote
8.
Jake:
Nanny X Gets Some Help from a Chimp
10.
Jake:
Nanny X Heads for the White House
11.
Alison:
Nanny X Is Out of the Picture
12.
Jake:
Nanny X Reads Some Poetry
13.
Alison:
Nanny X Knows Her Alphabet
15.
Alison:
Nanny X Skates Right By
16.
Jake:
Nanny X Learns Some History
17.
Alison:
Nanny X Sets the Trap
18.
Jake:
Something's Bugging Nanny X
19.
Alison:
Nanny X Learns About Insect Digestion
20.
Jake:
Nanny X Goes Rock Climbing
21.
Alison:
Nanny X Puts a Fork in it
Nanny X's Skating Tip No. 12: How to Stop
Nanny X Returns
I thought we'd get a new case the second Nanny X walked back into our living room wearing her motorcycle jacket and mirrored sunglasses. But she didn't say anything about a new case. She didn't even say anything about an old case. Instead, she acted like it was just a normal day and like she was a normal nanny, instead of an agent for NAPâNanny Action Patrol.
I went for the direct approach, which is one of my specialties. “Do you have a new case we can help you with?”
“You may help me set the table,” said Nanny X. “You may also help solve The Case of the Dog Who Needed to Be Walked.”
Our dog's name is Yeti, after the abominable snowman, but he's not even a little abominable. I walked him, super fast, and when I came back inside, my brother had taken over The Case of the Ordinary Nanny.
“When are you going to get a new hat?” Jake asked her.
“I didn't know you were interested in fashion, Jake Z,” said Nanny X.
On her first and best day of work, Nanny X had worn a straw gardening hat with pink flowers that served as antennas or radar or something. But she'd given it away to a chimp. You'd think she would have replaced it, if there was more work to do.
Maybe all of the crimes in Lovett, Virginia, had been solved and the only work Nanny X had left was taking care of me, Jake and our baby sister, Eliza. Or maybe there was something Nanny X wasn't telling us.
“Nanny X?” I said Friday morning after our parents had rushed off to work, gulping coffee like it was oxygen.
“Yes, Alison?”
“What's going on?”
“Life is going on,” she said. “Electrical currents are usually on. The toaster, as it happens, is also on.” Nanny X grabbed a piece of toast and added a thin layer of jam.
“That's not what I meant,” I said. “I meant when are we going to
do
something?”
“We are going to catch the school bus in seven minutes.”
“That's not what I meant, either,” I grumbled.
Nanny X looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. My parents had given me the same look when I told them everything we'd done with Nanny X that first afternoon. I thought it was best to tell them the truth: that we'd spent the day chasing a diamond smuggler. And when they didn't quite believe me? I thought that was for the best, too.
Jake and I grabbed our backpacks while Nanny X put Eliza into the stroller. Then our nanny grabbed a diaper. I searched for the familiar silver buttons, hoping that it was
a secret phone, but it wasn't. Nanny X stuck the diaper into her bag.
“Ready for your math test?” she asked me. I hadn't told her I had one; she just knew. At first I thought it was spooky that she knew so much about us. Now I wanted her to know more, like how much we wanted a new assignment.
“Make sure you reread problem No. 7,” she said. “And don't forget: Your grandmother's coming tonight and you need to straighten your room when you come home. Throwing dirty clothes in the closet does not count as straightening.”
The bus hissed up. “I'll see you at 3:41,” Nanny X said. “On the nose.”
Stinky Malloy was already on the bus, wearing his yellow safety-patrol belt. “How's Nanny X?” he asked. His nanny, Boris, was a member of NAP, too.
“Normal,” I told him.
“Normal-normal or normal for Nanny X?”
“Normal-normal,” I said.
“Oh,” said Stinky. “That's too bad.”
School was just as ordinary as home was. The only almost interesting thing that happened was during my math test. I went back to double-check problem No. 7 like Nanny X had suggested. Sure enough, my brain had burped on that question. I blew away eraser dust and fixed my answer just as Ms. Bertram called, “Time.”
The bus dropped us off at precisely 3:41. We were walking home with Nanny X when her phone rangâher regular phone, not her diaper phone, which had actually blown up on our last assignment.
“Hello, Mrs. P.” She didn't call our mother “Gloria” or
“Mrs. Pringle” like everybody else. “What? That's terrible. How did it happen?”
With her mirrored sunglasses, I couldn't see enough of Nanny X's face to know if the news was somebody-just-died terrible or we're-having-fish-for-dinner terrible. She must have seen me watching her, because she held up her hand like a crossing guard:
Wait
.
“No,” she said. “Nothing that can't be changed. Yes. Abso-tootly. I'll let them know right away.”
She hung up. “Your grandmother,” she began, and I held my breath until she finished, “broke her leg in Zumba class.
“She'll be fine,” Nanny X continued, “but she's in the hospital for observation. Your parents are going to Newport News to check on her. So instead of your grandmother coming to your house for the weekend, you're stuck with me instead.”
Jake grinned. Apparently he had forgotten how boring the last few days with Nanny X had been.
“Tut!” said Eliza, which is her word for “stuck.” She's not so good with the “
st
” or “
k
” sounds yet.
Our parents hurried home and packed their bags while Nanny X went to her own apartment to “gather a few necessities.”
She came back with a small plaid suitcase and a pair of pink bunny slippers. Even I grinned when I saw what else she'd brought with her: a brand-new hat. I hoped there would be a new adventure to go along with it.
Nanny X Tries on a New Hat
I don't pay attention to clothes, but I would have noticed Nanny X's new hat no matter what. It was a fishing hat with lots of hooks and feathers, plus some lures that were shaped like minnows. Also, the hat was bright orange. That's good if you are trying to blend in with an orange grove. It's not so good if you are trying to be inconspicuous, which was one of my old reading-connection words. It means “not noticeable,” and it's an important thing to be if you're a special agent.