The More the Merrier (5 page)

W
e studied for a while and then watched Animal Planet with Tess. It was hard, though, because she asked a million zillion questions. Finally my aunt put her to bed.

“Peace at last,” I said.

“It is awfully quiet,” said Aunt Flora. “Miss Purvis must love her new hiding place.”

The three of us settled in to watch
The Wizard of Oz
. That is one of my all-time favorite movies, but I don't get to watch it too much because the witch and the flying monkeys scare the dickens out of Tess.

When it was time for us to go to bed, we found out just where Miss Purvis's new hiding place was. It was right on my top bunk! She was at the end where my feet go, mixed in between a Lego pirate ship and a Playmobil castle. She opened one eye and stared at me, but she didn't get up to leave.

“It would be so great if she slept here all night.” I climbed under the covers and made sure my feet didn't push into her.

Erin turned off the light and climbed into the bottom bunk. “I really like your new bed.”

“Me too,” I said.

“Do you usually sleep on the top or the bottom?”

“I go back and forth,” I said. “If my toys are spread out too much up here, I sleep down there.”

“Why do you keep some toys up there?” asked Erin.

“Because of Tess,” I said. “Sometimes she knocks things over and breaks stuff apart.”

Erin didn't talk for a minute. “Do you like having a little sister?”

“Most of the time,” I said. “But sometimes she's a pest.”

“I hope Anna and Julia don't think I'm a pest,” said Erin.

Anna and Julia were Erin's new stepsisters that were away at college.

“Just don't wreck things they're working on or ask too many questions when they're watching TV.”

“I won't,” said Erin.

“I know,” I said. “When are you going to see them again?”

“They're going to spend part of winter vacation with us.”

“That will be fun,” I said.

“Yeah.” Erin got quiet again.

“Are you asleep?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I was just thinking. What kind of things do you like to do with Tess?”

“Hmm.” I thought a little bit. “I like going places with her, like the library and the park. And I like teaching her stuff when she wants to learn.”

“I'd like to go places with Anna and Julia and have them teach me stuff,” said Erin. “What else?”

I started to think about what else I liked to do with Tess, but on accident I fell asleep. I guess Erin did too, though, because she didn't ask me any more about it.

When I woke up the next morning, Miss Purvis was still right at the end of my bed. I crawled down to where she was and petted and petted her.

“You are a great cat,” I whispered to her. “I think we're getting to be very good friends.”

When Erin woke up, she asked if we could have Pancake Surprise for breakfast, and that was A-OK with everyone else. This time we made it much less surprising. We didn't add any food coloring or spices, just applesauce and raisins and some crumbled-up Nilla Wafers. The pancakes were a little crunchier than usual, but still pretty good.

After that we went back to my room to study. I climbed up to the top bunk, and Erin handed me the big book of spelling words. She climbed up next and we got all settled, and Miss Purvis still didn't move at all.

“You ask first this time,” said Erin.

“Okay,” I said. “Fourth-grade words, here we come. Your first word is
January
.”

“
January
,” said Erin. “
J-a-n-u-a-r-y. January
.”

“You spelled it right,” I said, “but don't forget you have to add the capital.”

“Oh yeah,” said Erin. “
January
. Capital
J-a-n-u-a-r-y. January
.”

“Hello,” I said.

“Hello,” Erin said back.

“No,
hello
is your next word.”

“Oh!” Erin laughed. “
Hello. H-e-l-l-o. Hello
.”

Erin got the rest of the words right in her column and then it was time for her bonus word. “
Entertain
,” I said. “Let me entertain you by asking you how to spell things.”

“Ooh,” said Erin. “
Entertain. E-n-t-e-r-t-a-n-e
or
a-i-n
?”

“
A-i-n
.” I handed her the book.

“Your first word is
flavor
,” said Erin. “The best flavor is orange. I lied to get into the Grape Club.”

“Hah!” I said. “Flavor.
F-l-a-v
. . . Is it
e-r
or
o-r
?”

“
O-r
,” said Erin.

“
O-r
,” I said. “I like cherry better than grape, by the way.”

“Hah!” Erin said. “Your next word is two words.
United States
.”

“
United States
,” I said. “
U-n
. . . Wait, let me start over. Capital
U-n-i-t-e-d
capital
S-t-a-t-e-s
.
United States
.”

“That's right,” said Erin.

I did pretty well on my column and only missed a couple, including my bonus word, which was
Antarctica
, because I forgot a
c
in the middle.

Erin handed me the book.

“Your first word this time is
panda
,” I said.

“I love panda bears,” said Erin. “
P-a-n-d-a
.”

“Me too,” I said.

“Hey,” said Erin. “Panda bears might be a good theme for the class party.”

“Yeah,” I said, “or maybe polar bears or sun bears or just plain bears.”

“Or maybe the theme could be all zoo animals,” said Erin.

“Or just all animals,” I said.

“I guess there are a lot of great party ideas,” said Erin. “I know why you couldn't decide at school.”

There was a knock at my bedroom door.

“Come in,” I said.

My aunt poked her head in. “Sorry to disturb you girls, but I'd like to start some laundry. Can you keep an eye on Tess for a few minutes? She's coloring with markers at the coffee table, and I don't want her to get carried away.”

“Sure,” I said.

“Thank you.” Aunt Flora carried a big laundry basket down to the basement, and we went out to the living room.

“Hello!” said Tess.

“
H-e-l-l-o
.
Hello
,” I said.

“What's that?” Erin pointed to Tess's ant farm, which was sitting on the coffee table.

“My ants' house. They're watching me color while Aunt Flora does laundry.”

We sat down by Tess and watched her color too until someone rang the doorbell. Miss Purvis streaked past us, and we all followed her to the front door. I opened it just a crack and peeked through. It was Rosemary T.! Without thinking, I shut the door back up.

“Hey!” Rosemary T. yelled from the other side of the door.

Erin and I looked at each other like we didn't know what to do.

“We probably can't give her the silent treatment right now,” Erin whispered.

“Maybe she's all back to normal,” I whispered back.

Rosemary T. knocked again, this time harder and louder. My heart was knocking too. “Someone open this door right now!” There was a thud that sounded like maybe Rosemary T. had kicked the door with her foot.

“Maybe not,” I whispered.

“I'll take a break from the silent treatment.” Erin opened up the door a crack. “Hello.”

“Finally!” said Rosemary T. “I think Cinderella's dumb little sister slammed the door in my face, just like she hung up on me last night.”

“Did not!” yelled Tess.

“Did so!” yelled Rosemary T. “Open the door!”

“I can't,” said Erin.

“Well, go get Cinderella then,” said Rosemary T.

“She's busy at the moment,” said Erin.

Miss Purvis started yowling.

“What is that?” demanded Rosemary T.

“Flora's cat,” said Erin.

“It sounds mean,” said Rosemary T.

“She's pretty nice,” said Erin.

“Whatever,” said Rosemary T. “My mom made me come down here to return a book.”

Miss Purvis stuck her paw through the crack in the door and yowled louder.

Rosemary T.'s voice moved away. “It's trying to scratch me!”

“No she's not,” said Erin.

“Yes, it is!” yelled Rosemary T. “Close the door so it can't get out.”

I picked Miss Purvis up and pulled her paw inside. Erin shut the door.

“Don't open the door until I'm gone,” yelled Rosemary T. “I'll leave the book on the mat.”

Aunt Flora came up from the basement. “What's going on?”

“Rosemary T. was just here,” I said, “and we had to answer the door.”

“Of course,” said my aunt.

“And since we couldn't both give her the silent treatment,” said Erin, “I talked.”

“And then Miss Purvis scared her away.” I rubbed my chin on top of Miss Purvis's head, and she started to purr.

“Oh dear,” said Aunt Flora. “Miss Purvis, you are a bad cat.”

“No, she's not,” I said. “She's a great, great, great, great cat, with a great big capital
G
.”

I
was very, extremely nervous to go to school on Monday for two reasons. One, it was the day for the classroom spelling bee; and two, I would have to see Rosemary T. I wanted to keep ignoring her and giving her the silent treatment, so I hoped she wouldn't push me too far. I really did not want to have a what's what if I could help it.

When I got to the playground, Erin ran over right away. “Are you all
r-e-a-d-y
.
Ready
?”

“I think so,” I said, “but I'm not for sure.”

Our class lined up to head into the school, and Charlie bounced his basketball right up behind us. “Rosemary T. told everyone playing basketball that your mom and dad are gone and there's crazy, weird stuff going on at your house.”

We all three laughed the whole way into class.

“Good Monday morning,” said Mr. Harrison. “Before we start our classroom spelling bee, we have a little business to attend to. Our special visitor tomorrow is Rosemary T.'s dad, and on Wednesday it's Jack's grandfather. Unfortunately, our special visitor for Thursday had to cancel. If any of you knows someone who might like to come and fill in, let me know.”

I raised my hand but kept it hidden up inside my sleeve. A lot of the purple was gone, but not all of it. “My aunt might. She's a dental hygienist, and she's taking care of us while my mom and dad are gone.”

“Not her aunt!” Rosemary T. whispered very loud so I could hear.

I looked over at her table, and now she was whispering quietly to Rosemary W. and Hannah and Abby. They started giggling.

“Having your aunt visit would be excellent,” said Mr. Harrison. “Let's talk more about it after recess. Now, everyone, please get out a piece of paper and a pencil.”

The spelling bee started with everyone taking a regular old spelling test at their desks. We did a self-correct when it was over and had to be very honest. If we missed less than five, we got to be in the front-of-the-class spelling bee.

The smart boys' table got to all be up front, including me. So did Erin and Kristy and Olivia. Charlie and Jack from the loud sports boys' table were up front and so was the whole Rosemarys' table. There were two arty girls and two stamp-collecting girls and last but not least was quiet Zachary.

We just lined up however we wanted to, and Erin and Abby made a space for me in between them.

“Cinderella's not wearing her shoes,” Rosemary T. tattled.

I ignored Rosemary T. and didn't look at her at all, but I did race back to my table and put my orange Crocs back on.

The spelling bee started, and two people got out before I even got my first word.

“Okay, Cinderella,” said Mr. Harrison. “Your first word is
coach
.”

“
Coach
,” I said. “
C-o-a-c-h. Coach
.”

“Good,” said Mr. Harrison. “Erin, your first word is
dream
.”

“
Dream
,” said Erin. “
D-r-e-a-m. Dream
.”

“Good,” said Mr. Harrison.

Erin and I smiled at each other.

Four more people got out before my next turn.

“Cinderella, your word is
camera
.”

“
Camera
,” I said. “C
-a-m-e-r-a. Camera
.”

Erin got her next word right, which was
thumb
; but Abby and Hannah and three other people got out before it was my turn again.

My next word was
February
, and I got it right and remembered to add the capital and the weird
r
. Erin's next word was
foreign
, and she missed it.
Alas
. She walked to her seat and looked at me all sad, and I looked back at her just the same.

“Rosemary W.,” said Mr. Harrison, “your word is
spoil
.”

“
S-p-i-o-l
,” spelled Rosemary W.

“That is incorrect,” said Mr. Harrison. “Please sit down.”

I was very happy about that, even if that wasn't very nice. If my best friend was out, at least Rosemary T.'s best friend was out too.

When it was my turn again, there were five of us left: Logan, Rosemary T., Charlie, Zachary, and me. That meant maybe we'd be having a paleontology party or an I Believe in Unicorns party or a basketball party or an I Can't Decide Yet party since me and Zachary still couldn't decide. I guess any of them would be okay, but I really wanted to win. I wanted Erin and me to get to pick a fun theme and plan everything out. And I wanted to beat Rosemary T.

“Cinderella?” said Mr. Harrison.

“Sorry,” I said. “I was a million miles away.”

“Sometimes that happens,” said Mr. Harrison. “Your word is
witch
.”

“Could you use it in a sentence, please?” I asked.

“The witch cast a spell on the teacher so she could win the spelling bee.” Mr. Harrison bounced on his toes and smiled big.

“Abracadabra.” I waved my hands at him.

Everyone laughed, especially Mr. Harrison.

“This is serious!” Rosemary T. stamped her foot. “You shouldn't make jokes during a spelling bee.”

“So sorry,” said Mr. Harrison. “Do you want me to repeat the word, Cinderella?”

“Nope, that's okay.
Witch. W-i-t-c-h. Witch
.”

Charlie got out next by forgetting one of the
t
's in
attitude
, and Logan got out by giving
ceiling
an
ie
instead of an
ei
. That left Rosemary T., Zachary, and me, all on our way to the big spelling bee on Friday. And that was vexylent and awshucksible at the same time. And
awshucksible
is another word I invented that means “aw, shucks, that's terrible,” FYI.

At the end of school, Kristy and Olivia ran up to me and Erin on the playground. “It's all up to you, Cinderella,” they said.

“What is?” I asked.

“The spelling bee,” said Kristy.

“You have to beat Rosemary T. and Zachary,” said Olivia.

“We don't want to have an I Believe in Unicorns party,” said Kristy. “And we bet your I Can't Decide Yet party will be way more vexylent than Zachary's.”

I gave her a thumbs-up for saying my word, and she gave me a thumbs-up back.

“I wish I didn't get out.” Erin had been saying that all day.

“Me too.” I'd been saying that all day too.

We lined up against the fence with all the other kids that were getting picked up by car. The Rosemarys were lined up near us and were busy whispering and pointing. Me and Erin were busy ignoring them with a capital
I
.

“Good job on the spelling bee today, girls.” Mr. Harrison stopped in front of us on the way to his car. “Cinderella and Rosemary T., I hope you'll make our class proud on Friday.”

“We will,” I said.

“I will,” Rosemary T. said at the same time. “Do you believe in unicorns, Mr. Harrison?”

A loud, sputtering sound came from around the corner, and Aunt Flora's car appeared. “Would you look at that!” said Mr. Harrison.

“That's my aunt's car,” I said.

“I haven't seen an Opel GT in years.”

“It sounds like a helicopter,” I said, “so we call it the Flying Machine.”

The Rosemarys started giggling, but it didn't sound nice.

Aunt Flora pulled up, and Mr. Harrison opened up the passenger door.

She looked at him very surprised. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, Aunt Flora.” I climbed into the backseat. “This is my teacher, Mr. Harrison.”

“Hello,” said Mr. Harrison. “We're inviting visitors into our classroom this week, and a little bird told me you might be able to come in Thursday and talk about the dental world.”

“I'd love to,” said Aunt Flora.

“Great!” Mr. Harrison looked all around inside the car. “I didn't think Opel GTs had backseats.”

“They didn't come with them,” said Aunt Flora. “But the person I bought it from had kids, so she had one installed.”

“Lucky for me and Tess,” I said.

“Could you make the headlights pop up?” asked Mr. Harrison.

My aunt pulled hard on a lever, and the headlights rolled open.

Mr. Harrison whistled, and a car honked behind us.

“Sorry!” He shut the door and waved, and we drove off.