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into the air. The chains squeaked with every swing. The old back yard swingset, half covered with rust, hadn’t been used much in recent years.
    The early evening sun was lowering itself behind the house. The aroma of a roasting chicken floated out from the kitchen window. Kris could hear her mother busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.
    Barky yapped beneath her. Kris dropped her feet to the ground and stopped the swing to avoid kicking him. “Dumb dog. Don’t you know you could get hurt?”
    She looked up to see Lindy come running up the driveway, holding Slappy under her arm. From the smile on Lindy’s face, Kris knew at once that the birthday party had been a triumph. But she had to ask anyway. “How’d it go?”
    “It was awesome!” Lindy exclaimed. “Slappy and I were great !”
    Kris pulled herself off the swing and forced a smile to her face. “That’s nice,” she offered.
    “The kids thought we were a riot!” Lindy continued. She pulled Slappy up. “Didn’t they, Slappy?”
    “They liked me. Hated you!” Slappy declared in Lindy’s high-pitched voice.
    Kris forced a laugh. “I’m glad it went okay,” she said, trying hard to be a good sport.
    “I did a sing-along with Slappy, and it went over really well. Then Slappy and I did our rap routine. What a hit!” Lindy gushed.
    She’s spreading it on a little thick, Kris thought bitterly. Kris couldn’t help feeling jealous.
    “The kids all lined up to talk to Slappy,” Lindy continued. “Didn’t they, Slappy?”
    “Everyone loved me,” she made the dummy say. “Where’s my share of the loot?”
    “So you got paid twenty dollars?” Kris asked, kicking at a clump of weeds.
    “Twenty-five,” Lindy replied. “Amy’s mom said I was so good, she’d pay me extra. Oh. And guess what else? You know Mrs. Evans? The woman who always wears the leopardskin pants? You know—Anna’s mom? She asked me to do Anna’s party next Sunday. She’s going to pay me thirty dollars! I’m going to be rich!”
    “Wow. Thirty dollars,” Kris muttered, shaking her head.
    “I get twenty. You get ten,” Lindy made Slappy say.
    “I have to go tell Mom the good news!” Lindy said. “What have you been doing all afternoon?”
    “Well, after you left, I was pretty upset,” Kris replied, following Lindy to the house. “You know. About Mr. Wood. I—I put him upstairs. Alice and Cody went home. Then Mom and I went to the mall.”
    His tail wagging furiously, Barky ran right over their feet, nearly tripping both of them. “Barky, look out!” Lindy yelled.
    “Oh. I nearly forgot,” Kris said, stopping on the back stoop. “Something good happened.”
    Lindy stopped, too. “Something good?”
    “Yeah. I ran into Mrs. Berman at the mall.” Mrs. Berman was their music teacher and organizer of the spring concert.
    “Thrills,” Lindy replied sarcastically.
    “And Mrs. Berman asked if Mr. Wood and I wanted to be master of ceremonies for the spring concert.” Kris smiled at her sister.
    Lindy swallowed hard. “She asked you to host the concert?”
    “Yeah. I get to perform with Mr. Wood in front of everyone!” Kris gushed happily. She saw a flash of jealousy on Lindy’s face, which made her even happier.
    Lindy pulled open the screen door. “Well, good luck,” she said dryly. “With that weird dummy of yours, you’ll need it.”

    Dinner was spent talking about Lindy’s performance at Amy Marshall’s birthday party. Lindy and Mrs. Powell chatted excitedly. Kris ate in silence.
    “At first I thought the whole thing was strange, I have to admit,” Mrs. Powell said, scooping ice cream into bowls for dessert. “I just couldn’t believe you’d be interested in ventriloquism, Lindy. But I guess you have a flair for it. I guess you have some talent.”
    Lindy beamed. Mrs. Powell normally wasn’t big on compliments.
    “I found a book in the school library about ventriloquism,” Lindy said. “It had some pretty good tips in it. It even had a