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Fund-raiser.
    Mrs. Maxwell stayed in the hall stomping her boots. Granny George came out to greet her.
    â€œHe’s stuck in slush,” said Granny George.
    â€œUncle Jayne is stuck in slush?” asked Mrs. Maxwell.
    â€œHis car is stuck in slush. He went home to put the turkey in,” Granny George explained.
    â€œHe did the right thing,” said Mrs. Maxwell. She would never forget the turkey Aunt Margaret had made last Thanksgiving—it had been such an odd shade of gray.

chapter 57
    In Which Mrs. Maxwell Asks What That Noise Is
    â€œWhat’s that noise?” called Mrs. Maxwell.
    There was a general silence.
    Then Mark wandered into the hall with his camera, looking for a photo op. He knew something big was afoot.

chapter 58
    The Case of the Flying Thank-you Notes
    â€œWhat’s this?” said Mrs. Maxwell. She picked a blue thank-you note up off the floor. But her gloves were wet and it turned soggy right away. Another blue thank-you note flew by.
    â€œWould someone please read that to me?” said Mrs. Maxwell pleasantly.
    Granny George picked it up and passed it to Mark. Mark carefully placed his camera in Granny George’s hands and rapidly read the note out loud.
    â€œDear-Thank-you-for-It-is-very-and-it-will-come-in-handy-I’ll-use-it-for-various-things-like-and-In-case-you-want-to-thank-me-for-this-thank-you-note-please-wait-until-I-get-back-from-visiting-my-dad-in-Hollywood-I-will-be-there-for-six-and-a-half-days-Have-a-breathtaking-New-Year-Love-Moxy-Anne-Maxwell.”

chapter 59
    In Which Mrs. Maxwell Calls Out (and Not for the First Time in Her Life), “Moxy Anne Maxwell!”
    â€œMoxy Anne Maxwell!”
    Moxy figured there was too much noise for her to hear her mother calling out her name, so she didn’t reply.
    When Moxy didn’t reply, Mrs. Maxwell marched into the living room to find her. (Have you noticed how mothers always seem to
march
into rooms when you don’t answer right away?)

chapter 60
    In Which We Linger with Mrs. Maxwell to Give Moxy a Chance to Think of an Explanation for This Mess
    As soon as she saw the big “HANK YOU” spray-painted on her living room wall, Mrs. Maxwell collapsed onto the sofa and put her head between her knees and tried to breathe.
    Here is the photograph Mark took of Mrs. Maxwell trying to breathe.

    Mrs. Maxwell is somewhere in there with her head between her knees.

    It was touch and go—Sam and Pansy thought she might faint. Mark was pretty sure she wouldn’t. Moxy didn’t have an opinion one way or the other.
    That’s because she was busy rocking in the rocking chair—which was where she did some of her best thinking.

chapter 61
    In Which We Take a Chapter Off to Give Moxy a Little More Time to Think of an Explanation for This Mess

chapter 62
    In Which the Unasked Question—” How could things get worse?”—Is Answered
    You may have been wondering how things could get worse.
    Well, Ajax could walk in the front door.

chapter 63
    In Which Ajax Walks in the Front Door
    Ajax walked in the front door.
    â€œWhat’s that noise?” he said to no one. Ajax often asked himself questions out loud. In this case, he already knew the answer: It was the sound of his new Christmas copier—the one
nobody
was supposed to touch.
    Ajax didn’t stop to take off his snowy coat and boots. He didn’t look left or right. He walked right past the big “HANK YOU” sprayed in gold on the green wall—right past Mrs. Maxwell sitting in a heap with her head between her knees. He was following the flying blue thank-you notes.

chapter 64
    Mrs. Maxwell Asks an Obvious Question
    Mrs. Maxwell lifted her head from between her knees. “What on earth is going on here?” she said.
    â€œI’m writing my thank-you notes,” Moxy explained patiently.
    Mrs. Maxwell raised her head a bit higher and took a good look around. “On the living room