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sat back with an irritated sigh. “How am I going to make it through two weeks without any music? I can’t fall asleep without it!”
    Carole smiled. “No problem,” she reassured her. “You can use my clock radio while you’re here. I have another alarm clock I can use.”
    “Really?” Marie exclaimed gratefully. “Thanks a lot, Carole. Hey, it doesn’t just play the farm report or anything, does it?”
    “Ha-ha,” Carole replied, rolling her eyes. “No, it’s a regular AM-FM radio. Come on, let’s go get it.” She hurried across the hall to her own room with Marie right behind her.
    As soon as Marie stepped through the doorway, her eyes widened. “Hey, I guess I was right about your decorating taste,” she commented, taking in the horse pictures and posters all around her. She wandered over to the window. “Oh, wow! You even have a poster taped to the window shade! That’s wild!”
    Carole decided to take that as a compliment, even if she wasn’t quite convinced that Marie had meant it that way. “Here’s the radio,” she said, unplugging it and tucking it under her arm. “Come on, let’s go set it up in your room.”She smiled with pleasure at her own words, forgetting about Marie’s comment. It was nice to think of the guest room as Marie’s bedroom.
    A few minutes later the radio was in place on the bedside table in Marie’s room. Marie switched it on and flipped around between channels until she found a song she liked. “Hey, this is one of my favorites,” she exclaimed happily. She started humming along as she and Carole returned to unpacking. Carole hummed along, too, even though she’d heard the song only a few times. She decided that if she could just get used to Marie’s jokes, the visit was sure to be practically perfect.
    M ARIE LEANED BACK in her chair. “I’m so full I may never eat again,” she declared. “That was a wonderful dinner, Colonel.”
    “I’m glad you liked it,” he replied, beaming at her. “The chicken is my own special recipe.”
    “You sure do have a lot of special recipes,” Marie teased him.
    “Aha, a joker,” Colonel Hanson said. “I can see we’re going to have a good time while you’re here, Marie.” He smiled. “I’m glad you’re staying here while your mother is gone. It will be a lot of fun to have two girls in the house.”
    Carole smiled and agreed. She was having fun so far. Before dinner she and Marie had listened to music for a while. Then Stevie had called to say hello to Marie. Thathad given Carole a chance to talk to her father about what to get Marie for her birthday. They’d come up with a few good ideas before Stevie and Marie had finished their conversation. Then, a few minutes later, Lisa had called. While Marie talked to her, Carole and her father made plans to go shopping together later in the week. Carole promised to ask Stevie and Lisa to take Marie off their hands and keep her distracted so she wouldn’t suspect what they were doing.
    After they had helped Colonel Hanson clear the table, Carole and Marie headed upstairs to start their homework. “You can have the desk to yourself tonight,” Carole told Marie, shuffling through her backpack. “I have to write a two-page essay for English class, so I’ll be downstairs using Dad’s computer.” She pulled out her English notebook and her dog-eared copy of
Of Mice and Men
and headed down to the living room.
    Carole was still on the first paragraph of her essay when Marie came into the room.
    “Uh, hi, Carole,” Marie said. “When you said you had a paper to write, that reminded me that I’m supposed to write one, too. It’s for extra credit in my social-studies class. Do you think I could use the computer when you’re finished?”
    Carole bit her lip. She knew she should offer to let Marie do her work first, since she was a guest. On the other hand, Marie’s paper was only for extra credit, whileCarole’s was an assignment. She hesitated for a moment, not