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of Walker LeFranco as a little dog. He may spend a lot of time yapping at your ankles, but if you ignore him, he’ll go away.”
    Laurie took the rolls doubtfully. She knew about little dogs. Sometimes they could bite like nobody’s business.
    â€œSo, Jack,” Laurie’s father said. “How’s the odd-job business going? Any new clients?”
    Jack nodded and took the basket of rolls from Laurie. “Mrs. Tysinger’s having me mow her lawn once a week. And I’m fixing the gutters on the old Hopkins place.”
    â€œThat’s great!” Laurie’s dad grinned at Jack and tooka mouthful of casserole.
    Laurie didn’t want to talk about Jack’s handyman jobs or some stupid gross gutters. She wasn’t done with the LeFranco conversation yet. “So you think he’s just yapping? LeFranco?”
    Laurie’s dad nodded at her. “He’s just a lot of talk. Don’t you think if he had anything on Maria Tutweiler, he would’ve used it by now? He’s probably planning an exposé on how she forgot to water her plants.”
    Jack snorted. “Yeah, or maybe she didn’t recycle. Or she wore white after Labor Day.”
    Laurie rolled her eyes. “Like they even had recycling back then.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Laurie,” Jack said, patting her hand. “Your precious Maria Tutweiler will survive whatever LeFranco comes up with, even if it is something as terrible as staying up too late.”
    Laurie bit off a hunk of roll and made a face at Jack. She wished she felt as confident as they did.
    EMAIL
    FROM: MRS. PINKERTON
    TO: LAURIE MADISON
    SUBJECT: MISTI IS GROUNDED
    Dear Laurie,
    Hello, I am Misti’s mother. I am writing to you to tell you that Misti is not going to be able to meet you in the morning, because she needs to learn to honor her commitments and come home when she says she will. She is also not allowed to use the phone or computer, which is why you are getting this email from me.
    Sincerely,
    Wanda Pinkerton (Misti’s mother)
----
    â€œWhat do you mean, grounded?” Bud said when he saw Laurie the next morning. “You mean grounded grounded? For how long?”
    â€œBeats me. I got an email from her mom ,” Laurie said, plunking down into the grass outside the school. She didn’t know what they were going to do. They’d propped the pieces of floorboard together as well as they could the day before, but that gaping hole was going to be obvious to anyone who came into the shed. Someone would find it, and soon. If they hadn’t already. And without Misti and her hot glue gun, they were doomed.
    â€œBut . . . ,” Bud sputtered. “The hot glue gun!”
    â€œI know.” Laurie pulled up a tuft of grass and threw it on the ground.
    â€œAnd . . . the exploring!” Bud groaned. “Can we explore without her? We can’t, can we?” He looked at Laurie hopefully. “Can we?”
    â€œWe can’t.” Laurie picked at the hole in the ground left by the tuft. “It wouldn’t be fair.”
    â€œWhat did her mom say, exactly?” Bud said. “Maybe you misinterpreted it.”
    Laurie rolled her eyes. “How am I supposed to remember exactly? She was grounded, not coming, blah blah. She needed to learn a lesson.”
    â€œWell, maybe she’s coming to school for the lesson? Maybe that’s what she meant?”
    Laurie scowled. “That’s not what she said, okay? It was crystal clear. Excuse me for not memorizing the email.”
    Bud rubbed his nose, making it wrinkle up like he had a snout. “I’d just feel better if I’d seen it, that’s all. They have printers, Laurie. You could’ve used one.”
    Laurie stood up. Sometimes snouty Bud was more than she could take. “Fine, Bud. You can read it. We’ll go to the library, and you can read it. We need to figure out what we’re going to