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Authors: Zilpha Keatley Snyder
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whole tent. It’s really dark inside the tent without something like that.”
“That’s what I thought,” Eddy said. “But I had a hard time getting it. It was in the workshop and Web wouldn’t let me in. I had to tell him I really needed it before he’d even open the door.”
“Hey. Did you see the secret weapon?” Susie asked. “When he opened the door did you see inside?”
Eddy shook his head. “No. They just opened the door a crack and held it out. Carson was there, too, and they shoved the door shut before I could see anything.”
Kate Nicely and the three Pappases were the next ones to arrive. Kate and Aurora were carrying the karate practice mats and Ari had a bunch of bananas and a jar of peanut butter. Athena had a big wooden gavel. A real one, like presidents use to hammer on their desks to call meetings to order.
“Hey, that’s neat,” Carlos said to Athena. “Where’d you get that?”
Athena waved the wooden hammer in the air. “It’s a gravel. For presidents to hammer with.”
“I loaned it to her,” Kate said. “It’s my dad’s, actually. From when he was president of his fraternity a long time ago. He won’t miss it.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Susie asked Athena. “There’s no table here to hammer on.”
Athena looked around the tent. Then she shrugged and said, “That’s okay. I can hammer on people who don’t sit down and shut up.”
By the time Bucky showed up, everyone else, all seven of them plus Lump, were in the tent. It was a tight squeeze but nobody minded because they were all having fun pretending to be animal trainers in case any terrorist spies were hanging around listening to their conversation. They had been working on teaching Lump to sit, but he hadn’t made much progress. He just kept shuffling around, stepping on people and trying to eat their snacks.
“I know what,” Eddy said. “Let’s see how he does with a different trick. I’m going to teach him to drool.” Eddy held up a potato chip and said, “Okay, Lump. Drool!” And Lump obeyed—instantly. Everyone was laughing when Bucky stuck his head in the tent and said, “What’s going on in here? I could hear you guys clear out to the street. Great bunch of secret spies you are.”
So Bucky squeezed into the tent, too, and brought out a pair of binoculars, a big bag of popcorn, and a whole bag of beepers—little black boxes with buttons at the top. He was really excited about the beepers. Some of the beepers were on neck chains and others had pocket clips. Bucky began passing them out, the clip-ons to the boys, the ones on chains to all the girls. Even Athena got one.
“Neat,” Carlos said. “Where did you get these?”
“They’re my mom’s,” Bucky said. “Or at least they used to be. All the agents in her company used to wear them so when they got beeped they would call in to the head office. But they all just got cellular phones instead so these were just lying around in her office. And look at this.” Bucky turned a couple of the beepers over and there on the backs was a list of eight different phone numbers. “See, these are the numbers for all the beepers. If you phone all these numbers everybody’s beeper will go off. And they don’t stop until you push this button right here.”
“So what do we do if we get beeped?” Eddy asked.
“We all meet here at the headquarters,” Bucky said. “Like if anyone sees the terrorists they just call all these numbers and—ta-da! Everybody meets here to decide what to do next. Okay?”
“Okay, great,” Kate said. “Now how about getting this meeting started before it’s time for dinner and we all have to go home. Go on, Athena. Call the meeting to order.”
So Athena hammered on a tent pole and called the meeting to order. They’d just started making plans for their next meeting, when Lump suddenly cocked his head to one side and barked. One short, sharp woof and then silence. Everyone stopped talking and
“That’s what I thought,” Eddy said. “But I had a hard time getting it. It was in the workshop and Web wouldn’t let me in. I had to tell him I really needed it before he’d even open the door.”
“Hey. Did you see the secret weapon?” Susie asked. “When he opened the door did you see inside?”
Eddy shook his head. “No. They just opened the door a crack and held it out. Carson was there, too, and they shoved the door shut before I could see anything.”
Kate Nicely and the three Pappases were the next ones to arrive. Kate and Aurora were carrying the karate practice mats and Ari had a bunch of bananas and a jar of peanut butter. Athena had a big wooden gavel. A real one, like presidents use to hammer on their desks to call meetings to order.
“Hey, that’s neat,” Carlos said to Athena. “Where’d you get that?”
Athena waved the wooden hammer in the air. “It’s a gravel. For presidents to hammer with.”
“I loaned it to her,” Kate said. “It’s my dad’s, actually. From when he was president of his fraternity a long time ago. He won’t miss it.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Susie asked Athena. “There’s no table here to hammer on.”
Athena looked around the tent. Then she shrugged and said, “That’s okay. I can hammer on people who don’t sit down and shut up.”
By the time Bucky showed up, everyone else, all seven of them plus Lump, were in the tent. It was a tight squeeze but nobody minded because they were all having fun pretending to be animal trainers in case any terrorist spies were hanging around listening to their conversation. They had been working on teaching Lump to sit, but he hadn’t made much progress. He just kept shuffling around, stepping on people and trying to eat their snacks.
“I know what,” Eddy said. “Let’s see how he does with a different trick. I’m going to teach him to drool.” Eddy held up a potato chip and said, “Okay, Lump. Drool!” And Lump obeyed—instantly. Everyone was laughing when Bucky stuck his head in the tent and said, “What’s going on in here? I could hear you guys clear out to the street. Great bunch of secret spies you are.”
So Bucky squeezed into the tent, too, and brought out a pair of binoculars, a big bag of popcorn, and a whole bag of beepers—little black boxes with buttons at the top. He was really excited about the beepers. Some of the beepers were on neck chains and others had pocket clips. Bucky began passing them out, the clip-ons to the boys, the ones on chains to all the girls. Even Athena got one.
“Neat,” Carlos said. “Where did you get these?”
“They’re my mom’s,” Bucky said. “Or at least they used to be. All the agents in her company used to wear them so when they got beeped they would call in to the head office. But they all just got cellular phones instead so these were just lying around in her office. And look at this.” Bucky turned a couple of the beepers over and there on the backs was a list of eight different phone numbers. “See, these are the numbers for all the beepers. If you phone all these numbers everybody’s beeper will go off. And they don’t stop until you push this button right here.”
“So what do we do if we get beeped?” Eddy asked.
“We all meet here at the headquarters,” Bucky said. “Like if anyone sees the terrorists they just call all these numbers and—ta-da! Everybody meets here to decide what to do next. Okay?”
“Okay, great,” Kate said. “Now how about getting this meeting started before it’s time for dinner and we all have to go home. Go on, Athena. Call the meeting to order.”
So Athena hammered on a tent pole and called the meeting to order. They’d just started making plans for their next meeting, when Lump suddenly cocked his head to one side and barked. One short, sharp woof and then silence. Everyone stopped talking and
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