sliding glass door.
âGo with him,â she hissed at Charles.
âWhat?â
âKeep him
occupied
.â
Bewildered but obedient, Charles headed for the hall. An instant later he froze, horrified, as he heard the unmistakable sound of a glass door opening. There was a terrific baying as Zochimilcho exploded into the house and promptly crashed into the dining room table.
âWhat theââ From behind Charles, Dr. Foster came running. Charles, still paralyzed in the hallway, blocked him long enough for Zochimilcho to gain the living room. There was a wavering feline howl and then another crash.
âBad dog! Zochi! No! I said, nooooo!â Dr. Foster pushed past Charles into the living room. He could hardly be heard above all the other sounds. Charles turned furiously on Janie for an explanation, but she was elbowing her way past Dr. Fosterâs guests.
âI have to go to the bathroom,â she said, although no one seemed to be listening.
âBad dog! Be quiet, Zochi! Who let him
in
?â Dr. Foster was roaring from the living room. Charles hastily went to help him drag Zochimilcho into the yard.
âMy sister let him in, sir,â he said then, wretchedly. âSheâwell, I guess she didnât know any better.â
âOf all the stupidânext time you
tell
her! Oh, well, no real harm done, I guess,â he added, seeing Charlesâs face. âThat was my dog, Zochimilcho!â he shouted to his guests. There seemed to be a certain note of pride in his voice.
The mention of Janie had made Charles look around apprehensively. Where was she? Not in the bathroom, he was sure of that.
âGood-bye, Charles,â chorused Amy and Kevin sweetly as Dr. Foster walked him to the door. To Charlesâs relief Janie reappeared at that moment.
âGood-bye, good-bye, professor,â she said, sidestepping Kevin. âGood-bye,â she said again, giving Charles a violent shove which landed them both outside before Dr. Foster could say a word. The last Charles saw of the professor he was standing in the doorway, shaking his head.
âWhat was that about?â he hissed at Janie, jerking his arm away. Her bike stood by his on the driveway.
âShut up; weâve got to get out of here,â she snarled back. â
Hurry
, Charles.â She was on her bike in a flash, launching herself toward the street, rising off the seat to put more muscle into her pedaling. It took Charles a minute or so to catch up with herâwith Janie!âshe was pumping at such a furious pace toward the hill.
âAre you crazy?â he shouted as he drew alongside her.
Janie glared at him, nearly ran into a parked car, and refused to answer. She was ahead of him all the way to Morganaâs, and only when they were standing under the beams of the ancient, smoke-stained kitchen, with Alys and Claudia staring at them, did she speak.
âIâve done it,â she said. âAnd heâll probably find out and send me to jail for it. I donât care. Itâs Claudiaâs fault in the first place. There!â With the last word she drew a packet out of her sleeve and threw it on the table.
Alys picked up the little package of toilet paperand unwrapped it. Something like a piece of grayish yellow rock fell out.
âWhatââ began Alys, but then she stopped.
âI took it out of a glass case and chipped a bit off with his letter opener. Iâve ruined an archaeological artifact. Iâm a vandal and a thief.
And,â
she added as Alys drew her into her arms as if she were as young as Claudia, âIâm proud of it.â
Charles was still gazing at the little chip of rock, perplexed. âWhat are you talking about? What did you do?â
âI vandalized the skull of an Aztec Indian. It was in a case in Dr. Fosterâs study.â Janie pulled away from Alys and gestured at the piece of rock. âThatâs human
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