Read Online The Secret of Rover by Rachel Wildavsky - Free Book Online

they both surveyed the dwindling contents.
    â€œWe’d better divide it up,” she said. “There’s not a lot left.”
    â€œEleven pieces,” said David. “You can have six. I’m sick of candy anyway.”
    â€œVery generous.”
    But in the end they broke a chocolate bar in two and each stuffed their pockets with five and a half pieces of candy. It was funny how possible starvation made you want to share, and with your sibling, even. You’d think it would work the other way around.

    Night fell and Katie and David each permitted themselves one piece of candy for dinner. They had never imagined that they could enjoy chocolate so little, or that it could leave them so hungry.
    They agreed that David would sleep in Katie’s room that night. At bedtime he would slip across the hall to his own room to get his pillow. They no longer feared that he would be noticed. It appeared that the hordes that had taken over their home had entirely forgotten them. Tomorrow they would even risk a raid on the kitchen for some real food.
    But they had not been forgotten, and their sleeping arrangements would not, after all, be up to them. Before they had even begun to settle down they heard Trixie’s heavy footsteps mounting the stairs once again, and moments later she flung open Katie’s door.
    She stood before them, hands on hips.
    â€œGet up,” she announced. “You’re coming with me now.”
    â€œWhere?” David asked.
    â€œIt’s our bedtime,” Katie protested.
    â€œYou got that right!” She grinned unpleasantly. “But that’s not your bed. That bed’s for guests.”
    Strangers in her bed! The thought made Katie sick.
    â€œWe’ll go to my room,” David said.
    Trixie’s brow lowered. “I said you come with me!”
    They dared not refuse. As they passed David’s room they saw through the open door that two Katkajanianmen were already in it. One of them was sprawled on his back on David’s bed, ankles crossed and boots on. He, too, grinned at David as the children passed.
    Wild thoughts raced through Katie’s mind as they followed Trixie silently downstairs. Could they escape out the front door? If they made a dash for it, would they be caught?
    Watching Trixie’s feet, David wondered briefly if he should trip her.
    But they did neither of these things. Where was she taking them?
    When they reached the first floor, Trixie led them toward the kitchen. Perhaps they would now be offered food. Perhaps she realized they had not eaten.
    People were in the kitchen—many people. One was in the sunroom picking oranges—their oranges! But this was information Katie and David absorbed in a flash as they passed by, for Trixie did not take them into the kitchen. Instead she opened the door to the basement and led them downstairs.
    There was a bedroom in the basement, a bedroom for guests. So the real “guests” were in their rooms and they were to sleep downstairs! It was a good thing their parents had arranged that room so comfortably.
    But Katkajanian music warbled on the radio in the guest room and yet more strangers were inside it, putting down their things. Were they going to sleep on the sofa?They would have no privacy at all! The strangers would see them all night and hear every word they spoke.
    But the sofas were piled high with yet more sleeping bags and duffels. To the children’s horror, Trixie led them to the farthest corner of the basement, where the furnace lurked behind a slatted door. She pulled this door open and gestured to the concrete floor within it.
    There lay two thin blankets. Beside them were a bottle of water and a couple of sandwiches wrapped in plastic.
    â€œYou’ve got to be kidding!” The words burst from David’s lips despite himself. He would not have believed he would have the nerve to object.
    And Katie was livid. “There’s no way we can sleep