Boys in Control (12 page)

“Hurry up, Marva,” the other woman said. “What did the letter say? Just that something of great value was hidden behind the backing?”

“Yes, and we're about to find out what it is,” said the first woman. “See how it bulges out back here? You can feel that something's in there, but you probably wouldn't know just by looking. The letter said it was an heirloom the family would want to keep forever.”

“Do you need a nail file or scissors or something?”

“No, I can slide the paper open with my finger and work it off the frame. Something's in here, all right.”

Okay,
Caroline told herself, peeping carefully around the door frame.
Be ready. Whatever's in the back of the picture frame, I've got to grab it and take it to Wally.

“I'm so nervous!” said the woman in the blue jacket, and then there was the sound of glue pulling away from the wooden frame, and a thick white packet fell out.

Now!
Caroline thought.

Like a racehorse from the starting gate, she tore into the room. The women gave startled cries, turning to
stare wildly at her. Caroline snatched up the white packet, and with a “Sorry, not for sale,” she went streaking out again and down the stairs.

The women shrieked. There was the sound of footsteps coming down the hall after her, then down the stairs. Caroline didn't stop.

“Catch her!” screamed one of the women, but Caroline was out the door and down the steps, the two women thundering along behind.

Down the street she ran, around a corner, through an alley. On the women came. She had to hide. She could probably outrun them if she really tried, but she was getting out of breath. She turned a corner and saw a gas station up ahead. Making a sharp turn beyond the station, she ran along one side into the rest room and locked the door behind her.

Breathing hard, Caroline listened for the women's footsteps, and it wasn't long before she heard them coming. They came around the corner, then slowed, and finally stopped not far from the rest room door.

“Where did she
go
?” one woman cried.

“Who
was
she?” asked the other, panting. “Never on this earth have I—”

“The little thief !”

“She must have known all along what we were after.”

“How could she?
We
don't even know what was in there!”

Caroline leaned against the wall in the rest room, her heart thumping painfully. Then slowly, silently, she
looked at the white packet in her hands. It appeared to be thin cloth, old cotton, perhaps, and gently she began to unfold it. Layer after layer began to fall away until finally, there in her hands, Caroline found a pair of old-fashioned underpants that reached from the waist all the way down to the ankles, with elastic at the top and bottoms.

Caroline stared. Jenny Bloomer had contributed a picture frame with a pair of women's underpants hidden in the back? Was this a joke or what?

She didn't know. All she knew was that the two women had wanted what was in that picture frame very badly. So whoever these underpants belonged to, they must be very valuable, and it was Caroline's job to see that they were returned to their rightful owner. If she went outside and the women were still there, they would snatch them away from her, she was sure.

Suddenly Caroline knew what to do. She thrust her left foot into the left leg of the underpants. Then she thrust her right foot into the right leg. She pulled the garment up under her sundress and tugged at the elastic around the ankles until the material had bunched up to her knees. Then, the strange underpants swishing against her legs, she opened the door a crack and peered out. The women were walking back toward Mrs. Ritter's Bed and Breakfast, talking and gesturing wildly.

Slowly Caroline emerged. Slowly, stiffly, she walked back along College Avenue to the Hatfords’ house as
more cheering came from the baseball field. Her hair was wet with sweat, her face flushed. One strap of her sundress had slipped down off her shoulder, and one shoe was untied.

Wally saw her coming. He and Mrs. Larson took a few steps forward.

“Gracious! What excitement!” Mrs. Larson exclaimed. “Those two women had no right coming in here and taking that picture! Jenny Bloomer wanted us to have it for our sale, and everyone should have an equal chance to buy it.”

“Did you find out why they wanted it? Did you get what they were after?” asked Wally.

Caroline nodded, and while Wally and Mrs. Larson stared, she simply hiked up her sundress to show the long cotton underpants bunched around her knees.

W
ally saw his opportunity. He raised the Polaroid camera and took a picture. Then he started to laugh.

Caroline's face reddened even more as she dropped her dress.

“That?” Wally guffawed as Mrs. Larson kept staring. “
That's
what was hidden in the picture frame? Some-body's old-fashioned underpants?”

“Let me see those!” said Mrs. Larson, going over. She reached down and felt the material that was sticking out below Caroline's sundress. “That is old muslin if I ever saw it. Why, I haven't seen cotton like that since I don't know when. It looks like something out of my grandmother's trunk.”

Seeing that they might be valuable, Caroline stepped out of the underpants carefully and held them out for closer inspection.

“What have we here?” Mrs. Larson cried, pointing
to a hand-stitched label on the inside. “Oh, my stars! Look what it says! Amelia Bloomer! Caroline, you have just stepped out of the bloomers of the famous suffragette herself, Amelia Bloomer! Why, these belong in a museum!”

“Those are called bloomers?” Wally asked, putting two and two together.

“Indeed they are!” said Mrs. Larson. “These were Amelia's trademark, you might say. She wore loose trousers like this everywhere she went, sticking out of the bottom of her dress, and they were called bloomers after her. Our very own Jenny Bloomer is related, you know.”

“Why would Amelia Bloomer want to wear things like that?” asked Caroline.

“Because she felt that women should be able to do much more than they were allowed to do back then. She wanted them to be able to vote, to hold any jobs they liked, and to wear clothes that let them be more active. She designed her clothes herself.”

Another cheer went up from the baseball field, and at that very moment a car drove up and Jenny Bloomer got out.

“I knew I ought to get back before people started arriving, but I hated to leave. The score was tied,” she said. “Anyway, I'm here, so what can I do to help?”

“You can explain these,” said Mrs. Larson with a smile, and held out the folded bloomers.

“What's this?” asked Jenny.

“These were sealed in the back of the framed photograph you gave to the sale. And look on the inside.”

When Jenny Bloomer saw the embroidered name of her distant relative, she gasped. “I knew we were related, but I had no idea I had her bloomers! I didn't even know who those people in the photograph were, we've had it so long. We're moving to a smaller house and I just wanted to sort through some things.”

“Well, they certainly made for an exciting morning for us!” said Mrs. Larson loudly. “Tell her, Wally.”

“Two women came to the sale early—the same women who wanted to look at our sale stuff before,” said Wally. “One of them wanted the picture you donated, but I wouldn't sell it to them, so she just put a twenty-dollar bill down and made off with the picture.”

“And I followed them to Mrs. Ritter's Bed and Breakfast and snatched the bloomers away as soon as they fell out the back of the frame,” said Caroline.

Jenny Bloomer stared at Caroline. “Was one of those women dark-haired and the other blond?”

“Yes,” said Wally and Caroline together.

“Was one of those women short and the other tall?”

“Yes,” said Wally and Caroline together.

“And one wore red, red polish on her toenails,” offered Caroline.

“Those are my cousins, Dorothy and Marva!” cried Jenny. “Ever since Mother died, they have been pestering me to find out if she left them anything in her will.
That just seemed so greedy to me, because they didn't visit her or write to her when she was sick. So I didn't offer them any of the things I was giving away, just some boxes of letters between their mother and mine. I'll bet one of those letters mentioned something valuable hidden in one of my pictures.”

“They did say something about a letter,” said Caroline.

“Oh, I know I should have read that correspondence before I gave it away, but I had so many things to sort. I felt I had to give my cousins at least something, though. They probably thought there was money hidden in that picture frame. It wouldn't surprise me if they had used Amelia's bloomers for a dust cloth.”

Another cheer came from the direction of the ball field, and a few seconds later, still another. And then one terrific roar, followed by clapping. A few horns began to blow.

“Well, it must be over,” said Wally. “I wonder who won.”

A few minutes later Peter came running up the sidewalk, followed by the rest of the Hatfords, and everyone was smiling.

“We won!” Peter cried delightedly. “The Buckman Badgers did it!”

The Malloys came up the sidewalk after them.

“Eddie's last hit brought in the winning run!” Beth called.

“And Jake struck out the last batter on Grafton's team!” said Eddie.

“It was a close game,” said Coach Malloy, “but I must say, this was one of the best ball games by any sixth graders that I've ever seen.”

“Same here,” said Mr. Hatford. “I think Buckman will remember this one for a long, long time.”

“Well, let the sale begin!” said Mrs. Hatford, looking around.

“It already has,” said Wally.

His mother looked at him. “I thought I told you not to sell anything until we opened at noon.”

“Well, we had a little excitement while you were at the game,” said Mrs. Larson. “Two women came by and walked off with our prize offering.”

“What?” cried Mrs. Hatford.

“Close your eyes,” Mrs. Larson said.

Everyone closed their eyes. After a moment, Mrs. Larson said, “Now open.” Everyone did.

Mrs. Larson was holding the pair of bloomers against her body. The legs came down almost to her ankles.

“What?” cried Mrs. Hatford and Mrs. Malloy together, while the men only stared.

“These bloomers were made famous by Amelia Bloomer herself!” Mrs. Larson declared, showing them the embroidered label on the inside, and the story had to be told all over again.

At the most dramatic moment, Wally triumphantly held up the picture he had taken of Caroline, sweaty and red-faced, one shoelace untied, with her dress hiked up to her waist and the long muslin bloomers below. Caroline tried to grab the picture away, but Wally held it just out of reach.

“Caroline, you look ravishing!” Beth joked. Another woman arrived from the auxiliary with a basket of sandwiches for all the helpers, and while they ate, Jenny Bloomer talked some more about her cousins.

“I wondered why they called me and were so anxious to know if I still had all of Mother's things. They asked if I had given away any old photographs, and I said I had—that I had already taken the sale items to the Hatfords—and I guess that's when the trouble began. If they had been honest with me and told me about the letter, I would have shared whatever was inside the picture frame. Instead, they must have come to Buckman, rented a room, and tried every way they could to get that picture without my knowing. I don't think they deserve those bloomers, do you?”

“I think they belong to you, Jenny,” said Mrs. Hatford. “And you may do whatever you like with them.”

“In that case, I would like to donate them to the museum here in Buckman,” said Jenny. “If my cousins show up, we will gladly refund their money, provided they return the photograph, of course. My guess is they will hightail it out of Buckman and the auxiliary will
keep the twenty. We can certainly put it to good use at the fire department.”

The Hatfords and the Malloys spent the afternoon helping out at the sale. Jake and Josh put customers’ purchases in bags for them, Eddie helped carry things out to cars, Beth and her mother made change, Mr. Hatford and Coach Malloy kept their eyes on the customers to see that nothing else was taken, and Wally and Caroline kept one eye out for the two cousins of Jenny Bloomer, but they did not come back. They were probably already on the road, far out of town.

When the sale was over, the tables dismantled, and the leftover items taken away in a pickup truck, the four Hatford boys and the three Malloy girls sat down on the back steps of the Hatford house. Josh and Jake and Peter were still laughing at the photo Wally had taken of Caroline.

“Please give it to me, Wally,” Caroline begged.

“Yeah? You want to trade?” asked Jake. “Don't you have some pictures of us?”

“Not on your life!” said Eddie. “You think we should turn over all those pictures of you for only one in return?”

Wally looked quickly at Caroline. Was this the way it was going to be? He wouldn't get those pictures back after all?

“So what else do you want?” asked Josh.

Beth looked at Eddie and Eddie looked at Caroline.

“Quit calling us the Whomper, the Weirdo, and the
Crazie,” said Beth, and Eddie nodded. “But it's still not an even trade.”

“Well, you'd better make up your mind, because we just might send Caroline's picture to the newspaper. They might like to print it along with the story of how Amelia Bloomer's bloomers got to be in the Buckman Museum,” Jake said.

Wally grinned at Caroline, satisfied that for once the boys had the upper hand. But his face fell when Caroline suddenly brightened and said, “Oh,
would
you?
Please?
I'd love to have that picture in the paper. Maybe a talent scout will see it and he'll be looking for someone to play the part of an old-fashioned girl in the eighteen hundreds who has to work in a garment factory, and she steals the bloomers she's been sewing all week to buy food for her little sisters and—”

“Forget it,” said Wally. Caroline
wanted
her picture shown around. Caroline
liked
to be seen in bloomers. Caroline was nuts. Caroline was Caroline. He gave up. “For you,” he said, and handed her the picture.