Girls Rule! (13 page)

“Good!” said Caroline. “So we agree.”

She went down the bank and on across the footbridge toward home. But Wally’s remark stung. That simply could not be true! She might be unpleasant at times. She might be self-centered, but Caroline Lenore Malloy was
never
boring! And if Wally Hatford didn’t believe that, he could just wait till she stood up in front of the class tomorrow and gave her report!

Sixteen
Turnaround

T
he last day of school had come, and Wally was ready for it to be over. After he gave his stupid report in that stupid room in front of that stupid class, he wouldn’t have to think about school again till September. By that time, either the Malloys would have gone back to Ohio, or they would have moved to another house in Buckman. Either way, the Benson boys would be back, and that was something to look forward to.

Actually, the plane-wreck project was probably the most interesting one the fourth grade had had all year, so maybe it wasn’t so stupid after all. Giving a report in front of the class, though, was something else. Wally had already decided that he would go first that day so
he could stop worrying about it. But he was a second too late, because Caroline waved her hand in front of the teacher’s face, and Caroline got to go first.

She opened her backpack and pulled out a safari hat. She pulled out a compass, a whistle, and a raincoat. Then she put on the hat and walked dramatically to the front of the room, where she propped up a painting she had done of her location in Australia. After that, she read a report that sounded to Wally like paragraphs from a girl’s diary:

“Our plane crashed and my knee is so sore I can hardly walk, but the pilot can’t walk at all. He’s dead,” she read to the class.

Then she described the weather in Australia’s outback, and the way she had carried rocks from a riverbank to spell out
HELP
on a hillside. And as if that weren’t enough, she turned to the blackboard and wrote out a recipe for wombat stew. And then…
then
she read in closing:

“After a month in the outback with only kangaroos for company, I decided to take my chances on the open sea, in hopes that rescuers would find me there. Making my way to the shoreline, I made a raft of driftwood, packed up my food, brought all the water I could carry and, using my raincoat for a sail, I set off. I finally arrived at the island of Banaba, where I found Wally Hatford, and together we lived out our lives in peace and harmony.”

Smiling smugly, Caroline sat back down.

Everyone began laughing and pointing at Wally. His
neck was on fire, he was sure of it. His cheeks and forehead burned. He didn’t wait to be called on. He didn’t even raise his hand. He grabbed his report and stomped to the front of the room.

He told how he had been shipwrecked and made it to the island of Banaba in the Pacific. He told what he had done to survive, and then he said, “One day I looked out and saw a girl sailing toward shore on a homemade raft. I could tell by the way she acted that she was crazy, so before she could reach my camp, I packed up and moved to the other side of the island and I never saw her again. The end.”

Everyone laughed some more, even Miss Applebaum.

“Well, she said, “I guess we have a difference of opinion here. Caroline, maybe you should have quit while you were ahead.” Then she called on another person to give a report, and Wally sank back in his seat, victorious at last. Out the window the sky had never looked so blue, the clouds so white, the sun so bright as on that day when he got even with Caroline Malloy.

That afternoon, no one did any work at all. They held a survivor party, and each person got a small compass along with his or her report card. As a treat, Miss Applebaum cracked open a fresh coconut. Everyone had a piece of coconut meat along with a slice of banana and some fresh blueberries, typical survivor foods. Wally and his friends had fun turning around
and around and watching the needles on their compasses spin with them.

Finally, when the last bell rang, everyone spilled out onto the steps and sidewalk like ants from an anthill. Peter was already frolicking about on the grass, singing:

At last!
Wally thought. No more reports. No more school. No more Caroline Malloy sitting behind him.

By six o’clock that evening, Josh had posted signs all over the neighborhood reading, FOUR-DOLLAR CAR WASH, INSIDE AND OUT, and giving the address. And by eight o’clock the next morning, there were already three cars lined up, ready to pull into the Hatfords’ driveway.

“Boys!” Mrs. Hatford said. “I’ve left sandwiches and lemonade in the fridge for all of you, and there are more clean rags on the porch if you need them. Be careful, now. Josh, I want you personally to keep an eye on Peter when cars pull in and out.”

“I will,” Josh promised.

She left for her job at the hardware store, and Mr. Hatford came downstairs in his postal uniform. “Be sure to clean the inside of each windshield and wipe off
the dashboard,” he said, coffee cup in hand. Then he left for the post office, and the first car in line came up the drive.

The girls had arrived even before the boys came outside, and now they all pitched in. The day couldn’t have been better—breezy, warm, and dry, and everyone cheered each time a truly dirty car pulled in with mud caked on the spokes of the hubcaps, because these were the most fun to wash. Wally liked turning a filthy car into a spanking-clean one.

The kids took turns walking down to the corner and pointing to the car wash sign as people drove by, motioning them back to the Hatfords’. When Mrs. Corby next door came outside, hands on her hips, to see what those Hatford boys and Malloy girls were up to now, they offered to wash her car for free, and that took the scowl off her face in a hurry.

The money was piling up in a shoe box inside the front door, and Josh had already figured that after they divided it seven ways, they each would have earned the twenty dollars needed to be in the parade. Strawberry festival, here they came!

At about three that afternoon, when there was a lull in business and not a car in sight, Wally was picking up some wet cloths on the driveway beside Beth and Eddie when suddenly,
plop!
Out of nowhere, it seemed, there was an explosion between him and Eddie, and they were both showered with water. Wally had barely let out a yelp when there was a second explosion right at Caroline’s feet. She gasped and coughed, water dripping
from her ears and nose, and when they all looked toward the house, they saw Jake and Josh with the hose and a pile of balloons filled with water.

The war was on—first, to see who could get control of the hose, and second, to reach the supply of water balloons the twins had filled the night before. Howls and cries of revenge filled the air as the girls ran this way, the boys ran that way, and the hose changed hands a dozen times as everyone got royally soaked.

It was hard to see which side Peter was on, because first he helped the girls out, then his brothers.

“Hey, Peter, whose friend are you, anyway?” Josh laughed as Peter inadvertently turned the hose on Wally.

And just as Wally wrested the hose from Peter’s hands, he saw, coming up the driveway, the washing machine, the dryer, and three more boys, each half the size of a refrigerator. They were big boys, tough-looking boys, and they had come to close down the car wash, it said so right on their faces.

“Wally! Peter! Up here!” Jake yelled out the warning, and all the Malloys and Hatfords gathered on the porch. The assembly line had never worked more efficiently. Balloons were filled, tied, and thrown at the enemy, and between throws, the hose soaked each intruder in turn.

Then the intruders got possession of the hose, and water went flying in every direction. It took only minutes before a dozen kids looked as though they had just climbed out of the river, their clothes clinging to their bodies like plastic wrap.

Back and forth the hose went, from one side to the other. The five large boys who had come up the drive took over the Hatfords’ porch now, turning the hose on its rightful owners. Out of the corner of his eye, Wally saw Josh and Jake coming around the house with an emergency supply of water balloons.

Wally’s heart was in his mouth. This would only end badly, he was sure. Even if they won the battle, he and Peter would have to face those bullies by themselves in September when Jake and Josh went off to seventh grade. Those tough appliances would be lying in wait, and someday,
some
time, they would probably get Wally and Peter alone and stick their heads down a toilet. Every time a water balloon hit one of the intruders and exploded, Wally could almost feel another thwack on his back or a punch in the belly when the bullies decided to go for him.

At that moment a car turned into the Hatfords’ driveway and a woman tentatively stuck her head out the window. “Is the car wash still doing business?” she asked.

The Malloys looked at the Hatfords and the Hatfords looked at the bullies, who turned the hose sideways on the bushes. In the sudden lull, Eddie sneaked over and turned off the outside faucet. The hose went dry.

“Sure,” Josh called to the woman. He looked at his soaked companions. Then he looked at the boy with the hose. “Well,” he said, “it doesn’t look like you guys could get any wetter. We’ve already made enough
money to be in the parade. Do you want to do the next cars?”

The washing machine, the dryer, and the three refrigerators looked at each other. They looked as if they would like to drag the Hatfords down the hill to the river and throw them in.

“You can use our hose and our rags,” added Wally helpfully.

“Business or war. You have to choose one or the other,” said Jake.

The washing machine pondered it a little more.

“Well, I guess we can do the car,” he said finally. Eddie turned the water back on, and for a moment the boy seemed to be debating whether to use it on the car or on Jake. But at last he nodded toward his friends and they began to wash the car.

The Hatfords and Malloys watched from the sidelines, and when another car pulled in, the intruders motioned where it should park and turned the hose on it.

Wally took a deep breath and sat down on the porch steps with his brothers, peace restored to the kingdom at last.

Seventeen
Strawberry Shortcake