Who Won the War? (17 page)

Eddie and Beth burst through the door, and they all ended up laughing as they ran after the rolling hubcaps and got them back in the box and up to the loft again.

As they walked together back down the hill to the swinging bridge, the moon full in the sky, a light breeze blowing, Caroline said to herself,
Always remember this moment, because it will never come again.
Caroline was full of “last moments,” because they always seemed so dramatic, something she could remember when she went onstage.

The girls packed up as their mother had said to, and set their bags outside the bedroom door. The next morning, Mrs. Malloy woke them early so that they could have breakfast with the Hatfords. The boys were sitting sleepy-eyed over their cereal at the table, and Mr. Hatford had on his postal uniform, ready to leave for work.

“I'm going to miss finding you here when I get home from work each day,” Mrs. Hatford told them.

“It was nice having girls around the house for a change.” She ignored the groans from the boys.

“But you won't miss having four extra people lined up for the bathroom, and clothes all over the place,” Mrs. Malloy told her. “Now you can have your house back the way it was, and I can't tell you how grateful I am that you let us stay.”

Mr. Hatford carried their bags and suitcases out to the car before he told them goodbye. Then he got in his own car and drove off. The girls stood facing the boys on the driveway, all of them feeling awkward and wishing the moment was over.

“Goodbye, Ellen. You're a jewel,” Mrs. Malloy said, hugging the boys' mother.

“Goodbye, Jean. Have a safe trip,” said Mrs. Hatford.

There was no hugging the boys, of course—except Peter. Each girl hugged him hard.

“I don't want you to go,” he said in his little-boy voice.

“Well, you still have some of those cookies we baked,” Beth said. “I put extra chocolate chips in them, just for you.”

Eddie looked at the boys. “Goodbye, guys. Have a crummy year,” she said, laughing.

“Goodbye,” said Jake, grinning. “Hope you flunk seventh grade.”

The mothers looked helplessly at each other. “Where did we fail?” Mrs. Malloy said, laughing.

“Goodbye, Wally,” said Caroline. “Look for my name on Broadway.”

“Sure, when the Mississippi River runs dry,” said Wally.

The girls climbed into the car, and Mrs. Malloy got into the driver's seat.

“All we need now is for the car not to start and to have to spend another week with the Hatfords while it's fixed,” said Beth.

But the car did start, and soon it was backing down the drive. The girls waved. The boys waved. Caroline pressed her nose against the window and watched as the boys disappeared, the house disappeared, and the swinging bridge disappeared. In just a few minutes, she and her mother and sisters were out of town.

“Okay, boys,” Mrs. Hatford said. “Go back upstairs and air out your sleeping bags. Pick up all your clothes and put them either back in your drawers or in the hamper.”

The boys usually hated the job of straightening up, but Wally was so eager to get his room all to himself again, and the twins were so eager to get their own bedroom back, that they went straight upstairs to gather their stuff.

Jake and Josh took their sleeping bags out on the back porch and unzipped them, then flopped them over the railing.

“Hey!” yelped Jake. “There are ladybugs in mine!”

“Mine too!” cried Josh as bugs began flying in all directions.

Two notes fluttered to the ground, one from each
bag. Wally, who had heard the twins' yells, came running out on the steps and picked one up.

‘A little something to remember us by,’ ” he read aloud.

Josh read the other: “ ‘The Whomper, the Weirdo, and the Crazie.’ ”

“Caroline, will you please stop wailing!” said her mother from the driver's seat. “I can't listen to that all the way to Ohio.”

“Yeah, Caroline, get a grip,” said Eddie.

“This was the most exciting year of my life and it will never come again,” Caroline said, weeping. “We didn't even get their e-mail addresses. We may never hear from them again.”

“That would be so bad?” said Eddie.

“We can always call, you know,” said Beth.

Caroline unzipped her backpack and pulled out a tissue to blow her nose. Then she screamed.

“Now
what?” said her mother.

“Ladybugs!” cried Caroline. “My backpack's full of them! And here's a note!”

Beth snatched it from her hand and read it to the others: “ ‘Thought you'd like something from Buckman to take along with you. Have a good trip. Jake and Josh, Wally and Peter.’ ”

Now, you tell me: who won the war?

About the Author

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
is often asked how she got her ideas for these boy-girl battle books. With this, her last book in the series, here is the answer: “I was waiting to speak to a large group of students, and as they noisily entered the gym, one of the teachers yelled, ‘If you don't quiet down, I'm going to seat you boy-girl-boy-girl.’ ” Instantly, she says, there was a hush over the crowd, and she thought,
Yes! There's an idea for a new
series—the rivalry and teasing between boys and girls.

She has had a lot of fun writing these books:
The Boys Start the War; The Girls Get Even; Boys Against Girls; The Girls' Revenge; A Traitor Among the Boys; A Spy Among the Girls; The Boys Return; The Girls Take Over; Boys in Control; Girls Rule!; Boys Rock!;
and
Who Won the War?
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is the author of more than 125 books, including the Newbery Awardwinning
Shiloh.
She and her husband live in Bethesda, Maryland. They are the parents of two grown sons and the grandparents of Sophia, Tressa, and Garrett Riley.

Read all about the Hatford boys and the Malloy girls.

The Boys Start the War

Just when the Hatford brothers are expecting three boys to move into the house across the river where their best friends used to live, the Malloy girls arrive instead. Wally and his brothers decide to make Caroline and her sisters so miserable that they'll want to go back to Ohio, but they haven't counted on the ingenuity of the girls. From dead fish to dead bodies, floating cakes to floating heads, the pranks continue—first by the boys, then by the girls— until someone is taken prisoner!

The Girls Get Even

Still smarting from the boys' latest trick, the girls are determined to get even. Caroline is thrilled to play the part of Goblin Queen in the school play, especially since Wally Hatford has to be her footman. The boys, however, have a creepy plan for Halloween night. They're certain the girls will walk right into their trap. Little do the boys know what the Malloy sisters have in store.

Boys Against Girls

Abaguchie mania! Caroline Malloy shivers happily when her on-again, off-again enemy Wally Hatford tells her that the remains of a strange animal known as the abaguchie have been spotted in their area. Wally swears Caroline to secrecy and warns her not to search by herself. But Caroline will do anything to find the secret of the bones and finds out the hard way that she should have listened.

The Girls' Revenge

Christmas is coming, but Caroline Malloy and Wally Hatford aren't singing carols around the tree. Instead, these sworn enemies must interview each other for the dreaded December class project. Caroline, as usual, has a trick up her sleeve that's sure to shock Wally. In the meantime, Wally and his brothers find a way to spy on the Malloy girls at home. The girls vow to get revenge on those sneaky Hatfords with a trap the boys won't soon forget.

A Traitor Among the Boys

The Hatford boys make a New Year's resolution to treat the Malloy girls like sisters. But who says you can't play tricks on sisters? The girls will need to stay one step ahead of the boys and are willing to pay big-time for advance information. Homemade cookies should be all it takes to make a traitor spill the beans. In the meantime, Caroline is delighted with her role in the town play. Don't ask how Beth, Josh, and Wally get roped into it—just wait until showtime, when Caroline pulls her wildest stunt yet!

A Spy Among the Girls

Valentine's Day is coming up, and love is in the air for Beth Malloy and Josh Hatford. When they're spotted holding hands, Josh tells his teasing brothers that he's simply spying on the girls to see what they're plotting next. At the same time, Caroline Malloy, the family actress, decides she must know what it's like to fall in love. Poor Wally Hatford is in for it when she chooses him as the object of her affection!

The Boys Return

It's spring break, and the only assignment Wally Hatford and Caroline Malloy have is to do something they've never done before. Wally's sure that will be a cinch, because the mighty Benson brothers are coming. It will be nonstop action all the way. For starters, the nine Benson and Hatford boys plan to scare the three Malloy sisters silly by convincing them that their house is haunted. Meanwhile, everyone in town has heard that there's a hungry cougar on the prowl. When the kids decide to take a break from their tricks and join forces to catch the cougar, guess who gets stuck with the scariest job?