Skye Penderwick woke up to the disgusting sensation of Hound's tongue on her face.
"Houuuuuuuund, get off," she moaned, still half asleep. Hound continued to lick her face. Skye cracked an eye open.
Another eye, much too close for comfort, stared at her solemnly.
"AAAARRGGHH!" Skye yelled, scrambling away from the eye and falling off the bed in the process. Her head hit the ground with a loud thunk. "Ow." Skye glared up at the two heads sticking out over the edge of the bed. "Batty! What are you doing in my room?!"
"I was just seeing if Hound was in here. . ." said Batty in a small voice. Skye clenched her jaw and tried hard not to roll her eyes.
"What I meant was why were you staring at me while I was peacefully sleeping?! It's nine in the morning!"
"Girls! Breakfast!" Their father's voice floated up the stairs. Batty, relieved, happily hopped off the bed and, carefully stepping over Skye, disappeared downstairs with Hound. Skye got up, grumbling, and followed Batty downstairs after making her bed and kicking Jane's stuff back onto her side of the room. Skye could've sworn that her sister's things just drifted onto Skye's side overnight. She thumped down the stairs grumpily, resolving to lock her bedroom door at night from now on. ln the kitchen, Rosalind was cooking apple cinnamon pancakes, the perfect breakfast for the first day of Christmas vacation. Jane, Mr. Penderwick, Ben, and now Batty were at the table.
"How many, Skye?" asked Rosalind, concentrating on the pancakes.
"Seven," said Skye, plopping down in a chair between Ben and Jane.
"Leave some for me!" her father protested.
"And me!" piped Batty.
"AND ME!" howled Ben.
"Okay, five then. Jane, move this notebook out of my way." Skye shoved the worn blue notebook that was pushing into Skye's table space back at Jane.
"Sabrina Starr crouched underneath the desk. Had someone blown her cover? Were the security goons still pursuing her? Skye, you made me scribble all over the page, don't shove my notebook!"
"I'm very genuinely sorry," said Skye, piling pancakes onto her plate. Jane had decided that it was time for Sabrina Starr to go undercover as a spy, and had spent many days holed up in her room, writing feverishly. But yesterday she had hit a writer's block, and was going crazy trying to get her creative juices flowing again.
"Sure you're sorry," Jane humphed, going back to alternately scribbling in her notebook and taking bites of pancake.
"Daddy, where's Iantha?" Batty asked, tugging on his sleeve. Her face already had syrup smeared on it, even though she'd only gone through one pancake.
"At the University," he replied, reaching for the butter.
"But it's Christmas vacation!" burst out Jane.
"Yes, I'm aware of that," said Mr. Penderwick. "But as you know, there's a big meeting coming up and she needs to prepare."
"Even on vacation?" pouted Batty.
"Even on vacation. I promise, she'll be here tomorrow. She'll want to see- never mind. Rosy, I'll take over cooking those." Skye watched her father suspiciously as he took the spatula from Rosalind and flipped another pancake. He had been in a good mood for a while now, and kept humming and smiling at random things. Skye had caught him beaming at the refrigerator yesterday.
"Are you feeling all right, Daddy?" inquired Skye. Her father looked up, startled.
"Me? Yes, yes, fine. Wonderful, actually." He hummed to himself as he handed Rosalind a stack of pancakes. Jane pushed back from the table, her nose still in her notebook, and padded over to Mr. Penderwick.
"Daddy, could you take me to the library today? I need to do some research on hidden microphones for Sabrina Starr." Their father ruffled her hair.
"Sorry, Jane-o, no can do. I have to be off to the University, too. Besides, I have a feeling that you'll want to stay here in a little while." He winked over the top of Jane's head at Skye, which made her even more puzzled. Skye had no idea what was going on. She absolutely hated not knowing what was going on.
"But Daddy, there won't be any adults in the house with us!" pointed out Batty.
"I'm sure Rosalind is more than capable of taking care of you. She's fourteen, after all."
"Yes, but looking after them for a whole day?" said Rosalind weakly.
"Well, I'm sending you some help, anyways," reassured their father.
"Nick Geiger?!" Skye bolted out of her chair, ready to hide in case Nick showed up at their door to make them do football drills, even though there was a couple inches of snow outside. Mr. Penderwick chuckled.
"No, not Nick."
"Who, then?" Jane demanded.
"Who who who!" shrieked Ben, banging his spoon on the table. Their father smiled slyly.
"You'll see. Now, goodbye all. Incendemus domum non placet." Skye, Jane, and Batty all looked at Rosalind, who had now been studying Latin for two years.
"Please don't burn the house down." she translated with a wry smile.
"Quite right, Rosy." Mr. Penderwick smiled, kissed them all on the head, then grabbed his bag and disappeared into the front hall. Then he poked his head back into the dining room. "Oh, and please don't go in the guest room. See you later!" After few seconds, the door slammed shut.
"Well, that was odd." Rosalind, who was feeding Ben bits of pancake, broke the silence. Jane tapped her pencil thoughtfully against her chin.
"Daddy was being quite mysterious, don't you think Skye?"
"Hmmm? Oh, yes. Why did he tell us not to go in the guest room?" Skye pondered. Rosalind threw her a look.
"Skye, don't even th-"
"Be right back." Skye was running up the stairs in a flash. Rosalind sighed and sat back.
"Why do I bother trying?" A small hand gently tugged on the hem of her pants. Rosalind lifted the tablecloth to see Batty and Hound crouching under the table. Batty put a finger to her lips.
"Hound hears something, Rosalind," she whispered. "It might be Bug-Man." Rosalind suppressed a smile. Even at six, Batty was still as imaginative as she had been at four.
"Are you sure?" Rosalind asked. Batty turned and murmured in Hound's ear, then looked back to Rosalind.
"He doesn't know. We're going to find out." Batty squeezed past Rosalind's chair, leading Hound out across the front hallway and into the living room, where they would have a good view of the street.
"It smells like vanilla air freshener in here!" came Skye's voice from upstairs. "And the bed is made, and the wood is polished, and there's no Hound fur anywhere!" Very interesting, thought Rosalind. Maybe their father didn't want them to mess the bedroom up, so he told them not to go in there. But why would he care unless someone was staying with them? Who would be staying?
Suddenly Rosalind knew.
"A car, a car, I see a car!" cried Batty from the living room. "It's long and black, it must be a lime!"
"You mean a limo?!" Jane threw down her pencil and rushed out of the kitchen. Perhaps Sabrina Starr could meet a rich movie star during a spy mission! And anyway, there had never been a limo on Gardam Street.
"It's stopping, it's stopping!" shrieked Batty.
"It's stopping at our house!" Jane yelled. Rosalind carefully picked up Ben and hurried into the living room. Skye slid down the stairs and bumped into her.
"Skye, watch where you're going!"
"Sorry, Rosy." Skye vanished into the living room. Rosalind regained her balance and rushed after her sister. All of the remaining Penderwicks were clustered at the window, ogling the limo that had pulled to a stop in front of their house.
"Who is it?" Rosalind asked.
"I can't see, the windows are too dark." Skye squinted.
"Sabrina Starr could help rescue a movie star from a secret sinister plot!" Jane danced around the living room.
"Shut up!" Skye snapped.
"Skye!" reprimanded Rosalind, not taking her eyes off of the car. Batty leaned against her leg.
"I hope the movie star is nice," said Batty. "And that they'll like Hound, and visit Eleanor and Franklin with me, and take me for walks in Quigley Woods." Rosalind laughed.
"That's no movie star." The others looked at her curiously, then back out the window. A bald man in a suit stepped out of the driver's seat, then went around to the back. Jane gasped.
"A mysterious chauffeur can help Sabrina Starr uncover the culprit!"
"Jane!" barked Skye. "Shut. up." Now the bald man was opening the door. The Penderwicks waited with bated breath and wide eyes- when they saw who stepped out, the breath they had been holding whooshed out. Could it be?
Batty was the first to move.
She wriggled away from Rosalind, flung open the front door, and ran down the path straight into the arms of her favorite boy in the world. Jane was the next to come to her senses.
"COME HERE, YOU-" Jane pelted out the door. Skye stood there, stunned, then looked up at Rosalind.
"Is it really-?"
Rosalind smiled and nodded. Skye raced after Jane and Batty, Rosalind hot on her heels, and jumped into the joyful pile of limbs that was a tickle fight.
Finally, they all rolled apart. Batty ran up and clung to his legs.
"Jeffrey, Jeffrey, I love you so!" she exclaimed. Jeffrey picked her up and spun her around.
"So do I, Battykins. So do I."
"What about me?" demanded Jane.
"And me?" said Skye. Jeffrey winked at Batty.
"Nah, I think I'll stick with Batty for now." Jane and Skye flew at him, resulting in another tickle war. Rosalind hovered over them with Ben, who was clapping his hands, anxiously watching to make sure no one broke an arm or leg or something. Tickle fights were known to be fatal. Therefore she did not see the person who came up from behind and tapped her on the shoulder. Rosalind whirled around.
"Cagney!" she gasped, almost dropping Ben. Cagney held his arms out and grinned. Rosalind gave him a quick hug and stepped back, blushing. Why was she blushing? She'd have to talk to Anna about this.
Get a hold on yourself, she thought sternly. You already have a perfectly wonderful boyfriend. Instead, she directed his attention to Ben.
"This is my stepbrother," she said to Cagney. "Say hello, Ben!"
"Duck." Rosalind sighed. Ben knew many more words now, but around strangers he had gone back to only saying his signature word.
"Hey, Ben." Cagney greeted. "You like ducks, huh?"
"Duck." Ben agreed. Just then, Batty, Skye, and Jane noticed Cagney. After the cries of "CAGNEY!" and more hugs, the Penderwicks all led Jeffrey and Cagney up the path to their house, babbling(Jane), asking questions(Skye), or just generally happy(Batty). Rosalind noticed that Cagney had grown since she last saw him. His light brown hair was sticking out from under his favorite Red Sox cap, and he was wearing jeans and a Red Sox sweatshirt. Jeffrey had also grown- he was almost Rosalind's height. He had more freckles than last summer, his green eyes were bright, and he seemed more at ease now, strolling along and laughing with his hands in his pockets.
Inside the living room, the Penderwicks settled Jeffrey, Cagney, and Ben, then remembered the luggage and rushed back out to help the chauffeur, whose name was James and happened to be Churchie's brother, bring in the luggage. After helping Jeffrey and Cagney carry all the luggage up to the guest room, the Penderwicks sat them down and demanded the full story.
Jeffrey and Cagney told them that Jeffrey had been dying to get away from Arundel for Christmas, since his mother was planning a big fancy Yule ball with lots of important people he didn't want to know. He bugged and bugged Mrs. T-D, and she finally gave in to his wishes of going to visit the Penderwicks. Mrs. T-D called Mr. Penderwick and set everything up. But since Jeffrey would be going alone, Mrs. T-D had one condition…
"That's where I come in," explained Cagney. "Mrs T-D doesn't quite, er, trust your father because, um, she thinks he doesn't bring up his, erm, children properly." Skye looked murderous. "So, since it's winter and she doesn't really have a need for a gardener right now, she decided to send me with Jeffrey to supervise him. Oh, and of course I wanted to see you all." Cagney beamed at them. Jane sighed happily.
"Oh, this is going to be the best Christmas ever!"
"Agreed." said Skye. James popped his head into the living room.
"Did I mention that Churchie sent some of her famous pies?" He was immediately tackled by the sisters, and by some feat managed to get them all into the kitchen. Rosalind hovered by the doorway.
"Oh, but it's only noon!"
"Lighten up, Rosy." grinned Jeffrey.
"Yeth, ligthen upth." Jane said through a mouthful of chocolate cream pie. Rosalind sighed and accepted a sliver of blueberry pie from James.
Afterwards, Skye proposed a game of snow soccer. Jeffrey and Jane readily agreed, and they spent most of the afternoon dribbling around the backyard and diving into snowbanks. Rosalind, Cagney, and Ben sat on the back porch steps, talking about the Civil War while James took a nap inside. Batty and Hound kept interfering with the soccer game by running through being chased by aliens and Bug-Men, but not even Skye minded, for Jeffrey was here and that made everything okay.
When darkness fell, they all made their way into the house, bid a farewell to James, who had to get back to Arundel, and collapsed around the kitchen table, laughing and catching up as Rosalind made some delicious beef stew. When Mr. Penderwick and Iantha arrived, they were delighted but not surprised to see Cagney and Jeffrey seated at the kitchen table. There was more talking and laughing all the way through dinner, and they finished up one of Churchie's pies for dessert.
"Better save these," laughed Iantha, tucking the other pies and baked goods up onto the highest shelf that probably only Cagney and Mr. Penderwick could reach without help. "I better not catch any of you sneaking down here for a midnight snack."
They all filed into the living room to watch Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, a reminder that Christmas was coming-in only a week!-and they had plenty of things to do before then.
Skye smiled sleepily to herself as she surveyed the living room. Ben and Batty were in the front row, gazing awestruck as Bumble the former Abominable Snowman placed the star on the Christmas tree. Jane and Jeffrey were sprawled with her on the floor, their backs to the sofa.. She and Jane were leaning on Jeffrey, who was in the middle, still not really believing that he was there, actually there with them. Rosalind, Iantha, and Mr. Penderwick were all on the sofa, and Cagney was relaxing in an armchair.
Skye closed her eyes and contentedly sighed. Jane was right, for once. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.