Five year old Linda O'Shea stood in the entry way of her grandmother's home. Her shiny black shoes were were pinching her toes, and her pristine white tights were itchy. Her small hands fisted in the skirt of her lavender dress.

"Now, Linda, remember what we said: don't get dirty," Marni warned. "You're going to Wendy's birthday dinner after this, and she would be very upset if you show up with dirt on your knees."

"Yes, Mama." Linda nodded: no dirt. She could do that.

"Be a good girl for your grandma. And be back in an hour and a half."

She nodded as Marni turned to walk out the door, "bye bye, Mama!"

Tony looked down at his daughter, who tilted her head back to see his face. "If you get dirty, you're gonna get spanked."

She nodded as she fisted her skirt in her hands again. She did not want to get spanked. She waved goodbye to Tony as Rosita came into the room.

"Oh, have they left?" She frowned at her granddaughter's nod. "I wanted to talk to them..."

"Nonna, can I play outside? I won't get dirty. I wanna swing!"

Rosita nodded, "stay in the backyard, va bene tesoro?"

"Si, Nonna." Linda was determined not to get dirty. She wouldn't- she would just sit on the swings. She trotted to the backyard where Rosita had a small swing set that had a slide.

Linda started out swinging for about half an hour before she jumped off. She didn't realize that had made a scuff on her shoe. She slid down the slide, slowly forgetting about her promise to stay clean.

"Hey!"

She stood up from the bottom of the slide and turned to the fence. She saw what she assumed was the neighbor's kid. "Hi!" She skipped to the fence, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Burying treasure!" He held up a small cookie tin. "Can I do it in your garden?"

She looked over her shoulder at Rosita's rose garden. There was space enough between the bushes for his treasure. "What's your name?"

"Elliot," he handed her the tin as he started to climb the wooden fence.

Linda produced his name phonetically, "Elliot."

"What's your name?"

"Linda."

He landed on his feet but lost his balance and fell to his knees. "Wups," he shrugged it off, not minding the grass stains on his khakis.

"How'd you do that?" Linda wondered, astonished.

"How'd you do that?"

"What?"

"Climb the fence!"

"Oh it's easy! Come on," he grabbed her hand and led her to the garden. He dropped to his knees, making Linda do the same. "Got any digging tools?"

"Um..." Linda thought for a minute. She knew the little shovels were kept in the garage, but she wasn't allowed in there. Maybe if she just went in and grabbed the spade as quick as she could, no one would be the wiser. She pushed herself up onto her feet, "I'll be back. Be quiet."

He nodded as she walked away. So far, he liked her.

Ever so quietly, Linda walked into the garage. The spades were on a shelf that she couldn't reach. That was no problem though- she was good at climbing. She needed to move the bucket of birdseed, but it was too heavy for herself. So she ran out and enlisted the assistance of her friend.

"Elliot! Come help!"

He hid his tin under the rose bush and ran after her into the garage. Quietly, they moved the bucket for Linda to use as a stool. She stopped, "wait. I'm stuck." She yanked her skirt away from the tomato wires, not hearing the rip. "Okay, I'm ready."

Elliot stood behind her, taking the spades as she handed them to him.

"Do we need anything else?"

He looked around the garage and shook his head. "No, only the spades!"

So they left the garage, leaving the things they moved where they had needed them. Linda tripped as she ran after Elliot, scuffing her other shoe. She paused for only a second, wondering if the pain in her toe was worth tears. Deciding no, she ran to catch up with Elliot.

Elliot was kneeling in the dirt at the edge of the rose bed. "Come on!"

Linda followed him, forgetting about keeping her white tights clean. She dug a hole- that was far too big for the small tin- with Elliot for a good ten minutes. "What's in here anyways?"

"Treasure!" Elliot whispered, proceeding to tell her how he saved it from the nasty pirates. He lowered his voice to a whisper, "I gotta hide it here, cause the pirates know where I live."

Linda gasped, "real actual pirates?"

"Yes! And they're mean too! Now Shh!" He put his finger to his lips. "They can prob'ly hear you!"

Linda put her hand over her mouth, getting dirt on her cheeks. She scratched her head, getting dirt in her clean, curled hair, the ribbon tied around her head going askew.

"Okay," Elliot told her after they had buried the treasure. "Now we gotta pat it down so the pirates can't find it!"

Linda nodded vigorously and followed Elliot's lead. She used her hands to pat down the dirt until her new friend deemed it suitable.

"Now the pirates will never find it!"

Linda smiled, "good!"

"Linda! Sweetie, it's time to come in!" Rosita shouted from the kitchen window.

"Oh, I gotta go. My Nonna's calling me."

"Do you live with her?"

Linda shook her head as she stood up, "she's my grandma. I come here a lot!"

"Will you come next week? I'll show you my treasures!"

"From the pirates?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay!"

"Linda! Come on- don't want to be late!" Rosita called again.

"I gotta go," she wiped her hands on her skirt. "Bye, Elliot!"

"Bye, Linda!"

She waved to her friend as she ran into Rosita's house. "I'm here, Nonna! And I met a boy!"

"You met a boy?"

"Yes. Elliot! He's hiding treasure from the pirates!"

Rosita turned around, and gasped. "Linda! Look at you!"

Linda cringed as her grandmother started to scold her in Italian. She tried to explain about the pirates, but it wasn't working.

Before Rosita could herd Linda to the bathtub to get cleaned up, Tony came in the kitchen. "Here to pick up the kid."

Linda hid behind her grandmother. She suddenly remembered that spanking that was promised if she got dirty. She looked down at herself- she was a mess!

Rosita looked down behind her, "it's okay, Linda. Show your father."

Slowly Linda walked into view, "hi, Papa."

"Linda! Look at you! What have you done?"

She didn't say anything for a minute. Maybe he would understand about the pirates?

Linda laid on her side on her bed, sniffling with a sore backside. Her father had barely kept his cool at Rosita's, and as soon as he drove away, he started yelling at Linda. He even pulled over once to start her spanking.

He was the one who bathed her, making her sit on the hard porcelain with a sore bottom. He spanked her again after the bath, and now she wasn't allowed to go to Wendy's birthday dinner.

Linda was upset- she had wanted to go to Wendy's party! But she supposed she couldn't now, all because she got a little bit dirty. She tried to look on the bright side of this terrible evening.

"At least I met Elliot," she thought. "He's funny and nice." And, unknown to her, he would remain her friend for the rest of her life.