Chapter 10
The summer was fast coming to an end. Next week would be Labor Day, and that heralded the beginning of school. Both Maggie and Jo-Ann were morose about it. May, Maggie's sister, had returned from camp, and the youngest of the three girls was unable to figure out why Jo-Ann had grown so close to Maggie and had become somewhat distant toward her. Not that Jo-Ann was unfriendly, but often, she and Maggie would leave Mary behind for no reason at all and seemingly disappear. Mary had no idea where they went.
But one morning, right after her parents and left the house to go to work, Mary, dressed in red shorts and white t-shirt from camp, followed her sister. She saw her meet with Jo-Ann, then saw the two of them enter Hank's yard, closing the gate behind them. Even more surprising was Maggie's growing friendship with Pretty, the dog. Maggie had always hated dogs. Then the two girls had gone right into Hank's house without knocking while Pretty remained in the yard. Well, in a way that wasn't unusual. Mary and Jo-Ann had often walked into Hank's house in the morning and asked if they might play with Pretty. But when the other two girls didn't come out again, Mary became curious. She was even more curious when she saw her sister close the front door.
Opening the gate, Mary entered the yard, then shut the gate behind her. She petted Pretty while staring at the door, then on a impulse, went over and tried it. The door was locked.
Wow! What a gyp! Why were Jo-Ann and her sister locking her out of Hank's house when she wanted to ask for permission to play with Pretty?
Mary's initial impulse was to run home and call her mom and tell her what Maggie and Jo-Ann were doing. After all, she didn't like the idea of being left out of anything. But she was so angry, she began punching the doorbell.
Two minutes later, the door opened, and she saw Hank standing there, smiling at her.
"Hi, Mary," he said. "Come to play with Pretty? She's there in the yard."
"Oh, no!" Mary snapped. I wanna know just what's going on with my sister and Jo-Ann, Gee, Hank, I know you like Jo-Ann, but you always used to like me better than Maggie. It's not fair to leave me out here while Maggie and Jo-Ann are inside. Gosh! What are they doing!"
"Playing." Hank shrugged.
"Well, I think I'm old enough to play with them. I'm only two months younger than Jo-Ann."
"So you are,' Hank nodded. "But this is a special game. It's so special, you can't tell anyone else about it, not even your parents."
"Is that why Maggie never said anything to me?"
"That's why," Hank nodded.
"Is it a fun game?" Mary asked.
"Lot's of fun," Hank assured her.
"Well, then, I want to play, too. I won't tell anyone, either."
"Then come on in," Hank invited, opening the door.
As Mary entered the house, the door shut behind her, and Pretty, the dog, continued romping in the yard, barking at the world.