Strangers in the Lane by Virginia Rose Richter Page A

“Jes-sie, Ti-na, Jes-sie, Ti-na,” he chanted.
    He was two now. Tall for two. Jessie loved the way his hair curled and was turning blond like hers.
    He winked at them. A perfect wink.
    Tina laughed. “He winked at me! Babies can’t wink.”
    Jessie lifted Phillip and his teddy bear out of the crib. “I taught him. To make up for teaching him to stick out his tongue.”
    “Did your folks ever find out where he learned that?”
    “No! And don’t you tell, Tina. They’re still hoping it’ll go away. Wink, Phillip.”
    He winked with one eye and then the other.
    Tina kissed his cheek. “You are very cute, Phillip Hanson.”
    “Down,” he said and struggled from Jessie’s grasp.
    Jessie grabbed a fresh diaper from the shelf. “Wait, Phillip. Let’s change your pants.”
    He laughed and ran. “Don’t catch me! Don’t catch me!”
    Jessie giggled. “I’m gonna catch you. Here I come.”
    Gently, the girls tackled him, wrestled him to the carpet and changed him in a hurry. When they released him, he bolted like a calf let out of a pen.
    Tina flung herself onto the floor and feigned exhaustion. “I think I’m too old to have a baby brother.”
    Jessie knew Tina changed her mind daily about being a big sister. Sometimes she hated the idea and sometimes she could see the advantages. She said the big bonus would be her parents having someone else to fuss over besides her.
    Downstairs, the front door closed. “Hi. Where is everyone?” Jessie’s mom was home.
    “Mama!” Phillip hurried down the steps, careful to hang onto the banister.
    Jessie ran to the top of the stairs. “Mom, are people bringing their little kids to the baby shower tomorrow?”
    Her mother picked up Phillip. “Yes. I figured it would keep Phillip occupied. Why?”
    “Tina and I want to help. We’ll entertain the kids. Okay?”
    Her mom unwound Phillip’s arms from their stranglehold on her neck. “You’re volunteering to babysit ? Sure. I could definitely use the help. Be here by five o’clock. Oh, and wear a dress.” She threw Jessie a kiss.
    Back in her bedroom, Jessie rummaged through the closet. “A dress, for gosh sake. I haven’t had one on in months.”
    Tina leaned against the doorway with her arms folded. “Gee, Jessie. Thanks a lot for volunteering my services for a mass babysitting job.”
    “Remain calm,” whispered Jessie. “How else are we going to check out who has kids and whose voices were on the baby monitor?”
    “Ah! Very smart! Oh well, I guess I should help with the baby shower anyway since my mom is the guest of honor.”
    “We’ve got one week to find those thieves,” said Jessie.

CHAPTER TWO
    When Jessie opened the front door, the Hanson house filled with smiling moms and shouting children.
    Jessie wore a navy velvet dress that showed off her blue eyes and her braid, the color of ripe wheat, which hung down her back. Tina, in a little black suit and tights, looked French with her dark hair cut into a short cap. They piled baby gifts on the hall table and helped the children remove coats and boots.
    An hour later Tina said, “Not a foreign accent in sight.”
    Jessie nodded. “This might be harder than I realized. We could be spending the whole week doing this.”
    Tina clapped her forehead with her hand. “What a horrible thought!”
    Sonja Hegstrom’s toddler ran across the hall and right up Jessie’s feet. She lifted little Owen off her shoes and forced a smile to hide her pain. The Hegstroms owned a manufacturing company and lived in a mansion on the next block. I wonder if the robbers were speaking from Owen’s bedroom, thought Jessie.
    Henry Thomas, age three, shoved two-year-old Kerry Elm to the floor. When Jessie leaned down to help her, a screaming Kerry grabbed Jessie’s braid and pulled herself to her feet.
    “Ow!” cried Jessie. She eased Kerry’s hands from her hair.
    Carol Marshall hurried to Jessie’s aid with her eighteen-month-old, Robyn, trailing behind. “Jessie,