gate. His face tightened at the sight of the children. Before he could ask their business, Reynie blurted, “Mr. Bane, you need to escort us to the Washingtons’ car. We’re supposed to bring in some packages.” He pointed down the block. “It’s just around the corner.”
Mr. Bane gave him a dark look. “For one thing, sonny, I don’t like to be told what to do, especially not by the adolescent darlings of Rhonda Kazembe. For another, I’m on duty. Or don’t you want the entrance guarded?”
“It’ll only take a few minutes!” Reynie said, plainly irritated. He went down the steps with the others just behind him.
Mr. Bane rose to head them off. “Apparently you don’t understand what’s meant by ‘duty.’ I’m
watching
the
gate
!”
The others stared at Reynie. Was this his plan? To outrage Mr. Bane? Weren’t they trying to
avoid
a confrontation?
“Well…” Reynie hesitated as if considering something. “You will let us back in, though, won’t you? We have permission to be here, you know.”
Mr. Bane’s expression changed. The change was subtle, but it was exactly what Reynie had hoped to see — a shift from defiance to craftiness. Moving to open the gate, Mr. Bane said, “I suppose you kids think you can do whatever you want. You don’t think you even have to say please.” With a mocking bow, he stepped aside, and the children hurried out. Mr. Bane closed the gate behind them with a disagreeable smile.
“We’ll need your help taking the packages upstairs,” Reynie called as they walked away down the sidewalk. “They’re very heavy.”
“I’ll be here,” Mr. Bane called back, then muttered something the children couldn’t hear.
“Well, that was clever, Reynie,” said Kate in a low voice. “I had no idea what you were up to.”
She knelt and held her hand out to Constance, who climbed onto her back (it was their habit for Constance to ride piggyback when they were in a hurry) saying, “Did you see the look on his face? He obviously can’t
wait
to make us stand there begging to be let back in.”
“And then watch us struggle up the steps with the packages,” said Sticky. “Well done, Reynie.”
Reynie said nothing. He was relieved the ploy had worked, but it wasn’t exactly satisfying to have taken advantage of Mr. Bane’s unpleasantness. The man was supposed to be on their side, after all. His behavior didn’t improve Reynie’s opinion of people very much.
“I hope Madge will be all right,” Kate said, hitching Constance into a more comfortable position on her back. “I didn’t see her in the eaves. She’s off hunting pigeons, I suppose.”
“We need to get out of sight,” said Sticky, who was anxious about being caught and felt rather like a hunted pigeon himself. “Does anyone have enough for a taxi?”
No one did. Even pooling their money together produced only a few dollars and some change. That was enough to get them on a city bus, however, and they set out at a rapid clip for the nearest bus stop. Halfway there Constance uttered a cry of dismay. She’d forgotten the journal Mr. Benedict gave them.
“Great,” Sticky muttered. “This hardly makes for an auspicious beginning.”
“What does ‘auspicious’ mean?” asked Constance. She looked ready to be furious.
“Never mind,” said Kate. “It’s probably good you left it. One less thing to carry, you know.”
“But I wanted us to write in it like Mr. Benedict said,” Constance whined. “You know, as we traveled.”
“We’ll write about everything when we get back,” said Reynie. “Right, everyone? We’ll all promise to write something about… well, about whatever’s going to happen.”
Sticky and Kate promised they would. Constance wasn’t much comforted, but there was no going back now. The children hurried on to the bus stop and boarded the first bus that came, even though its route didn’t pass as close to the harbor as they would have hoped. They couldn’t risk
Mr. Bane gave him a dark look. “For one thing, sonny, I don’t like to be told what to do, especially not by the adolescent darlings of Rhonda Kazembe. For another, I’m on duty. Or don’t you want the entrance guarded?”
“It’ll only take a few minutes!” Reynie said, plainly irritated. He went down the steps with the others just behind him.
Mr. Bane rose to head them off. “Apparently you don’t understand what’s meant by ‘duty.’ I’m
watching
the
gate
!”
The others stared at Reynie. Was this his plan? To outrage Mr. Bane? Weren’t they trying to
avoid
a confrontation?
“Well…” Reynie hesitated as if considering something. “You will let us back in, though, won’t you? We have permission to be here, you know.”
Mr. Bane’s expression changed. The change was subtle, but it was exactly what Reynie had hoped to see — a shift from defiance to craftiness. Moving to open the gate, Mr. Bane said, “I suppose you kids think you can do whatever you want. You don’t think you even have to say please.” With a mocking bow, he stepped aside, and the children hurried out. Mr. Bane closed the gate behind them with a disagreeable smile.
“We’ll need your help taking the packages upstairs,” Reynie called as they walked away down the sidewalk. “They’re very heavy.”
“I’ll be here,” Mr. Bane called back, then muttered something the children couldn’t hear.
“Well, that was clever, Reynie,” said Kate in a low voice. “I had no idea what you were up to.”
She knelt and held her hand out to Constance, who climbed onto her back (it was their habit for Constance to ride piggyback when they were in a hurry) saying, “Did you see the look on his face? He obviously can’t
wait
to make us stand there begging to be let back in.”
“And then watch us struggle up the steps with the packages,” said Sticky. “Well done, Reynie.”
Reynie said nothing. He was relieved the ploy had worked, but it wasn’t exactly satisfying to have taken advantage of Mr. Bane’s unpleasantness. The man was supposed to be on their side, after all. His behavior didn’t improve Reynie’s opinion of people very much.
“I hope Madge will be all right,” Kate said, hitching Constance into a more comfortable position on her back. “I didn’t see her in the eaves. She’s off hunting pigeons, I suppose.”
“We need to get out of sight,” said Sticky, who was anxious about being caught and felt rather like a hunted pigeon himself. “Does anyone have enough for a taxi?”
No one did. Even pooling their money together produced only a few dollars and some change. That was enough to get them on a city bus, however, and they set out at a rapid clip for the nearest bus stop. Halfway there Constance uttered a cry of dismay. She’d forgotten the journal Mr. Benedict gave them.
“Great,” Sticky muttered. “This hardly makes for an auspicious beginning.”
“What does ‘auspicious’ mean?” asked Constance. She looked ready to be furious.
“Never mind,” said Kate. “It’s probably good you left it. One less thing to carry, you know.”
“But I wanted us to write in it like Mr. Benedict said,” Constance whined. “You know, as we traveled.”
“We’ll write about everything when we get back,” said Reynie. “Right, everyone? We’ll all promise to write something about… well, about whatever’s going to happen.”
Sticky and Kate promised they would. Constance wasn’t much comforted, but there was no going back now. The children hurried on to the bus stop and boarded the first bus that came, even though its route didn’t pass as close to the harbor as they would have hoped. They couldn’t risk