Fudge-A-Mania by Judy Blume

Grandma said. "You're overreacting!"
    117
    But she switched places with him and took the tiller, shouting out orders. "Ease the sheets, Warren... we're going to sail off the wind... it may take a while longer but we'll all be more comfortable."
    The boat straightened up and sailed more smoothly. Jimmy released his grip on me. So did Sheila. Her nails left marks on my hand. The Tubmans breathed more easily. And Dad sulked.
    Grandma sailed the boat in like a pro. She explained everything as she did it, to make us feel more secure. "Now... as we pull up, Warren will jump onto the dock," she said. "And while he ties us up I'll drop the sail." She looked over at Dad. "Wait for me to give you the signal, Warren..."
    But Dad didn't wait. He jumped too soon... and landed in the water!
    "Person overboard!" Sheila shouted.
    Mrs. Tubman and I remembered our responsibilities. We pointed at Dad. We pointed as some guy from the dock reached into the water and pulled him out. We pointed as someone else wrapped him in a blanket. We pointed until Dad looked at us and called, "Okay... th-th-that's enough! You c-c-can stop pointing now." He was shivering so hard his teeth clicked.
    118
    Mr. Fargo picked us up in his truck. As soon as we pulled into our driveway Sheila jumped out and ran for the house. "I have to go soooo bad!"
    "Did you all have a nice sail?" Mom asked the rest of us. Then she noticed Dad. "Warren... how come you went swimming in your clothes?"
    Dad didn't answer. "I'll be in the t-t-tub," he managed to say, heading for the house.
    Mom looked at Grandma. "What happened?" she asked.
    "Oh, the usual," Grandma said. "But All's well that ends well."
    Fudge jumped off the porch steps. "All's well that ends well!" he sang.
    "I see he's recovered," I said to Mom.
    "More or less."
    Then Tootsie toddled over and held her arms out to me. "Up, Pee... up."
    I picked her up. She was barefooted and the bottoms of her feet were covered with blue.
    "Did you get more blueberries?" I asked Mom. "No... why?"
    "Look at Tootsie's feet."
    "Oh oh," Mom said.
    We ran to the side yard, where Mr. Fargo had left his work. Mom sucked in her breath when she saw the path of little footprints across his painting.
    119
    "What are we going to do?" I asked.
    "What can we do?" Mom said.
    Mr. Fargo and Jimmy came around the house
    then. Jimmy was telling him about his sailing adventure. "I was never scared," he said. "I knew it was a keel boat... I knew it couldn't go over." He stopped when he saw us and gave me a weak smile. "Peter wasn't scared either," he added.
    But Mr. Fargo wasn't listening anymore. He'd seen the footprints across his painting. His face turned purple. I held Tootsie tight and waited for the explosion.
    "Frank..." Mom began but Mr. Fargo held up his hand to stop her from speaking. He got down on all fours and crawled around his canvas. He stood up and walked away from it. Then he came closer. Then he walked away. Then he came closer again. He squinted. He scratched his beard.
    We held our breaths.
    Finally he muttered, "Baby feet."
    I looked at Jimmy. He shrugged, as if to say Don't ask me.
    "Baby feet," Mr. Fargo said again, coming toward me. I backed away. He wasn't getting his hands on my little sister.
    "Itsy-bitsy baby feet," Mr. Fargo cooed.
    120
    "Itsy bitsy teensy-weensy baby feet." He tickled the bottoms of Tootsie's feet. She squealed.
    Then he laughed. Mr. Fargo actually laughed! "How'd you like to be my partner, Tootsie Pie?" She held her arms out to him. He swung her up in the air. "I think we've got something here," he told her. "I think those little baby feet of yours are going to be a big hit!"
    None of us knew what he was talking about but we were all relieved.
    That night after supper, Jimmy and I used up a whole jar of Noxzema. We had sunburned faces, necks and ears. Our ears hurt more than anything. "Why didn't you use suntan lotion?" Mom asked.
    "I never burn," Jimmy said.
    "Famous last words," Grandma said.
    Then Dad,