Who Won the War? by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Page A

could do that?”
    Sure , thought Wally. She said, “Take the eggs and go make a mess.”
    “It's okay,” said Josh. “We're cleaning it up.”
    “I certainly hope so,” Mrs. Malloy said, and went back inside.
    What Wally discovered was that eggs cooked without any grease stuck to the cement like paste. Digging as hard as he could with the spatula, he only got bitsand pieces off. The cement had absorbed egg white like a sponge.
    The twins finally brought out a bucket of soapy water and a brush and scrubbed down the sidewalk on their hands and knees. Wally poured himself a glass of lemonade and went up to drink it in the shade of the porch. Nothing could ruin his day! The big underwear switcheroo was about the best thing he'd done all summer, and the memory of that would last him a long time!

Fifteen

Seen!
    T he heat made everyone crabby. The next morning, Beth and Eddie both took their showers early, and there was no hot water left when Mr. Hatford rose to shower before work. The girls and their mother heard him grumbling in the hall.
    “We are really getting in the way!” Mrs. Malloy said apologetically in the kitchen later.
    “Now, Jean, you'd take us in too, and you know it,” Mrs. Hatford assured her.
    But afterward, as she was making the beds upstairs, Caroline's mother said, “I'd like to think I would be that neighborly if the Hatfords' power went out, but I'm afraid I'd think twice before I took in those four boys.”
    Jake and Eddie got into an argument. Mr. and Mrs. Hatford were at work, and Mrs. Malloy had put chicken salad and salami in the fridge for lunch.However, Eddie took the last of the cheese, and this ticked Jake off.
    “Hey, why didn't you take all the salami, too, while you were at it?” he groused.
    “There were only two slices left,” Eddie said.
    “Yeah, one for you and one for somebody else,” Jake told her. “Not two for you.”
    “Oh, shove it!” said Eddie. “You want some cheese?” She lifted the top piece of bread and yanked at a slice with a bite taken out of it. “Here's some cheese!” And she tossed it onto his plate.
    “I don't want any cheese you've slobbered on,” said Jake, throwing it back. It landed on the floor.
    “Ewwww!” said Caroline.
    “Now no one will want it!” Eddie snapped.
    “Yeah. Serves you right for being a pig in the first place!” said Jake.
    “Will you two stop arguing?” said Beth.
    “Yeah, why don't you just go off and duke it out?” said Josh.
    “Ha! Eddie wouldn't have a chance,” said Jake.
    “Go to the old coal mine!” Josh said, taunting. “Give you guys something to do besides fight.” He stopped then. Caroline could tell he wished he'd never said it.
    “I'm up for it!” said Jake. “ I'll go!”
    Caroline closed her eyes.
    “Me too,” said Eddie. She flashed a warning look at Beth and Caroline. “And don't tell Mom!” she added.
    Caroline and Beth looked at each other. They saw the boys exchange nervous glances.
    “So when are we going?” asked Jake.
    “How about right now?” said Eddie.
    “We shouldn't be dooo-ing this!” Peter sang.
    “Just keep your mouth shut,” said Jake. “Are we all in this together or what?”
    “I'll go up there with you, but I'm not going in,” said Wally.
    “Okay by me,” said Jake.
    They all pulled on their sneakers.
    “We're going out for a while, Mom,” Eddie called up the stairs to her mother, who was making beds.
    “Put on sunscreen if you're going to be out for long,” Mrs. Malloy called back. “Will Peter be going with you?”
    “Yes, we're taking him,” called Wally.
    They stuck to the trees when they could, to escape the broiling sun. Eddie and Jake led the way, their eyes steely, jaws clenched, each eager to show the other that they weren't afraid. Nobody said much as they trudged along.
    When the low mountain loomed up at last, all Caroline could see was what appeared to be the entrance to a tunnel in its side.
    “Is that it?” she asked