Iggie's House Page 3

  Winnie started to pull the wagon again, but before she got past the Landon’s house Clarice put down her paper dolls and skipped down the front walk.

  “Hi, Winnie.”

  Winnie muttered, “Hi, Clarice. This is Glenn, Herbie and Tina. They just moved into Iggie’s house.”

  “I know,” Clarice said. “I know all about them from my mother.” She grinned sheepishly at Winnie while stealing a glance at the Garbers.

  Winnie couldn’t help making a face at the mention of Mrs. Landon. There was something about that woman … something underneath the soft voice and sweet smile. Maybe it was that all the grownups on the block thought she was the greatest … including the Barringers! Winnie had heard her father say dozens of times: “Dorothy Landon is a sensible woman. She has a real head on her shoulders.” And Mrs. Barringer agreed. “I don’t know how she does it! All those meetings and still the best housekeeper I know.” Yick! No matter what her parents thought, Winnie knew for sure that Mrs. Landon was an old busybody. Just last month her mother forced her to go to Clarice’s birthday party (and in a new dress too!) Mrs. Landon had flashed her phony smile and said, “What a perfectly lovely dress, Winifred. It looks so expensive. Was it?” Now that was plain old “nosey.” And there was that rainy day when Mrs. Landon had driven her home from the bus stop. “I saw so many cars at your house Saturday night, Winifred. Did your parents have a party?” And when Winnie told her, yes, they had, Mrs. Landon said, “How nice! Anyone there I know?” Well, that was “nosey” too! Even if Winnie’s mom thought Mrs. Landon was just being sociable and making conversation. Winnie knew better. And Mr. Landon! He was always saying: “Yes dear. Of course dear. Whatever you say dear.” Yick! It was sickening. Princess Clarice was supposed to be on the lookout for germs all the time. She wasn’t supposed to eat or drink anything at other people’s houses. Oh, Winnie knew all about them all right! Little Miss Germ-Head and her mother, Germs, Incorporated!

  But did Tina take her advice? No! She went right on talking to Clarice. “Want to come over to play?” Tina asked.

  Clarice answered so softly no one understood her.

  Tina continued. “It doesn’t have to be today. How ’bout tomorrow?”

  This time there was no mistaking Little Miss Germ-Head’s reply. “My mother says I can’t play with any colored kids.” Clarice ran back up the front walk, to her rocking chair and paper dolls.

  Winnie felt sick. How could anybody say a thing like that?

  Herbie started up the Landon’s walk. “Man! I ought to give that no good lousy little kid a …”

  Glenn grabbed him by the sleeve. “Cut it out Herbie. Forget it.”

  “Sure … forget it! Just like that!” Herbie snapped his fingers.

  “Well, I warned you about Little Miss Germ-Head.”

  “I don’t have any germs,” Tina whispered. “No germs at all.”

  “Everybody has germs,” Herbie said.

  “I don’t!” Tina insisted.

  “Sure you do,” Glenn told her. “We all do. Even Miss Germ-Head has germs.”

  “Especially Miss Germ-Head!” Herbie agreed.

  “No point in hanging around here,” Winnie said. “Come on Tina … I’ll pull you home.”

  The boys left the bikes in Iggie’s driveway but Winnie pulled Tina all the way to the back of the house.

  Herbie yelled through the screen door. “Hey Mom! How about some lemonade? We’re beat!”

  “Lemonade!” A voice shouted from inside the house. “I’ve got eight million things to do and you come home hollering for lemonade!”

  Herbie flapped his arms and raised his eyes to the sky. Mrs. Garber came to the back door. She saw Winnie and laughed. “Oh, I didn’t know you had company.” She seemed embarrassed as she wiped her hands on her slacks.

  “This is Winnie, Mom. From down the street,” Glenn said.

  “Hello Winnie.” Her voice was gruff, like Herbie’s. She had a pretty smile. “I’m, uh, sorry about the lemonade.” Winnie had the feeling the apology was for her benefit. “I’m just so busy trying to get unpacked. We do have some grape juice. Would you like some?”

  “I’m really not too thirsty,” Winnie lied. “I wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble. Tina will help me. Come on Tina.”

  Tina and her mother disappeared into the house. They came back with a big can of juice and some paper cups. Winnie gulped down two cups of grape juice and told Mrs. Garber that she had to be going, using what she considered her very best manners and most charming voice. She forgot to take home Matthew’s bike and the red wagon. She rode home slowly wondering if Tina or the boys would tell their mother about Little Miss Germ-Head.

  chapter four

  After dinner Winnie sat in her room reading her letter to Iggie. It didn’t sound right now that she’d met the Garbers. She ripped it up and threw the pieces into the waste basket. She took out a fresh piece of paper and began again.

  Dear Iggie,

  How are you? I’m fine. You wouldn’t believe what happened here. First of all I met the Garbers (the people who bought your house) and they have three kids. Anyway, the day started out pretty good. I was really nice and friendly and took the new kids to the park but then on the way home who should we bump into but Clarice and she had to open her fat mouth and say how her mother (Good Old Germs) said she can’t play with any colored kids. Well, I’m telling you I wanted to die. I mean, what could I say? And anyway the Garbers don’t even say colored … they say black.

  Winnie heard the chime of the front doorbell. She wrote “to be continued” and jumped up and headed for the hall.

  “I’ll get it!” she hollered as she practically flew down the stairs. She liked to be the first one to the door and the phone. That irritated her father when he was expecting a business call, but she kept on doing it anyway. It was fun to be the first to know what was going on. As soon as Winnie opened the front door she was sorry she had been in such a hurry. She stood face to face with Mrs. Dorothy Landon. Germs, Incorporated!

  “Good evening, Winifred. Are your parents at home?” Mrs. Landon asked.

  Winnie tried to concentrate on Mrs. Landon’s eyeglasses. They hung from a gold chain around her neck, and rested a few inches below her chin. That way Winnie could avoid looking directly at Mrs. Landon’s face. Germs, Incorporated only wore her glasses on her eyes when she had to see something really important. Winnie sniffed. Mrs. Landon smelled like beauty parlor. Her usual sweater was thrown over her shoulders. She always wore one … even if it was boiling hot.

  “I said, are your parents at home, Winifred?”

  “Oh. Wait a second and I’ll see,” Winnie answered, knowing very well that her mom and dad were out on the back porch. She yelled as loud as she could (without turning away from Mrs. Landon). “MOM! DAD!… ANYBODY HOME?”

  Mrs. Landon backed away from Winnie. “My, my,” she said, talking through her teeth and turning on the smile. “Don’t we have healthy lungs this evening.”

  Mr. Barringer walked in from the porch and Winnie raced up the stairs, with her tongue stuck out. No one noticed, but it made her feel better about being polite (well, almost polite) to Mrs. Landon.

  At the top of the stairs Winnie crouched behind the big potted plant. She peeked out through the openings in the wooden bannister. She didn’t want to miss a thing. Mrs. Landon never “just dropped in.” There was always a reason.

  Mrs. Barringer came in from the porch too. “Dorothy … hello. I haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?”

  “Yick!” Winnie whispered to herself.

  “I’m upset, Helen,” Mrs. Landon told Winnie’s mother.

  “Well, what can we do to help, Dorothy?” Mr. Barringer asked.

  Mrs. Landon’s smile disappeared and Winnie thought her face looked like she had just finished sucking a lemon.

  “I have a petition with me, Paul. I hope that you and Helen will be sensible and sign it immediately. Every
minute counts.”

  Winnie had to strain to hear. Mrs. Landon’s voice was so low.

  Mr. Barringer laughed good naturedly. “And what are we petitioning for this week, Dorothy?”

  “I’m afraid it’s rather unpleasant,” Mrs. Landon answered. “But someone has to do something.”

  “About what, Dorothy?”

  “About the Garber family.”

  “Oh,” Mr. Barringer said. “I just don’t know, Dorothy. I just don’t know …” Mr. Barringer confessed.

  Winnie whispered from the top of the stairs, “Tell her off, Daddy. Come on … tell her what she really is.…”

  Mrs. Landon put on her glasses. “Look Paul, if we sit around and talk about it, nothing is going to be accomplished. What we need is a little action.” She flashed the smile and her voice cooed. “Now, I have nothing against the Garbers personally. I just want our lovely neighborhood to stay the way it is. As I’m sure you do.”

  Winnie’s dad coughed, but Mrs. Landon continued. “Face it Paul … things won’t stay the same if the Garbers live here. You know as well as I what will happen to our schools … our community … to everything! Once that element takes over, forget it! We’ve got to act now.”

  “What do you have in mind, Dorothy?” Mr. Barringer asked.

  “For a start … this petition. Let the Garbers know that they won’t be happy here. People rarely stay where they aren’t wanted.”

  Winnie groaned softly to herself. “Oh Daddy! Don’t be nice to her. Please don’t even let her think you might sign that thing. Please Daddy! Please.”

  “Of course I’ll be pleasant about it,” Mrs. Landon promised. “We don’t want any headlines.”

  “Naturally!” Winnie practically spat. “Good old Germs! Always pleasant!”

  “I see,” Mr. Barringer said. “And if your petition doesn’t work … then what?”

  “Well …” Mrs. Landon tapped her petition with a red marking pen. “Then we’ll have to put on the pressure, Paul. We’ll have to let them know that we really mean business. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

  “What does Fred think about all of this?” Mr. Barringer asked.

  “Fred Landon is behind me one hundred per cent!”

  Winnie muttered, “Yes dear. Of course dear. Whatever you say dear.”

  “Well, Dorothy … Helen and I haven’t had a chance to talk this over yet. But I’ll think about it. And I’ll be in touch with you when I reach a decision.”

  Winnie whispered. “Tell her you’ll never reach that kind of decision, Daddy. Go ahead and tell her.”

  Mrs. Landon carefully removed her glasses and let them hang around her neck again. “Fine Paul. I knew I could count on you and Helen. You’re sensible people.”

  “We’ll see, Dorothy,” Mr. Barringer said, walking Mrs. Landon to the door. “Good night.”

  “Good night, Helen. Good night, Paul,” Germs called.

  Mr. Barringer closed the door quietly.

  “Why didn’t you sign it?” Mrs. Barringer asked angrily.

  “I don’t know if I want to,” Mr. Barringer said.

  “But there can’t be any doubt, Paul. You should have signed it right away. Dorothy Landon always knows what she’s talking about when it comes to community affairs.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Mr. Barringer said.

  “But Paul, you’ve always valued her opinion.”

  “I supported her when she fought for higher teachers’ salaries, yes. I voted for her three times for the board of education, yes! But I’m not so sure about this. Everything she had to say was a lot of double talk.”

  “I got her point,” Mrs. Barringer said.

  “I’m sure you did, Helen.”

  “Well, I hope Winnie didn’t hear anything. Children shouldn’t have to know about these problems.”

  “Ha!” Winnie said as she crawled along the floor, back to her own room. Why didn’t parents ever do what you wanted them to do? She felt like screaming, but then they would know she had been listening and she wasn’t in the mood for a lecture. She took off her shoes and flung them across her room. Then she flopped onto her bed, punching her fists into the pillow.

  Finally she calmed down enough to go back to her desk. She picked up her pen and wrote after “to be continued”:

  Guess what? A minute ago Germs, Inc. left our house. She came here with a petition to get rid of the new people. I wanted to kick her in the guts!!! I’m so mad I don’t know what to do.

  Winnie folded the letter and put it in the middle of the world atlas. She didn’t know how to finish it.

  She undressed and climbed into bed. She didn’t bother brushing her teeth or washing her face. She put out the light and tried to sleep. Maybe things would seem better in the morning.

  Winnie sat at the kitchen table and pretended to eat her breakfast. She used her “moving around” method to make her mother think she was eating. Actually she had taken only two mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. The rest she had moved around and around on her plate.

  “Are you finished moving those eggs around Winnie?” Mom asked.

  Winnie looked up. So her special, secret trick was not going to work this morning. It figured! “You really aren’t supposed to eat much when it’s hot, you know, Mom. I read that someplace.”

  Mrs. Barringer smiled. “You certainly do use any and every excuse for not eating.” She was interrupted by a loud bark. Mrs. Barringer looked out the kitchen window. “That’s funny. There’s nothing there! I was sure I heard a dog barking. I don’t want any dogs around my rose bushes.”

  Winnie paid no attention to what her mother was saying. She continued to move the eggs around, making little yellow designs on her plate. The barking began again.

  “Winnie, don’t you hear that?” her mother asked.

  “Sure Mom.”

  “Check out front Winnie, will you?”

  “Okay … okay.” Winnie went to the front door and looked out. She didn’t see a thing, so she headed for the garage and her bike. She might as well ride around. She was still confused about last night. But at least she had reached one decision. She would never mention that awful petition to the Garbers. Maybe no one would sign it and they would never have to know. Suddenly Winnie heard a loud “WOOF.” It startled her and she spun around looking for the dog. Then she heard somebody laughing. It sounded like it was coming from inside the garage. Winnie ran over to the side window and peeked into the dark garage. She couldn’t really see anything. So she opened the garage door, very slowly and very carefully. She wasn’t quite sure what she might find inside. “Oh no!” she hollered when the door was opened. “How did you get in here?”

  A loud “WOOF … WOOF” was the only reply. The red wagon that she forgot to take home yesterday was in the middle of the garage. Sitting in the middle of the red wagon was a dog. It looked like a huge stuffed Panda bear with shaggy white fur (except for one black eye and one black ear). “Okay, I know somebody’s in here. Come on out! Right now!” she commanded.

  Somebody giggled. Then somebody else giggled. And finally Tina, Herbie and Glenn jumped out from behind Mr. Barringer’s gardening supplies, where they were hiding.

  “Hi Winnie,” they yelled.

  “How do you like our furry friend?” laughed Glenn.

  Herbie jumped up and down. “I told you Winnie. I told you we were going to get him last night. Isn’t he something?” Herbie seemed excited about the dog. Yesterday he’d acted so blah.

  “Is he ever!” Winnie agreed. “He’s really neat! But he’s so big!”

  “You think this is BIG?” Glenn asked. “He’s only a puppy now. ’Course he already weighs forty pounds. How about that!”

  “Wow … some puppy!” Winnie said. “What kind of dog is he anyway?”

  “This is a Sheep Dog,” Tina announced. “A genuine English Sheep Dog puppy.”

  “Ha! A Sheep Dog!” Winnie laughed. “That’s funny. That’s really very funny. I never saw one before. But that’s
what my Mom says I look like when I don’t brush my hair. Look!” And Winnie shook out her long hair, letting it fall over her face, covering her eyes. She danced around the wagon hollering, “WOOF! Woof … Woof … Woof …!” She collapsed on the floor laughing.

  At first the dog seemed confused. He stood up in the wagon and began rocking back and forth. Then he bellowed … long and low. “Arooo … Arooo … WOOF”—and jumped out of the wagon onto Winnie. “Oh help!” Winnie called out. “Get this monster off me!” But the dog was busily licking Winnie’s nose and ears. Glenn and Herbie tried to pull him off. Tina joined her brothers and they all tugged at once. After much grunting, groaning and barking they managed to separate the dog from his new friend.

  Tina brushed off Winnie’s clothes which were covered with shaggy white hairs. “Never again!” Winnie promised. “I’m never playing doggie again! Let’s get out of here now before my mom catches us. She’s not big on dogs running loose around here. They’re not good for her rose bushes, if you know what I mean.”

  “Okay,” Glenn said. “Let’s take him for a walk.”

  “Why do you call him HIM?” Winnie asked, as they started walking. “Doesn’t the dog have a name?”

  Glenn didn’t answer. Neither did Herbie or Tina. But they all giggled. Winnie put her hands on her hips and said, “Well, if you’re not going to tell me I’m not going for a walk with you!”

  “Oh, we’ll tell you, Winnie,” Glenn assured her. “It’s just a kind of different name. That’s all.”

  “Okay, so it’s different. I don’t mind,” Winnie said. “What is it?”

  “We wanted to call him SMREG,” Tina said.

  “SMREG?” Winnie asked, “SMREG?” What kind of name is that for a dog? That’s really crazy! What’d you want to call him that for?”

  The Garbers laughed again, and this time Winnie was annoyed at being left out of the joke.

  Glenn stopped laughing long enough to tell her. “SMREG is GERMS spelled backwards!”

  “GERMS SPELLED BACKWARDS!” Winnie repeated loud enough for the whole block to hear. “Oh, that’s too much! That’s really great! Too bad it makes such an awful name for a dog! Here Smreggie,” Winnie called, trying it out. “Good doggie. Here, nice Smreg.” She laughed as hard as the others. Finally she remembered that she still didn’t know his name. She stopped laughing and asked, “So what is his name?”