Claudia and the Little Liar

  Over Kristy’s shoulder, Abby suddenly noticed that Haley, Vanessa, Charlotte, Sara, and Becca stood in a group. They were close enough to hear what Kristy had just said.

  With a confident grin, Haley nodded to her friends. Her smug expression spoke louder than words could. It said, See? I told you so. The other girls looked at Kristy with raised eyebrows.

  “Don’t look now,” Abby said quietly to Kristy, “but Haley and some of the others just heard you say you were going to tell on Haley.”

  Kristy whirled around and looked at the girls. They scattered in all directions. “Oh, great, now they’re afraid of me.”

  Abby laughed. “That’s nothing. I’m afraid of you sometimes.”

  “Very funny,” Kristy shot back with a grin. She blew her whistle and resumed the game.

  * * *

  By the time the game had ended, the weather had turned rainy and windy. Abby was nearly drenched by the time she arrived at her job sitting for the three Rodowsky boys. Shea is nine, Jackie is seven, and Archie is four. They are carrottops with freckles and lively personalities. Abby usually enjoys sitting for them.

  But this afternoon, as she stood in the downstairs bathroom changing into the dry sweatshirt Mrs. Rodowsky had loaned her, she couldn’t get over the feeling that something wasn’t right.

  For one thing, Shea and Jackie had said hello, then gone up to their rooms. When she stepped out of the bathroom, only little Archie was downstairs waiting for her. Usually all the boys liked to stay and talk.

  “What are your brothers up to?” Abby asked Archie as she dried her hair with a bathroom towel.

  “They’re hiding from you,” he told her.

  “Hiding? Why?”

  “ ’Cause you’re a spy.”

  “Oh, I am, huh? Then why aren’t you hiding from me?”

  Archie smiled. “I wanted to spy with you.” He ran to the couch and took out a pair of green plastic binoculars he’d hidden under a throw pillow. “Want to spy on Noah Seger next door? He’s playing in the yard in the rain.”

  “Archie!” Abby said, trying not to laugh. “I don’t want to tell on Noah. Where did you get the idea I was a spy?”

  “Shea said a girl in school told him.”

  “Was her name Haley by any chance?”

  Archie nodded enthusiastically. “I think so. She said all the baby-sitters are spies. Do you work for the FZ-Guy?”

  “Who?”

  “The FZ-Guy!” Archie insisted, as if she should have known who that was.

  “Do you mean the FBI?” Abby asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Archie insisted. “The FZ-Guy is a real superhero who catches bad guys.”

  “Well, I don’t know him,” she said, pretty sure he did mean the FBI, whether he knew it or not. “So I definitely don’t work for him.”

  “Too bad,” Archie said with a pout.

  “Come on, let’s go see what your brothers are doing,” Abby suggested. When they reached the second floor, Shea’s and Jackie’s doors were both tightly closed.

  She knocked on Shea’s door first. No answer. “It’s Abby. I know you’re in there. I just want to talk to you.”

  The door opened a crack. “Hi,” Shea said quietly. “What’s up?”

  “What’s up with you?” Abby demanded. “Archie says you guys are hiding from me because you think I’m a spy.”

  Shea made a disgruntled face at Archie. “You won’t tell my parents we were hiding, will you?” he asked.

  “Of course not. But this is so silly. Why are you hiding? Are you doing something you shouldn’t be doing?”

  Before Shea could reply, Jackie came tumbling out through his bedroom doorway onto the floor. He looked up at them, red-faced with embarrassment.

  Abby bit down on her laughter. It was easy to see what had happened. Jackie had been leaning on his door, trying to hear what was being said. He’d leaned too hard and the door had swung open. “And you guys think I’m a spy?” she said, smiling. “I don’t go around listening to conversations behind closed doors.”

  Jackie turned an even deeper red.

  Turning back to Shea, Abby noticed a splotch of cobalt-blue paint on his hand. “Okay, what are you doing in there?” she asked.

  “Promise you won’t tell?” Shea replied.

  “No, I don’t promise,” Abby said. “Believe it or not, I don’t tell your parents things you do wrong unless they really need to know. But I’m not promising anything. It depends on what you’re doing.”

  Shea opened the door wider and revealed a half-painted model airplane on the floor. He’d put newspapers under it to protect the rug from the paint. “It’s nice,” Abby commented as she walked into the room. “What’s wrong with doing this?”

  “He’s not supposed to do it in his room,” Archie informed her.

  “Why not?” Abby asked.

  “Mom says she doesn’t want me breathing in the glue so I always have to work on it outside,” Shea explained. “And now that I’m at the painting part, she doesn’t want the paint all over.”

  “Then you shouldn’t be doing it,” Abby pointed out.

  “But I told my teacher I’d bring it to school tomorrow. It’s an authentic model of a World War Two fighter plane. And we’re learning about World War Two. I can’t work outside today,” he said, pointing toward the rain-splashed window. “You’re going to tell, aren’t you.”

  “No!” Abby cried impatiently. “The baby-sitters are not spies. Get that through your heads.” She looked out the window, then down at the plane. “Why not work in the garage?”

  “Okay,” Shea agreed.

  So Abby, Archie, and Jackie stood out in the garage and watched the rain fall while Shea sat on the garage floor and worked on his model.

  After awhile, Abby needed to break the boredom. “Bet you can’t catch me,” she cried as she stepped out into the rain.

  “Can so!” Archie shouted, running after her. Jackie followed, and even Shea took a break from his work to join the game of rain tag.

  By the time Mrs. Rodowsky came home, the boys had changed into dry clothes and were inside watching TV. “I saw your model drying in the garage,” she told Shea. “It looks great. Thanks for working in the garage.”

  “No problem,” Shea replied, looking sideways at Abby.

  She just winked at him and smiled.

  “We have to do something about this — and right away,” Kristy said at our Wednesday meeting. I’d rarely seen her so agitated. She was so worked up that she couldn’t even sit still in the director’s chair. She was pacing around my room, pounding one hand into the other. “Haley has got to be stopped,” she insisted.

  “That’s the truth,” said Jessi. “Last night Becca came into my room, sat down on the bed, and demanded an explanation. She wanted to know if I was a spy. My own sister!”

  “Unbelievable!” Mary Anne cried softly.

  Jessi nodded. “She said that at first she didn’t believe it, but then she started thinking. She began wondering how my mom knew she was spending her lunch money on cookies instead of lunch. She asked, ‘Did you tell her?’ ”

  “That’s so silly,” Stacey said. “How would you know what she’s doing all the way over in the elementary school?”

  “I know!” Jessi replied. “It was totally stupid. I told her, ‘Mom knew because Aunt Cecelia told her you were coming home starving every day. Plus, she saw all the leftover change in your backpack.’ ” (Jessi’s aunt Cecelia lives with them and minds the kids while Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey are at work.)

  “If Becca suspects you — her own sister — what are the other kids thinking?” Kristy said.

  “Charlotte Johanssen wouldn’t let me see what she was writing today when I sat for her,” Stacey reported.

  “Was it her diary?” Mary Anne asked.

  “No, it was only a composition for school. She said she wasn’t sure she could trust me.”

  “But Charlotte adores you,” I said.

  “I
know,” Stacey agreed. “She even used to show me her diary sometimes. We’re so close. I’d hate to lose that.”

  “I’m going over to the Braddocks’ right after this meeting,” Kristy said fiercely. “I’m going to talk to Little Miss Haley myself.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Mary Anne cautioned her. “You’re pretty worked up right now.”

  I agreed. “Listen, you don’t have to go. I have a sitting job with them after the meeting. I’ll talk to her.”

  “She won’t listen to you,” Kristy objected. “You’re her main target.”

  “Just let me try. Maybe she has some problem with me and I need to be the one to straighten it out.”

  “I doubt it,” Kristy said. “She’s got some problem with herself — and she needs to straighten it out herself.”

  “Whatever,” I said with a sigh. “But if we both go over there, she’ll feel like we’re ganging up on her. And if you go over while her parents are there, she’ll just tell the world you told on her to her parents.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Kristy admitted, finally sinking into the director’s chair. “Call me, though, if you need some backup. I’ll be home.”

  “Thanks,” I told her. “But things won’t get that bad.”

  * * *

  As I walked up the path to the Braddocks’ house, I gave myself a little lecture. Be pleasant. Don’t go in there and confront Haley right away. Act normal. Pretend this is the old Haley, the one you liked before this little liar pod took over her body.

  I’d try to relate to the real Haley who was still trapped somewhere inside this alien life-form she’d become. (Okay. Maybe it was a little silly. But it was better than thinking Haley had changed forever.)

  “Hi, Claudia,” Mrs. Braddock greeted me at the door. “Come on in.” She explained where she and Mr. Braddock would be, and that the kids had already eaten dinner. “Haley isn’t grounded anymore,” she said (which I already knew since I’d been told about the basketball practice). “The No TV Until Homework Rule still applies. And I want to know if she gives you any trouble at all.”

  Instead of saying “Sure” I hesitated. Then I said, “I don’t think we’ll have any trouble.”

  “Anything at all,” Mrs. Braddock insisted. “I’m going, kids,” she called. She blew Matt a kiss and left.

  He signed a hi to me and smiled. I was glad he was still happy to see me.

  He picked up a math workbook and gestured to me. I knew enough sign language to figure out that he wanted me to help him. Believe me, I’m not the person to tutor anyone in math. But, remembering how much easier seventh grade had been for me, I figured I could certainly help a second-grader. I smiled and nodded, sitting on the couch.

  Matt sat next to me and opened the book. He was supposed to add a column of several numbers. I could handle that. But we did have a problem: no pencil.

  I mimed writing and he understood. He began searching drawers in the living room. I tried to help, but we couldn’t locate a pencil.

  As we searched, Haley came downstairs. “Hi, Haley. Have you got a pencil?” I asked. “Or do you know where one is?”

  “There are pencils downstairs in the basement on the table,” she told me in an uninterested way.

  “Thanks,” I said and headed for the basement. When I got there, no pencils were to be found. I met Haley in the kitchen and asked her about it.

  “Oops, my mistake,” she said. Her sarcastic tone told me right away that she knew all along there were no pencils there.

  “Then why did you lie about it?” I asked, trying hard to keep my voice neutral.

  She shrugged.

  “Haley, what is with you these days?”

  “It’s just a pencil,” she replied.

  “It’s not the pencil, it’s the lie.”

  “I can’t believe you’re getting bent out of shape over a pencil,” she said. She pulled open a junk drawer and handed me a pencil. “Here.”

  “Thank you.”

  As I walked out of the room I heard her mutter under her breath, “Get a life, Claudia.”

  I turned. “Did you say something, Haley?”

  “No,” she replied with a fake sweet smile. It was infuriating, but what could I do?

  Matt was waiting for me on the couch. I never thought I’d be glad to do even the simplest math, but I was. It gave me a reason to ignore Haley for a while. And eventually Matt got the hang of how to do it on his own, which felt satisfying.

  About forty minutes later, Matt and I were playing his new video game while Haley sat on the couch browsing through a nature magazine.

  “Shouldn’t you be doing your homework?” I asked her.

  “This is part of it. I’m looking something up.”

  “Can I see your assignment sheet?” I asked, doubting her.

  “I didn’t get one today,” she replied, looking back down at her magazine.

  Suddenly, Matt hopped up and began signing quickly to Haley. She signed back to him, and then he replied in sign language.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Matt almost forgot,” Haley said. “He needs to make a poster for school, but he doesn’t have any poster paints.”

  “I have some at my house,” I said. “Maybe someone can drive them over here.” But only Janine was at home.

  I looked at Matt, who wore a distressed expression. What could I do for him? Then I had an idea. I phoned Stacey. “Hi, it’s me,” I said when she answered. “I’m sorry to bother you, but could you do me a big favor? Do you think your mom could drive you to my house so you could get some poster paints? They’re under my bed. I have a whole box of them. Then would you bring them to the Braddocks’ house? I wouldn’t ask except that it’s really important. Almost an emergency. Matt needs them for his homework.”

  “I’m in the middle of writing a report … but all right,” Stacey agreed reluctantly. “I think Mom can do it. I’ll be right there.”

  After I hung up, Matt seemed happy again and returned to his video game. In about twenty minutes the front bell rang. Matt jumped up and followed me to the door. Sure enough, it was Stacey with the paints.

  “Thank you so much,” I told her, taking the box.

  “No problem.” Then at the same time, we both noticed Matt’s unhappy, confused expression. “What’s the matter?” Stacey asked. “Didn’t you want these?”

  He shook his head, frowning.

  I was confused. Had I misunderstood? No, I hadn’t. I’d acted on the information I’d received from Haley.

  “Thanks, Stacey,” I said. “Now I’m super-sorry to have bothered you. I’ll find out what’s going on.”

  “Good luck,” Stacey said warily.

  I took the paints inside, setting them by the door. I was in time to see Haley trying to sneak upstairs. “Haley, didn’t you tell me Matt needed to make a poster?” I demanded.

  “No, I said he needed you to call Nicky Pike. He almost forgot that Nicky said he has a book on lizards Matt could borrow. He has to bring it in tomorrow as part of his group science project,” she replied.

  “That’s not what you said!”

  “Yes it is.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But I wasn’t going to let it go. Not this time.

  “Haley,” I said, “you stopped Stacey from writing her report, and made her mother drive her all the way to my house, and then here.” My voice rose angrily. “All this time Matt’s been waiting for Nicky to bring over the lizard book because he thought I called him. Now it’s late. Your parents are going to have to get it when they come in. I don’t understand. Why did you do it?”

  “You’re crazy, Claudia,” Haley replied coolly. “I told you Matt needed a book from Nicky and he wanted you to remind him to bring it over.”

  Haley was really good at this. Her lie was close enough to the truth to give me a moment of doubt. Had I heard her wrong? No. I was sure I hadn’t.

  Matt tugged at the hem of my shirt. O
n a card he’d written the name Nicky Pike. I didn’t want to let Haley get away, but I had to be fair to Matt. I made a gesture, as if I were talking on the phone, and went to the kitchen to call Nicky. Mrs. Pike answered. She didn’t know what book I meant, and Mr. Pike had taken Nicky and the other kids to a movie. She’d ask him to call when they returned.

  I did my best to explain this to Matt. A look of disappointment swept across his face and I felt terrible. He punched a fist into the palm of his other hand. Although he sometimes has difficulty communicating, at that moment I understood him loud and clear. He was totally frustrated with the confusion of having been misunderstood.

  Not exactly misunderstood, though. Haley had understood him perfectly. I was pretty sure of that. She’d just chosen to lie to me again.

  I charged back into the living room and found Haley on the couch again with her magazine. I took it from her hands. “Give that back!” she shouted, jumping to her feet.

  “Not until you tell me why you’re acting this way,” I demanded.

  “I’m not acting any way!”

  The sound of jangling keys distracted us all. We turned toward Mr. and Mrs. Braddock, who’d come in together. They looked from Matt to Haley to me with darting eyes.

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Haley blurted out, not even waiting to be blamed. “Claudia invited Stacey over so they could hang out and she forgot to call Nicky about the lizard book like I told her Matt asked her to. Matt got upset. And Claudia said that if I didn’t cover up for her, she’d tell you I’d lied to her and then I’d get into trouble.”

  My jaw dropped. I had to hand it to her — she was a fast thinker. I couldn’t have thought up a lie that fast, even if I’d wanted to.

  “That … that’s not true,” I said, stunned. I then explained what had actually happened. As I talked, I worried that Mr. and Mrs. Braddock might not believe me. They were still standing by the door, their coats on, wearing serious but unreadable expressions.

  I also realized that there I was, telling on Haley. Right in front of her. The scene was playing beautifully into Haley’s view of things. Me, the BSC spy, reporting on her.