Don't Tell Anyone Read Free Page A

it had been worth it.
    Ever since he got his pilot’s license he had wanted his own balloon business. Now
there
was a job worth having! The trouble was, it took money to buy the balloon and the basket. Even used balloons cost several thousand dollars.
    Balloon owners need a place to keep their equipment, and they have to purchase propane, pay a ground crew, and advertise for customers. That’s why he had robbed the bank three years ago; he had been trying to get cash to buy a hot-air balloon.
    Shane finally had enough money, right there in his wallet. All he had to do was cash the check. In two days it would be Good-bye, Colby Construction. Good-bye, brother-in-law boss. Hello, independence.
    Shane got in his pickup and drove out of the parking lot. On his way home, he passed the field where the apartment complex would be built. He saw that Brice had put up a sign, announcing his plans.
    Sometimes such signs created a flurry of protest from neighbors, but he was certain this one wouldn’t.
    Who would object to an apartment building here?

3
    Twitchy Tail was the first to come for food the day Megan saw the sign. He was soon followed by Pumpkin. A bedraggled white cat, its long fur full of matts, also slunk out of the weeds. Megan hadn’t seen that one before. She named it Slush, because it was the dirty color of melting snowbanks in the spring.
    While she watched them, Megan fretted about the apartment building. Finally Mommacat, her sides still bulging, arrived to eat. When the cats finished eating, Megan rushed home, eager to talk to Mom and ask what she thought Megan should do.
    The door to her mother’s office was closed, the signal that Megan and Kylie were not to bother her unless it was a matter of life or death. It is, Megan thought grimly, but she didn’t knock. She knew life or death for the cats was not what Mom meant.
    She heard her mother’s voice from the other side of the door, quoting some statistics.
    Megan decided to see if Kylie knew how long Mom would be busy.
    Kylie was in her bedroom. As usual, she was singing. No matter what Kylie did, she sang about it while she did it. What’s worse, all the songs had the same tune: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” She made up the words as she went along.
    Listening to Kylie made Megan want to cover her ears and run the other way, but she headed for her sister’s room.
    Kylie’s song floated toward her:
    â€œClean, clean, clean my room
    Throw out all the trash,
    Make the bed and sweep the floor and
    Mom will give me cash.”
    It wasn’t too hard for Megan to figure out that Mom had offered to pay Kylie to clean up her room, probably as a way to be certain Kylie would not bother her while she talked to her client.
    Megan sighed. You would think by the age of six, Kylie either would have outgrown this singing habit or would at least use more than one tune.
    â€œDo you have to sing the same song over and over?” Megan asked crossly.
    â€œAll my songs are different.”
    â€œThe words are different but they’re all the same melody: ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.’”
    â€œI
like
‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.’”
    â€œI don’t. I’m sick of it.”
    â€œYou don’t have to listen.”
    Kylie lay on her stomach, reached under her bed, and dragged out a fistful of crayons. As she stuffed the crayons in the box she sang,
    â€œSing, sing, sing a song
    Don’t be still or lazy
    Make up words to what you do,
    Drive your sister crazy.”
    In spite of herself, Megan laughed. Although Kylie’s songs
did
drive her crazy, she had to admire the way her sister could think up rhymes so quickly.
    â€œHow long is Mom going to be busy?” Megan asked.
    Kylie shrugged. “A long time, I think. She said that after I clean my room I can watch our
Mary Poppins
video.”
    That was a bad sign. Mom rarely let either of the girls watch a movie until dinner was over and