Ivy and Bean_ Books 4,5,6 - Annie Barrows [8]
“But you aren’t going to tell her, right?”
“Oh. Right. Maybe when we’re really old.”
Ivy put her hands on her hips. “The first thing we need is silk curtains,” she said.
“I don’t think we have any silk curtains,” Bean said. “But how about some sheets? We’ve got plenty of extra sheets.”
“Sure. For now, we’ll use sheets,” Ivy agreed.
“Okay. They’re in the closet. I’ll get them.” Bean jumped up and moved away through the shadows.
Ivy thought about rugs and poofy pillows. A lamp would be nice, too.
“Ivy?”
“Yeah?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” asked Ivy.
“There’s no handle on this door.”
“I know,” said Ivy. “You just push it.”
“Not from this side,” said Bean. “Only from the outside.”
Uh-oh. Bean had put the door back into the hole. “Can you pull it?” Ivy asked.
“There’s nothing to pull.”
Ivy stepped carefully across the floorboards and squatted next to Bean. Bean was trying to dig her fingernails around the edge of the door so she could lift it up. But that didn’t work because she always chewed her fingernails right down to the skin. Even though Ivy didn’t chew her nails, they were still too short to lift the door.
Bean kicked it, but that didn’t do anything.
Ivy looked for a stick to pry it up with. But there weren’t any sticks.
There was no way to open the door.
Bean looked up at the little window things. It was late. Pretty soon, the attic would be completely dark. Nobody knew where they were. They would never figure it out. Not in a million years. She looked around at the empty space with its bare floorboards. It didn’t look like a fort anymore. It looked like an attic. Or maybe a jail.
She poked Ivy’s arm. “At least you’re here, too.”
Ivy and Bean sat down side by side and began to wait.
A WORLD OF TROUBLE
“We’re going to starve,” said Bean.
“I guess we could eat spiders,” said Ivy. “Birds do it.”
Bean shivered. She didn’t want to eat spiders. All those hairy legs.
They were quiet.
Now that she had started, Bean couldn’t stop thinking about spiders. “Ivy?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you ever worry that there’s a giant spider who’s the grandma of all the spiders you’ve ever squashed and that she’s going to come and get you in the middle of the night?”
“I worry that there’s a big potato bug inside my bed,” said Ivy. “Not spiders so much.”
Bean squinted into the shadows. There were probably spiders crawling all over the attic. Spiders she couldn’t see. Something brushed against her leg, and Bean jumped to her feet.
“This is an emergency,” said Bean. “This calls for action.”
“Okay,” agreed Ivy. “What action?”
Bean gulped. “I think we need to scream for help.”
“Help from who?” asked Ivy.
“Well,” said Bean. “Nancy.”
“She is the babysitter,” said Ivy. “She’s supposed to take care of you.”
“Right!” said Bean. “She’s getting paid to take care of me.”
“Okay,” said Ivy. “Let’s yell for her. One.”
“Two,” said Bean.
“Three!” they said together. And then they screamed, They had to scream for a million years. That’s what it felt like anyway. Finally, they heard Nancy. Nancy was yelling, too.
“BEAN? WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT’S HAPPENED? ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?” They could hear doors slamming and Nancy’s feet running. “ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU IN THE BATHROOM?”
Once Bean knew that she was going to be rescued, she stopped feeling spiders on her legs. After a minute, it was even kind of fun to hear Nancy freaking out. Bean felt cheerful again.
“I’ve got an idea,” she said, “Let’s scream, but no words this time, just a scream.”
#8220;She’s going to have a heart attack,” Ivy said.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHH,” they screeched.
“OH NO!” Nancy shrieked.
Bean took a deep breath and screeched, “WE’RE STUCK IN THE ATTIC! HELP!”
“Bean! Where are you?” Nancy opened the closet door.
“WE’RE UP HERE! HELP!”
“You’re up there?” said Nancy in a surprised voice. “How’d you get up there?” Suddenly she didn’t sound very worried.
“HELP US! WE’RE STARVING! BUGS ARE EATING US!” hollered Bean.
“Is that Ivy, too?” Nancy asked. “What’s she doing here?” Nancy