Free Who Won the War? by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

wrong. It was inevitable.
    He stepped out into the hall. Transferring all the underwear to one arm, he used his other hand to softly close the door behind him. He went down the hall to where Jake and Josh were waiting for him. They pulled him into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
    “Way to go, Wally!” said Jake.
    “You did it!” said Josh. “Wally, you're the best! Did you get it all?”
    “Yep,” said Wally, scarcely believing it. Now he almost hoped there was a pair of his underpants mixed up with theirs so that he could feel double the relief. Jake turned on the light. The boys stared.
    There on the floor was a pile of girls' underwear. Underpants with daisies on them. One pair that said Monday and another that said Friday. There were pink underpants with hearts, and blue underpants with stripes. And even a pair that read Caroline on the seat.

Thirteen

The Magic Underwear
    A shaft of sunlight fell on Caroline's face. It was the heat more than the light that woke her, for the sun was already hot. She yawned and rolled over, then opened her eyes and stretched.
    Now she remembered. She was beside Eddie on an air mattress on the floor in the Hatford boys' bedroom.
    Well, she certainly didn't want to lie here all day, and besides, she was hungry. She wondered what Mrs. Hatford might have left for their breakfast before she went to work. Maybe she could get the others to go to the ice cream store for cones before the day got too hot.
    She sat up and looked around. Her mom and her two sisters were still asleep. Maybe it wasn't as late as she thought. Caroline slipped off her pajamas and pulled open the bottom drawer of the dresser, wherethe girls had put their things after they'd thrown the boys' stuff in the closet.
    Empty! The drawer was empty! How could that be? Maybe Eddie had moved their clothes somewhere. But why would she do that?
    “What's the matter, Caroline?” came her mother's sleepy voice from one of the twin beds.
    “All our underwear's gone!” said Caroline, puzzled, pulling on her pajamas again.
    “What?” murmured Beth.
    “Gone!” said Caroline. “Our underwear's gone.”
    Eddie rose on one elbow. “What?” sh e. cried. And together the girls gasped, “The boys!”
    “The boys stole your underwear? said their mother in disbelief.
    “Ha!” said Eddie. “They'd steal our teeth and our toenails if they could. They'd steal the hair off our heads if we'd let them.”
    “But I can't imagine those boys coming into our bedroom while we were sleeping and taking our under-wear!” said Mrs. Malloy, sitting up. “I'm sure they weren't raised to do something like that.”
    “I think you should call their mom at the hardware store and tell her,” said Caroline.
    “Now, look!” said Mrs. Malloy. “The Hatfords are graciously letting us stay in their house until we can go home. We are not going to say one word about this to the parents. I'll handle it myself.”
    Everyone got dressed, wearing underpants from the day before, and found Jake and Josh and Peter sitting quietly at the kitchen table, eating their cereal.
    “Good morning, boys,” said Mrs. Malloy. “Where's Wally this morning?”
    “He's feeling sort of sick,” said Peter.
    “Oh? What's wrong?” asked Mrs. Malloy.
    “He's sick to his stomach,” said Peter.
    Just then, however, Wally came in and, without a word, sat down at the table and reached for the cereal. He did look a little sick, as though he'd been outside throwing up.
    “Good morning, Wally,” said Eddie, Beth, and Caroline together.
    “Hi,” Wally mumbled.
    “I see that your mom left us some of her delicious banana bread,” said Mrs. Malloy. “That's a favorite of mine.” She reached for the pitcher of orange juice and poured a glass for herself. “I just want to say, boys, that some things are missing from our bedroom, and I would like them to be returned immediately.”
    Caroline looked across the table at the boys. They were sitting like frogs,