Free When Ratboy Lived Next Door by Chris Woodworth

ground-in peanut butter, then ran right up to the tree house. I planned to ease my way to the ground and leave another trail back to his cage, but as soon as I started down that tree, Zorro was right after me. I jumped the fence and ran to his cage with him on my heels. I threw a blob of peanut butter inside his cage, and as soon as he went in, I locked it.
    Zorro had caught on fast. I would just have to unlock his cage and then run to my tree house to have him follow. Now I would wait for the right moment to trick Willis into thinking that Zorro liked me more than him.
    *   *   *
    The second Free Show came and went. It wasn’t near as eventful as the first one. I knew there was no way Rae Anne could talk her folks into coming two weeks in a row, but not having her there was still a letdown. I’d dreaded seeing Willis, but he didn’t show up. Neither did Elliot, another disappointment. To top it off, the movie didn’t start until twenty minutes after dark, so I spent a long night listening to Nanna complain and having no friend to share it with. The only good thing about the show was the serial. Last week we had seen the first ten minutes of Buck Rogers and then the movie. This week we saw the next ten minutes. I liked the serial more than the movie, although Singin’ in the Rain wasn’t bad.
    Saturday morning I found Nanna taking clothes down from the clothesline. I knew she was using it as an excuse to talk to Mrs. Merrill, since taking down the laundry was my job. I sneaked out the back porch and crouched in my hiding place behind the steps so I could listen.
    â€œI do laundry every Monday and Thursday, and I do sheets on Saturday. You can use the clothesline on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Fridays.”
    â€œOh, I don’t know. I get along all right without one,” Mrs. Merrill said, not meeting Nanna’s eye.
    â€œYou’d have one if Violet Ogle hadn’t been so proud of her fancy umbrella-style clothesline and taken it with her.” Nanna snapped the last pillowcase in the air. “A person can do without a fancy washing machine. All they need is water, soap, and elbow grease. But there’s nothing like the smell of clothes after the sun’s warmed them, is there? And there’s no sense in your husband putting up a clothesline when I have a perfectly good one right here.”
    Folding the pillowcase, Nanna placed it on top of the basket. Then she took off her apron and handed it to Mrs. Merrill. “Here you go. The clothespins are in the pocket. You might as well go ahead and use it tomorrow. I never do wash on Sunday. After you take your clothes down, just hang the apron on a peg on my back porch.”
    Nanna gave her a huge smile as if it had all been settled. Mrs. Merrill finally gave in and reached for the apron. She looked beaten. Nanna could do that to a person.
    Then, without looking my way, Nanna said, “Lydia, you can bring the clothes basket in now,” and walked right past me into the kitchen. Nanna always told me she had eyes in the back of her head. I had every reason to believe her.
    I lugged that clothes basket into the kitchen and dropped it with a thud. “I don’t know why you offered them our clothesline,” I said to Nanna. “She’s had that same sorry green dress on since she moved in. It’s probably so dirty it could stand up by itself.”
    Crack! Nanna brought a wooden spoon down hard on the counter. “Lydia Carson, you shame me. How is she supposed to clean their clothes? She has no washing machine and probably no money for the Laundromat. Sometimes folks just need a helping hand. That’s a lesson you should remember.”
    â€œYes’m,” I said, but mostly I thought the lesson I’d remember was not to get too sassy while Nanna had a wooden spoon within reach.
    *   *   *
    That night the grown-ups had coffee on our front porch after supper. Since I