The Old Willis Place

said no. Miss Lilian wouldn't allow a dog on her property. It might frighten her cats.
    Georgie made a slight noise, and Lissa looked straight at the window. We ducked down.
    "Be still," I whispered. "She almost saw us."
    The next time I raised my head, Lissa was reading again. Finally, she yawned, closed the book, and laid it on the table beside her bed.
    When she turned off her light, Georgie nudged me. "Should I sneak in and get the book now?"
    I shook my head. "Give her time to fall sound asleep."
    "Let's see what her father's doing," Georgie suggested. "His light's still on."
    We crept to the other side of the trailer. "Where's MacDuff?"! whispered to Georgie.
    He climbed up on the cinder block ahead of me. "In here," he whispered.
    Sure enough, there was MacDuff, curled up in a dog nest as cozy as Lissa's bed. Mr. Morrison sat at his desk, working on his computer. It was the first one we'd ever seen, except in television ads. While we watched, words formed themselves into sentences and paragraphs on the screen. Like magic, I thought.
    "He must be working on his novel," I whispered. "I wonder what its about."
    "We could borrow his computer and read it." Georgie grinned. "I bet the novels boring, but it would be fun to have a computer."
    "I think you need electricity to make one work."
    "Too bad," Georgie muttered.
    After Mr. Morrison quit for the night, we returned to Lissa's window. Georgie lifted the screen quietly. He'd gotten very good at borrowing, much better than I had.
    Cautiously I followed him inside. He could have taken the book by himself, but I wanted a closer look at Lissa's room. While Georgie waited impatiently, I examined her stuffed animals, her books, the pictures on the walls.
    I pointed to a photograph in a silver frame. "Look, Georgie," I whispered, "that must be her mother. She looks just like Lissa."
    Georgie picked up the photograph and studied it. "I wonder what happened to her," he said. "Do you think she died?"
    Saddened by the thought, I shook my head. "Maybe they got divorced. Lots of people do that now." Another useful bit I'd picked up watching TV.
    But Georgie's interest had been caught by something else. Bending over Lissa, he carefully lifted the teddy bear lying beside her head and cradled it in his arms. "It's just like the bear Miss Lilian took away from me," he said. "She said I stole Alfie, but Mrs. Willis gave him to me. Remember how I cried and cried?"
    Just then Lissa sighed in her sleep and rolled from her side to her back. Scared of waking her, I grabbed Lassie Come-Home and headed for the window, with Georgie right behind me.
    We must have made more noise than we'd thought, because MacDuff started barking before we'd crossed the yard. We heard Mr. Morrison yell at the dog to be quiet. Lissa called out from her room, and the outside light flooded the yard.
    Without waiting to see what would happen next, we fled into the woods. It wasn't until we were safely home that I noticed Georgie had brought the bear with him. He fell asleep that night holding it as tightly as he'd once held Alfie. I hadn't seen him look so happy in a long time.
T HE D IARY OF L ISSA M ORRISON
Dear Dee Dee,
Something even more scary has happened. While I was asleep last night, someone came in my room and stole Tedward and Lassie Come-Home. Dad says I must he mistaken, I just forgot where I put them—but I know Tedward was on my pillow; I sleep with him every night. My book was on the table beside my bed. When I woke up, they were both gone.
I bet the same kids who stole my bike took my bear and my book. They have a lot of nerve to come into my room while Tm sleeping. They could have murdered me! How can I ever sleep in my bed again? Til have to keep MacDuff in my room to protect me.
Oh, Dee Dee, I don't know what I'll do without Tedward. He's my most special toy, my favorite, the one I love best of all. My mother gave him to me when I was jive years old, not long before she died. Tve slept with him ever since. Now he's been kidnapped and I want him back! What do those kids want with a little brown bear? I love him so much.
Dad says Tedward and my book will turn up, but I doubt it. I wonder what they'll steal next. I hope they take something that belongs to him. His computer maybe. Then he'll know how it feels.
If only Dad would fix the lock on my window. But oh, no, he's too busy working on his book to do anything like that. He won't even help me search for those kids. He says they're long gone,