a pencil and a clipboard out of his bag. “Where is the best place to hide, in case someone tries to break in on us?”

“Thinking of everything, are you? I like that.” Mrs. Robinson said admiringly, as Kit started scribbling away on the clipboard. “My bedroom is the only room with a lock, so you might want to go in there, lock the door and then hide in the closet with a telephone in there with you.”

  “And where’s the fire exit and place to go in case of a fire?” Kit asked, still writing on his clipboard. This was the same clipboard he had when he babysat Molly and is also the same one he used to pinch Baloo’s behind, to wake the large bear up.

“Well, the doors or the windows are the fire exit,” Mrs. Robinson said, looking impressed with Kit’s ability to ask all the right questions. “All the windows have the fire escape in front of them, so you should be able to get out alright. As for the meeting point, it’s on the bench outside the meat shop across the street from here.”  

“Okay,” Kit said smiling as he finished writing. “Got it. I think I got everything. Oh—and where’s the first aid kit?”

“In the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.” Mrs. Robinson replied, glad that Kit thought of that. 

“Okay, I think that’s all we need, thank you.” Kit said with a bow to Mrs. Robinson. He then turned to Jeffery. “You better let me handle the first aid kit, Jeff, in case there’s some bleeding going on.”

Jeffery shuddered before saying with one thumb up. “R-r-right, cuz.”

“I hope you boys don’t mind my asking,” Mrs. Robinson said pleasantly. “But do any of you know CPR?”

Jeffery’s hand shot into the air. “Ooh, I do!” he said enthusiastically.

“I know it, but I’ll let Jeffery handle that,” Kit said, smiling sideway at Jeffery. “Seeing as his Mom was a nurse.”

“What’s CDR?” Chris asked innocently.

Kit and Jeffery both sighed.

“CPR, Chris,” Jeffery corrected him, with a strong emphasis on the P. “And we’ll tell you later, I promise.”

“Well, it’s good that two of my three babysitters know it,” Mrs. Robinson said, smiling. “But let’s hope you won’t need it.”

“Yeah, let’s hope not.” Kit and Jeffery said in unison. They looked at each other, startled that they’ve spoken in unison.

 “Uh, Mrs. Robinson? Where’s Brad?” asked Chris, remembering Jason mentioning his older brother in the waiting room back at Dr. Bagheera’s office.

Mrs. Robinson frowned before saying curtly: “He’s in I.S.S today. Spray-painting disrespectful images on the school building….” she muttered angrily. “I don’t know where we went wrong with him….”     

Suddenly, Jeffery felt very uncomfortable, for Brad Robinson was a member of Gorgon Cornmat’s gang. Brad never hit him or anything, but he did taunted him along with the rest of Gorgon’s gang. 

“Uh…Mrs. Robinson….”  Jeffery begun, but Mrs. Robinson went ranting on.

“It’s as if he hasn’t got any brains!” Mrs. Robinson said irritably, clearly talking to herself and stuffing her purse up with everything she could reach, including the old black telephone on the table, which she pulled clean out of the electrical socket in the wall. “I told that boy that he’ll end up on the streets or in prison if he keeps this up! And he had the nerve to say to me, ‘yeah, whatever Mom.’ Ooh, I grounded him for a month!” Finally grabbing a lamp and stuffing it in her purse. How she managed to shut her purse was anyone’s guess, as it was so bulging full, that it looks unlikely ever to close at all. In fact, it now looks more like a bowling ball bag than anything else.

The Cloudkicker Trio stood still, too nervous to make a sound, each of them staring at her bulging bag of a purse and wondering how on earth did she fit everything into one little purse?

“Well, I must be going now, take care.” Mr. Robinson said and she left the house.

“Uh—Mrs. Robinson, the phone.” Kit said quickly, before Mrs. Robinson closed the door behind her.

“Wha—oh my!” she gasped, looking at her purse and she turned scarlet. “Oh, how embarrassing….” She groped around inside her purse for a moment but gave it up as a bad job. “Oh, I was so angry at Brad that I didn’t notice what I was packing in my purse… Oh well, you’ll have to use the one in the kitchen, I guess.”  And she left, looking awkward, shutting the door behind her.

“How did she fit all of that in her purse?” Jeffery asked, still staring at the place where the purse had been seconds before. “My Mom has a trick similar to that, but that….that was no trick. It’s just not possible!”

“You got me, Jeff,” said Kit, who looked just as confused and puzzled as Jeffery was.

“Maybe it’s a magic purse.” Chris suggested simply, looking innocently cute as he said it.

Kit and Jeffery stared at each other, each thinking the same thing: ‘Nah, it couldn’t be…’ and then they laughed humorously and hugged Chris.

“Oh, Chris, you’re so silly sometimes, you know that?” Jeffery told him, smiling. “But you sure have a way of makin’ us laugh.”

“I like making people laugh,” Chris said, smiling as he hugged Kit and Jeffery back. “It was the one thing Mrs. Cole wouldn’t let me do.”

Kit frowned.

“Chris, you gotta stop bringing her up,” Kit told Chris firmly as Chris bowed his head in sadness. “You’re never going to be able to move forward if you keep dwelling on the past. Put it behind you, little brother. She’s not worth a space in your memory.”

“Yeah, cuz, Kit’s right, you have to let go of the past to be able to move on, otherwise it'll haunt you all your life." Jeffery said placing a comforting arm around Chris

“T-thanks, guys.” sniffed Chris, and he threw his arms around Kit and Jeffery's necks and hugged them very tightly.

“Hey, we're not your brother and cousin for nothing, Chris.” Kit said, hugging his little brother even tighter. “Me and Jeffery are here whenever you need us.”

“Yeah, c’mon Chris, give us a smile.” Jeffery said encouragingly. “You have a lot to be happy for, and Kit’s right, we’re always here for you—always.”

Chris’ face split into a big and very joyful smile.

“There, that’s my happy little brother.” Kit said happily, with one arm around Chris’ neck. “Forget about that evil woman, you’re stuck with us now.”

Just then, there was a shout from upstairs, followed immediately by the sounds of hurried footsteps rushing down the stairs. A moment later, something collided against Chris’ stomach and he fell backward onto the floor.

“Chris!” Kit and Jeffery shouted in unison out of fear that Chris might be hurt.

 Whatever it was, it was now sitting on Chris’ stomach. As Chris opened his eyes, he saw Jason staring back at him with a big grin on his face.

“Chris, Chris, you’re here!” Jason shouted joyfully and he hugged Chris’ neck as Chris pushed himself up into a sitting position on the floor. “You’re finally here! Oh, we’re gonna have so much fun!”

“Uhh…” Chris said, looking dazed, slowly registering the fact that he has just been pounced upon by a six-year-old anthropomorphic golden retriever. “Jason, is that you? Ow, Jason, that hurts…”  

“Sowwy….” Jason muttered sheepishly, and he slid off of Chris’ stomach.

“Hey, Jason. I’m Kit, Chris’ older brother.” Kit said as he grasped Chris’ hand pulled him to his feet. “Are you alright, Chris?”

“Y-yeah, I’ll be okay, big brother. Ow…” Chris said, massaging his head.

“Hi, Jason, I’m Jeffery,” Jeffery said as he moved to stand next to Chris. “You need to be careful with Chris, Jason, because he can be hurt pretty easily, so please don’t get rough with him.”

Chris gave Jeffery a look that said sarcastically: ‘Gee, thanks a lot.’

“Okay, I won’t.” Jason promised, looking up at the three older boys. Then he looked Chris up and down and laughed. Chris’ coat had slid off his shoulder during his fall “You look funny as a wabbit, Christ, are you going trick-or-treating as a wabbit tonight?” Jason then jumped onto the couch so that he was at the same height as Chris and reached behind Chris’ back and pulled the rabbit hood up. “There, that’s better.”

 “Yes, Jason, I’m going to be a rabbit for Halloween.” Chris said, smiling. “Hey, do you wanna go to your room and play?”

“YEAH!” Jason exclaimed, he then grabbed Chris’ hand and pulled him down the hall toward his bedroom. 

As Chris and Jason disappeared in to an upstairs’ bedroom, Kit turned to Jeffery.

“Where do you do think we should set things up for practice?” he asked Jeffery.

 “Uh…” Jeffery said, scratching his head. “I guess right in front of the couch would be good, Jason can have a nice view of the show and be