7. They’re All Exactly Like You!

Chapter 7 They′re All Exactly Like You! The next afternoon Marvin sat in his room, waiting to go. He wondered what he should take. Maybe he should pack a suitcase. “Wait a second,” he said. “It’s not like I can’t come back here.” Prince Robert could do anything! He could come back later for all his junk. Or better yet, send a servant for it. “Do you want to live in a castle, General?” he asked his lizard.

General Jackson stuck out his tongue. Jacob came in. “I just thought of something, Mar,” he said. “Maybe Mom and Dad are really the kidnappers.” “I thought about that too,” said Marvin. “But then she wouldn’t take me for the blood test. It’d be too risky.” “Unless.…” said Jacob. “What?” “Unless she’s not really going to take you.” “What do you mean?” “No, never mind,” said Jacob. “If she killed you, she’d have to kill me and Linzy too. She wouldn’t do that.” “Probably not,” Marvin agreed. “Not Linzy, anyway.” “Marvin!” shouted Linzy from the bottom of the stairs. “Time to go!” They got in the car. Jacob and Linzy were going along. They planned to meet Mr. Redpost for dinner in the city. “You’re welcome to come to dinner too, Prince,” said Mrs. Redpost. “If you’re not too busy.” “Thank you,” replied Marvin. “But I imagine I’ll have a lot to do.” He knew Mr. and Mrs. Redpost didn’t believe he was

Prince Robert. He saw the way they had smiled at each other when he told them about it. They probably thought it was just some kid-thing he was doing. That was okay. Just so long as Mrs. Redpost was taking him to the Watergate Hotel. It didn’t matter what she thought. “You won’t play baseball anymore,” said Jacob. “You’ll have to learn how to play polo.” “I can play polo,” said Linzy. “You can not,” said Jacob. “I can too,” said Linzy. “Marco.” “Polo,” said Marvin. “Marco,” said Linzy. “Polo,” said Marvin. Marvin played “polo” with Linzy all the way to the hotel. It was a stupid game, but he didn’t mind. He was going to miss playing stupid games with Linzy. Mrs. Redpost parked the car at the Watergate Hotel. They walked across the parking lot and into the lobby. “No! I don’t want to!” a boy shouted. He had red hair. The boy’s mother was dragging him across the lobby.

“Come on!” she yelled. The boy was crying. “We’ll be rich,” said the mother.

“But I’m not Prince Robert!” the boy cried. “Shut up, Arnold!” said his mother. “Someone might hear you.” She pulled him into the elevator. Marvin and the Redposts got into the elevator too. The woman looked at Marvin. “Who do you think you are?” she asked in a nasty voice. Marvin was too afraid to answer. “You are speaking to Prince Robert,” said Mrs. Redpost, sticking up for him. Marvin smiled at his former mother. Mrs. Redpost patted his head. “I’m not that stupid prince,” said the other boy. “I don’t even have red hair. My mother made me dye it.” “Shut up, Arnold,” said the nasty woman. They got off the elevator and walked to the suite at the end of the hall. The door was open. Linzy laughed. “They’re all exactly like you, Marvin!” Marvin entered the room. He had never seen so many red-haired boys in all his life.