Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Chickens Jessie looked up from her notebook as Evan walked into the living room. She and Maxwell had spent most of the day walking all over Grandma's property, looking for someone to spy on. Now they were watching Get Smart while Jessie wrote important notes that would help them with their spy mission. They'd finished watching the episode called "Diplomat's Daughter" and were about to watch the one where Maxwell Smart disguises himself as a giant chicken. At the top of the first page of her notebook, Jessie had written, "The Bell Bandit," which she thought sounded just like the title of a real episode from the show. When Evan walked in, Jessie was surprised to see that he had his snow boots on. "Not

allowed!" she said, pointing her pencil at the dripping boots. "You're tracking in snow!" "Mom!" shouted Evan. "Mom, can you come here?" Jessie looked at Evan's face. It didn't look the way it usually did. It almost looked like Evan was scared of something. But that didn't make any sense, because there was nothing to be afraid of here in the house. Jessie looked over at Maxwell. He hadn't even noticed that Evan had come in the room. He was busy watching the television. "What is it?" shouted Mrs. Treski from the second floor. Evan took the stairs two at a time. Ten seconds later, Mrs. Treski came hurrying down with Evan right behind her. Without saying a word, they disappeared into the kitchen. Jessie slowly got up from the couch and wandered after them, not sure she wanted to see what was going on. In the kitchen, Jessie's mom was trying to take

Grandma's coat off, but Grandma kept twisting away, saying it was time to feed the chickens. Chickens! Just like on Get Smart. But Jessie knew that Grandma didn't keep chickens anymore. She used to, for years and years, and Jessie remembered the smelly coop and the soft fluff of feathers when she held a hen and the warm, smooth eggs that came in all different colors. That had been a long time ago, when Jessie was just a little kid. Why was Grandma saying she had to feed the chickens now? "I'll feed the chickens, Mrs. Joyce," said Evan. Why was Evan calling Grandma Mrs. Joyce? "I'll take care of everything." "You don't know how!" said Grandma angrily. "Susan, stop it. I have my chores to do." She swatted at Jessie's mom with her good hand and twisted away again. "Yes, I do," said Evan. "The feed is in the barn, in the barrel to the left of the door. I fill the empty milk jug then shake it into the two

feeders. And then I refill the pan with fresh water." Grandma stopped struggling. "How do you know that?" "I used to feed the chickens for you all the time," said Evan. Jessie thought his voice sounded funny, like it was being squeezed out of a toothpaste tube. "Did you?" Her voice was quiet. She looked at Evan for a long time. "All right, then." Evan walked out the back door and headed for the barn. Where was he going? "Come on, Mom," said Mrs. Treski, helping Grandma out of her coat. Grandma was very quiet now. It looked as if she was concentrating really hard on a particularly difficult jigsaw puzzle. Mrs. Treski led Grandma out of the kitchen. Jessie followed them into the living room and watched them go upstairs. "You don't see that every day," Jessie

murmured. "You certainly don't," said Maxwell, right on cue, his eyes still glued to the TV set. Seconds later Evan walked in through the front door. "Why did you pretend to feed the chickens?" Jessie blurted out. Evan pointed to the ceiling. "Is she upstairs?" "Yeah, with Mom." Jessie looked at Evan's face. "There are no chickens, Evan!" Evan shrugged. "Yeah, I know. I just thought it would be the easiest thing. I don't know." "Is she pretending she doesn't know you again?" "It's not pretending, Jessie!" Evan sounded angry. Why would he be angry? What had she done? "That doesn't make sense," said Jessie. "You don't just forget someone in your family. That's not possible." "Yeah, well, tell Grandma that. You can talk

to her. She remembers you." And now Jessie was positive that Evan was angry. "None of this makes sense," said Jessie. "I'm going to go get Mom." "No!" said Evan. "Leave her alone. She's taking care of Grandma." "So?" said Jessie. "She can still talk to me." She headed for the stairs. "Don't!" And the way he said it made Jessie stop and turn around. Maxwell laughed loudly at something that was on the TV, and Evan looked at him. Then in a quiet voice, Evan said, "Why does he have to be here?" "Because we're watching TV," Jessie said. What was wrong with Maxwell? Why didn't Evan want him around? "Whatever," said Evan, and he headed for the kitchen. But before he left the room, he turned and said, "You were right. The bell's gone. We saw it, Grandma and me. Just before she went loopy."