12 THE WHOLE BALL OF WAX

THE WHOLE BALL OF WAX An hour later, Ivy and Bean were lying on Bean's trampoline, squishing their beautiful red wax. Squish, squish, squish. They had come outside when the kitchen got too crowded with grown-ups. Ruby and Trevor's mom had made them promise never to show The Flipping Pancake to Ruby and Trevor's dad. Mrs. W. had stopped by with a dollar for her copy, just like Ivy had expected.

But she had also asked them to stop looking in her window. Mr. Columbi did, too. And Crummy Matt's mom had actually wanted his photo back again. She had even paid for it. "Two dollars, just to get a picture back." Ivy shook her head. "Doesn't seem worth it to me."

"She's his mom," said Bean. "She probably thinks it's cute. I think she's mad at Dino, though." "Ruby and Trevor are grounded, their mom said." Ivy frowned. "But if you're at home all the time anyway, how can you tell?" "I don't know" said Bean. For a while, they lay peacefully on the trampoline, squishing their wax. Then Bean sat up. Something was shuffling on the other side of her fence. "Do you hear that?" Bean whispered. "What?" whispered Ivy. Then she heard it. "Is it a bear?" She hoped it was. It wasn't a bear. It was whispering. Ivy and Bean slid quietly off the trampoline and tiptoed toward the fence. There was a lot of shuffling going on out there. And a grunt. The grunt sounded familiar. It was Crummy Matt's grunt. "I'll get 'em," he was saying. He was talking as softly as he could, but that wasn't very soft. Ivy bugged her eyes at Bean. Get 'em? What did that mean? It sounded bad.

"No," whispered a voice that sounded like Dino. "You grab them and I'll get 'em. But we got to go quick, because Mom's going to find out we're gone pretty soon." There was that stuff about getting them again. Yikes, Bean mouthed to Ivy. "I brought blue paint," whispered another voice. "If you hold them, I'll paint them." That sounded like Sophie W. Like a mad Sophie W. Blue paint? Ivy put her hands over her cheeks. A blue face would be okay, but not a blue face painted by a mad person.

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"Okay. You have a camera?" It sounded like Trevor. "Trevor, give me that magnifying glass. You can't light them on fire." Ruby's voice was very high and squeaky. Bean grabbed Ivy's arm and yanked. Time for a getaway. But where? For a second, they just zipped wildly around the yard. "Who says I can't?" Trevor snarled. "We're grounded already!" "Trevor, give it here!" "Shhh! They'll hear!" said Sophie W. Ivy looked at Bean. Inside, she mouthed. No. Wait, mouthed Bean. She held up her wax. Quickly, she squished it flat and stuck it under her nose. Then she lay down next to the trampoline. Come on, she beckoned to Ivy. Then she closed her eyes. "Come on!" grunted Matt. The gate latch rattled. They were coming in. Ivy smashed her wax flat against her