4 Miss Pinky

4. MISS PINKY "Hello! Would you like some help with that box?" Matilda asked as she skipped up Miss Pinky's driveway. "Oh, thank you, dear," said Miss Pinky as Matilda supported one edge of the box. "I don't want those pesky pirates to take any of Stanley's war medals." "Is there anything else you'd like some help with?" asked Matilda's mom.

"Oooh, yes!" said Miss Pinky. "I'm going to put everything valuable in the cellar, where Snuggles can guard it. I'll put his dog bed on top of the hatch. That should keep the pirates out. Snuggles isn't scared of pirates, are you, Snuggles?" Snuggles, Miss Pinky's dog, trembled in the driveway.

Matilda and her mom spent the next hour carrying things down into Miss Pinky's cellar. Miss Pinky's house was the only house on the street that actually had a cellar. Miss Pinky and her brother, Stanley, had refused to sell their home when the land was being developed, so the builders had just built all the new houses around them. Miss Pinky's house was full to the brim with old things, tucked in every nook and cranny. Under the bed was a suitcase crammed with more money than Matilda had ever seen. On the dresser was a jewelry box overflowing with gold chains, rings,

and bracelets that were encrusted with sapphires and rubies. In a tray on the kitchen window ledge was a beautiful silver watch on a chain, strung with small medallions. Paintings in ornate frames hung on the walls. A pineapple- shaped cookie jar on the sideboard held a diamond-encrusted tiara that Miss Pinky said had been a gift from a nice gentleman just before the Second World War. She said she still liked to wear it sometimes when she listened to her gramophone.

Once everything was packed away in the cellar, Miss Pinky slammed the hatch shut and secured it with a huge padlock. Matilda then helped her pull the carpet over the trapdoor, and they placed Snuggles's bed and bowl on top of the carpet. But Snuggles was nowhere to be seen. "I'm sure he'll appear soon," said Miss Pinky. "Now, who'd like a nice cup of tea? Perhaps a bottle of soda for young Matilda!" "That would be lovely," said Matilda's mom.

"And a piece of cake?" asked Miss Pinky. "Oh, no, thank you. We haven't had our dinner yet, and cake will ruin Tilda's appetite." As Matilda gazed around the now- empty room, wishing she could have a piece of cake, Miss Pinky clattered around the kitchen. Then she emerged again, shuffling quickly across the dining room toward a large built-in cupboard. "The kettle's on— it won't be a minute," she muttered. "Now, where's the key for that padlock? We don't want any pesky pirates finding it, not after all that trouble we've been to."