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"Hey, you kids!" called a burly man on another day ere only watchin "Whadaya doin' up there?"

"Nothing!" yelled Jory (I never talked to strangers Jory was always teasin me for not talkin to anybody much but myself)

"Don't you kids tell me you're not doin' nothin' when I see you over here! This house is private property--so stay off these grounds or you'll hear from me!"

He was real mean, and fierce lookin; his workclothes were old and dirty When he caest feet in lad the as ten feet high and we had the advantage over him

"Sure we play over there a little," said Jory, asn't scared of anybody, "but we don't hurt anything We leave it like we found it"

"Well, frolarin first at Jory, then at ht this place and she won't want kids hangin around And don't you think you can get by with anything because she's an old lady livin alone She's bringin servants with her"

Servants Wow!

"Rich people can have everything their oay," round as he moved off "Do this, do that, and have it done yesterday Money-- God, what I wouldn't do to have my share"

We had only Emma, so eren't really rich Jory said Emma was like a maiden aunt, not really a relative or a servant To me she was just somebody I'd known all my life, somebody who didn't like me nearly as much as she liked Jory I didn't like her either, so I didn't care

Weeks passed School ended Still those workmen were over there By this time Momma and Daddy had noticed, and they weren't too happy about neighbors they didn't intend to visit and make welcome Both me and Jory wondered why they didn't want friends comin to our house

"It's love," whispered Jory "They're still like honeymooners Remember, Chris is our mom's third husband, and the bloom hasn't worn off"

What bloom? Didn't see any flowers

Jory had passed on to the junior year of high school with flyin colors I sneaked into the fifth grade by the skin of my teeth Hated school Hated that ole mansion that looked like ne Gone were all the spooky, eerie times e'd had lots of fun over there

"We'll just bide our time until we can sneak over there and see-that old lady," Jory said, whispering so all those gardeners trimmin the shrubs and snippin at the trees wouldn't hear

She owned acres of land, twenty or more That made for lots of cleanup jobs, since the workmen on the roof were lettin everythin fall Her yard was littered with papers, spills of nails, bits of luh the iron fence in front of the driveway that was near what Jory called "lover's lane"