Night of the living dummy by R.L. Stine | Page 4

cradled Slappy in her arms, one hand up his back. "I think he's creepy," Kris said, kicking a large pebble across the street. "You should put him back in the Dumpster." "No way," Lindy insisted. "No way," she made Slappy say, shaking his head, his glassy blue eyes moving from side to side. "I'll put you in the Dumpster!" "Slappy sure is mean," Kris remarked, frowning at Lindy. Lindy laughed. "Don't look at me," she teased. "Complain to Slappy." Kris scowled. "You're jealous," Lindy said. "Because I found him and you didn't." Kris started to protest, but they both heard voices. Kris looked up to see the two Marshall kids from down the block running toward them. They were cute, red-headed kids that Lindy and Kris sometimes baby-sat for. "What's that?" Amy Marshall asked, pointing at Slappy. "Does he talk?" her younger brother, Ben, asked, staying several feet away, an uncertain expression on his freckled face. "Hi, I'm Slappy!" Lindy made the dummy call out. She cradled Slappy in one arm, making him sit up straight, his arms dangling at his sides. "Where'd you get him?" Amy asked. "Do his eyes move?" Ben asked, still hanging back. "Do your eyes move?" Slappy asked Ben. Both Marshall kids laughed. Ben forgot his reluctance. He stepped up and grabbed Slappy's hand. "Ouch! Not so hard!" Slappy cried. Ben dropped the hand with a gasp. Then he and Amy collapsed in gleeful laughter. "Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Lindy made Slappy laugh, tilting his head back and opening his mouth wide. The two kids thought that was a riot. They laughed even harder. Pleased by the response she was getting, Lindy glanced at her sister. Kris was sitting on the curb, cradling her head in her hands, a dejected look on her face. She's jealous, Lindy realized. Kris sees that the kids really like Slappy and that I'm getting all the attention. And she's totally jealous. I'm definitely keeping Slappy! Lindy told herself, secretly pleased at her little triumph. She stared into the dummy's bright blue painted eyes. To her surprise, the dummy seemed to be staring back at her, a twinkle of sunlight in his eyes, his grin wide and knowing. "Who was that on the phone?" Mr. Powell asked, shoveling another forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. Lindy slipped back into her place at the table. "It was Mrs. Marshall. Down the block." "Does she want you to baby-sit?" Mrs. Powell asked, reaching for the salad bowl. She turned to Kris. "Don't you want any salad?" Kris wiped spaghetti sauce off her chin with her napkin. "Maybe later." "No," Lindy answered. "She wants me to perform. At Amy's birthday party. With Slappy." "Your first job," Mr. Powell said, a smile crossing his slender face. "Amy and Ben liked Slappy so much, they insisted on him," Lindy said. "Mrs. Marshall is going to pay me twenty dollars." "That's great!" their mother exclaimed. She passed the salad bowl across the table to her husband. It had been a week since Lindy rescued Slappy from the trash Dumpster. Every day after school, she had spent hours up in her room rehearsing with him, working on his voice, practicing not moving her lips, thinking up jokes to perform with him. Kris kept insisting the whole thing was dumb. "I can't believe you're being such a nerd," she told her sister. She refused to be an audience for Lindy's routines. But when Lindy brought Slappy into school on Friday, Kris's attitude began to change. A group of kids had gathered around Lindy outside her locker. As Lindy made Slappy talk for them, Kris watched from down the hall. She's going to make a total fool of herself, Kris thought. But to her surprise, the kids hooted and howled. They thought Slappy was a riot. Even Robby Martin, the guy Kris had had a crush on for two years, thought Lindy was terrific. Watching Robby laugh along with the other kids made Kris think hard. Becoming a ventriloquist might be fun. And profitable. Lindy was going to earn twenty dollars at the Marshalls' birthday party. And when word got around, she'd probably perform at a lot of parties and earn even more money. After dinner that evening, Lindy and Kris washed and dried the dishes. Then Lindy asked her parents if she could practice her new comedy routine on them. She hurried up to her room to get Slappy. Mr. and Mrs. Powell took a seat on the living room couch. "Maybe Lindy will be a TV star," Mrs. Powell said. "Maybe," Mr. Powell agreed, settling back on the couch, a pleased smile on his face. Barky yapped and climbed between Mr. and Mrs. Powell, his tiny stub of a tail wagging furiously. "You know you're not allowed on the couch,"