Margo smiled at her reflection. "It's all right. Mom said I could."

"She did?" Mom is usually pretty easygo-

ing, but when it comes to big messes, she draws the line. As a precautionary measure I said, "Margo, you look really pretty, but I think you should put the makeup away now."

Then I led Claire to my bedroom, aware that the minutes were ticking away. I found Va-nessa lying on her bed, holding a flowered journal in one hand and her lavender pen in the other. She wore that dreamy look she always gets when she's working on a poem.

"Vanessa, I need your help!" I pleaded. "Could you take Claire for me? Mom seems to have disappeared, Margo has just painted her face with makeup, and the triplets are in the backyard, looking like a weird ad for Sports Illustrated."

Vanessa blinked her big blue eyes at me. "Hmmm?" she asked.

"Earth to Vanessa!" I said, waving my hand in front of her face. "Take Claire. And find Mom."

Vanessa seemed to tune in this time and got off her bed. "Where is Mom?"

I rolled my eyes at the ceiling. My sister is very smart, but she can be a real space cadet. "If I knew where she was," I replied, "I wouldn't be asking you to find her. But she's probably around here someplace."

That seemed to be good enough for Vanessa. She obediently took Claire's hand

and went off in search of our mother.

"At last!" I said, shutting the door after them. I flopped down on my bed, fluffed up two pillows behind my back, dug into my book bag (which I had been lugging all over the house with me), and opened my math book to page ninety-eight. I took a piece of paper and a pencil out of my bag and sighed. "Peace and quiet."

I spoke too soon. The door flew open and banged against the wall. It was Nicky, and he was holding his finger.

"Frodo bit me!" he cried, running up to the edge of the bed. Frodo's our hamster.