"What?" I closed my math book. "Let me see."

Nicky held out his finger to show me the bite. It was the same finger he had once broken playing volleyball. It was slightly crooked but other than that, nothing was there. No blood, no hamster teeth marks, nothing. But I'd done enough baby-sitting to know that when a kid is upset, it doesn't matter if the bite is real or imagined. It's real to the child. I got off the bed and said, "Nicky, that must really hurt."

"It does," Nicky said, clutching his wrist.

"Why did Frodo bite you?" I asked.

"I don't know." Nicky puffed out his lower lip. "I was being really good to him. I was sharing my candy bar with him and he

wouldn't let go of it. When I tried to take it back, he bit me. And then he ran away."

I ran for the door. "Frodo's loose?"

Nicky nodded. I put my hands to my head. It was starting to ache. "Come on," I said. "Let's go find him."

I spent the next half hour on my knees, searching for a little furry hamster. Every time I'd almost catch him, behind a shoe in the closet or under the boys' bunk beds, Nicky would shout, "I'll get him!" and Frodo would dart across the floor to another hiding place. We finally managed to nab him when Frodo ran straight into Nicky's book bag.

By the end of that episode, my head was really starting to throb. I had just settled onto my bed again when a voice shouted from downstairs, "Mallory! Mal, honey, are you upstairs?"

It was Mom. And she was calling me honey. She probably wanted me to do something for her.

"Mal, the boys are having some sort of argument in the backyard. Would you handle it for me? I just ran into Mar go and Claire in the kitchen. I told Mar go she could play with my Chapstick, and she thought that meant all of my makeup."

"I know." I groaned as I got off my bed and walked to the top of the stairs. I rubbed my

temples with my fingers while Mom listed the series of disasters that had happened in the last thirty minutes.