Claire made a grab at Jordan, who toppled over. "I'm frozen, I'm frozen," he wailed and writhed on the ground before "freezing" into a pretzel shape.

"You iced Jordan, Claire," said Adam. "But you won't ice me!"

"Baroo! BarooOOOO!" howled Pow ecstatically.

Mal rolled her eyes. "I think all this spring and school-about-to-be-out stuff has gone to the triplets' heads."

"I know," I said. "It's just too bad we can't channel some of that energy and use it for, I don't know, electricity or something."

"Yeah. Dawn would approve of that. It would be very environmentally correct." Mal was talking about Dawn Schafer, who is my stepsister, one of my two best friends, and a fellow member of the BSC. She is also, in case you hadn't guessed, very environmentally conscious. But more about that later.

I laughed. "I wonder how you'd do it?"

"Beats me," Mal said. We sat in comfortable silence for awhile and watched the frozen victims all come back to life and start over again. Then Mal said, "I can't believe school will be over in just three weeks!"

"Me either. And I can't wait. I feel like all I've been doing lately is studying for tests and doing homework and baby-sitting. I haven't even had time to clean up my room lately."

"Don't worry. Your room will still be there."

"I know. But it bugs me. I like to have things neat."

Mal grinned. "In my family, I just like

knowing where things are. With eight kids and two adults picking things up and putting them away, watch out!"

"Hey, when you've got a stepmother like Sharon putting things away, watch out!"

We laughed. Sharon Schafer Spier, who is my stepmother and Dawn's mother, is, well, animaginative housekeeper. I've found cans of beans on bookshelves and books in the linen closet. Sharon is absentminded that way, just the opposite of my father, the king of neat. But opposites attract, they say. And my father and Sharon are crazy about each other. I'm pretty crazy about Sharon, too. It's nice having her for a stepmother, and extra nice having Dawn as one of my two best friendsand my sister ...