"Vanessa," Jordan said warningly from the backseat.

I thought fast. "I know. We'll all play a game — "

"But it won't be the same." Vanessa grinned.

I sighed. I could see it was a losing battle.

"Hey, I've got one," Adam shouted. "How's this? We're stuck in the car, and the ocean is far."

Vanessa turned around and stuck out her tongue at him. I don't think she liked being upstaged by her brother.

"Hah! You're a poet, and you didn't know it!" Jordan chimed in.

I was about to suggest a game of I Spy when Mr. Pike suddenly pulled up next to us on the three-lane highway.

"There's Daddy!" Vanessa shrieked. Mr. Pike tooted the horn, and Nicky, who is eight, pulled out his cheeks and made a really disgusting face against the window.

"Yuck!" Jordan yelled as Mr. Pike sped away. "Let's get him back!"

"Darn. It's too late now, but if we hurry up we can get him next time." Adam reached for a pad of construction paper I had tucked into a tote bag. "Quick! Anybody got a Magic Marker?"

Byron grinned. "Write something really gross!" he said, fumbling in a box of toys and art materials for rainy days.

"Um, I'm not sure this is a good idea," I began. I felt I had to speak up, since Mrs. Pike was humming along with a song on the radio and watching the road. She didn't seem the least bit worried that the triplets were planning a major war!

Adam frowned, waiting for inspiration to strike. Then he smiled, just like Road Runner plotting some awful revenge, and wrote: Batman has a Bird Brain.

Batman has a Bird Brain? I turned around to stare at Adam. "I don't get it," I said. I noticed that Mrs. Pike was gaining on Mr. Pike, and the two cars would be side by side in just a minute.

Adam hooted. "Nicky is so proud of his new Batman T-shirt, he's been wearing it day and night."

"Yeah, he bought it with his own money, and he thinks he's really cool," Byron piped up.