Almost as soon as I reached the door, kids started streaming past me. I kept my eyes glued to the crowded hallway. After a few moments, I spotted Kristy. She spotted me at the same time and made a face that was a cross between a scowl and a sneer. So what did I do? I smiled. Not at Kristy, but at Dawn who

happened to be right in front of her. I'm sure Kristy thought I was trying to make up with her again.

Boy, was she surprised when Dawn called, "Hi, Mary Anne!" and ran up to me.

"Hi," I replied. I flashed another smile. And as we headed out the door I looked over my shoulder in time to see Kristy standing open-mouthed behind me.

Dawn and I walked across the lawn, talking away a mile a minute. We passed Claudia and Trevor on the way, which only made the afternoon more worthwhile, as far as I could see.

Dawn's new house turned out to be very old.

"It's a farmhouse," she told me, "and it was built in seventeen ninety-five."

"Wow!" I said. "You're kidding! Gosh, you were lucky to be able to buy such an old house."

"Yeah, I think so. Even though it needs a lot of work, and it's not very big. You'll see."

We walked through the front door. "If my dad were here," said Dawn, "he'd have to duck."

I looked up and saw that the top of the door

frame wasn't far above my head.

"People were shorter in seventeen ninety-five," explained Dawn.

I stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind me. I was standing in the middle of a room strewn with packing cartons — some empty, some half-empty, some still unopened — mountains of wadded-up newspaper, and a jumble of, well, things. I think we were in the living room, but I could see dishes, toys, sheets and blankets, a shower curtain, a bicycle tire, and a can of peaches.