"Hi," I said, half-heartedly. (I'd really been hoping for James.) "Before you say a word, please tell me your real name." "It's Zach," he said. "Zach Wolfson." "Okay. Thank you. I'm Kristy Thomas, Susan's baby-sitter." "I know," replied Zach. "I, um, I came to see Susan." "You did?" Susan certainly was lucky. I was amazed at the number of children who were willing to play with her.

"Yeah," replied Zach. "I did. Do you think - do you think she could do the calendar trick for me again? That was great." "Well, sure. Come on in." 1 held the door open for Zach, and he stepped inside the Felders' house, staring at Susan.

"Let's sit on the floor," I suggested. "That'll be the most comfortable." 1 settled Susan and Zach on the floor. No, that's not true. Zach settled himself on the floor, and I tried to settle Susan, but she kept squirming around and trying to stand up.

That is, until Zach pulled a rumpled piece of paper out of the pocket of his jeans and said, "August twenty-sixth, nineteen forty-three." Immediately, Susan settled down. "Thursday," she said to the ceiling. She focused on the task, but not on Zach.

Zach consulted his paper. "Yup!" he said.

"Okay, June tenth, nineteen sixty-two." "Sunday," said Susan in her monotone voice.

Zach shook his head in amazement. "Right again. Um, October twenty-fifth, nineteen fifty-four." "Monday," said Susan.

"Yup," replied Zach after a glance at his paper. "Well, I guess I better be going. I've, um, got a lot of homework." "Oh," I said, feeling disappointed.

Zach stood up. I started to stand up, too, in order to see him to the door. "Hey, that's okay. I can let myself out," he told me.

And he did. But he'd only been gone for a few seconds when the bell rang again.

"That must be Zach," I said to Susan. "He probably forgot something. Did you ever forget anything?" Click, click, click.