"Yes, you are, too!" said Buddy. "But I'm not. I'm happy!" He gave Mallory a big - and very fake - smile.

    Mallory shrugged and turned to get some crackers out of the cupboard.

    "Ow!" she heard, behind her. She turned around. Suzi was rubbing her shin. "He kicked me," she said, pointing at Buddy. Mallory gave Buddy a Look.

    "Buddy, don't kick your sister," she said, turning back to the cupboard.

    "Hey!" This time it was Buddy's voice.

    "What is it?" asked Mallory. She'd had just about enough of their squabbling.

    "She poked me!" said Buddy.

    "Did not!" yelled Suzi.

    "Gobbydoo," said Mamie, waving her hands in the air.

    Mallory put her hands on her hips. "Okay, that's it. I want to know what's going on between you two. You usually have a great time together. So what's the problem today?" Suzi looked at Buddy.

    Buddy glared at Suzi.

    "It's Pow," they both said at once.

    "I want to enter him in the pet show," said Buddy. "He's my dog. I got him for my second birthday, when he was just a puppy. Suzi wasn't even born yet then." "But Mommy said he belongs to all of us now!" said Suzi. "And I help you feed him sometimes. I want to put him in the pet show!" Pow is the Barretts' basset hound. Buddy sometimes likes to tell sitters that Pow is the meanest dog in the world. But he's not. He's sleepy and slow and puts up very well with the kids' teasing.

    Mallory sighed. She'd left her own house hearing a similar fight between her brothers and sisters. Ever since the Pikes had gotten their invitation to the pet show, they'd been squabbling over which one of them should be able to enter Frodo.

    Frodo is the Pikes' hamster. They got him when my family got Misty, which means that he and Misty are brother and sister. I'm not great at long division, but I do know one thing: One hamster doesn't, go evenly into seven kids. Mallory told me later she'd given up on helping her brothers and sisters decide which of them should enter Frodo in the show. It seemed impossible.