Читать книгу A Year of Mini Mysteries - Kathy Passero - Страница 19

“Mom is not going to be happy about this,” she said. “We need to do some

major cleanup.”

“We’ve got all day tomorrow to clean,” Dad called from the dining room,

where he was helping the twins with a particularly messy science project.

They were all wearing big, dorky safety goggles and pouring something into

a beaker that was bubbling like a witch’s cauldron. Brooklyn winced. Mom

would freak out if she saw that stuff foaming all over the table.

Dale’s class was on a three-day class trip to Whispering Pines Camp

with the rest of the eighth grade, and since Mom was chaperoning, Dad was

in charge at home. That meant delicious gourmet dinners every night. (Mr.

Patrick had spent a year at cooking school before deciding to become a chem-

istry professor instead of a chef, and he still enjoyed using the kitchen as a

laboratory for culinary experiments whenever he got a chance.) It meant later

bedtimes, too, which was fun. But to say they had let things go in the house-

keeping department was an understatement. The house was a disaster.

Brooklyn glanced at the to-do list Mom had left, wondering if any of the

jobs had been done.

“Dad, did you get groceries?”

“Roger that,” said Dad. (“Roger”

meant yes in Dad-speak.)

“Did you make an appointment

for Adonis at the vet? He’s got

hairballs again.”

“Sure did,” Dad said.

“It’s next week.”

Brooklyn glanced down the list.

“And did you remember to pick

up Dale’s suit at the dry cleaner?”