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    “See that, Addison?” Mommers said. “I always make the same decision as Jeanette. I could’ve done that job.” She inched forward in her chair.
    “I wouldn’t wanna be Jeanette,” I said. I cut two pieces of toast into squares, poured some cream of chicken soup over them and set the plate down in front of Mommers.
    “Why?” Mommers asked. She did not look away from the TV.
    “She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” I said. “I mean, she can never be sure.” I looked at Jeanette up there in her black robe and my stomach got all nervous. I couldn’t watch. The bad thing about the trailer was there was no way to get away from that show.
    “Watch this, Addie,” Mommers said, pointing to the set. “See, the woman owned the catering company before she became partners with the pastry chef. He’s the little guy with curly hair and …”
    I didn’t want to care about the caterer or the pastry chef. I squeezed my eyes shut. “Even the person Jeanette rules in favor of isn’t gonna really feel good when it’s over,” I said.
    “Why do you say that?” Mommers asked.
    “Because they still had the fight in the first place,” I answered. I finished making up my own plate.
    “Look at Jeanette,” Mommers said. She shook her head adoringly at the woman on the TV screen. “She is gonna skewer that little sleaze. Just watch!” We waited silently while the verdict came down. “See, I knew it! I knew it!” Mommers let out a yell. “I was right again!”
    “You’re very good at being Jeanette,” I told her.
    Maybe if I’d had the Love of Learning, I’d have understood why it was such a good show. But I crawled into my bunk with my plate and closed my curtain. The second case would be presented right after the commercials. I ate my toast dinner, plugging my ears between bites and humming my new flute music while I chewed. I didn’t have to hear anything that Jeanette or Mommers decided about those poor people on the TV.

chapter 10
    a gift of cream and honey
    " H ello!“ I waved my arm over my head so hard my shoulder ached.
    “Hey, Addie! Come see what we’ve got in the truck,” Dwight called.
    I jumped down the trailer steps and headed across the tar-patch yard. Brynna and Katie leaned close to Dwight from either side. All three of them were trying to hide smiles. The Littles each rubbed their faces against Dwight as if they could somehow wipe those grins off on his jeans. They had a secret, and I felt a little bad that I wasn’t in on it.
    But October had come and I was one month closer to having them all back near me. Dwight’s renovation project was on schedule so far, and I figured I could stand it if they wanted to come surprise me every once in a while.
    “What’s up?” I asked.
    “We picked out something special for you,” Brynna said.
    “Guess what it is, Oddie.” Katie jumped up and down. “You want it!”
    I peeked into the bed of the truck, where a few canvas tarps were heaped over a lumpy something or other.
    “We got enough dirty laundry around here,” I said.
    Dwight flashed his white teeth at me. The Littles giggled.
    “Guess, guess!” Katie pleaded.
    I took her hand and began to swing it in mine. “Well, let’s see. Is it a Christmas tree?”
    “No!” More giggles.
    “A snowman?”
    “No, no, no!”
    “Let’s see. Halloween is two weeks away. Must be a … pumpkin !”
    “Not just a pumpkin ,” Brynna said. She swung her shoulders from side to side, still full of their secret.
    Dwight pulled back the canvas cover. There was a pumpkin, but nestled beside it was a small wire cage.
    “Oh, Dwight. What is it?” I asked.
    “Hampister! Hampister!” Katie yanked on my arm as she jumped up and down. “We got you a hampister!”
    “She means a hamster,” Brynna added.
    “I don’t believe it!” I said. “It’s really mine?”
    Dwight lifted the cage out of the truck and handed it to me. A little pink nose tunneled up out of the wood chips. Then a pair of