Claire and I were walking down the sidewalk. The farther we got from the thrift store, the better I felt.
“Are we getting the cupcakes now?” asked Claire. She was half skipping and half jogging beside me.
I was probably walking too fast. I slowed down. I was wishing I had asked for two bags at the thrift store—one for her and one for me. But all we had was one giant, heavy bag, so it was all me.
“We’ll get cupcakes, but first I have to go to the post office to mail Lucy’s present.” Thinking about it made me smile. I was glad the Sam thing was over.
A block later I was wishing I had done a better job of planning the trip. We should have gone to the post office first, and the thrift store second, because now I had to carry Claire’s heavy bag of stuff all the way to the post office, and back past the thrift store again to get home. It was an extra eight or nine blocks of carrying. Claire wasn’t happy about the detour either, and she didn’t even have anything to carry.
“How much more is it?” she asked. “Is it far? I’m tired.”
I grumbled under my breath. What did she have to complain about? “Five blocks,” I said. It was a lie; it was really seven.
Claire pointed to some stores up ahead. “Is that it?” she asked.
I didn’t answer, but I shook my head. Claire’s bag was killing me. Even though I switched sides every half block, my hands looked like claws, stuck in the holding shape even when they weren’t holding anything. As we passed one of the stores, VS Depot, I saw a sign in the window: WE SHIP US POST OFFICE AND UPS. It was just what I needed. I made a fast decision.
I opened the door. “We’re here,” I announced.
“You lied,” said Claire. “That wasn’t five blocks.”
I stepped into the store and looked back at her. “I wanted to surprise you.” Now that was two lies.
Claire frowned and followed me in. The store was small, overcrowded, and plain. There were a bunch of photocopiers up front, and boxes and papers everywhere else; beyond that was the counter. I walked toward it. It wasn’t easy to get there carrying Claire’s huge bag, but I made it without knocking anything over. A man behind the counter was watching us.
“Good shuffling!” he said.
Claire pushed past me and said, “Thank you.”
I knew the compliment was for me, but I didn’t say anything. She could have it. I was just happy to put her bag down. I pulled off my backpack and took out Lucy’s present. Suddenly I wasn’t sure. Normally when you mail something, no one can see what you’re mailing, but this was different; my note to Lucy was right there out in the open. Now I was uncomfortable. I didn’t want him reading what I’d written. Quickly I turned it over so only the nails were showing.
The man pointed to it. “Do you want a box for that?”
I paused, not sure what to say. I didn’t want to sound stupid in case Mom was wrong. Maybe a box would be better.
“I’ll show you one and you can decide.” The man smiled, turned, and walked to the back of the store.
Claire noticed it first. I was too busy rereading my note to Lucy. Did it sound weird? Embarrassing? I wasn’t watching the man.
Claire tugged on my arm. “He’s a little person,” she whispered.
“What?” I didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Look!” She pointed.
I followed the end of her finger. The man was at the back of the store looking on the shelves, and she was right; he was a little person. How could that be? I peeked over the counter, and there was the answer. A raised platform behind the counter went from the front to the back of the store.
“Pretty clever, right?” asked a voice.
It was the man, and he was walking back toward us. He caught me looking. I felt my face go red. I didn’t know what to say.
Claire bounced up and down. “Wow!” She pointed to the other side of the counter. “If I went back there, I’d be supertall.”
The man smiled. “You can try it if you want.” He looked to the back of the store. “Just hop on back there.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s okay.” I turned to grab Claire, but she was gone. Ten seconds later she was back, standing across from me on the other side of the counter.
“Hey!” she shouted. “I’m almost as tall as you!”
I hoped she was talking to me, and I was about to answer when the man walked over and stood next to her. She was right; he was only a little taller than she was.
“Look,” said the man. He pointed to Claire. “We’re twins.” He leaned forward and handed me a box. “See if this works.”
Claire shook her head. “We’re not twins! You’re too old, plus I’m a girl.”
I motioned for her to come back around the counter and stand with me, but she ignored me and kept talking.
“I’m Claire, and that’s Ash.” She pointed to me and held out her hand for the man to shake. “We’re almost kind of like sisters.”
My face turned red again. The sister thing was a surprise, plus normally I didn’t give out my name to strangers. I picked up Lucy’s present and tried to fit it into the box. If I looked busy, maybe they would ignore me.
“I’m Peter,” said the man. He shook Claire’s hand and then offered his hand to me. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I made myself shake it and say hi. Now I was really wishing we’d walked the extra blocks to the regular post office. The people at the post office were not friendly and chatty; going there was definitely less complicated.
While Claire and Peter talked, I tried to get Lucy’s present into the box. Claire was getting Peter’s whole life story, asking him all sorts of questions. I couldn’t decide if it was interesting or not.
PETER’S STORY
• He was the owner of the store, and he had five other VS Depots.
• The real name of the store was Value Send, but he’d shortened it to make it sound more modern.
• His regular store worker had quit, so he was going to work in the store until he could get someone new.
• Yes, Peter liked working in the store, but he couldn’t work there all the time, because he had other things to do.
Finally I couldn’t take it anymore, plus Lucy’s present wouldn’t fit into the box—it was too small. I put the box on the counter and held up the wood.
“Can I send it like this?” I asked. “Without a box?”
“Sure. Why not?” said Peter. “A lot more fun, and maybe even cheaper, too. Does it have an address on it?”
I turned the piece of wood over and pointed to the address. Peter typed it into the computer and printed out a stamp. I handed him the piece of wood, and he stuck the stamp on.
“Will it stay?” I didn’t want it to fall off.
He motioned for me to wait and then wrapped a big piece of tape around the wood—yes, it was going to stay.
He looked it over. “Someone named Lucy’s going to love it.”
“That’s Ash’s best friend,” whispered Claire. “It’s a secret and—”
“No it’s not!” I interrupted. “Everyone knows we’re best friends; that’s why this whole thing is so weird. She’s gone away, and I’m stuck here in the gray and grayer.”
Peter looked surprised. “What did you say?”
I covered my mouth. I hadn’t meant to say gray and grayer. In fact, I hadn’t meant to say anything. It had all just come out—like a volcano suddenly erupting. “Gray and grayer” wasn’t even my saying; it was from the PJ Walker books. Whenever something was boring or uninteresting, Viola Starr, the detective in the book, called it the gray and grayer.
“That’s from a book, isn’t it?” asked Peter.
Now it was my turn to be surprised. How did he know that?
Peter nodded. “I read that book. The author is—”
“PJ Walker!” I blurted out. “She’s my favorite.”
Suddenly Peter smiled. “That’s right, and I picked it up because I like a good mystery. I’m surprised you’ve read it.”
I nodded and shrugged. Peter waited an extra second to see if I would say anything, and when I didn’t, he continued.
“Anyway, it was called something like Brave Barry. Did you read that one? It wasn’t half bad. I should dig it out and look at it again.”
I smiled; I couldn’t help it—he had the title all wrong. “It’s Boris: Bold Beyond Bravery,” I said.
“Right,” said Peter. “Did you read it?”
“I’ve read them all.” I smiled. “And now I’m reading the new one, but only a chapter a night so it can last for a while.”
I’d given him too much information. He was fiddling with something behind the counter—probably bored.
“Can we get the cupcakes?” asked Claire. She was finally standing next to me. I guess she was bored too. I nodded and walked toward the door.
“Good-bye, girls!” Peter waved. “And don’t worry, I’ll make sure this goes out tonight.” He held up Lucy’s present.
Claire waved back and ran ahead of me, beating me to the door.
Something felt weird. It wasn’t that he was a little person—for sure that was different. It was something else, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.