The Bathwater Gang

1

Bertie Kidd was bored.

And it was only the second day of summer vacation. Not to mention only nine o'clock in the morning of the second day.

"I'm bored," she whispered.

"I'm bored," she said.

"I AM BORED!" she shouted.

No one heard her. Her mother and dad had gone to work.

She came downstairs and looked at the rocking chair by the front window. It was empty, as usual.

When Granny had come to live with them, Mom and Dad had bought the rocking chair and placed it by the front window. This seemed perfectly normal. After all, that's what grandmothers do, isn't it? They sit in rocking chairs by front windows.

Hah! Somebody forgot to tell that to Bertie's grandmother.

She called: "Gran-neeee!"

No answer.

Where was a grandmother when you needed one?

Bertie grabbed her skateboard and went outside. She stood at the corner of Oriole and Elm and looked in all directions. No Granny in sight.

She started rolling. Ten minutes later, way up on Buttonwood Street, she spotted something bright pink in the distance. It had to be either her grandmother or a flamingo.

Bertie pushed off. Her skateboard wheels clacked over the sidewalk cracks.

"Gran-neee!" she called. "Gran-nee!"

Granny waved, but she didn't stop. She was "wogging." That was her word. It meant faster than a walk and slower than a jog.

Of course, there was no such thing as a wogging suit, so Granny had had to settle for a jogging suit. It was the brightest pink she could find. "So people can see me coming," she explained. Granny loved attention.

As usual, several little kids were wogging along with her. Among kids, Granny was the most popular person in the West End. It wasn't just Bertie who called her Granny. They all did.

Bertie pulled alongside. "Granny, wait up. I have to tell you something."

"I can't wait up," said Granny. "I can't stop when I'm wogging."

"Granny, I have a problem."

Granny lifted her knees higher. "I feel like I could run all day. I feel like I could jump over that roof. I feel—" she threw her arms in the air—"splendiferous!"