Interstellar Pig Read Online Free Page B

her request didn't ring true. It wasn't what I had said that had kindled their interest—they had wanted to look inside the house yesterday, the moment they had arrived, before I had told them the story about it. I remembered what Ted had said about their reaction when they couldn't rent the house themselves. As I held the door open for them, I had the peculiar sensation that I was making a mistake. But I dismissed it immediately. I wanted to play the authority and show them around.
    "Gee, it's so much more comfortable than our place," Manny said, his eyes wandering over the wood paneling. "As though the person who built it actually planned to reside here."
    "But it's so dark," Zena said, She looked out the dining room windows. "And you can't even see the water. Our monstrosity next door gets in the way."
    "He was right when he said the cottage had a better view," Joe said, peering inside the fireplace.
    "Look at this!" Manny called from the kitchen. "You could actually cook in here."
    The rest of us trooped in after him. "Do you three have some kind of special interest in old houses?" I asked.
    "Sure, Barney," Zena said, peering into the cabinet under the sink. Joe was opening and shutting the cupboards and Manny was poking around in the refrigerator.
    "This thing is twice as great as ours," he said. "Can you believe this? Frozen scrambled egg substitute. Margarine.'" He sounded shocked.
    "Dad has to watch his cholesterol," I explained. "Hey, listen, there's some really famous old houses over in Dunstable. Kind of museums. Maybe we could go see them sometime."
    "Sure, Barney," Zena said, exploring the broom closet. Manny was going through the drawers of cooking utensils. "Look at all the tools that are included with this place. Much more than they provide for the cottage," he said.
    Were they actually looking for something, or just making jealous comparisons between our house and theirs? I was beginning to find their behavior a little annoying. "You wanted this place, didn't you," I said bluntly.
    "What do you mean?" Zena turned around and stared at me.
    "That's what Ted said. You wanted this house, not the cottage."
    "Well you have to admit it, it is nicer," Manny explained reasonably.
    "Yes, but since you hadn't seen it, how did you know? And what are you looking for now?"
    "Perceptive, aren't you, Barney," Joe said. But it didn't sound like a compliment. "You're astute; we do have an interest in old houses. It's kind of a hobby, a harmless one. Like our game. You don't have any objection to our looking around, do you?"
    "Uh . . . no, I guess not," I said, feeling foolish.
    "Well, if you'd stop asking questions and let us get on with it, then perhaps we'd have time later to teach you our game. Just drop over after lunch. Sound fair enough?"
    "Sure, that would be great."
    "Agreed." He pulled open the basement door. "Where's the light?"
    "On the left."
    There wasn't much to see down there, just a few pieces of the usual basement junk and a lot of pipes. But the three of them behaved as though they had discovered an Egyptian crypt that had been sealed up for the last live thousand years. They ran around exclaiming and poking through the moldy debris. Did they really expect to find something valuable?
    Watching them made me feel a little edgy, but I didn't have the nerve to ask them to stop, so I went back upstairs and waited in the living room. I began to wonder what would happen if Mom and Dad returned and found them in the house. It had been well over an hour since I had left the beach.
    Our three neighbors almost didn't notice me on their way through the living room to the stairway to the second floor. Only after I coughed did Manny say,
    "Oh, is it agreeable if we go upstairs?" but he didn't even slow down.
    Then Zena turned back from the landing, abruptly, as though she had just remembered something, and said, "Would you like to show us your room, Barney?"
    I trotted after them, remembering that the bed wasn't made and