Chapter 10

Sadie seemed fairlychipper when they left Master Derek's office, despite her stint by the bookshelf. "I'm sorry you got in trouble," Mandi offered.

"Oh that's okay," Sadie said. "He's just a bit of a grumpyguts sometimes. But I love him. Come on, let's go outside!"

She grabbed Mandi by the hand and dragged her laughing out into the sunshine. It was early afternoon and most of the other Littles were in class, so they had the whole playground to themselves.

Mandi headed straight for the swings. She might be afraid of heights, but for some reason that didn't apply to being on the swings. She could just soar up into the air, and then back down to safety.

The two of them challenged each other to go as high as they possibly could, leaning back and kicking their legs out. They weren't quiet though, and by the time a tall man in a black Stetson and shiny alligator-skin boots came to see what was going on, Mandi was in full Little mode.

"Miss Sadie, shouldn't you be in class?"

"Nope, it's okay, Chief, Daddy said I could take Mandi out to play. She's new today. She's Miss Grayson's Little! Say hi, Mandi!"

"Hi, Mandi," Mandi echoed and giggled.

The Chief took his hat off and laughed. "You too are having quite a lot of fun but do remember that other people are in class. We shouldn't distract them."

"Sucks to be them!" said Sadie, and though Mandi didn't quite have the nerve to echo Sadie's sentiment, she did pipe up with a defiant "Yup!"

The Chief raised his eyebrows. "I think the two of you need to calm down and come off the swings now."

"Don't wanna," said Sadie, but she started to slow down her swing anyway.

Mandi, on the other hand, was having far too much fun to stop now. It had been so long since she'd been on swings, so long since she'd felt free that she simply leaned back and pumped her legs harder to drive the swing up higher.

The Chief took a step toward her swing, his face serious, and she flinched violently, releasing the chains and propelling herself backward off the swing. She heard Sadie's scream, and screwed her eyes tightly shut, waiting for the ground to come up and hit her in the face. Instead, she felt someone catch her, and set her down gently on the grass.

"Sadie, go and get Miss Grayson. Now."

Mandi heard Sadie speed off without a sound, and she slowly opened her eyes, blinking wildly. The Chief was leaning over her, with a look of relief on his face.

"Hey there, you gave me quite the shock. Maybe keep your bratting to when you're feet are solidly on the ground, yes?"

She nodded, and went to get up, but her legs were all trembly, and she stumbled backward.

"I got you," he said. "Hey, Amelia, Little Mandi's had a bit of a shock."

When Mandi saw the librarian striding across the playground toward her, she burst into tears. "Mommy!" she wailed.

In two quick steps, Mommy Amelia was by her side, putting her arms around Mandi and holding her close. "There, there, petal. You've had a shock, is all. You're okay." Then turning toward Chief Lawson, she asked, "What happened?"

Mandi hid her face in her Mommy's shoulder, too embarrassed to look at her while the Chief explained what had happened.

"Well, Sadie and Mandi were having a grand old time on the swings, but when I asked them to keep the noise down, they got a bit cheeky with me."

Mommy Amelia drew back and gave Mandi a look—no, not a look—she gave her the Look.

"And then when I told them to come off the swings, Sadie said she didn't want to, but did start slowing down, but Mandi here decided to go higher instead."

The Look intensified.

"And I think I must have startled her when I stepped forward to catch the swing, because she went tumbling back off it. I managed to catch her, and she didn't hit her head."

"It's not her fault," said Sadie. "She's so good, but her Little came out and she was happy, and I encouraged her to be cheeky!"

"You may well have done so," said Mommy Amelia, "but that doesn't mean Mandi doesn't know the difference between right and wrong."

Mandi's bottom lip was trembling and she was trying so so hard not to cry again, but if Mommy's disappointment was aimed in her direction one more time…

"I think," said Mommy Amelia, "that someone has had quite enough excitement for one day and should have a quiet evening in their room."

"On my own?" Mandi's plaintive wail broke out of her as well as another flood of tears at the thought of being abandoned. She knew she'd messed up, but the idea of being punished by being left totally alone upset her more than she could have possibly expected.

Mommy Amelia placed a kiss on her forehead. "No, petal, not on your own. I'm going to come and spend it with you. But it won't be all fun; there are consequences for one's actions."

Mandi knew that perhaps she should feel dread about the prospect of a punishment, but in reality, all she felt was relief. She wasn't going to have to decide what she was doing next, Mommy would decide. And when she was done with her punishment, she got to start afresh.

This sounded like exactly what she needed.