Posted in Posted by Lemony Snicket

     The next day was as though nothing had happened the day before that. Mr. Johnson was back, as usual, and Mom and Dad were their normal selves. Only Riley and Anya were different than how they usually were. They each took a turn watching Mr. Johnson, making sure he didn’t do anything they didn’t want him to.

     Poor Kayla had no fun with her brother and sister that day. They weren’t being friendly to her and didn’t like that they didn’t want to play with her. She eventually went over with Mom and Dad and helped them with their job, because she knew at least she would have fun doing it.

     Some others who seemed different were the penguins. It seemed like they knew what had gone on the day before and were distressed over it.

     At closing, Anya had to clean up around the glass where the people looked at the penguins, and saw Mr. Johnson still there. She sighed and thought, “Doesn’t this man know he needs to leave? There’s no way he’s getting the penguins and that’s that.”

     She didn’t want to talk to him again, so she just sat in a little igloo that the kids at the zoo played in, and waited for him to leave. She heard him on a cell phone saying this; “Sir, I know I didn’t buy them. They just wouldn’t accept the offer. I have a plan. Let’s just say when the right time comes, I’ll seize the peng...uuuhhh...moment. Tomorrow night. Alright. You’ll see me then. Bye.”

     He stood up and left, but Anya was too shocked to even move. She finally understood what he was going to do. His first plan was to buy the penguins, and when that didn’t work out, he was going to do something totally unexpected; steal them.

     Anya was silent the whole ride home, and all though dinner. After dinner, the only person she talked to was Riley, and all she said to him was, “Meet me in my room at 8:00.”

     At 8:00, Riley walked down the hall and knocked on Anya’s door. She opened it and he stepped in. He asked her, “What’s wrong? What did you want to tell me?”

     She told him every single detail she had heard. When she was finished she looked pale, and so did Riley. They couldn’t think clearly at that moment, they just stood in silence. Riley was shocked, and at first he didn’t believe her, but with that face she had on, how could he not believe her?

      Ever since they first saw Mr. Johnson, they knew he could be no good, but this was far worse than what they had ever expected from him. How could anyone ever do something so terrible?

     Anya was the first to speak. “Well, what do you think we should do? It’s not like we can do much. Do you think we can tell Mom and Dad about it?”

     “Anya, I don’t think they’ll believe us. They’ll probably say, ‘You two are letting your imagination get the better of you. Mr. Johnson may not be the nicest man on the earth, but he certainly isn’t as bad as you think he is.’”

     “Well then, why don’t you think of something? I’m not the only one who can come up with a plan.”

     There was more silence. They were both thinking harder than they ever thought. They needed to think of something, they couldn’t just let him take the penguins away.

     Riley finally came up with a plan. He said to Anya, “Ok, I’ve thought of something. You know I’ve just got my license last month. I’ll tell Mom and Dad I want to drive you home and that we will be a little late because we want to see some of the animals at night. Then they’ll leave and we’ll be alone, waiting for Mr. Johnson to come. Before he comes, we’ll call the police and tell them he wants to steal the penguins. Hopefully, before he can even lay a finger on those penguins, the police will be surrounding and handcuffing him. How does that sound?”

     Anya personally loved adventures, and thought this was going to be a great one, but she held her excitement and said, “It sounds good, but do you think Mom and Dad will actually let you drive the car?”

     That’s what I’m going to find out.”

     Riley walked down the stairs and into the living room, where Mom and Dad were watching TV. Anya was listening from the top of the staircase.

     He asked them, “Mom, Dad, I was wondering, could I, maybe, drive the car to work and take Anya along? I wanted to stay late and see some of the animals at night.”

     Mom and Dad looked at each other and Dad answered, “Well, I suppose so, you have been very responsible in taking care of the penguins, so I think you are ready to start driving around. How long did you intend to stay there?”

     I’ll be home no later than 8:30.”

     “Alright, you have my permission, as long as it’s fine with your mother.”

     Mom responded by saying, “If it’s fine with Dad it’s fine with me!”

     Riley was extremely happy about this answer. Not only because this was a vital part to his plan, but also because this was the first time he would be able to drive without an adult! He thanked Mom and Dad and ran back upstairs.

     Anya was also excited about being aloud to ride with Riley, but she was also nervous, because she never really knew if Riley was a good driver or not. She thought he was, how else could he have gotten his license?

     Kayla ran out of her room screaming, “I want to ride with you! I want to ride with you too!”

     Riley and Anya really didn’t want Kayla to come along, if she did they wouldn’t be able to talk about their plan along the way, so Riley said, “Well, I would, but I don’t think Mom and Dad would let you. They almost wouldn’t let me take Anya, so I don’t think they’ll approve of me taking you.” This was, of course, a lie, but he couldn’t think of another way to get Kayla off of his back.

     “Well, then I can ask them!” she said, and immediately, she went running down the stairs. Riley and Anya knew Mom and Dad would probably let her ride with them, so instantly ran after her. Riley and Anya were much faster than Kayla, but I’m sure everyone knows it is very hard to chase someone down the stairs and so they couldn’t catch the eager little girl. They were all at the bottom of the stairs, and Kayla ran to Mom and Dad and yelled, “Mom! Dad! Can I please, please, please ride with Riley and Anya? Pretty please?”

     Riley and Anya were behind Kayla, shaking their heads at Mom and Dad, hoping they would see them. But Dad never looked at them, and responded by saying, “Well, I don’t know. I don’t think Riley would ever be able to focus on driving with two girls in the car.”

     So true Dad!” Riley exclaimed, trying exceedingly hard to back Dad up whenever he gave a reason she shouldn’t go. “I don’t think it would be very safe for me to drive on the rode with both of them.”

     “But,” said Dad, “If you promise to be very calm, and if your Mom agrees, I suppose you could go with them, but I won’t allow stay with them at night. Also Riley needs to agree to it.”

     I think you can control yourself Kayla, so all you need is to ask Riley,” Mom responded.

     Kayla looked at Riley with big eyes and said, “Please Riley, can I go with you?”

     Riley knew if he didn’t say yes, he would be bombarded with pleases, so, to save himself from being attacked with begging, he replied, “Well, I guess so.”

     Kayla was so happy that she would probably have started jumping off of the walls if Mom didn’t hold her down and say, “All right, say thank you to Riley and then go straight back to bed.”

     “Thank you Riley!” she exclaimed, and galloped up the stairs.