eavesdrop As Stanley folded up the map Aunt Gertie bent down to plant another kiss on my head She didn’t tell me I was going to have to work at Le Petit Musée at noon to maintain my parents cover story She didn’t need to It was protocol She would unlock the museum I would hang out in the Spoon and if anyone asked I’d say my mom had stepped out Did you have the chance to make that call the odd sock asked my aunt Aunt Gertie raised her eyebrows and motioned around the bustling café Not yet What call I asked Maybe my spy sense had picked up on something Nothing to worry about Aunt Gertie gave me a kind smile and said OK Moppet Be home before eleven-thirty Moppet Mr Odd Sock repeated in disbelief You’re Moppet It’s a nickname I said caught off guard Moppet was cute when I was six years old It’s humiliating in the fifth grade I didn’t appreciate being mocked by a total stranger especially an overdressed eavesdropping odd sock Who’s that guy I whispered to Aunt Gertie No one to worry about He’s just someone who really enjoys my coffee Fourth cup Aunt Gertie swooped in for another kiss Go on now Moppet Don’t waste your morning here She offered the man a refill Come on Mabel Stanley pulled on my sleeve Something didn’t seem right Twice my aunt told me to not worry but I knew from experience that adults only said that when there was in fact something to worry about I hesitated Do you want me to help this morning Aunt Gertie pointed to the door and said Go on your hike Once my aunt moved to another table the man stared at me holding eye contact I felt as if I had done something wrong Stanley yanked harder on my sleeve but I could barely move through the thick crowd Mr Odd Sock smirked as if he had won some type of game You heard your aunt Moppet he said in a low voice I strained to hear him over the noise of the café Get a move on now Someone stepped in front of me breaking our eye contact I ducked under a flannel-clad elbow and grabbed on to Stanley’s backpack as he guided me through the hungry horde Once outside I chanced looking into the café The
odd sock’s smirk had morphed into a full-on grin like he had just won some contest In other words I had just lost a game I didn’t even know I was playing
2 Successful spying consists of 50 percent preparation 30 percent inspiration 20 percent perspiration and 10 percent action which adds up to 110 percent because a great spy gives it her all and then some Rule Number 35 from Rules for a Successful Life as an Undercover Secret Agent Stanley have you ever seen the guy in the plaid shirt before I asked Half the people in there are wearing plaid Stanley drained his cup Never mind I finished my milk too Let’s just go We’d walked for about five minutes just past the outskirts of town when Stanley stopped pointed to a spot about halfway up a Douglas fir and quietly took out his camera He started snapping photos A small bird with yellow and black feathers flew by Stanley’s face lit up That’s a yellow-rumped warbler Or maybe a Townsend’s warbler He checked the pictures on his screen Definitely not an orange-crowned warbler Their body feathers are completely yellow Stanley could spot a bird that weighed less than half an ounce hiding in some tree branches twenty feet away but he couldn’t notice the man dressed like an outdoors store mannequin smirking at me But that was exactly what made my friendship with Stanley easy He never asked questions about my life’s oddities like not seeing my parents for ten days even though my mother worked next door to my house During our hike I learned all about Townsend’s warblers Apparently while they liked to munch on spiders and leaf-hoppers their absolute favorite meal was stink bugs which I’d smelled a lot of back in the summertime Once we reached our favorite tree grove now with no stink bugs thank you warblers Stanley took out his tripod and lens case Each month Stanley documented the grove from snow-covered to spring buds from summer’s wild glory to fall’s amazing colors
Each time he’d re-measure the exact distance from the trees and the camera’s angle Fortunately we had a lot of notes a sketch of where the camera should go and a photograph taped inside his notebook That had been a two-camera day so Stanley could photograph where his camera was located while he was taking photos of the trees and wildlife After Stanley was sure he had replicated the setup perfectly and started taking photos I wandered away Just ten feet off the paved path voices carried through the trees and undergrowth offering odd bits of other hikers conversations as they passed Up ahead a black-tailed deer munched on grass I stood absolutely still for a while fascinated After several minutes I felt the oddest sensation on the back of my neck prickly and warm like I was being watched I breathed in trying to ignore it but the feeling wouldn’t go away Mount Rainier had its fair share of predators black bears mountain lions coyotes foxes and even mountain goats mean smelly and known to head-butt hikers Slowly I turned my head to my right A twig snapped on my left I whipped my head around Through the evergreens a flash of blue and green plaid caught my eye It appeared that the person was quickly retreating The plaid kept up a steady pace and I followed After a few minutes the evergreens became too thick and I lost track of the blue-green flashes I kept going for another minute then looked up to see where the forest canopy cleared I darted through the trees keeping the clearing in sight and found my way to the paved path within minutes A group of hikers was drinking water and snapping photos of the foliage Did you see a man in a blue and green plaid shirt I asked Are you lost sweetie one of the women asked No I said aware that valuable time was ticking away Did you see him I looked up and down the path but there was no sign of Mr Odd Sock A shirt like mine one of the men asked The blue and green checks on his shirt were too small I’ve seen a couple Where are your parents the woman asked looking concerned I pointed in the direction of Stanley He was practically family after all Bye I said as I beat a hasty retreat toward our tree grove Ready Mabel Stanley asked as he looked up from putting his camera lenses and tripod away Where were you
