Leave it to Beaver-- "Summer of '59"

[tdr]

This story takes place in the summer between Season 2 and Season 3, when the Cleaver family moves to their new house.

Chapter 1: Like an Old Friend

As Ward and June Cleaver left Wally and Beaver’s room, both boys lay back on their own beds and glared at the ceiling, the walls, and the windows. Beaver had been pleased with his A-minus for his composition about his dad, in which he decided to just tell the truth about what Ward meant to him. And Wally had been pleased with the conversation he had with the high school football coach about his being a good candidate for varsity play next fall when he would be a sophomore. But this night, after having their house on the market for almost two months, their parents came bursting into their room to say, “Boys, we just sold the house!” and that their bid for a new house on Pine Avenue would probably be accepted within a few days.

“Wally?” mused 9-year-old Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver. “Yeah,” returned 14-year-old Wallace. “Are you gonna miss this room?”

“Well,” said Wally, “I might at first. But once we get all moved in at the new house, it won’t take long to forget all about it.”

“I’m not never gonna forget about it as long as I live,” returned Beaver. “Sure you will, Beaver,” said Wally. Beaver countered, “Well, I will not! I’ve lived in this room my whole life, so it’s sort’a like an old friend, and I still remember my old friends I haven’t seen for a whole 2 or 3 years now!”

“Okay, Beaver, so you WILL miss the room, then. It’s not gonna do you any good, because once we’re moved out, you’re never gonna see it again anyway.”

“Well— just maybe I’ll ask whoever’s buying this house if I can come back the first of every month to visit my room again.”

“Cut it out, Beaver. The new owner’s not gonna understand a goofy thing like that—especially if it’s that Mr. Benner, who Dad said looked like he was really serious about buying it when he came to look at it last Saturday.”

“Gee, Wally, is Mr. Benner a mean man who might hurt our house?”

“Beaver—let’s get ready to go to sleep. Nobody buys a house just to ‘be mean to it.’ And anyway, it’s gonna belong to him, so we won’t have anything to say about it.”

“Gee, Wally, I knew Mom and Dad wanted to sell the house, and I thought I’d like the idea of moving to a whole new house—at least if it wasn’t too far away from Larry and Whitey. But now that they’ve sold it, I just feel kind’a funny about never living here again.”

Wally was becoming annoyed. “Beaver—just brush your teeth and put your pajamas on.” Beaver gave his brother his “mean look” since he was not getting any sympathy, let alone agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Good morning dear,” said June as her husband appeared in the kitchen making fine adjustments to his tie. “Good morning,” said Ward, bending slightly to kiss her cheek. He took a look at the percolator to be sure the coffee was ready, then sat down and poured himself a cup.

June, with a sad smile on her face between her beautiful hairdo and her ruffled apron, looked around the kitchen. “You know something, Ward?—as much as I’ve been looking forward to a new house, I think I’m really going to miss this one.”

Ward took a sip from his steaming cup. “Well, believe me, dear, I understand that. But we must face the reality that once everything’s all signed and sealed, we’re simply going to have too much work on our hands to have time for sentiment.”

“Oh, I know that, dear,” said June as she began dishing up the bacon, eggs, and biscuits. “But we’ve been so happy here—you, me, and the boys—that it just naturally takes a little time to adjust to the thought that we’re going to be leaving the home we’ve had since Wally was 2 years old, and the only home Beaver’s ever known.”

Ward, realizing that June’s sensitivity was beginning a circuit that would need to be completed in the few weeks before they relocate, held his cup in front of his face longer than necessary and looked at her with sympathetic eyes. She was still waiting for him to say something when he suddenly arose and declared, “I guess I better call the boys down for breakfast.”

As Wally and Beaver got their plates and their glasses of milk and sat down, June said, “Well boys, you only have 3 more days of school. I’m sure you’re going to miss seeing your school and your teachers and your classmates every day.”

Beaver looked confused and Wally giggled, “Gee, Mom, that’s pretty funny!”

June said, “Well I don’t think it’s funny at all. You know, Wally, you’re old enough that you ought to realize the value of the places and the people that have really meant a lot to you.”

Wally swallowed his mouthful of eggs and gulped some milk. “Oh sure, Mom, I realize that. But I sort’a think I realize even more that after 3 days we’re gonna have 3 whole months for goofin’ around!”

Ward cut in, “Now Wally, your mother’s right about appreciating the value of your education; and besides, you’re not going to have 3 whole months for, uh, ‘goofing around.’ As soon as the deal is closed on the new house, we’re all going to be quite busy getting things sorted out and moved.”

“Yeah, sure, Dad. But when do you think we’ll be doing all that?”

“Well, son, I just hope the papers are signed this week, and then it may take 3 or 4 more weeks for loan processing and title search before we close. I’m just hoping that doesn’t take longer than we’re counting on, so we can be settled in well before school starts next September.”

Beaver said, “I was telling Wally last night—I sure am goinna miss this house, especially our own room. It’s the only room I’ve ever lived in for my whole life!”

“I was just telling your father much the same thing, Beaver,” said June. “I suppose you and I are the sentimental ones of the family. But your father is right, though—we’ve only got a very few weeks to be sentimental, and then we’re going to have a lot of work.”

“Boy,” said Beaver, “I wonder what all the guys are gonna think when I tell ‘em we’re getting a new house.”

Ward put down his coffee cup. “Now hold it, Beaver. If I were you, I wouldn’t go to school telling all about your new house, because our bid for the house on Pine Avenue hasn’t officially been accepted yet. It seems to me you got into a little trouble just a couple of months ago when you told your friends we were moving to Madison.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that because it was such a long time ago,” said Beaver. “But at least it is ‘ficial that we sold *this* house, ain’t it, Dad?”

“ISN’T it,” corrected Ward. “And, yes, the *agreement* is official. But even this house hasn’t been closed on yet. So Beaver, I really think it would be best if you just not say anything about all this until we tell you it’s all taken care of. That way you can avoid any confusion about the message.”

“But gee Dad—just in case we don’t get that house and then we have to move a hundred miles away, then this week could be the last time I see the guys, and they won’t even know that.”

“Yeah, I think he’s right, Dad,” remarked Wally.

“Alright, maybe so,” consented Ward. “But Beaver, I’m sure it’s just your closest friends you see *after* school, like Larry and Whitey, who would be really concerned. So you can tell *them* that we’ve sold this house and we’re hoping to get the newly built house on Pine. But just don’t make any big announcement to your whole class. Now, it’s time for me to get going. Goodbye, dear,” he said as he kissed June.

After Ward went out the door and June kissed them goodbye and went to the other room, Wally and Beaver took their lunches and started out the back door. “Wally,” said Beaver, “Dad said not to tell my class we’re moving because this house hasn’t been ‘closed’ on yet.” Wally gave him a nudge to get going. “Sure that’s what he said.” Beaver opened the door wide, then very deliberately closed it firmly. “There—“ he said, “now it’s been ‘closed on,’ so I guess I can tell ‘em!”

[tdr]

Chapter 2—“Out From Under”

As Beaver walked out the door of Miss Landers’ classroom, Larry Mondello and Whitey Whitney were there waiting for him. “Gee, Beav,” said Larry, “what took you so long? Me and Whitey’ve been waiting for you to tell us what you said you can’t tell the whole class.”

“Well, I, uh, was just talking to Miss Landers about something,” said Beaver. “I thought I’d let her in on it, too.”

Whitey was dumbfounded. “Boy, Beaver, what kind of a secret is it that you can tell a teacher, just like you can tell your pals?”

“I didn’t say it was a secret,” retorted Beaver. “I just said I was only gonna tell you guys, instead of the whole class.”

“Well, that makes it a secret from *most of the guys*!” remarked Larry. “I guess that makes it worth hearing. So, what is it?”

Beaver spoke just a touch above a whisper. ‘My mom and dad sold our house, so we’re gonna be moving this summer.”

Larry and Whitey looked like Sergeant Friday and Officer Smith in their skepticism. “Boy, Beaver, you’re not trying this again, are you?” interrogated Whitey. Larry added, “Oh, come on, Beav, I’m still out a whole dollar for the fountain pen from the last time you said you were moving.”

Beaver shot back, “Since the ‘last time,’ you’ve had at least TWO whole dollars worth of stuff to eat at my house! And anyway, this ain’t like last time. We only thought we had a new house out of town then, but this time we really sold our *old* house—so now we GOTTA move!”

“Okay—so where you moving to *this time*, Beaver?” inquired Whitey.

“Well, my dad made a bid on this new house on Pine Avenue, and we’re supposed to know this week if they’re ‘ceptin’ it or not.”

“Wow Beaver! That’s sounds closer to where I live than your house on Maple!” gleefully said Larry.

Whitey observed, “Yeah, Beaver, that’s just a few blocks from where you live now. What’s the use in moving a short way like that so you don’t even have to change schools?”

“Well, it’s got something to do with my mom wanting more closet space and more room for flowers and junk outside. I heard my dad and Mr. Rutherford—you know, Violet’s father— I heard them talking in the living room and he said my dad wanted to ‘move up’ and help make our old street the bad part of town. He said our new house would be a ‘symbol’ of some kind. I don’t really get it, but that’s what he said. And my dad said ‘You’re right, Fred.’ But it was one of those time he said something like he really didn’t mean it.”

‘Yeah, grownups are always doing that,” said Larry. “One time a door-to-door salesman came in and talked to my dad about aluminum siding for a long time, and Dad shook his hand and said ‘Thank you for your offer.’ Then after he closed the door he told my mother he really wanted to grab his arm and sling him outside.”

“Do you know which house on Pine Avenue it is, Beav?” asked Whitey. “If you do, we could walk by and look at it before we go home.”

“I don’t know the house number, but I think I’d know it if I saw it. Dad drove all of us by there in the car 2 weeks ago, then last week he and Mom went to look at it from the inside.”

“Gee, Pine Avenue’s not too far from here; let’s go find it!” concluded Larry.


As Beaver, Larry, and Whitey strolled along Pine Avenue. Larry remarked, “You know something, guys? This street sure is longer than I thought it was.”

‘Yeah, we keep getting further and further away from the school,” agreed Whitey. “Maybe the end we had to start on was the wrong one.”

Beaver said, ‘Well, it seems like it was over close to the far end. Anyway, the numbers are getting smaller now. They were 8-hundred-somethings when we started, now we’re crossing from the 3-hundreds to the 2-hundred-somethings.”

“Maybe you’ll be further away from school, but closer to the movies and downtown, Beaver,” said Larry. “Sounds like you’re getting a good deal!”

“Yeah, I *guess* so. That’s it!--right over there!” Beaver pointed at a light brown brick house with beige trim, with new turf sections and trees. But there was no ‘New! For Sale’ sign as when he saw it the time before. ‘Uh, oh!”

“What’s the matter, Beaver?” said both his pals.

“The sign’s gone,”Beaver replied. “Somebody must have already bought it.”

“Boy, now I see why you didn’t tell the whole class—it would have been just like last time!” sneered Larry.

‘It would not!” snapped Beaver. “I told you—we did sell our old house, so we gotta move so some new house somewhere, even if it’s not this one.”

As they crossed the street and strolled on the sidewalk to the front of the house, the front door opened and out walked 2 familiar “big guys,” Wally Cleaver and Eddie Haskell.

Eddie’s eyes twinkled with mischief as they slunk toward the younger boys. “Well, well—if it isn’t the 3 stooges! Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh.”

“Hi Wally. Hi Eddie” said each of the 3. “What are *you* doing here, Eddie?” inquired Beaver.

“What am *I* doing here? Can’t you see this ritzy new house is no longer for sale? My father—he owns his own garage, you know—heard about the Cleavers trying to improve their social status with a brand new home, so he decided to look out for ‘number one’ and he bought it out from under you today! He asked me to come by and check a few things out for him, and I invited my best friend Wally—you see, I’m more democratic than my father. Eh-eh-eh-eh…”

As Wally turned away and scratched his earlobe, Larry indignantly said, “Boy Eddie!—that’s a rotten trick, buying this house out from under the Cleavers! Uh—how do you buy a house ‘out from under’ somebody?”

“It’s very simple, fat boy! You just make a call on the one you’re trying to beat out, make like you’re impressed, and then they tell you what how much they bid. Then you go to the seller and make your bid for one dollar more!”

“Your father did that, Eddie?” said Whitey.

“Of course! Like he always says, ‘Don’t associate with low-class people unless you got a reason to get the good on ‘em-- eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!”

Finally Wally stepped in. “Alright!—that’s enough Eddie. Don’t listen to him, you guys. The reason we’re here, Beaver, is because *our dad’s* bid was accepted today, and he sent *me* over to look at a couple of things, and *I* brought *Eddie* along. Today was Senior Day at school, and some of the senior guys set off stink bombs in the hall before they ran away, so they decided to cancel school for the day about 10 this morning. When I got home Mom said our bid for the house was accepted, and later Dad called and found out I was home. So that’s why he sent me over here.”

“Yeah—I thought so!” said Whitey.

“Me too!” said Larry. “You didn’t have me fooled, Eddie!”

“Oh, sure, fats! You asked how to buy a house out from under somebody because you were so sure we didn’t do it! Anyway, what Wally’s dad wanted us to check out was—he wanted us to go be sure there’s no quicksand or anything in the back yard, because this lot has had a curse on it going all the way back to when the Miami Indians lived around here. They were so scared that’s why they moved all the way to Florida and made a new city by the beach there.”

“Go on, Eddie, that’s just more of your baloney!” mocked Whitey.

“Like I said, guys—just don’t listen to him,” said Wally. “Come on, Eddie, you know we’ve got a couple of other things to do. Bye guys!”

‘Hey, Beav, let’s go look at your new backyard, just to see what it looks like,” suggested Larry.

As the boys went around to the backyard, the wind was getting up and it blew some paper trash by them, and there was a whistle to be heard from the trees. They took a look at the yard, saw it was spacey, though not level for playing ball, and had some large trees and some new ones recently transplanted. There was suddenly another gust of wind with whistling, and one of the trees began to fall. With the falling tree came a screechy cry, and as the tree hit the ground a black cat darted away and first ran straight for the boys. They were astonished and yelled, so the cat turned away and ran off in another direction.

Larry and Whitey started to run away themselves. “Hey, wait guys!” shouted Beaver.

“You wait if you want to, Beaver!” yelled Larry as he ran. “After all, you’re gonna be living here! I wouldn’t want to live in a house with a cursed backyard!”

[tdr]

Chapter 3— “The Curse?”


As Beaver walked through the door to the kitchen, his mother was there taking bread pudding out of the oven. “Hi Mom,” said Beaver.

“Well, hello there, Beaver. You’re home a little late today, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Well, we have some good news today!” June said excitedly.

“I know, Mom,” replied Beaver, unenthusiastically. “Our bid got ‘cepted and we’re buying that house on Pine Avenue.”

‘That’s right, Beaver. I suppose you must have seen Wally and he told you. But you don’t sound like you’re very pleased about it.”

“Oh, I guess I’m real pleased about it. Me and Larry and Whitey went over there after school to look at it.”

“Oh, *that’s* where you were.” Beaver just nodded his head. “Well, what is it? You don’t think it looks right?—you don’t like the street?-- or is it too far from school?”

“No, it’s not any of those things, Mom. I think I’ll go up to my room now, since I won’t be seeing it any more after we get moved.”

As Beaver walked up the stairs he slowed down and thought about how comfortable the whole house was, though he had never particularly noticed it before. He opened the door to his and Wally’s room, and his brother was lying on the bed reading a magazine. “Hi Wally.”

“Hey Beav. Say, what do you think about the new house?”

“I guess it’s okay.”

“Okay?” repeated Wally. “Heck, I think it’s real neat! Shade trees, a nice patio for eating outside, new brick, new walls, new ceilings—almost new everything!”

“Yeah, but what about the backyard?”

“What about it?”

“I mean what Eddie said, about the curse those old Indians knew about.”

“Beaver—I told you guys not to listen to Eddie! That curse he told you about is just more of his made-up junk. You know better than to believe that, don’t you?”

Beaver sat down on his bed facing Wally. “Yeah, I thought I knew better than to believe that. But after you guys left, Whitey and Larry and me went around to the backyard, and then the wind blew one of those skinny trees over and it had a black cat in it that hissed and spit at us! Then he ran away and Larry and Whitey got scared and ran away, too. I hollered at ‘em to wait, but Larry hollered back he didn’t want to stay around a cursed backyard.”

“Heck, Beaver, if a cat was climbing in one of those new trees, that’s probably the reason it fell, because it’s not big enough for cat-climbing yet.”

“Yeah, but it was a black cat! And he ran straight at us. That’s supposed to mean bad luck! So maybe there *is* a curse on that backyard!”

“Aw, Beaver, that’s dumb! I had a black cat run in front of me one day I was walking to school when we were having a big algebra test that I was afraid I was gonna fail. I made a B-minus on it.”

“Well—maybe you’d have made a B-plus if that cat hadn’t been there!”

“Beaver, I was really lucky that most of the problems were the ones I knew how to work best. That’s the point—a black cat isn’t bad luck. *Nothing’s* bad luck—or good luck. Things just happen; that’s all.”

“Well yeah, but just as soon as Eddie told us about the curse, the wind gets up and blows trash around at us, then just as we look at the backyard the wind gets up again and it blows the tree down!”

“Beaver—it’s like I said; things just happen. That’s called a coincidence. But let me tell you something—don’t let Eddie know about the tree and the black cat. He’ll really give you guys the business then!”

Wally and Beaver were sitting in the living room watching the weatherman with his wand and his big words as he stood in front of the map. “Well boys,” said June, “if your father doesn’t get here in five minutes, we’ll go ahead and start our supper without him.”

“Gee thanks, Mom,” said Wally. “I wonder if he went by the new house or something.”

Just then they heard the kitchen door open, and the boys jumped up and promptly went in to the dining room. “We’ve been waiting for you, dear,” June said as Ward entered from the swinging door to the kitchen.

“Oh, I went to go see that builder,” Ward replied. “He called me this afternoon and said there’s some dispute about the property boundary, and they may have extended the garage too far back so that it’s into the lot on the opposite corner. We probably can’t close on the deal as long as there’s a legal dispute that might go to court.”

“Oh no, dear,” said June. “I hope this doesn’t mean we may not be able to move in for quite a while.”

As Beaver and Wally glanced at each other as they took their places at the table, Ward responded, “Well I don’t like to think about it, but it could mean that. Mr. Benner hasn’t said yet when he wants to move in here, but I don’t think he would like it very much if we have to tell him there could be a delay of a few weeks, maybe a month or two, before we’re able to move out.”

“Gee Dad,” said Beaver, “how could they build part of a garage on somebody else’s property?”

“Oh, it’s probably a human error in surveying or marking,” said Ward. “After all, those lots in that neighborhood are not very uniform in size and shape.”

“What can they do about it, Dad?” inquired Wally. “Just chop off that part of the garage they built on the other property?”

“It could come to *something* like that, Wally, although I doubt if they will literally ‘chop off’ part of it. But there could well be some question of compensation, and that’s what could take quite a number of weeks to straighten out.”

“Dad,” said Beaver, “is it the backyard that’s causing trouble like this?”

“Well, I suppose, Beaver, in a way. But the backyard isn’t ‘causing’ the trouble, but it’s human error having to do with the backyard that is.”

“Boy, Wally, what do you think about the curse now?” asked Beaver.

“I think the same thing as before,” answered Wally.

“The curse?” asked June in bewilderment.

[tdr]

Chapter 4-- Independence Night


As the Cleaver family unloaded the picnic basket, the thermos, an umbrella and other items as it was getting dark on this July 4 evening, Ward noticed a paper attached to the front door. “Let’s go ahead take everything in through the kitchen door,” he said. “Then I’ll go see what that paper is on the front door.”

“Gee Dad,” said Beaver, “I thought there never was any mail or newspaper on the Fourth of July.”

“Heck, Beaver, that looks like a note somebody just left there,” said Wally; “it didn’t come from the mailman or the paperboy.”

“You boys hang your wet swimming trunks on the clothesline,” instructed June, “then come on inside.”

After the boys had done as their mother asked and had left the kitchen and went on up to their room, June dropped into a chair at the table. Then Ward came back into the kitchen and saw how tired out she looked. He put the handwritten paper down on the table, stood behind her and began to gently massage her shoulders. “Ummmm—that feels so good, honey,” sweetly aired June. “It was a nice picnic, but all the walking and wading and trying to keep our plates and cups from blowing away did rather tire me out.”

Ward responded, “Well, maybe you can return the favor to my tired shoulders in a little while. I may need it to get some tension off of them. That note is from Mr. Benner. He’s starting to really put the pressure on us about signing the final papers and getting out, or else he may nullify the deal.”

“Well dear, it’s not our fault. I know we’ve put our moving plans on hold for a month now, but how close is the builder to settling the case with the other lot owner?”

Ward sat down beside his wife. “I wish I knew. Five weeks ago I was optimistic that we would already be moved by now; and I was certain it would all be done before August. Now there’s a real possibility we may have to start all over in getting this house sold.”

‘You know, Ward, it’s interesting how the boys have said so little about the whole problem so far. And it’s not as if we’ve tried to hide the facts from them—just that most of this goes over Beaver’s head, and quite a bit even gets by Wally.”

“Well, dear, I think it’s just that it’s summer and they’re trying to enjoy it. Especially since they haven’t had all the work we warned them about when we bought the new house. So I suppose the delay has been a relief in their eyes.”

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Beaver lay on the bed flat on his back with his hands clasped behind his head. “That sure was a neat picnic, huh Wally?”

Wally, standing by the window observing the night, replied, “Yeah, I guess it was. But you could tell Mom and Dad weren’t enjoying it like they usually do on a holiday picnic.”

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s gotta have something to do with the house situation. I know they haven’t said much about it for a couple or three weeks, but I know they’re upset because we can’t get moved yet.”

Beaver sat up on the edge of his bed. “Yeah, we haven’t said much about it either. But it’s been summer all this time we haven’t been saying much about it, so I’ve been having fun playing baseball, going swimming, sleeping late in the morning, and all that good stuff. There’s no need to spoil all that by worrying about the new house.”

“That’s okay for a little kid like you,” responded Wally. “But I understand more of what Mom and Dad are up against. It took about ten weeks of having this house on the market before Mr. Benner made a deal to buy it. And now, since we can’t move into our new house, he hasn’t signed all the papers and everything they call ‘closing,’ and Dad says he can still back out of the deal if this goes on too long.”

“Gee, Wally, what can WE do about it?”

“That’s the whole point. There’s nothing Mom and Dad can do, and there’s sure nothing WE can do. So that’s why all us grownups can do is worry.” Beaver looked at him blankly. “The builder and that guy that owns the other property have to settle the boundary thing between them. Dad says it could take another month or two if they go to court over it.”

“Gosh Wally, how is it such a big deal? It’s just a little bit of the garage that got built farther back than it was supposed to.”

“To grownups, a ‘little bit’ of a garage IS a big deal. And even a little strip of land in that backyard can mean a whole bunch of money.”

Beaver got up and looked out over the yard and the garage at their present home. “You know, Wally, I still say it must be that curse on the backyard of that house that’s causing us all this bad luck.”

“Beaver—I thought I told you weeks ago that curse is nothing but a lot of made-up junk by Eddie Haskell.”

“Yeah, I know. But that black cat and the tree blowing down, and now we can’t get moved. It seems like we oughtn’t to move to that house anyway.”

“Oh brother, I give up!” Wally said exasperatedly. “Beaver, what would it take to get it through your head that there’s no curse on that backyard?”

“Well, the first thing would be that they finally get this whole fuss straightened out, then we could move if we still want to.”

“Alright—suppose that happens this week? Will you forget about the curse then?”

“Well—maybe. But if I see another black cat there, or another tree falls, or I break my ankle in that backyard or something—then I’ll know it’s gotta be true!”

The sound of a string of firecrackers going off was heard from a distance not too far away.

“Hey, Beav—it’s been dry and everything so far this summer. Do you think if there’s a curse on that backyard that it would catch fire from those fireworks?”

“Na—a curse doesn’t mean everything bad has to happen—just stuff that’ll be bad stuff for people, too.”

“Suppose we snuck over there tonight. Do you think something bad would have to happen to us?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Wally. If we got caught, we’d be in big trouble. And summer’s the worst time of the year to be grounded or something.”

“Yeah, we better not do that. Because if we did get caught and get grounded, you’d say that was the bad luck, so the curse is real.”

“I would not—that’s a different thing from the curse! So-- I say let’s try it, and just hope we don’t get killed or anything.”

“Well—if you really want to. I guess we haven’t snuck off at night for a long time. We’ll just think of it as celebrating the holiday. And then when nothing happens, I don’t want to hear you talk about that stupid curse again. Okay?”

“Okay, Wally.”

“Okay—we’ll wait til Mom and Dad have been in bed for about an hour, then we’ll go out the window and down the tree. That may be a long time, so let’s go watch one of those old movies on television for a while.”