The Arnold twins aren't just bad - they're double trouble!

"Can we see what's in the Kid-Kit?" asked one of the twins as Mrs. Arnold started her car in the garage.

(A quick glance at the bracelet.) "Sure, Marilyn," I replied, and Marilyn beamed. The twins must really love Kid-Kits. I'd have to remember to bring mine with me each time I sat.

"I like to read," said Marilyn.

"Let's see, then. Here's Baby Island. And here's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Oh, here are three of the Paddington books."

"Paddington!" exclaimed both twins.

"We love him!" said Carolyn.

In a flash, Carolyn had chosen Paddington Marches On, Marilyn had chosen Paddington Abroad, and each twin was lying on her bed with her legs crossed, reading happily.

"You guys are so cute!" I couldn't help exclaiming. "Look at you. I wish I had my camera. You look like bookends."

The twins exchanged a troubled glance.

"Boggle,"Marilyn whispered across the room to Carolyn. (Or did Carolyn whisper to Marilyn? I couldn't read their bracelets.)

Carolyn nodded. Then the twins went back to their books.

But not for long.

"Oom-bah," said Carolyn a few minutes later, and the girls tossed the books aside and got to their feet.

With another sidelong glance at each other, they did the last thing I'd expected them to do. Very slowly, they removed their bracelets. They tossed them onto their beds. Then they ran around the room, jumping back and forth, darting from side to side.

"Hey, you guys!" I cried. "What are you doing?"

"Chad. Pom dover glop," said one.

"Huh?"

"Now tell us apart," said Marilyn-or-Carolyn.

"I can't," I replied helplessly. "You don't have your bracelets on."

"Do you like to baby-sit?"

"Sure."

"Well, you won't like to sit for us."

Mallory and the Trouble With Twins
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590435078