“I haven’t had a homemade pork chop in a long time,” he said.

“Well, there you go. And all you have to do is pretend to be our guardian,” said Fiona, leaping on this.

“All right,” said Al. “We’ll try it. But no mushy cakes.”

“There’s nothing WRONG…” began Marlin, decibels rising until Fiona hustled her out the door and down the steps.

“And you need to take us to town tomorrow to see our aunt’s lawyer, Hiram Pennypacker,” said Fiona, swiftly over her shoulder, hoping to end matters there.

“NO!” called Al from the top step of the trailer. “I won’t take you to see that idiot.”

“Please? You could just sit in the office and pose as our guardian and say nothing. I would do all the talking,” said Fiona, stopping and turning to face him again. “St. Mary’s By the Sea is a long walk. You could use my aunt’s car. It’s just sitting in the driveway.”

“I’ve got my own truck, thank you very much. I don’t need to borrow a car. But I won’t go see that fool.”

“Well, could you just drive us there and wait for us?”

“No.”

“But I made an appointment,” said Fiona. “And it’s supposed to rain. We can’t go in looking like drowned rats and we will if we have to walk an hour in the rain to get there.”

“Your problem, not mine,” said Al. “Now, does our deal include dinner tonight?”

“Only if you drive us tomorrow,” said Marlin.

The girls stepped back in surprise as Al suddenly pounded down the trailer steps, stomped across the yard, and went into a small shed. They were afraid they had pushed him too hard but in a minute, they saw what he had gone into the shed for as he wheeled a bike toward them.

“Here, you can buy this from me,” he said. “Give you the bargain price of twenty bucks. It’s a good bike. It’s got a basket and everything.”

“Wow,” said Fiona, getting on it and pedaling around. It was a woman’s bike, light blue with a white wicker basket, and seemed a little too froufrou to belong to Al. “This isn’t yours, is it?”

“Do I look like someone who rides around on pretty bicycles?” he asked.

“Well, it looks in awfully good working order. Tires full of air, no rust on it. Someone has been using it.”

“So?” said Al. “Are you saying if it were mine it wouldn’t be in good working order?”

Fiona said nothing but eyed the refrigerator and tub sitting in the yard.

“You didn’t steal it, did you?” she finally asked.

“STEAL IT!” roared Al. “You want it or not?”

“Yes please,” said Fiona. “I’ll bring you the twenty bucks and the beer money when we bring you dinner tomorrow. You don’t get it tonight because you wouldn’t drive us into town.”

Al turned without a word and headed back to the trailer.

“Then we have a deal?” called Fiona.