"Hey, watch it!" Ike said.

A blue and yellow striped shirt belonging to Zac hit him in the face. The two were packing for their trip to New York City, in which they were leaving for in 36 hours. Clothes were flying everywhere. It did not help that Zac had eaten two bowls of chocolate ice cream half and hour ago for lunch. Meanwhile, Taylor was lying on his bunk, half-buried by a pile of clothing that Zac wanted to borrow for the trip, with a melancholy look on his face.

"Taylor! Phone call! It’s Leigh-Ann," their mother’s voice rang up the stairs.

At the mention of Leigh-Ann, his ex-girlfriend, Taylor perked up.

"I’ll take it in our room, Mom," he answered, picking up the receiver and quickly dragging the phone into the corner of the room furthest from his brothers.

"What’s wrong with him?"

"Zac, the guy’s girlfriend just broke up with him and now she’s calling him. How do you think he’s gonna react?"

"I wonder why she’s calling?"

"You’ll probably find out soon enough. Just pack, will you?"

"Fine! And who tied your boxers in a knot?"

"Zac, please."

"It’s Ginger, isn’t it?"

"Zac, you’re pushing it," warned Ike, raising a fist that held a sock.

Laughing, Zac declared, "It is her! Man, get over it!"

"It is not," Isaac protested, despite the fact that he had gotten very little sleep last night thinking about her. He wondered how she could have been so charming one day, yet a witch the next, and then totally disown him the next day.

"Ike, you haven’t reached closure on the Ginger affair. Since your feeble mentality can’t arrive at closure by itself, we need some sort of activity that’ll help bring it about."

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw this one day on Oprah. You see, this one woman, her husband beat her up and all. She divorced him and got a restraining order and everything, but she still couldn’t stop thinking about him and what he did to her. Day and night, night and day, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year."

"What does any of that have to do with me and Ginger?" Ike asked, digging for a shirt from the back of the dresser.

"See? You’re still talking about her as if you were together. That woman did that too! She went to this one psychiatri-"

"I am not going to see a psychiatrist."

"Although I do think you need one, that wasn’t what I was going to suggest. Anyhow, right now, you’re full of harsh, confusing memories about her. You need to replace those memories with better, more pleasant ones. Then you won’t feel so bad about her, and you can stop thinking about her."

"Nuh-uh Zac. There’s no way I’m getting near enough to make some happier memories with her," Ike said, putting a pair of green corduroys in his suitcase.

"Not with her, about her."

Very confused, Ike asked, "Say that again?"

"Well, right now, whenever anyone says ‘ginger’, you automatically wonder why she ditched you. We need to have an activity to find an end, sort of like an ending ceremony," said Zac, a smile blossoming on his face. "Afterwards, if we’re lucky," he continued, "when someone says ‘ginger’, you think either Spice Girls or toilet paper,"

"Uh-oh, toilet paper? And just what sort of ‘ceremony’ were you thinking of?"

"We TP the Reeds’ house."

"Oh no! You’re not going to do that! Besides, how did you plan on getting past the gates?"

"You’re right, I’m not, we are. I’ll bet Taylor will come with us. There’s got to be a hole under the fence somewhere."

"Come with you where?" Tay asked, putting the phone back on the desk.

"Nowhere," Ike quickly answered. "So what’d Leigh-Ann call about?" he asked, trying to distract Taylor.

"She said a bunch of our friends are going to the movies tonight and asked it I wanted to go with them, just as friends," he added a bit sadly. "It’d be sort of like their bon voyage treat for me. We’re all meeting at the burger place at 6:00 for dinner, then we’re going to the theater after," he said, pulling out his duffel bag.

"Want to go TP Ginger’s house tonight?" blurted out Zac. "We can do it after you get back from the movies."

"What? Are you crazy? You saw her house. It’s probably got more security systems than the White House!"

"There’ll be a way to get in, I promise! Just leave everything to me. Will you do it? Please please please please please please please please pretty please?" Zac chanted. "It’d be so awesome!"

"Ike? What do you say?"

"I really don’t know. You’re sure we could get in?" Isaac asked.

"Positive. By 9:00 tonight, there will be a clear passage into Gingerbread Manor."

"I guess I’ll do it, if you do it, Ike. Well?"

"I’m not going until you tell me how we’d get in," he said.

"Is that a yes? Say it is, please, please, please, please, pretty please? I’m pleading, ‘cause you know Hansons don’t beg," went Zac.

"I cannot believe I’m agreeing to this."

"Yes! Operation Gingerbread is on! Oh, by the way, wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty or losing," Zac told them, grabbing his jacket and leaving the room.

"What have we gotten ourselves into now?" asked Taylor.

Wearing all dark green, Zac tiptoed around the fence surrounding the Reeds’ home, surveying it. Step one, get past the fence. Hmm, he thought, the fence has pretty wide-spaced bars. Maybe we could squeeze through. Nah, I don’t think Taylor couldn’t fit through there and he looks like a skeleton, so there’s no way either Ike or I could. The bars don’t stick into the ground. I could dig under the fence. It’s either that or climb over. Climb over?

"You wouldn’t make it. Those bars are slick and over eight feet tall," a voice said from behind him. A hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Aiy! You scared me! Where’d you come from? Who are you? How’d you know what I was thinking?" Zac asked, trying to spin around.

"Over there. I’m Jem. You were thinking with your mouth," replied a dark-haired boy. He looked a little older than Zac but not as old as Taylor.

"Say that again?"

"I came from the house over there. I am James Phillips, Jem for short. I knew what you were thinking because you were thinking with your mouth."

"OK. What are you doing here?"

"I saw this dark green shadow moving along Sam’s fence. I figured I better see what it was, in case you were one of them trying to get her again. Now my turn for questions. Who are you and what are you doing?"

"You don’t know who I am?"

"No, but you look familiar. Should I know who you are?" said James, loosening his grip on Zac’s shoulder a bit.

"Actually, I think it’s pretty nice not to have someone recognize you, nowadays. I think I’d like to keep that anonymous-ity for now," Zac told him. "My first name is Zac but that’s all your gonna get for now."

"Good enough for now. Number two, what are you doing, because you are not keeping that anonymous too."

"Well... do you like your neighbors? The Reeds, I mean."

"They’re OK, I guess," James shrugged. "What does it matter?"

"Well, I’m sort of the re-con guy. We’re not out to get, what did you call her, Sam? It’s actually her daughter."

Jem’s grip tightened. "You’re not getting anywhere near her. Anyway, aren’t you a bit young to be sent on a kidnapping mission, even as reconnaissance?"

"Oh, crud, are you her bodyguard or something? If you are, this is not what it seems like, but then I’m probably dead anyway," Zac groaned.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Jem told Zac, "I’m not their bodyguard, but what are you doing? Actually I don’t really like Ginger, I think she’s stuck up, but its not like I can say anything and I’m definitely not letting her get kidnapped."

"Huh? You know, why don’t we trade stories?" asked Zac, an idea starting to cook in his little head. "I think once this is straightened out, we might be of much use to each other."

Still putting clothes in his luggage, Taylor asked Ike, "How do you think the little dork’ll get us in?"

"I have no idea at all. I am not going until I find out, though. I still can’t believe I agreed to this," Ike answered, tossing a pair of pants into his bag. "What if this doesn’t work? I can’t imagine how we’d ever stop news from spreading. You really think we should go through with it?" said Ike.

"Depends on what Zac comes up with. I’m gong to hear out his plan. If it sounds safe enough, I’m game," Taylor told him. "I think you should do the same and hear out his plans."

"I guess I will, but if we get caught, I’m blaming you and Zac. I wonder what crazed scheme he’ll come up with to get us inside Gingerbread Manor? Oh no! I’ve caught it!" Ike cried.

"What? What? What?"

"Gingerbread Manor. First Zac started saying it, now so’m I!"

"So from what you’re telling me, your oldest brother almost went out with Ginger, before she went feral. Then she somehow leaked info on you to Barney Bobo, and he caused some little scandal a few weeks back. You fixed it, but your brother’s still bummed so you want to TP her house to "bring closure to the bad memories"?

Lounging on a chair in the Phillips’ kitchen, Zac nodded and grinned. "That’s about it. Now, for your story?" he asked.

"There’s not much of a story. The Reeds are decent people. I just think Ginger has taken the idea of neighborhood watch a bit too far," Jem told Zac.

"Say what?"

"You see, a few years back, her mom was taking on this major, major case dealing with some murderer or the other. It had a lot of complications and was really drawn out, so don’t bother asking."

"Okay, I won’t, but I think I see where this might be going. Go on," Zac said.

"Anyhow, during that case, some of the murderer’s friends tried to kidnap Ginger to get her mom off the case. Mrs. Reed is one incredible lawyer, you know. It didn’t work but the Reeds blamed my parents first for not seeing the kidnappers and calling the police, then accused them of helping the kidnappers get onto their property," continued Jem.

"Ouch. And you’re still living next door to them?"

"Yeah. The police caught the kidnapper wannabes and they swore Mom and Dad had nothing to do with it. The Reeds gave a formal apology and lots of more casual ones, along with a few gifts. I think they were afraid we’d sue for slander or libel. We all made up, for the most part though," explained Jem.

"I wonder why I never heard about this? It sounds like it should’ve made the 6 o’clock news for months," Zac speculated.

"It did. Well, it was a quite while ago, about 5-10 years ago, I think. Did you live in Tulsa then?"

"Oh, I know why I’ve never heard of this. I bet it was about the time while we were living in South America," Zac figured. "That explains it. So what sort of gifts did you get?"

"The big ones were they paid off this house, and bought my older sister a car. There were also a couple of littler things, like the TV and microwave," he replied.

"Wow, they’re more loaded than I thought! Is that how come you don’t like them? The whole kidnapping thing and the bad feelings still run?"

"Well, that’s sort of it. It’s not the Reeds I don’t like, its Ginger. The Reeds made their apologies, but Ginger still blamed a bit my parents. Sometimes she’d take it out on me. Once, soon after the kidnapping attempt and her parents convinced her that my parents weren’t at fault, she made me be her personal bodyguard for five weeks," Jem told Zac, wincing at the thought.

"Yuck, that had to have left mental scars!"

"She still doesn’t like me too much and she seems to expect me to stop any and all crime in her vicinity. Hmm…"

"What? What? What?"

"Do you need any help with your little plot? You know, as long as it didn’t hurt her and wasn’t permanent, I would dearly love to see Ginger’s room all decked out in toilet paper."

"I don’t suppose you could get her out and me ‘n’ Ike ‘n’ Tay up there tonight at around nine, could you?"

"That’s it!" exclaimed Jem.

"What’s it?"

" You ‘n’ Ike ‘n’ Tay. You’re that band, Hanson. That’s why you seemed not quite but almost familiar. My cousin loves you guys. Tell you what, I’m friends with the boy who mows their lawn, and he has keys to the garage. Bring me an autographed copy of your first indie CD and I’ll get Chris to let us in and get Ginger out. I know we could get to the main house through the garage. If we get caught, you never ever met me. Is that OK with you?"

"An autographed copy of Boomerang? Why do you want one of those?"

"My cousin’s birthday is in two weeks and it’ll save me 15 dollars from buying her a birthday present."

"Oh, okay. I think we still have a few copies in the closet somewhere. You’re sure you could get us in?"

"Yeah, Chris, he’s cool and as long as we don’t involve him in any other ways, he won’t ask questions."

"We, us, you’re coming in too?" Zac asked.

"You don’t know how much I’d love to see Ginger’s room papered," Jem told him.

"It doesn’t seem quite fair. You get to come along and join in the fun, but if we get caught, then we take all the blame?"

"I’m getting us in, aren’t I? I’d love to take responsibility but then my parents would first ground me for a century then hunt down you and ditto. They don’t need anymore Reed-related problems. Besides, I think we’ll be careful enough not to get caught," pointed out Jem.

"True. But how will we get Ginger out of the house?"

"She baby-sits for Chris’ little sister pretty often. I’m know he was supposed to watch her tonight but he can change his plans. Then Ginger’s usually the first one called. Tonight, I can arrange it." he explained.

"You’ve got yourself a deal, then. Let’s go to my house and we’ll get that CD. We'll work out more details with my brothers."

"Quit messing with your hair, it looks fine!"

"Should I braid the tail?" asked Taylor.

"Please! You’ve been getting ready for tonight almost since we finished packing and that was more than half an hour ago! You look fine, your hair looks fine, if you change your clothes one more time, I’m going to burn your third of the closet, understand?" Isaac burst out.

"Sheesh, forget I asked! You’re still hung up about "Operation Gingerbread" aren’t you? Don’t worry, if Zac’s idea is too wacko, we can ditch him. We’ve got bigger problems though," Tay said.

"What?"

"There’s a weird blue stain on the pants I wanted to wear!"

"I’m going to hurt you!" declared Ike and started chasing Taylor down the hall.

"Hey! Watch where you’re going, Chewbacca!" Zac called out. "You almost ran over our new associate here!"

"Huh?" asked Ike, startled by the stranger in the hall. Meanwhile, Taylor ducked behind the newcomer, using him as a shield from Isaac.

"Hi, I’m Taylor, who are you, and could you stand right here and keep him away from me?"

"Is everyone in this family as strange as you three?" Jem asked Ike.

"Yeah, but we're the worst of it. Who are you?" answered Ike, circling around Jem.

"I’m your key to Ginger’s house. The name’s Jem Phillips. My friend mows the Reeds’ lawn and has keys to their garage. That enough for now?" he replied.

"You’re actually going to get us inside Fort Gingerknox?" asked Taylor, stopping in front of Jem and next to Zac.

"That’s right, once I get that copy of Boomerang," Jem responded.

"Boomerang? I’m confused and I think we four need to have a little discussion about this "Operation Gingerbread" as Zac called it this morning. I'm still not sure I want to go through with it," Ike said.

"If you three would step into my office here," Zac said, ushering them into their room and closing their door.

"It'll work!" Zac was saying. "Really, because see, we get her out of the house by getting her to babysit, what's his name, Chris?" Jem nodded. "Chris's little sister, then we move into the garage with the key that we get from Chris," Zac explained.

"And how do you plan on getting her parents out of there?" Taylor asked.

"Um, well, eh..." struggled Zac, unable to come up with a suitable answer.

"We don't," Jem put in. "I'm friends with the housekeeping staff. They think pretty much the same way I do. As long as it wasn't permanent, it didn't hurt her, and they didn't hvae to clean it up, they wouldn't mind. Tommorrow's their day off. They can sneak us in tonight. Mr. and Mrs. Reed don't have to know a thing," explained Jem.

"At least not until Ginger comes home and screams at the sight of her room," Ike added, smiling, getting into this, despite himself.

"So are we all in? I for one am," Taylor asked. "I'm in!" Zac announced. "And so is Jem. Ike?"

"I guess I'm in, too. I'm the reason all this started anyhow, or maybe Zac just wants to TP someone's room," Ike answered.

"Yes! Wait, what time are we doing this?" Zac asked.

"Well, the movie will end about 9, I guess, so how 'bout we meet at James's house at 9:30?" Taylor suggested. He was met with a chorus of agreement.

"One more thing," Jem said. "What?" asked Ike. "I haven't got that CD yet!" he said, grinning.

"Ike'll get it for you, we'll sign it tonight. I gotta go collect ammo!" Zac called out, walking out the door.

"I gotta go to the burger place now, it's almost 6:00," Tay said.

"I'll go find that CD for you, come on. It's probably in the attic. Why do you want it anyways? No offense, but you don't seem quite like the Hanson-loving type," Ike asked.

As they walked down the hall to the staircase to the attic, they could hear Taylor getting his coat and Zac asking about toilet paper.

"Mooooooom! Where's the extra toilet paper? We're almost out in our bathroom!"

"What’d we do? Buy out the entire toilet aisle at Walgreen’s?" Zac muttered to himself. Oh well, if he had his way, they’d use up all of it. OK, we’ve got Charmin, AngelSoft, some pink flowery stuff, Kleenex, and Scott Tissue.