They crept towards the garage, the four dark green figures.

"You know, this kinda reminds me of Star Wars on Endor, where Han and Leia are sneaking around in the forest to blow that one place," Isaac said, shifting the pillowcase of Charmin on his back. Taylor, Zac and Jem each carried a similarly filled sack.

"It was the shield generator for the second Death Star," Jem replied. The others heard a slight jingling sound as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket.

"Weren't those Ewoks cute?" Zac asked. Jem got the outer garage door open. They had made it through the metal fence thanks to a small back door the housekeeper had left open. Now they were going to cut through the garage into the kitchen. From there, Mrs. Janson, the housekeeper, would distract the Reeds while they slipped up to Ginger's room and papered it.

"OK, we're in," Jem announced as they entered the kitchen. "Hello Mrs. Janson! You ready?" he asked.

Mrs. Janson nodded. She was a middle-aged woman, closer to 50 than 40, and motherly looking. "Everything's set. Greg, that is, Mr. Reed, should call for his evening drink right about...now,"

"Shalla? Could you bring me a glass of red wine? The vintage Chardonnay from ’76, I think," said a male voice from the beyond the swinging doors.

"Yes, sir," she called. "You guys know how to get to Ginger's room?"

"Yeah, down the hall, then up the stairs to the left, then one more flight up, it's the tower room. I've been there before," Ike said. "We'll phone you in the kitchen when we get back to Jem’s house," he added.

"OK then, I can distract Mr. and Mrs. Reed for about 20 minutes. You boys be careful. Ginger shouldn't be home for a couple of hours, but be quiet or else they'll hear you. Good luck!" She got a glass and a bottle of wine and went through the door that led into the living room.

"Ready? Let's go!" Zac asked. They went into a hallway across from the swinging doors. The hallway went past a doorway to the living room. Fortunately, the couches had their backs turned to the doorway. Slipping past the doorway to the living room, they could see the backs of Greg and Samantha Reed. As the crept down the hall, they could hear the conversation going on in the room.

"Here's your Chardonnay, Mr. Reed," said Mrs. Janson, starting to hand a glass to him. She saw that the boys were passing the door behind the couch. Then she "stumbled on a fold in the carpet" and fell, her hand hitting Greg Reed's glass of wine. The wet spot spread across his shirt and the floor.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I'll clean that up right away!" cried Mrs. Janson and she went to go get a towel.

The boys slid up the stairs, then up another flight into the round room that was Ginger's. It was decorated in a dark blue theme with Rage Against The Machine and KORN posters on the walls.

"I thought you said her room was pink," Zac said. "Or did I just suddenly go colorblind? Because this is definitely NOT pink."

"It was pink when I was here last. That was a little while ago, remember," Ike pointed out, closing the door. "What happened here?" exclaimed Isaac, finally taking a close look around. It looks like KISS’s make-up case exploded here," he said.

"Man, now the pink toilet paper we brought won't match!" Zac whined. At that remark, Taylor's face lit up with a smile. He had been looking kind of blue all night. Ike noted that. He'd have to ask how the movie went when they got home.

"Shall we begin?" asked Jem. He pulled a roll of pale blue toilet paper from his sack.

"Wait! I gotta do something first!" Zac exclaimed. He produced a camera from his pillowcase and switched on the flash.

"Uh-uh, no physical evidence!" Isaac stated, covering the lens with his palm. "If those pictures were to get into the tabloids, do you know how long we'd be grounded?"

"Oh come on, as long as we're not in the pictures, it'll be OK. If someone sees them, we just say some stranger walked up and gave them to us. You know the weird stuff fans give us," Taylor said. "Remember that book on the history of Sweden?"

"Listen to the boy! You know he's right! Come on, I need a ‘before’ picture!" Zac told Ike.

"You may take two pictures before and two pictures after. One from by the door, one from the by the window. Someone else will take the film to be developed and I get the single copy of the negatives. Is that all right?" Isaac asked.

"Sure! I bet Manda will take it to be developed for us. Get out of the picture range," Zac said, pointing the camera and pressing the shutter button. "One more... okay. Let's get started," he finished, pulling off several meters of toilet paper. He draped it artfully over the dresser. "A few basic rules though, don't break anything, don't take anything without paying for it, don't hide anything too far off."

"Don't take anything without paying for it? Does that mean we can take souvenirs? I still have a few dollars on me, we could probably get a bottle of nail polish, or a book, or something," Taylor wondered while applying a layer of toilet paper to her bed.

"You're going to steal Ginger's stuff? Uh-uh, I don't suggest you do that, Taylor," Jem warned. "If somehow Ginger ever finds out, she will track you down like Tattooinians to water."

"Hey, I'll pay very well for her hairbrush. I'm sure it can't be worth more than $15. And by the way, what's with all the Star Wars expressions?" Isaac commented.

"My family and I just watched all three movies last night and they've stuck in my head. It's not my fault," Jem explained.

"There you go again!" Zac cried out.

"Shhh! Not so loud! You don't know if they can hear you or not. If Mr. and Mrs. Reed happen to hear, Mrs. Janson will try to cover for us but you don't know how long she can stall," Ike reminded him.

Forty-five minutes later, the four boys stood back to examine their handiwork. Most of the room's formerly exposed surfaces were covered in layers of soft toilet paper. A hairbrush, a makeup brush, a can of hair spray, and a bottle of nail polish were tucked securely inside Taylor's pillowcase. Twenty-five dollars and a brief note were left on Ginger's desk on top of the tissue. The note was written by Isaac in a non traceable all caps print. It read:

GINGER:

WE TOOK A HAIRBRUSH, A MAKEUP BRUSH, HAIRSPRAY, AND NAIL POLISH. I CAN USE THE HAIRSPRAY. HE'S LEFT $25, SHE SAYS THAT WILL COVER EVERYTHING. THEY HAD FUN TONIGHT. WANT PHOTOS? BYE.

"Great! That should confuse her some," Taylor said.

"I still don't see why you want her makeup brush and nail polish. Hairbrush and hairspray, I can sort of understand, but nail polish? Oh well, did you leave the money? Great, let's go, hut two, hut two, out the window, you first Zac," Jem said.

"Why do I go first? That branch doesn't look so sturdy to me," Zac said, warily.

"You go first because this whole thing was your idea. Hang onto that other branch to the left so if this main one breaks, you won't crash your brains onto the lawn," Isaac told him.

"So I don't crash my brains out? You do care about me! Brother!" Zac cried, giving Isaac a bear hug.

"You? I was talking about the lawn! It's so nice and green, I'd hate to spoil it," Ike kidded. "Now move! I want to get out of here and home without getting caught."

Zac opened the window and stepped onto the thick oak branch near it. Hanging onto the other branch Isaac had pointed out, he slid over to the trunk until he could lightly jump onto a lower limb. He could faintly hear voices coming out of the living room window about 5 meters away with classical music coming out of the background.

"I think they could have filmed this performance better, don't you?" a female voice, Samantha Reed, said.

"It's not done that poorly. At least the sound comes out clear," answered a male voice, Greg Reed.

"I sup-" A door closing shut interrupted Mrs. Reed. "Oh hello, Gingersnap, you're home early, how was babysitting?"

A chill ran down Zac’s back. Oh man, we're in deep deep deep trouble, he thought to himself. He dropped his pillowcase the remaining six feet onto a bush and leaned up. "Guys, hey, we have to get out of here NOW! Ginger's home!" he told them. THAT got them moving quick. "Hurry up, she says the kid wore her out and she's going up to her room!" Zac dropped to the ground and grabbed the his pillowcase and the sack that Isaac passed down to him. It was crucial to get Isaac and Jem out of there. They were the two who would suffer most if caught.

"Oh, hello Ginger! Home so soon?" That was Mrs. Janson. "Are you hungry?" she asked, steering Ginger into the kitchen.

"Good old Mrs. Janson! She can keep Ginger in there indefinitely!" Jem said, coming down after Isaac touched the ground.

"Even so, hurry up ‘cause I don't want to take any chances. You haven't anything to worry about. You're already out of her room. I'm still up here!" Taylor said.

"Well, get down here! Ginger's heading up!" Zac said, from his spy point near the open window.

"Oh great!" Taylor moaned as he scrambled down the tree into the ground. Picking up his pillowcase, the group ran for the back fence. Once there, under the cover of a grove of maples, they stopped to catch their breaths and see what was happening in Ginger's room.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

A piercing scream cut through the air. Taylor and Jem pulled Isaac and Zac back into the shadows as Ginger stuck her head out the window, which Taylor accidentally left open, and scanned the area. Fortunately, the clothes they wore hid them well. As they walked away with satisfied little smiles on their faces, Ginger's voice was calling for her parents.

"So Tay," Isaac asked as hey walked to Jem's house, "How was the movies?" Taylor's smile melted into a glower and Isaac wondered how he was going to survive the flight to New York tomorrow.