White House White-Out (2 page)

“My name is KC,” the girl said. “This is my friend Marshall. We’re trying to teach Natasha a Christmas trick. But she doesn’t like the snow, so she’s trying to escape.”

“I’m Dink Duncan, and these are my friends Josh and Ruth Rose,” Dink said. “We’re here with my dad. We live in Connecticut.”

The five kids all shook hands through the fence. All the hands made it confusing, and they burst out laughing.

“Are you the president’s daughter?” Josh asked KC.

“Nope, I’m his stepdaughter,” KC said. “He and my mom got married last year.”

“Sweet!” Josh said. “So what’s it like living in the White House? Do you get to do any cool stuff?”

“She gets to do anything she wants!” Marshall piped up.

KC poked Marshall. She looked through the fence at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. “Would you like to come in?”

Dink gulped. “In there?” he asked. “In the White House?”

KC grinned. “Sure. My folks aren’t home, but I know they wouldn’t mind,” she said. “I just have to get you clearance.”

“Wicked!” Josh yelled.

Ruth Rose laughed. “Just hide your food,” she told KC. “Josh will eat anything.”

Dink glanced at his watch. “Um, we
can’t stay long,” he said. “My dad’s expecting us back at our hotel in a half hour.”

“Which hotel?” KC asked.

“It’s the Royal Grove on Sixteenth Street,” Ruth Rose said. “That’s not far, right?”

“Nope, just a couple of blocks behind the White House,” KC said. “You’ll make it in plenty of time.”

“So how do we get clearance?” Josh asked.

“Go around to the next gate,” KC said, pointing to the right. “We’ll meet you there with one of the marine guards. He’ll give you special passes.”

“That’ll be great,” Dink said. “Wait’ll I tell my dad!”

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose raced each other to the next gate. They stood there, peering inside as snowflakes covered their eyelashes.

Finally they saw KC, Marshall, and Natasha coming toward them through the snow. With them was a tall marine. He wore shiny black boots and a dark green uniform under a long coat. His hat and shoulders were white with snow-flakes.

The guard looked at the kids closely before he unlocked the gate. He handed them each a pass. “Please clip these onto your clothing,” he said. He asked their names and wrote them on a clipboard. He also took down Dink’s father’s name and the name of the hotel. Then he said, “Welcome to the White House,” and walked away toward a small guard hut.

“Okay, follow me,” KC said. She led everyone to a rear door.

At least ten small trucks and vans were parked near the entrance. Each one had about six inches of snow on top,
as if they’d been parked there for hours. Men and women wearing clearance badges pulled boxes from the vans and lugged them into the White House. Three men were sliding a Christmas tree out of one of the trucks.

“The White House is getting decorated today,” KC explained. “When they’re all done, the public gets to come in for tours.”

“They have ten Christmas trees!” Marshall said. “And about a zillion wreaths. Wait’ll you see!”

A woman carrying a green wreath stopped to pat Natasha on the head. Natasha licked her hand before KC led the kids into a hallway, where they hung their coats and hats. Dozens of people rushed around carrying wreaths, strings of lights, garlands of greenery, and armloads of ornaments. Dink loved the smell of pine, and it was everywhere.

KC led them along the hallway. They stepped over boxes and around the workers. Dink peeked into a room and saw a Christmas tree covered with white paper cranes.

In every window someone had hung a wreath. Red ribbon dangled from chandeliers. Golden plastic fruit that looked real lay in piles waiting to be arranged on tabletops. No matter where you looked, someone was decorating something.

“This is amazing!” Dink said as they walked through the confusion.

“I can’t wait till they’re all finished,” KC whispered. “My mom and stepfather are getting our own little tree for upstairs. We’re going to decorate it tonight after everyone else is gone.”

“Tell them about your present for your stepdad,” Marshall told KC.

KC peeked into a small room that
looked like an office. “Come on in here,” she said to the rest of the kids.

The room had a soft carpet, and they all sat. “A few months ago, we adopted Natasha as a surprise for the president,” KC said. “He’s been trying to teach her tricks, but she won’t listen to him. He’s so funny! He says, ‘Natasha, you have to listen, I’m the president!’”

Everyone laughed.

“So Marsh and I are trying to teach Natasha to sing when I blow a whistle,” KC went on. “That will be my present to my stepfather.”

KC pulled a silver whistle from her pocket. “It’s silent to human ears,” she said. “But dogs can hear it.”

“Can you show us?” Josh asked. He looked around the room. “Where is Natasha, anyway?”

“Begging for food somewhere, probably,” Marshall said.

“Just like Josh,” Dink said.

KC blew on the whistle. When Natasha didn’t show up, the kids went looking for her. They peeked into every room, asking the decorators if they’d noticed the dog anywhere.

No one had.

“Maybe she went outside again,” Dink suggested.

KC shook her head. “She hates the snow,” she said. “She only goes out when I take her.”

“Why don’t we split up and search?” Ruth Rose asked.

“Good idea,” KC said. “Marsh, you take Dink and Josh and look down here. I’ll check the upstairs with Ruth Rose. Meet back here in ten minutes in front of this clock, okay?”

Dink looked at his watch. They had to be back at the hotel in about twenty minutes. He glanced out one of the
windows. It was beginning to get dark.

The five kids split off to begin their search. They called the dog’s name and asked everyone they saw, and KC blew on the whistle. Ten minutes later, they met under the clock.

No one had seen Natasha.

“She’s nowhere,” KC said. “I even went upstairs to our private rooms. I looked under all the beds, her usual spot to hide from us. How could a sixty-pound dog disappear?”

CHAPTER 2

Dink could tell that KC was upset. “Let’s try looking outside,” he suggested. “Maybe one of the decorator people accidentally locked her out.”

“I guess it’s worth a try,” KC said.

The kids scrambled into their coats and headed into the snow. It was falling harder. Earlier the snowflakes had been large and fluffy, coming down softly. Now the flakes were small and were swept by a stiff wind. Dink had to squint his eyes to see through the stuff.

“Does anyone see her?” KC asked.

No one did.

Workers hurried back and forth, bringing in more things to make the White House look Christmassy.

All five kids called and whistled. Natasha did not come bounding through the snow as they all hoped she would.

Dink noticed a man scraping snow off the windshield of one of the trucks. “Wait a sec,” Dink said to the others. He scuffed through the snow up to the man.

“Excuse me, have you seen a dog?” he asked. “She’s gray and skinny.”

The man turned. His nose and ears were red from the cold. “Over there, where the vans are parked near the fence,” he said. “I saw a woman with a dog about ten minutes ago.”