The Mystery of the Castaway Children

white bundle from Reddy’s straw bed and holding it against his chest. He turned to Trixie, his face blank with astonishment.
    “It’s—it’s not a skunk” was all Brian could manage to say.
    Trixie came near and took a good look at the bundle. “Yipes!” she exclaimed softly. “It’s not a snake, either!”
    Before she could gather her wits about her to fire questions at Brian, he was taking long steps in the direction of the porch. Trixie raced to catch up. Reddy was close at her heels.
    As the group neared the porch, Bobby and Mart stopped their playful wrestling long enough for Mart to call, “Snakes aren’t allowed on the porch.” Then he did a double take. “Is th-that what I think it is?” he gulped.
    “It is!” crowed Bobby. “It’s a real, live baby!” Brian lowered his arms to allow Bobby to uncover the baby’s face. Four young Beldens watched a soft pink mouth blow till a bubble formed. Blue eyes stared out of a dirty face, then squeezed shut. A fretful whimper was quickly stilled when Brian lifted the tiny body against his shoulder.
    “I told you a baby sounds most like a baby,” Bobby declared, not in the least taken aback.
    Mart, still in a state of shock, touched the little blanket, muddy from when Brian had pulled the baby out of the doghouse. “Blanket... wet...” he muttered.
    Trixie sprang into action. Up the steps she leaped, crossing the porch in two bounds and flinging open the door. “Moms!” she shouted. “MOTHER!”
    Mrs. Belden hurried down the stairs and into the hall. When she was called “Mother” instead “Moms,” there was usually an emergency. “What’s wrong, Trixie?”
    Trixie held the door open and ushered her mother out onto the porch. Mrs. Belden looked bewildered as Brian held out his tiny charge toward her. “We found something, uh, out of the ordinary,” he told her.
    “That can’t be—” Mrs. Belden whispered.
    “It’s a baby, all right,” said Bobby matter-of-factly.
    The minute Mrs. Belden’s hands touched the blanket, she was in command of the situation. “Trixie, bring dry towels—the softest you can find,” she ordered. “And get that baby oil you use for suntan lotion. Mart, call Mrs. Lynch to see if she can spare some baby clothes. Brian, you scald milk.”
    “What proportion of corn syrup?” Brian asked on his way inside.
    Already halfway up the stairs, Trixie glanced back, startled by Brian’s question. Well, why wouldn’t Brian know about baby food? she asked herself. He has three younger siblings , and he is the doctor-to-be around here.
    Freshly showered and dressed in clean, dry clothes, Mr. Belden ran into Trixie in the upstairs hall. “What’s all the rumpus?” he asked.
    At a loss for an explanation, Trixie blurted, “We have a new baby!” Then she hurried to fetch the towels, leaving her father to gaze after her, openmouthed.
    Minutes later, a sober Belden family gathered around the kitchen table. Mrs. Belden was bathing the tiny boy, who shuddered with nervousness, temperature change, and hunger. “Poor baby, I wonder how you got so dirty,” she crooned. “You’re too hungry and tired to even cry.
    “That’s just when I do cry,” Bobby confessed.
    “Don’t we know,” Trixie sighed.
    Brian made the formula by his mother’s directions and cooled it to suit himself. Then he trickled milk from the tip of a spoon into the baby’s mouth. “I know he’s swallowing too much air,” Brian worried.
    “He’ll burp,” Bobby surmised.
    “How old is he?” Mart was still so flabbergasted that he forgot to use the longest words in the dictionary.
    Mrs. Belden thought for a moment. “He weighs about twelve pounds. If his birth weight was an average six pounds and he gained at the regular rate of eight ounces a week, a weight of twelve pounds would indicate an age of three months. Don’t you think that’s about right, Peter?” She turned toward Mr. Belden. “Peter, have you been listening to a word I’ve said?” Mr. Belden shifted his gaze to his wife. “But, Helen... a baby?” he asked weakly.

Elastic Walls ● 2

    SOON, IN RESPONSE TO Mart’s telephone call, the Belden kitchen was crowded with new arrivals. Di Lynch had brought with her not only a package of baby clothes, but also Honey Wheeler and Jim Frayne.
    Di had two sets of twins at her house. Mrs. Lynch had gathered up a wardrobe for the newcomer simply by opening dresser drawers in a storage room. As she handed the package to Mrs.