“Emma,” Kitty whispered just into Emma’s left ear, “Emma, do you think that Harp Seal is asleep?”
Without moving Emma replied, “Kitty, I am sure that Harp Seal is asleep. I am almost asleep and you should be asleep, too.”
“But I need to talk to you, Emma. Can you talk to me real softly so you don’t wake up Harp Seal?”
Emma rolled slightly from her stomach to her left side, so that she could crack open her heavy eyelids just enough to squint at Kitty on the pillow next to her. The moonbeams glowed through the window next to the bed and she could just make out the fuzzy gray outline of Kitty’s head and the pinkness of Kitty’s hand knit dress. “Kitty, I am very tired after school and swimming today. Do we have to talk now?”
Kitty set her lucent blue eyes on Emma’s equally blue squinters, “We have to talk now because I don’t want Harp Seal to hear and we have to fix it by tomorrow.”
Resigned to the conversation, Emma gently brushed a wayward strand of hair from her eyes and eased the edge of the bed covers from beneath her chin. “Whatever is the problem, Kitty? Have you and Harp Seal had a fuss?”
“Not a fuss exactly,” Kitty replied softly, “But he’s picking on me.”
“He’s picking on you?” Emma asked, surprised at this report on the usually mild mannered Harp Seal. “What in the world is he doing?”
“Well, you know, while you’re away at school all day he pats my toe with his flipper or he tugs on the sleeve of my dress. Sometimes he hops up and he jumps on the bed which makes me bounce up and down like a yo-yo.”
Emma giggled at the thought of a cross Kitty being bobbled around the bed, but Kitty was not amused. “It must stop, you know,” Kitty continued.
“Did you tell Harp Seal that you preferred not to bounce and would he please stop jumping?” Emma asked Kitty.
“Of course I told him to stop right away and he just kept on. And I said to him ‘Harp Seal if you do not stop I will send you to your room’. I said it roughly, just like that and do you know that he kept on jumping and laughing and said that I would not send him to his room as he didn’t have a room because here he’s been all of his life living in your room.”
Emma thought about all that and said, “Well, he is quite accurate about that you know. Technically, he doesn’t have a room. So, how did you ever get him to stop?”
“It was just a handy thing,” said Kitty, “That I have this little tear at the hem of my dress. I waited a moment until he turned his back and jumped toward the foot of the bed. I had to spring up very fast and lasso him in the loop of my hem and when he lost his footing and fell on the bed I sat on him. I had to sit on him until he promised to behave and not bother me any more.”
“Hmm,” said Emma, “I can see where that would be quite a lot of work to go through every day. My guess is after a while he will catch on and it will be a lot harder to lasso him”
“Precisely,” agreed Kitty, “So I think the simple solution is that you assign a room for Harp Seal. I am thinking that the cedar chest at the bottom of the bed would be perfect for him. Tomorrow morning you could say, ‘Oh, by the way Harp Seal, I had the loveliest idea in the night last night. I thought, my how big you’ve grown and I believe it is time you had your own room. Why the cedar chest can be your new room from now on.’ Then later in the morning when he is misbehaving I will say to him ‘go to your room’ and he will have no choice but to go.”
“Well, Kitty,” said Emma, “That is a good solution. What if, on the other hand, you and Harp Seal just try to get along, have some fun. You could bounce on the bed, too.”
“He is fun sometimes,” Kitty whined. “We do play together a lot. We play business and I pretend to collect the money and we play restaurant where he’s the cook and I’m the waitress. But then he decides to do all that jumping. I am the oldest you know and you should give me some responsibility.”
“Okay,” said Emma, “But use it sweetly. The cedar chest can be Harp Seal’s room. I’ll tell him in the morning.”
Kitty and Emma lay quietly for a minute They could hear the clock ticking in the hallway downstairs and the rest of the house was quiet.
“One more little thing,” Kitty whispered.
“What is that?” Emma asked.
“As you leave for school every day, just as you get to the bedroom door, would you look back over your shoulder and say,’you two sweeties have a nice day and don’t forget that I’m leaving you in charge, Kitty.’ That would be a big help.”