Floppy Ears and WhiskersTimothy Edward was six years old. He was named Timothy after his great-grandfather Baker and Edward after his great-grandfather Robinson. Great-grandfather Baker always called him Timothy and great-grandfather Robinson always called him Edward, but everybody else called him Teddy.Teddy had a little sister who was four years old. Her name was Sarah Elizabeth. She was named Sarah after her great-grandmother Baker and Elizabeth after her great-grandmother Robinson, but everybody called her Babs because she was the baby.Teddy and Babs lived in a big city that was full of high buildings very close together. They lived with their daddy and mother in a big building that, Teddy said, wasn't so very high. Babs said, "No, but it isn't so very low." It was called an apartment house.Teddy and Babs didn't live in the whole house but in a little part of it behind a door that had "11 A" painted on the outside. "11" meant that it was on the eleventh floor and "A" meant that the Robinsons lived there and not in "11 B" where Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins lived and not in "11 C" where Miss Horner lived.When Teddy and Babs wanted to go out to play they had to push a button in the wall between two doors in the hall. Then they would wait and watch the hand on the clock over the door. It moved slowly; "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11," they would say. Then the door would open and there was the elevator to carry them down to the ground. Sometimes it was James who ran the elevator and sometimes it was Bill. Teddy and Babs would say, "Hello, James," or "Hello, Bill," and the elevator boys would say, "Hello, Teddy and Babs." The boys were always glad to see Teddy and Babs, but they were never glad to see what Teddy and Babs had with them, for they always had their tricycles or their scooters or their skates. Sometimes Teddy had his express wagon and Babs had her doll coach and all of these things took up a great deal of room in the elevator. Teddy and Babs thought it was a nuisance too, and they wished that they could leave all of their playthings downstairs right by the front door. Daddy said, "That wouldn't do at all," and Mother said that was the trouble with living in an apartment house.Teddy and Babs didn't have any yard to play in, but they played in a big square that was across the street from the apartment house. All of the children who lived in the apartment houses around the square played there. It was a pretty square with cement walks and trees and grass and flower beds and a fountain with a pool where they could float little boats.There was a statue of a billy goat in the square, too. He was made of bronze. Every day Teddy and Babs climbed upon his back and took a make-believe ride. The billy goat's horns and the top of his head shone like a bright new penny because all of the children who played in the square stroked him and patted him, and this made him very shiny in the patted places.Teddy and Babs rode their tricycles on the Excerpted from Two and Two Are Four by Carolyn Haywood All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
