Anastasia Has the Answers by Lois Lowry

hospital. "If you had bashed your head harder," Sam said, "you would have been a baldy, like I was."
    "True," Anastasia acknowledged.
    "And harder than
that,
" Sam added, "and you would have been
dead.
"
    "Well, Sam, I don't think—"
    "We could have had a funeral," Sam said sweetly, "and buried you in the earth like little birds and bugs and animals and Aunt Rose."
    "
Sam,
" whispered Anastasia, "
shhh.
" She glanced nervously toward Uncle George to see if he had heard. But Uncle George was over in the corner of the room, talking very pleasantly to—was that right? Was she seeing correctly? Anastasia sat up farther in the bed and peered beyond her father's shoulder.
    Sure enough. It was Daphne's mother, smiling pleasantly and talking with animation to Uncle George. And there was Daphne, grinning at Anastasia.
    "Did I disrupt gym class or did I not disrupt gym class?" Anastasia asked her.
    "For sure," Daphne answered, rolling her eyes. "You should have seen everybody rushing around calling ambulances and stuff. And guess who was absolutely the most worried person there."
    "That nervous-looking Japanese guy who kept checking his watch?"
    "Shhh," whispered Daphne. "That guy's right over there in the corner of the room. It wasn't him anyway. It was—well, here, I'll let her tell you."
    Daphne stepped aside to let Ms. Wilhelmina Willoughby approach the bed. She didn't even have a layered-look outfit on; she had just thrown a trench coat over her shorts and sweat shirt.
    "Anastasia, you were amazing," Ms. Willoughby said. "
Amazing.
"
    "I climbed the rope okay, didn't I? The only reason I fell," Anastasia said, "was—"
    "I know. Because you threw your arms out. Your rope-climbing was perfect. A-plus for rope-climbing. But why on earth did you throw your arms out that way at the top?"
    Gingerly, Anastasia shook her head. "It's too complicated to explain, Ms. Willoughby."
    "Well," her gym teacher said, "you certainly scared everyone to death, most of all
me.
But you're okay, that's the important thing. And I've had a chance to meet your family: your nice parents, and your brother, and your very charming uncle from California—"
    Uncle George and Ms. Wilhelmina Willoughby? Suddenly Anastasia remembered what Daphne had told her just a few days before: that Ms. Wilhelmina Willoughby had no man in her life. Hmmmmm. How did "Aunt Wilhelmina" sound? Not too bad. Anastasia glanced around to see if Uncle George was still totally involved with Daphne's mother. But no; Daphne's mother was now talking to the lady in the Indian sari—my goodness, that whole group of international educators was in the hospital room, too!
    And there was Uncle George, off in a different corner now, talking to Dr. McCartin, who—Anastasia took a closer look at her doctor. Hmmmm. She was actually a pretty attractive lady, once she got that stethoscope out of her ears. Anastasia wondered if she was married, and decided that she would have to find a tactful way to ask. Of course there was no rush. It was still a little soon—just over a week since Aunt Rose's death—for Uncle George to remarry.
    She felt exhausted. It had, after all, been an eventful day. Anastasia leaned back on the pillows and looked around the room filled with people.
    Her parents looked more relaxed now that Anastasia had been talking cheerfully and sitting up comfortably in the bed. She had the greatest parents in the world, Anastasia decided, even if neither of them had much fashion sense (her mother was wearing jeans and a paint-smeared shirt, as usual; her father was wearing incredibly hideous baggy pants that he had bought probably in 1960).
    Sam had leaned back in Mrs. Stein's lap and was sucking his fingers dreamily. Probably, Anastasia thought, he was planning another funeral. She was going to have to have a very serious talk with old Sam when her head stopped aching. Maybe she could help him find a new hobby. She really loved Sam a lot, and an older sister owed it to a little