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"Brown ones," Phoebe replied, "although the one in the lead seems to have a spot of blue."
"I believe that's green."
"Do you? Yes, I think you're right."
Dan's presence was like a magnet. Several other boys passing along saw who their friends were with and charged through the Pom Poms to approach.
"Hey, Jeff, how's it going, man?"
"Hi, Mark. Hi, Rob. This is Molly. She's new this year."
Dan and Phoebe traded a few more observations on duck plumage, before Dan finally turned his head to acknowledge the boys.
"Well, hi there, fellas. Are you guys friends of Molly's?"
They all enthusiastically agreed that they were very good friends. Responding to Dan's geniality, they gradually forgot their shyness and began asking questions about the team. The Pom Poms had joined the group and were regarding Molly with new interest. When several of the boys announced they were on their way to get ice cream, they invited Molly to go along.
She turned pleading eyes toward Phoebe. "May I?"
"Sure." Phoebe made arrangements to meet Molly at the Riverwalk's dandelion fountain in an hour.
But Dan wasn't done. As the kids began to move away, he called after them. "Molly, you should bring a few of your friends to a game one of these Sundays. You could introduce them to some of the players afterward."
The boys' jaws dropped. "Yeah, Molly!"
"Hey, that'd be neat!"
"Do you know Bobby Tom, Molly?"
"I've met him," she said.
"Boy, are you lucky!"
As the boisterous gang moved away, Phoebe smiled at Dan. "That was blatant bribery."
He grinned. "I know."
"I'm not sure about some of those girls, though. A few of them looked as if they'd sell their best friend for lunch money."
"It doesn't matter. We just gave Molly an even playing field. Now she can make her own choices."
Pooh, impatient to strut her stuff, tugged on her leash. They walked down the slope of lawn and began to wander through the exhibits, but although Dan had once again donned his hat and sunglasses, too many people had noticed him as he'd talked with the teenagers, and some of them began to call his name, while they gazed at Phoebe with avid curiosity.
He nodded in response to their greetings and spoke to her under his breath. "Keep moving. Once you stop, it's all over." He glared at Pooh. "And would you mind either walking in front of me or behind me? I don't want people to think—"
"Your image as a macho man is more than a match for one small dog. Lord, if you're making this big a fuss over a poodle, I can't imagine what you'd do if Viktor were along."
"I like Viktor. It's that major embarrassment at the end of the leash I want to get rid of. Did you have to put that purple bow on her?"
"It's not purple, it's mauve. Have you been this insecure all your life, or does it go along with advancing middle age?"
"I'm not the one that girl thought was Molly's mother."
"Good thing. Considering how easily your masculinity is threatened, that might have pushed you over the edge."
The mutually pleasant volleying of insults continued for some time, each verbal serve immediately returned, but with no hard spikes and no balls hit out-of-bounds.
Dan bought her a handblown green and pink glass "witch's ball" to hang in a sunny window. She bought him a matted black-and-white photograph of the Chicago skyline with a fingernail moon high in the sky.
